Mirae’s POV

I got home rather quickly after running out of Mi Song’s house. Though the anger in me was boiling, I couldn’t stay mad at Jongin as much as I was mad at the entire situation I was in. Something that my mother happily reminded me of the second I stepped through the door. “Oh, there you are, my dear! Good. Go to your room and change immediately, the guests will be here in a minute.” I stopped in the middle of my steps.

“Guests? What guests?” I questioned, emphasising the word guests as much as I was capable. My mother came out from the kitchen, wearing her ‘finest’ outfit. I swallowed hard.

“Mirae, you know who they are. Our new son-in-law and his parents, of course,” she replied delightfully. I stared at her widely eyed and incapable of moving an inch, which also sadly prevented me from running out first thing. My mother’s smile grew while she grabbed my arm and lightly pushed me inside my room. “Hurry up now, you must be done when they arrive.” My eyes were staring down onto the floor, my mouth trembled and my legs were shaking, waiting impatiently for my mother to leave so that they could crumble underneath me. The door closed, allowing my weight to become too much for my legs; I sat down on the floor. In the corner of my room, the dark blue lace dress hung on a chair. I could easily figure out that my mother had chosen it for the sake of my future husband seeing my well shaped body. Her disgusting plan was that he’d lust for me, or well, my body, when walking out of here and that I’d be on his mind during the night. I clenched my firsts, clubbing them into the floor and, for the sake of keeping quiet, bit my tongue so hard that the metallic flavour of blood became apparent. The thing was that no matter how much I would’ve wanted to run away, disappear and hide, my parents would never allow it and they’d find me easily wherever in the world I went. What else can I do besides hoping for the best? Nothing. There was only one thing I could do; collect the last asses of strength I had left and get up. I pulled down the dress on the floor and began to remove my clothes. When I’d put on the dress – tight and extremely well fitting – I fixed my makeup a little before opening the door, just in time for the doorbell to ring. Normally, the door would’ve been opened by one of our maidens but not this time; my mother personally chose to welcome our guests. Suddenly, I saw my phone lying on the table. Hm, mom must’ve put it there when she pushed me into the room... I grabbed it and texted my brother swiftly then put it back so that no one would raise suspicion.

“Ah, welcome!” My mother’s voice could’ve made anyone vomit from an overdose of fake sugariness. I closed the door behind me and put on the shoes that my mother had chosen for me. My hair lay freely down my shoulders, making the whole me perfect. Although, that last statement lay in the eyes of the beholder – being my mother in this case, yes, I looked perfect. I reached the hallway, and, at first, I just saw my mother’s back to me. “Come in, come in, Mr and Mrs Lu! We’re so happy to have you here!” My body froze to ice. Had she really said that name? Mr and Mrs Lu? My mother moved aside, revealing the man and woman who’d just arrived. The woman, Mrs Lu, noticed me and flashed a smile.

“You must be Ra Hael. Ah, what a beautiful girl you’ve got!” she clapped her hands, and, accompanied by my mother, laughed. The man and woman were led inside by my mother, making way for the last family member to finally reveal himself, even though I knew who it was already. Luhan looked at me from head to toe, smirking at the sight. I noticed that his eyes stayed a little lower down, before his eyes met mine.

“Good afternoon, Ra Hael. Or do you want me to call you Mirae?” he asked. He took off his coat and handed it to one of our maidens. His black tuxedo with a red tie had been washed recently by the look of it. His slow steps towards me caused my heart to beat harder and faster but not out of anything else but pure fear. His hand found my wrist, making me snap and heavily exhale right into his face. I was panting after having held my breath for the last ten minutes – at least it felt like that. “I’m happy that I have a fiancée with pretty legs~ I love when pretty girls have pretty legs...” I shut my eyes, ready to cry. His lips pressed against my cheek, sending chills down my spine and burning an invisible wound onto my skin. When he pulled away, Luhan let me go and followed his parents further inside our house. I stood in the hallway, stable yet broken in pieces. Luhan? Out of ALL people that live in freaking China they just HAD to pick LUHAN?

The faint sounds of laughter from the dining room squeezed through the veil of total chaos that had broken free inside of me. The tears were a few more breaths away. Someone must’ve seen them, someone that simply wouldn’t have it happening. The slap, wh