“I agree.”

Kiara felt like she was in a dream. She had no clue in what direction she was walking , and when Henry lead her to the main entrance of the hotel.

“Are you alright?” Henry’s voice felt like it was coming from very far away.

“I’ll live.” Kiara heard herself say.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” She heard Henry say, for perhaps the twentieth time. Kiara had lost count after the fifth or sixth time.

“She should be alright now, shouldn’t she?” Kiara asked for the first time since they left the suite.

“I don’t know.” She heard Henry answer, “I don’t really trust my father.”

“No, we agreed to his condition! He shouldn’t…he shouldn’t…” Kiara’s voice began to shake and she began to tremble from head to foot.

“Kiara?” Henry caught her shoulder to steady her, “Kiara, are you okay?”

His eyes went wide as Kiara began to gasp for breath and clutched at her chest painfully. Her eyes filled with tears and her breaths came in short painful gasps as she tried to get a coherent word out.

“She….no….don’t….don’t do it…” she gasped, clawing at her chest, her knees buckling under her.

“Kiara!” Henry exclaimed, horrified, as she collapsed, unconscious in his arms, “Kiara! Help! Kiara, wake up! Somebody, help!”

“KIARA!?”

Henry looked up from Kiara to see a concerned looking young man running towards them followed by a girl. As they came closer, Henry identified the girl to be Yoora.

“Yoora-ssi!” Henry exhaled with relief as Yoora knelt down beside him and took Kiara from him onto her lap.

“What happened to her?” the young man with Yoora asked.

“Who are you?” Henry asked, defensively.

“Henry-ssi.” Yoora called him, panicking, “What happened to her?”

Henry sighed and rubbed his face with his palms.

“Can we take her to your place first, Yoora-ssi?” Henry then asked, “There is a lot to tell.”

“So, your father has your girlfriend hostage?” the young man who had identified himself as Lee Donghae, Yoora’s elder brother, asked.

Henry nodded silently as he gratefully accepted a mug of hot chocolate from Yoora.

“And he wants the wedding to take place in two days’ time?” Donghae frowned. Henry sighed miserably and nodded again.

“But what about all the preparations for the wedding?” Yoora asked. Henry shrugged in a frustrated manner, as he put down the mug of hot chocolate and buried his face in his palms.

“Um…this might not be a very good time to ask this…” Yoora began hesitantly, “But, what exactly does your father intend to do with your girlfriend?”

She recoiled a little as she saw Henry’s bloodshot eyes when he looked up at her.

“I don’t know what he intends to do to her.” He said, hoarsely, looking at his hands, “I don’t know to what extents my father will go. But I do know that the farthest extent that he can go to is to have her killed. Get rid of her once and forever. Because it has happened before, in elite families like ours. It has happened before.”

Getting no reaction from Donghae or Yoora, he looked up to see them looking at him like he had just confirmed their worst fears.

“You guys don’t seem very surprised.” He said, looking questioningly from Yoora to Donghae.

“I thought… I thought it would be different now.” Yoora whispered, her eyes frightened and helpless.

“Nothing much seems to have changed between then and now.” Donghae said grimly.

“What are you on about?” Henry asked, confused. Donghae shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes, there seemed to be fire blazing in them.

“Henry-ssi, there is a reason why Kiara reacted like she did. Why she agreed to your father’s brazen deal and why she freaked out that your father might not keep his word.” He said, gravely, “Didn’t you think it was odd that she agreed so easily?”

“I thought…I…” Henry looked completely taken aback.

“Kiara has experienced what happens when things don’t go according to what they want.” Donghae continued, “She has been through the anguish of losing someone very close to her because of someone like your father and her father.”

“What happened?” Henry asked, hoarsely. Yoora already looked ready to burst into tears.

“Kiara was only seven years old. She was a quiet, shy kid. Didn’t make friends very easily. It’d been around a year and few months that she’d moved into our neighbourhood. We were probably the only people she was even a little close to.” Donghae narrated. Henry nodded to show he was following.

“It was around then the Kim family had a small addition. A new housekeeper and her three year old daughter. The lady was very nice to Kiara and gave her the time and attention that her parents could not give her. Kiara naturally grew very close to her. Very close. Clos