Long time no update! Please make sure to reread the last few chapters if you need a refresher ^^

I feel like I've swallowed a boulder. My throat dries up.

"What?"

The girl takes a shaky breath. "This...everything is going to take a while for me to explain. But like you said, I trust you. Bare with me, okay, Lo?" She asks. Hearing my nickname pulls at my heartstrings in familiarity despite the tense atmosphere and I nod with a small smile.

"Sure."

She closes her eyes, inhaling through her nose as she gets her bearings. We both take a seat.

"My birth name is Han Cora. My biological father, Han Jaedon, is founder and CEO of Orion International. I'm sure you've heard of it," she starts. I have. A Fortune 500 company headquartered right on Wall Street, Orion International is known for it's sophisticated, elite computer software and programming.

"Well, Orion isn't what it seems. It didn't get to where it is now just because of good entrepreneurship. It's a cover for illegal business. Black market activity, gang relations."

A sinking feeling fills my chest. She's just launched into her explanation and I don't know if I want to hear anymore. But this is my best friend, whoever she may be, and she deserves to have someone who will listen.

She takes my silence as a response and continues, an acidic, hateful tone to her voice that I've never heard before. "My father got greedy, was seduced into the whole ordeal through the wealth and power that comes with. Smuggling firearms, drugs, human and illegal organ trafficking, hacking, threatening and exploiting other companies to keep quiet, you name it. Orion has done all that and more." She pauses, slowly shaking her head and tears fall from her eyes in great drops.

"My father didn't give two s about the kind of life he was subjecting me to. Hell, he even encouraged me to get involved in his twisted affairs so he could make some extra cash. I've seen unspeakable things. I was forced into this life and it's a life I never wanted." Her shoulders start to shake as her words tumble past trembling lips.

"When I turned ten, my mother took me and fled. We actually made it pretty far. She put me under PICA, or the Protection of Involuntary Criminal Association. It's an organization that gives new lives to those who want to escape the crime world through their involvement with family ties," the light in her eyes fades and her gaze stays fixed on her shoes. She looks so fragile, so vulnerable. I want to reach out and touch her but my body won't move, won't obey my brain. "My mother was killed that afternoon. The police said it was a freak accident but I knew better. She was murdered." Her voice breaks and this time I do put a comforting hand on her knee as I feel my own eyes prickle. She smiles weakly up at me.

"So, I was given a new name, a new identity, I was placed into a new family and started over," she lifts up her head, clearing , "and that's when I met you, Lola."

We both laugh breathlessly, the memory coming back in a flood. It had been a sunny, spring afternoon. A new student had entered the class, and being the only child to come in over halfway through the year, they had had no one to play with, no friends.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"I'm Remi. You?"

"My name is Lola. You wanna play?"

A comfortable silence follows, only broken by the sounds of our sniffling. She takes another breath, more composed this time. "I left my old life behind, but I still kept tabs on Orion. After my mom died, I used the small fortune she left me to buy their stock and became the primary shareholder." She looks up at me and the corner of lifts up in a slight smirk, "since you're the English major, I'll explain what that means. I technically have the power to denounce my own father from the board of directors, or at least, I've tried to. There's a lot of minority protections now that limit what the primary shareholder can and can't do in regards of making sure one person is not too powerful and oppressing the say of other stockholders. The gangs that operate under Orion were smart enough to buy their own stock to become minority shareholders so they can rebutt every resolution I try to pass."

"Your identity is safe though, right?" I ask her softly, "they don't know it's you?"

"Right," she nods, "but they know the CEO has a daughter. As far as they're concerned, the primary shareholder is Kim Remi, a promising Economics major that happened to play her cards right." Her gaze catches the glint of a diamond ring lying on the floor and I follow her eyes. I see her fingers curl against her thighs, digging into her sweats.

"Which is how I realized Wonshik's proposal is all a scam. Everything, everything was a lie." She whispers and she bites her lip. "There was a small voice in the back of my head that told me something was off, but I didn't listen. I thought he was different, that there was no possible way he could be one of them. I...I-I really did," she looks up at me, voice cracking, "Marrying him means he'd have easier access to my stock since we'd be sharing the same name. If he gets my shares, he'd also get the power that comes with being the primary shareholder and VIXX will have total freedom. Orion will be unstoppable. That’s the only reason he proposed. He's using me and I loved him. I just wanted to be done and nine years later, here I am, back in this underworld. It's like some sick, twisted game to them, the gangs. Who will finally get Kim Remi's shares? Who will be daddy's favorite?"

A choked sob bubbles from her chest and I pull her into my arms. Hot tears soak into my t-shirt as her walls finally crumble and she breaks down. This girl, Cora, Remi has been through utter hell and back. Left to rot by her own father, her mother, her protector, killed. Forced to endure pain, death, and paranoia that plagued every moment of her adolescent life, bearing all these hardships alone and then to be completely relocated and act as if nothing ever happened. And she’s thanking me for being that annoying, over enthusiastic kid on the playground.

"I'm so sorry I never told you any of this," she whispers, "I completely understand if you're mad and never want to see me again. I lied to you for all these years, but your friendship is the only thing to me that's ever been real in my ed up life, Lo."

I shake my head, a whimper pulled from my throat. "Are you crazy? How could I ever be upset with you?" I draw back to swipe my fingers beneath my eyelashes, brushing away fresh tears, "is it okay if I still call you Remi?"

Remi chuckles. The air in the room feels less stuffy. "You can call me whatever you like." She wipes at her cheeks as well and reties her hair. "After that taxi exploded, I knew I was back in the thick of it and that something must have happened back at Orion. The gangs are getting desperate if they're pulling stunts that big."

"Why? What happened?"

"There's most likely been a shift in control, a power vacuum which can only mean one thing. There was an assassination attempt on my father. Not that this is the first time, far from it. At least, one where it left a total free-for-all. Let's just say my father isn't the best at making friends." Her jaw clenches and she flicks on the TV to diffuse tension. There's a late night comedy show on due to the hour and the stale sound of a laugh track fills the room, ambient background noise. Remi's eyes glisten with tears, lashes fluttering to look up at me.

"I'm just..I don't know what else to do besides apologize. I'm so sorry for roping you into all of this, Lola. You’re the last person I ever wanted to get involved. You don't deserve any of this.” She whispers. I run my fingers through her hair in comfort, soothing words in her ear.

The same way I have done for years. The same way I did when she flunked the AP World History Exam despite the sleepless nights spent studying. That one summer afternoon when she ended up with seven stitches and a busted lip after we decided to repaint her bedroom mint and baby blue, a slippery ladder and our youthful cockiness, too proud to hire professionals. That time back in middle school when Dean Kencade had broken her heart on Valentine's Day.

This time is no different.

"And neither do you. Don't worry. We'll be okay," I promise her, though I'm honestly completely and utterly terrified for our safety. I don't let it show, my protective instincts taking over. "I won't leave you. Besides, everything works when we're together, remember?"

She laughs breathlessly, nodding.

"You're right."

Next chapter is coming soon! I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys, what do you think?