[Music Recommendation: "Tiptoe Thru The Tulips" by O'Neill Brothers (instrumental only)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

I thought walking towards my dad for the first time in this lifetime felt like the longest walk of my life—turns out, this was longer. And I wasn't even walking! I was being carried like a princess! By Kaiden! THE Kaiden Ma—aka the handsome genius—aka the heir of Red Dragon Holdings! My heart beat so fast and loud in my chest to the point that he's probably hearing it, or feeling it. Ugh… I felt so embarrassed. Plus the fact that his twin sister followed us and kept taking pictures. I could hear the shutter sound from her phone.

I asked Kaiden to let me down a dozen times but he didn't listen. He carried me out of the venue, towards the elevator, went down, and stopped at the 5th floor. I wondered where he was taking me. To my surprise, he brought me towards… a clinic? Wait—there's a clinic in this hotel? With its own personal doctors and nurses? Wow! Red Dragon Hotel really upholds its name! Most hotels didn't have any on-site clinics in them.

I marvelled as I saw what's inside the clinic. It was a neat and comforting design. There were smaller rooms inside where beds for patients were ready in case of emergency. All the usual hospital equipment was there, too—it could be a small hospital on its own. Truly amazing. A nurse quickly assisted us towards a room where a doctor sat on a table, prepared to assist a patient, which in this case was probably me.

"It's nothing serious, Kaiden," I told him as he carefully sat me down on a comfy chair in the doctor's office. "Probably just a minor sprain."

He paused before answering me, "Right. I'm just using you as an excuse to escape the event, remember?"

I opened my mouth, ready to rebut that… but then again, he couldn't possibly fool me with that. He's just too kind to admit it. And there was no need for an argument trying to prove I'm right. Thinking that, I ended up chuckling instead. He's the same Kai I had been talking to for months, right? There was no mistaking it. That voice, the way he talked, and his kindness that you could easily mistake for sweetness, plus the subtle teasing earlier—it was all him. I still couldn't believe I'm finally meeting him in the flesh. We were supposed to meet but I didn't expect it would be this soon.

"So," a confident sounding voice spoke behind me, "is she your girlfriend?"

It was his twin sister. The moment she said that, my eyes widened in surprise.

"N-no… I'm just—" I stuttered, wanting to correct her.

"Get lost," Kaiden grunted and rolled his eyes. Wow. I didn't expect he'd say something like that. Well, I guess this could be considered a different form of closeness between siblings.

"Hah! I knew it! And you've been keeping it a secret from all of us!" the gorgeous sister said as she pointed her fingers towards Kaiden as if accusing him.

I looked at Kaiden, trying to signal him to correct his sister but he didn't bother. Instead, he just sat on the chair beside me, and crossed his arms, looking disgusted and uninterested in talking to her. Due to that, she turned to me. Oh no. She'd probably interrogate me.

"Hello there, pretty lady," she greeted. Then, she held out her hand for a shake and said, "I'm Crystal Ma. Nice to meet you."

I looked back at her and unconsciously stared at her immense beauty. Dang. She's really so beautiful. Looking at her felt like looking at a celebrity in person.

"N-nice to meet you, too. I'm Senara Lee." I reached out my hands to shake hers as I tried to stand. "And I'm his friend not a—"

"Don't stand. You sprained your ankle!" she reprimanded, making me unable to finish my sentence. Turning to the doctor, she commanded, "Hey you! Check her ankle already. Are you just going to sit there?"

She's a feisty one. The doctor immediately tended to my slightly swollen ankle. Poor doctor, being scolded by someone younger than him. She shouldn't be too rude, though. Maybe it's a rich kid trait? Or maybe this was what Kaiden meant when he said her sister was a bully?

"They're not servants at home, don't scold him," Kaiden butted in. Yeah! Go tell her! That wasn't really nice to do.

"He wasn't attending to your woman, my dumb brother. You should be the one reprimanding him but oh no, you didn't. So I had to do it."

"We're talking so of course he's being polite and not interrupting us."

Uh-oh… They're arguing… in front of me. I would have to agree with Kaiden though.

"Uhm, it's okay. It's nothing serious anyway so please, don't fight," I tried to mediate them, despite my lack of experience in that area.

To my luck, their argument continued. Kaiden sighed a couple of times trying to reason with Crystal but she was stubborn, refusing to yield. If only someone would step in and stop them from arguing.

Like God answered my prayers—and fast—my dad came rushing in from the front door of the clinic.

"Senara! Are you alright?" he ran towards me with a worried-stricken face.

Great timing dad!

Surprised by his sudden appearance, the twins stopped arguing. I sighed of relief afterwards and beamed in joy. I wasn't really good with arguments nor having people argue before me.

"Yes, dad, I'm fine. It's just a minor sprain."

"Really? Thank goodness."

Dad looked at the twins alternately. I knew what he was thinking.

"They're the Ma twins— Kaiden, and Crystal," I introduced them to dad. "And you wouldn't believe it dad, but remember the in-game friend I met in Armageddon?"

"Yeaahh…" he agreed with his eyes fixed on Kaiden. I swear, this girlfriend-boyfriend misunderstanding was killing me. I hope that's the case but NO—for the nth time.

"It's him!" I pointed to Kaiden. "He's Grim Reaper!"

Dad continued to stare to Kaiden while Kaiden politely introduced himself and bowed his head. At first, I thought dad was assessing him like how fathers assess their daughter's lover… but then, instead of that, his expression leaned more in "pondering" and "uncertainty". Unable to read his mind, I remained still and quiet. Until… dad asked a weird question.

"You… are you the one who—"