Main characters featured in this chapter:

♡━━━ January | Mina’s PoV ━━━♡

“We have reached an agreement with them and think it would benefit both of our families if you two got married.”

And with that, just a simple sentence was enough to ruin a perfect day I had with Nayeon and I could feel my heart shattering as it fell to the ground.

A/N: This is a picture of Mina's family, to help with visualization.

“I… I’m sorry, w-what?” I asked with my trembling voice, fear taking over my entire being and making my head spin around in circles.

My mother was speaking again, but I couldn’t register it anymore, as all I heard was a piercing sound inside my ears that sounded much like a train whistle. They wanted me to marry someone I didn’t even know, simply because it would benefit them.

It all came down to this. To my parents, I was nothing but an asset. Something they could negotiate to increase their fortune. Just as I feared all along. But why was this happening now, when I finally found something worth living for?

Tears were spilling down my eyes. My entire body began shaking and my chest ached so much that it felt like someone was ripping it apart.

“I can assure you that he is a fine young man,” said my mother, whose eyes surprisingly seemed to show some kind of pity. “He’s your friend’s brother, so you’ll become family.”

Something snapped inside of me when she, out of all people, spoke of a family as something I would gain out of this. Any restraint I had out of respect to my parents vanished to give place to a fit of anger I never felt before.

“Family?” I slowly asked, nearly glaring at the woman who put me into the world. “What do YOU know about family?! All you’ve done since the day I was born was try to control my life!!”

My mother’s eyes widened in shock and my father’s ears were reddening, as his face made it clear he was upset with me. But right now, I couldn’t care less about what they thought of me.

“That is no way to speak to your mother!” My father sternly said, trying to remain calm as he drank more of his whiskey. “You will marry him, there is no discussion.”

“NO! You’ve controlled my life long enough!!” I said, my voice ominously starting to grow as I started crying, any ounce of good sense I had left vanishing. “I-I don’t want to marry him!”

“We’ve set up a meeting with him… at least try, you’ll see he’s a good man when you’ll meet him,” my mother said, almost pleadingly.

I shook my head in disbelief at what was happening. I somehow always expected my parents to try doing something like this, but now that it was actually happening, I couldn’t believe it.

“I have a girlfriend,” I said, challengingly looking at my parents, fully aware that they would lose their minds. But at this point, I had nothing to lose.

“What… what did you say…?” my father asked, his face full on red as if it was about to explode at any moment. My mother remained in silent, a shocked expression on her face and her eyebrows beginning to furrow.

“You heard what I said perfectly, father,” I retorted, and my father rose from the couch in anger.

“You will terminate whatever relationship you have with this girl!” He said with a voice that was clearly altered by alcohol and rage.

I let out a snarky laugh, not willing to believe what he was demanding. The tears that were now falling down were no longer of sorrow. I was crying because I was angry. “No… I love her,” I replied.

“I did not raise my daughter for such indecency! You will terminate your relationship with this girl immediately or you don’t have the privilege of calling this house yours own anymore!“ He threatened, his usually lifeless black orbs now showing only fury and disdain.

My mother instantly looked at him, her horrified eyes widened as she put her hands on his arms, weakly saying, “Kento, honey… don’t you think that is a bit too far?”

“Let me handle this, woman!” He argued, unleashing his arms from her grasp, his eyes fixed on me only.

“I don’t want any of your money or belongings! They never brought me happiness in the first place… you’ve neglected me for years, you thought that giving me material things would be enough!” I cried, the words that have been bottled up inside of me bursting out. “Well, guess what? I’ve been unhappy all these years! And when I finally find someone who brings me happiness you want to take her away from me?!”

Rushing to my side, my now teary-eyed mother hugged me out of the blue, completely contradicting any expectations I had of her. She held me so tight as if somehow it would make the pain go away. But it didn’t. It only made it worse.

“Let her go, Ayumi! We shouldn’t be tolerating this sort of behavior!” My father demanded, and she hesitantly let me out of her arms, and I thought I saw a glimpse of guilt in her eyes. “As for you, child… your insolence is unacceptable. Get out of my house. Now.”

So it’s come to this. I looked at my mother one more time before trying to compose my voice the most I could, saying, “Fine then.”

Without saying another word, I left the living room and went upstairs. I broke down on my bed, sobbing into my pillow until my stomach hurt. Never in my life had I felt so abandoned by my family, even when they weren't around most of the time.

My cat lied down by my side as if she could feel how much I was in