Time passed by quick and soon, the morning was over. Tiffany was up and ready to go, already standing by the main door with the other three women.

It was the same place that she had been kept in, but somehow, today felt different to her.

“Are you reluctant to leave now?” Sooyoung teased, noticing how quiet Tiffany became after her eyes darted around their surroundings and their friends.

Tiffany smiled lightly, “Maybe.” She replied back playfully.

“Well, you can miss us for all you want, but I think right now, it’d best for you to go back to your life,” Sooyoung patted her arm with an assuring smile.

My life, Tiffany repeated in her mind. It felt weird for her to say it. She wondered how it would actually be like once she goes back to how things were before all these happened.

“Yeah, I agree. Let’s get going before it gets too late,” said Yoona, already slightly pushing Tiffany’s shoulder so that the woman would walk instead of standing there unmoving.

They said their last goodbyes, had their hugs and then Yoona opened the door, letting light in and showing Tiffany what the outside of the mansion actually looked like.

It was totally not what she had imagined it to be. She thought that it would be dark, filled with dead and withered plants and some tombstones, but to her surprise, she found beautiful and colourful flowers surrounding the place and a huge striking fountain upfront.

“It feels strange, huh? Seeing the outside for the first time.”

Tiffany nodded wordlessly, still taking in what she was looking at.

As she took a step outside, sudden rush footsteps sounded behind them. She turned her head and witnessed Taeyeon slowing down from a run to stop in front of them.

“Tiffany…” Taeyeon breathed out.

It still felt weird for Tiffany to hear Taeyeon calling her name, but somehow, it was also soothing to her ears.

“Can I talk to you?” Taeyeon’s eyes darted to Yoona for a mere second before going back to Tiffany. “Alone.”

Yoona got the hint when Tiffany looked back at her. She nodded her head and pointed back at Sooyoung and Seohyun. “I’ll be there.”

“What is it?” Tiffany asked, noticing Taeyeon’s hands were shaking.

The blonde took a deep breath in. “I just want to say… that I’m sorry for everything that I’ve put you through.”

Tiffany had to hold in a gasp when she heard Taeyeon apologise to her. For once, she really saw how genuinely sorry Taeyeon looked.  

“I’m sorry for how I treated you. I know I did a lot of things that had upset you, and I didn’t mean for those to happen. I didn’t mean to make your life so unbearable and I apologise for that. But mostly, I’m sorry for hurting you.”

Taeyeon spoke in such a hurry that Tiffany had to listen carefully to catch every word that she said.

“I—Uhh—” Tiffany stammered, still in a daze at the realisation that this was the first time that Taeyeon had actually admitted something to her. Plus, the blonde had shown emotions from her words.

“I know it’s hard for you to forgive me, so I’m not trying to ask for forgiveness here. I just wanted to let you know—”

“I forgive you.”

Taeyeon’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “You forgive me?”

A smile slowly made its way to Tiffany’s face. She found it adorable at how surprised and shocked Taeyeon was. “Yes, I forgive you, Taeyeon. I admit, you did things that really hurt me from the inside out…” She noticed a faint frown from Taeyeon. “But, after last night, after how you had truly helped me, I’ve already forgiven you.”

“Just like that?”

“It’s as simple as that.” Tiffany confirmed. “So, do you think that we could actually be friends?”

The blonde hesitated for a bit, and Tiffany noticed it. “Of course.”

She grinned, her hand reaching out for Taeyeon to shake.

The blonde stared at the hand outstretched to her. She slowly lifted her own hand, already making her way to hold onto the brunette’s hand when a sudden voice stopped her.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me there’s a party here?”

Tiffany recognised the voice, and confirmed that it really was who she thought it was when she noted how tensed Taeyeon suddenly became.

“Viktor, what are you doing here?” She heard Seohyun asking, the two of them still standing at the same spot, with their hands already by their sides.

Tiffany didn’t have to be afraid. On the other hand, Taeyeon looked apprehensive, with her jaws clenched tightly like she was fuming. 

The blonde took one look at Tiffany before she made her choice to walk back into the mansion. “Viktor,” She called her brother who was grinning at her younger sister, with two servants standing by his sides.

“Oh! Even Taeyeon’s here!” He had a look of surprise on his face, instantly walking towards Taeyeon.

“Why are you here?”

“I should be the one asking that. I mean, you’re all just huddled here and I was wondering why so I came down.” He chuckled, but stopped when he saw the door wide open, a lone figure standing outside. It was someone that he didn’t recognised so immediately, it captured his attention and he wanted to know who it was.

He was about to head towards the stranger—the beautiful stranger with luscious brown hair—when Taeyeon stepped in front of him. “What—” He had an annoyed look. “Get out of my way, Taeyeon.”

“I can’t do that.” Taeyeon said unwaveringly, her tone cold and hard.

The three other women behind them all froze.

“Are you trying to defy me?” Viktor frowned. “Remember whose house is this and who just impressed Father.”

Taeyeon stood her ground, still not moving from her spot. She was determined to stop Viktor from getting to Tiffany no matter what.

“Are you really going to—” And that’s when he finally realised what was happening. A smirk slowly grew on his face. Taeyeon felt uncomfortable staring. “I’m guessing that’s Tiffany which is why you’re trying to stop me from heading there.”

“You said that you’d let her go.”

“I did say that, but I can take back my words anytime I want.”

Taeyeon’s body became rigid. Her breathing quickened.

“I wouldn’t have actually said what I did last night if I had actually met and saw her. You forgot to mention that she’s such a…” He his lip. “Gorgeous and exquisite human.”

“You told me that you’d let her go and I’ve already told Father about it.” Taeyeon spoke through gritted teeth.

“You told Father?”

“Yes.”

“And, did you forget to mention the fact that you’re actually letting her go home instead of making her stay by your side? Because from what I’ve heard, you only told Father that I’m letting you have her.

Taeyeon’s gaze shook. Viktor smirked, knowing that he had won.

“Tiffany?” He called out to the brunette who instantly spun her head to look at him. He smiled charmingly, “Can you come over for a while?”

Tiffany wavered. She didn’t want to go over to the man that nearly destroyed her life, but she knew she had no choice since no one was stopping her. So, step by step, she went back into the house.

“Tiffany, so I’ve heard about everything that Taeyeon told you.”

Not knowing what to say, the brunette kept quiet. Her eyes went over to Taeyeon who looked so dejected that her shoulders were slumped. She didn’t look over to her though, and that made Tiffany feel uneasy.

It can’t… It can’t be.

“I would like to say that there might have been some miscommunications between us, so, your stay here might actually be longer that you expect.”

Taeyeon slowly glance back at Tiffany. She could see how shattered the brunette must have felt just by looking at her eyes, at her slightly opened mouth and the look of hurt all over her face.

Tiffany opened but no words came out. She felt the need to defend herself, to scream about how much of a liar and hypocrite the man—no, the beast—in front of her was. But nothing. She couldn’t find the strength to.

“You can’t do that.”

The smirk from Viktor fell and got replaced by an annoyed look. He rolled his eyes and frowned at Taeyeon who went to Tiffany’s front and pushed her back, her hand holding onto the brunette’s wrist protectively.

At the contact, Tiffany broke out of her daze to stare at the back of Taeyeon’s head.

“You have no say in this, Taeyeon. She’s mine.”

Tiffany flinched when he growled but calmed down when Taeyeon squeezed her wrist softly as if to tell her that it was fine, that she was safe.

“Tiffany’s not yours. You said that you would let me have her last night. You said that you’d let her go. Or did you forget everything that you said, dear brother.”

The fire in Viktor’s eyes seemed to only burnt more in anger. He held up his hand and everyone in the room held their breath except for Taeyeon who continued to stare at him firmly.

As if realising what he was doing in front of others’ presence, he slowly let his hand down. He held out a finger and pointed at Taeyeon accusingly. “Watch your mouth, Kim Taeyeon, or you’re going to regret it.”

“What can you do about it?” Taeyeon challenged, her face inexpressive.

“You don’t get to decide anything. Father will be the one to decide who she’ll—”

“There’s something that you forgot again. I’ve already told Father about everything that you’ve said to me last night—including letting me have Tiffany. But I think that you’ve already known since you told me that earlier.”

The crease in between Viktor’s eyebrows deepened. “Father gave her to me as a gift. I can just request that I want her back.”

“Father doesn’t like people who goes back on their word, and I am affirmative that he wouldn’t do something that he doesn’t like either.”

His mouth opened, and then closed. A scowl appeared on his face as he jabbed Taeyeon’s shoulder with his finger. “I will not let this go.” His eyes went to Tiffany, “This isn’t over,” he said pointedly. Turning around, he stalked out of the room with the servants.

***

Tiffany had never felt so cold before. She was alone in the room, cold and lonely.

After Viktor had left them alone, Taeyeon took off all of a sudden, leaving without a word, without an explanation. Tiffany felt hurt at that time.

When her friends brought her back to the room, she kindly told them that wanted to be alone. As much as they didn’t want to let Tiffany be alone, they knew that she needed it.

And as she went back to the same old spot where she had cried for nights and nights, at that particular day, no tears came. Maybe, she thought, maybe she had already succumbed to her tragic fate.

A chuckle escaped her lips when she thought about how pathetic her life was. She felt incapacitated. There was no one that could help her, not even Taeyeon.

Yes, maybe Taeyeon did help her get out of Viktor’s grasp, but she was still bound to this place.

A thump suddenly resounded in the room. It startled Tiffany and took her a moment before she registered that someone was knocking the door.

She untangled herself from her limbs before standing on her feet. She hesitated at inviting the person outside in. What if it was Viktor? Then nobody could really help her at this point since she was all alone.

“W—who is it?” She hated that her voice trembled.

“Taeyeon.” The reply came instantaneously.

Tiffany let out the breath that she had been unknowingly holding in. She approached the door and opened it.

A gasp immediately came out from her parted lips. Taking in the sight of a large and obvious purple bruise on Taeyeon’s right cheekbone and her chapped and bleeding lips, Tiffany quickly pulled Taeyeon in, not leaving any room for her to speak before she pushed the blonde to sit on her bed.

Tiffany went to retrieve a towel from her wardrobe and wet it in the bathroom before she sat beside Taeyeon. “What happened?” She asked as she gently dabbed the towel onto Taeyeon’s bruised lips to clean off the blood.

Taeyeon flinched at the contact, but it wasn’t because of the pain, it was because of how gentle Tiffany was attending to her injury. “I… fell.”

Tiffany’s movement stopped. Her hand hovered above Taeyeon’s lips, eyes glaring at the calm and poised woman who was clearly lying. How could someone incur such an injury from falling?

“Don’t give me bull, Taeyeon.”

The blonde raised an eyebrow at Tiffany’s reaction. “It’s nothing.”

Tiffany looked into Taeyeon’s eyes. She felt her pulse quickened but resumed cleaning Taeyeon’s wound. “Is it Viktor?”

Taeyeon flinched again.

“It is, isn’t it? It’s because of me. It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Tiffany examined Taeyeon’s lips. After making sure that she cleaned off most of the dried blood, she placed her hand onto her lap, the towel beside her.

“Does your father know about this?” When Taeyeon shook her head, Tiffany widened her eyes. “Why don’t you tell him? Your brother’s abusing you!”

“I don’t want to cause more trouble. You can’t tell anyone about this. Not even Seohyun.” The blonde sounded almost desperate.

“Does this… Does it happen often?”

A pause. Taeyeon contemplated lying, but for some reason, the words left her lips before she could even think. “Sometimes. But there’s nothing to worry about.”

Tiffany thought that Taeyeon sounded ridiculous. How exactly was being abuse something that one shouldn’t be worried about? “And your sister doesn’t know?” A shake of head again. “How do you hide it from her?”

“The wounds usually heal after a few hours. This,” Taeyeon pointed at her face, “will heal in an hours’ time.”

“I don’t understand… How can you hide this?” Tiffany lifted her hand without thinking, her thumb sliding over Taeyeon’s lips gently. Noticing the sudden quietness surrounding them, Tiffany’s eyes went from the blonde’s lips to her eyes. Those eyes that were staring at her intensely the whole time.

They held one another’s gaze for a few seconds before Tiffany cleared and pulled away.

“You… You must promise me not to tell anyone about this. Not Sooyoung. Not Seohyun. Not Yoona. They can never find out.”

“I…” Tiffany faltered. When Taeyeon gave her a hardened look, she took in a deep breath, “I promise.” It came out more of a whisper. “Am I… the only one that knows?”

“…Yes.”

Although the answer was kind of expected, Tiffany still found herself surprised that Taeyeon had admitted. “You trust me.”

“I do. I…” Taeyeon wanted to tell how special Tiffany was. How she made her feel things that she hadn’t felt for so long. How she made her heart ache when she was hurting. And how her head would constantly be filled with her. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t express those feelings right now. She wasn’t capable of doing so.

“Tiffany.”

“Yes?”

“I need you to trust me too.” Taeyeon spoke softly. She placed a hand on Tiffany’s tentatively, “I’m sorry for what happened today, but I promise that I will not let anyone hurt you.”

Tiffany could see how honest Taeyeon was being. With a nod, she said it as genuine as she could, “I trust you.”

“Good. I…” Taeyeon pointed to the door. “I have to leave to take care of some stuffs now.”

“Of course.” Tiffany stood up alongside with Taeyeon although all she wanted was to pull the blonde back and talk more, to have her by her side a little longer.

“Taeyeon?” Tiffany called out after Taeyeon had taken a few steps away from the door.

The blonde turned around.

“Thank you.” A grateful smile was plastered on Tiffany’s lips. She watched as Taeyeon’s lips twitched a little before she actually smiled back at her.

With a nod, Taeyeon then walked away.

Tiffany was alone again, but this time, she didn’t feel as lonely as before. She couldn’t describe what she was feeling. She couldn’t describe what Taeyeon did had made her feel. But one thing she was sure about was that she really did trust Taeyeon, and that, she thought, was more than enough. 

A/N: omg I’m finally done with this chapter. Sorry for the wait guys!

But anyway, I see that some of you thought that Tiffany was gonna leave but nope c: and, taeny’s relationship is improving too! Thoughts about it? :)

I’ll see you guys on the next update then. Goodbye ^^