Mirae’s POV

I watched as Mr Lu and Luhan stared at one another. I could almost see the hurtful words lurking behind Luhan’s forehead. Mrs Lu could also see it because she pushed Luhan backwards towards the couch and turned to her husband. “They are here to talk with us,” she explained. I pulled Luhan down beside me and hugged his arm tightly. Luhan’s eyes didn’t leave his father’s but he did relax. Please, Luhan, don’t be irrational. Mr and Mrs Lu sat down across from us and Luhan followed them with his sharp gaze.

“What is it now, my son? Have you gotten into trouble or are you simply here to apologise for your atrocious behaviour?” I could hear Luhan’s teeth smack together as he tried hard to control his emotions. Luhan replied something in Chinese that I couldn’t understand. I just saw the look in his father’s eyes and how it changed drastically. I turned to Mrs Lu who looked shocked. Luhan’s father then said something in response that made Luhan fly up to his feet. I too felt shocked. Had their conversation escalated that quickly? I tried my hardest to imagine the things they had said but failed to make out what possibly could’ve worsened the situation this much. Within another minute the two men were screaming at one another furiously. I desperately tried to make out any recognisable words, but their tongues were too quick. Not even when he had been angry with me had Luhan sounded the way he did now. He growled out every word at his father; spat insults in his face as if they were made out of fire. Mr Lu wasn’t much better either; he swung his walking stick and smashed it down into the floor so it made a loud noise.

“Lu Han!” Mrs Lu out of nowhere interjected. I assumed she thought Luhan had crossed the line to such extent that this had to be stopped. Her calmness was gone when she snapped something to him in Chinese. The only thing I could extinguish was my name in her many Chinese words. I looked up at Luhan who turned his head to me. We looked at each other for a brief moment before he stared at his father. Mrs Lu continued talking to him more calmly and her voice cracked as she said one word I knew: ai, which meant love in Chinese. Then she said my name again. I decided to look down at the floor since I felt Mrs Lu’s hurt expression might push me into brutal weeping. She mentioned my name and love. Is she referring to Luhan’s love for me? Does she want him to think of me before he speaks again? My thoughts were interrupted by Luhan, his voice firm, yet fragile at the same time.

“I’m not going back to China with you. I don’t want your ing company! You cannot honestly ing believe that I would rather accept the company than to stay together with Ra Hael! There is nothing I want there anymore. I have found my happiness here. I want to stay here, and I’m going to stay here! I love her and I won’t let you take her away from me!” My jaw dropped as Luhan took my hand in his own, gripping it so tight that I could feel the wedding ring press against my skin, surely making a smaller mark. His father tried to make him choose between me and the company? And Luhan chose me? My lip began to tremble. Luhan, don’t...

“You are making a huge mistake choosing her over us, my son. We are your parents! We have provided you with all the things you own!” his father yelled.

“And yet you’ve failed to give me the only thing a child needs: love and time!” Luhan yelled back. “All my life I’ve spent more hours waiting for you to come home than actually being with you! Meanwhile, my friends at school, who weren’t as rich as we were, had their fathers to talk to, play with and were able to feel their love! I don’t believe that you have loved me for even a second if it hasn’t been beneficial for you, father. And I can promise, if you had spent just an hour with me when I was a child you would’ve known how much I hate being rich! It is a ing curse! Because you have no real friends; you have no parents who care about you more than money: you are ing alone!” It got quiet after that, like all the air had been out through every creak in the enormous mansion, and taken the sound with it. Then, a small sob broke the silence. My eyes went straight to Mrs Lu where she sat and my heart broke upon seeing the tears roll down her cheeks in a continuous stream. I could feel Luhan’s hand squeeze mine, signalling he wasn’t done talking quite yet. “You wanna know why I turned to drugs, alcohol and pointless two years ago? Do you want to know why I wasted two whole years of my life to meaningless ?” Mr Lu glared at him, his eyes like canons ready to fire.

“I already know, son. Because you didn’t get to marry that girl you loved so much,” Mr Lu replied. Luhan shook his head. “