"I can't do this anymore! I really can't."

Shadow was almost on the verge of collapsing on the ground in the middle of a public place. The only thing that was keeping him from doing exactly that was his worry about ruining his image in front of everyone.

"Come on, Shadow. These rides are not really that scary and you have only been to a few so far. There's so much more to enjoy. Plus, you need to remember that you are the one responsible for these children." Emily reminded the man only to be ignored completely.

She made a pouting face but then turned around to signal her assistant to take the children to the Icecream booth.

Once all the children went away with her driver and assistant to enjoy their ice creams, she returned her attention towards the man who was now sitting on a bench next to a little fountain.

She observed him from afar for a few moments as she tried to read his emotions. But it was not really that easy to read the Supreme Sire. He was always on guard even though most of the time he appeared totally opposite.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she realized that her master plan probably failed poorly. She walked towards the bench and settled beside him before asking, "Are you alright?"

Her voice was soft and so were her expressions. She could clearly see that he was really not thrilled about spending any more time in the amusement park.

As Shadow registered her presence beside him, he too turned his face to look at the girl sitting next to him. As he saw the worry in her eyes, he immediately felt himself relaxing a little. He also realized that the children were no longer present there.

"I just don't think that an amusement park is a place for me. And you can see that I know nothing about how to take care of kids." He finally replied to her question as he slumped more on the bench, letting his head rest against the backrest of the bench.

"It's my fault. I wanted to bring you here so that you can finally enjoy some time away from your daily tiring schedule. I should not have listened to you." Emily admitted as she took one of Shadow's hands in her own before turning her body completely to face him.

"Sorry..."

She muttered with a genuine apology written on her face.

"It's alright. No hard feelings.....and thanks for thinking about me. But you don't need to do that at all. I'm completely content with being your friend and companion. The other things are not made for me," Shadow said as he patted her head softly and gave her a rare soft smile. Or maybe it was rare for everyone else but he had been smiling genuinely for the past five years whenever he's around his Princess.

Emily did not reply as her mind was filled with the thoughts of the words that he had just spoken.

All that she wanted to do was to make him realize that life was really not that bad if he decided to not give up on it. If someone like her could find hope and happiness after going through such dark moments, then she believed that there was always hope for others too.

But no matter how hard she tried to help Shadow, she kept failing badly. It was as if his will of giving up on his life was far much stronger than her wish of seeing him happy for the rest of his life.

"Why are you frowning like that?"

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Shadow asked the question as he softly rubbed her head.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about how am I going to handle my brothers." Emily decided to change the topic as she knew that she would need to think deeply about the matter before trying anything else.

"Domenic is probably not angry anymore but I'm not a hundred percent sure about that. As for the others....."

She trailed off as she recalled her meeting with her brothers in the past few days. Not even a single one was filled with happiness. She knew that she deserved their anger and she was also aware that she had hurt them all very badly but that did not mean she was happy about how cold they were acting towards her.

She was suddenly missing their love and warmth more than usual. She was feeling homesick. All that she wanted to do was to be with her brothers and talk to them for hours.

"Want any help?" Shadow asked when he noticed the sadness that had suddenly appeared in her beautiful emerald eyes.

Emily immediately shook her head in denial as she sighed softly and replied with a soft smile playing on her lips, "Nah! I want to do this on my own. I'll make up for my stupidity and make them open up once again."

Her words sounded like a promise that she was making to herself and she knew that she won't stop before achieving her goal.

"That's like my Princess."

Shadow cheered as he smiled at the twinkle that had appeared in her eyes. He liked how confident and strong she had become in the past four years. She had started believing in herself.

"You two are hanging out and no one invited me. I'm feeling kind of sad."

A very familiar voice was heard, making both Emily and Shadow turn towards the handsome CEO who was standing a few feet away from them.

"Kaiden."

Shadow gave a nod to the man as he stood up and turned to look at Emily as he spoke, "I'm going to get drinks for the three of us. Will be back soon."

Emily nodded her head and watched as his silhouette disappeared in the crowd that was present around a cotton candy stall.

A small gasp left her lips when suddenly she was made to turn her face towards Kaiden who was now sitting beside her on the bench. One of his hands was holding her chin while the other ended up taking hold of one of her hands.

Her eyes stared back into the cerulean globes that were so alluring that she just wanted to forget about everything and get lost in them. And as her gaze traveled down to his nose and then finally to his parted lips, she felt her throat drying up as the memories of their first kiss returned.

She did not even realize that her breathing had changed and it stopped the moment she felt his face inching closer to hers.....so so close...!