Her eyes. They were the exact eyes that used to stare at him with love and affection but now, they were colder than ice! When her enchanting chestnut brown eyes landed on him, they only showed contempt and disgust for him!

Alex Jo involuntary took a step backwards when he saw her looking at him with too much hatred! He shouldn't have asked her the question!

Nicole slowly rose from her seat with her gaze never leaving the man. Her gaze was so sharp that Alex felt like a dagger was planted straight to his heart.

"Do you have any right to ask me that question?" Nicole's voice was firm and colder than the chillest winter night.

"Nicole, I - "

"Don't say my name with that despicable mouth of yours!" She snapped. "It's so disgusting." She added sarcastically.

"I never know anything about you. You never said anything to me during that time." Alex muttered with his eyes glued to the floor.

Hearing him, Nicole stepped forward which made the man anxious. But she walked past him and locked the door to her office. The devil's men were planted among the security guards who were supposed to protect her. So, she didn't want their conversation to reach the devil's ears.

"Did you say that I never told you anything?" A smile out of despise formed in her lips. "Then what if I told you? Will things be any different?" She confronted Alex as she made her way to him.

Alex struggled for words to say. He knows that she was right but what could he possibly do? After hearing the story, the self-guilt which was always buried deep inside him became tenfolds stronger than before! The exact feeling suffocated him. "Please, Nicole. Don't say - "

"10 years." She grunted. "After suffering for 10 years in her hands, I finally got the chance to redeem my freedom. It was the only thing I used to wish during those 10 years! To be free from the chains that Garcia Han put on me!"

She walked closer and closer to Alex making him feeling more intimidated than before. "Do you know this, Alex? When I heard that your life was in danger, the freedom which I always longed for became the last thing I care about. I know that only hell awaited me yet I ran back like crazy. I let her overpowered me again, all for your safety!"

"Was that why you break up with me back then? To protect me?" Alex asked, mustering his courage.

"Just know this one. I regretted like crazy for saving you that day. I was a fool to give up my freedom for a scum like you!" She spatted each word, making her hatred for the man very obvious.

"I have no choice. I - "

"We all have a choice, Alex Jo. It was always one way or another. Saying that there is no choice is what a garbage like you always did. So, don't try to justify your sins by saying you don't have a choice. That's just your guilt-talking." She told him in a deadly low voice.

She observed his reaction keenly and smiled when she saw his face plastered with guilt. "Did you recall all the things that you had done to me?"

"Following Garcia Han orders, you made my life miserable throughout the past three years. You watched it when I was abused by her."

"Clearly knowing that I feared the darkness, you used to lock me up in that room where no light was visible at all!"

"You turned a blind eye to my sufferings and pleas! Even if everyone did that, you cannot!"

"Can you imagine just how much would I hate you? If I could ever went back to that day, I will let you die in her hands and I won't even care about it. That's how I hated you."

Hearing all the unforgivable crimes that he had committed, Alex's face turned pale. He stood frozen, unable to move or talk.

"Rather than standing here and showing me your disgusting face, return to your master and continue to live your life that way. You're just Garcia Han's dog." She picked up the telephone which was ringing for a while and her secretary informed her that her fiance was here.

Putting down the telephone, she simply glanced at Alex. "Leave. My fiance is here." Without waiting for his response, she walked to the door and opened it. Leon's calm face appeared on the scene.

Nicole returned to her desk with Leon following her behind. She frowned when she noticed that Alex was still standing there without moving at all. What's wrong with him?

Her frown didn't go unnoticed by her fiance's keen eyes who always observed her every move. He instantly understood that she was not pleased with the man's presence. When he looked at the man, he identified him as the step-mother's personal assistant.

Did the step-mother make things difficult for her again? His calm face darkened at the thought of it.

Barely hiding his thoughts, Leon turned his head to Nicole. "Is something wrong?" Come to think of it, he realized that the door was locked when he reached the office and he had never witnessed it being locked before.

"Nothing." Nicole tried her best to act normal. Then she turned her head to Alex. "I told you to leave." She repeated herself in a cold tone.

When Leon saw that the man was not moving at all, he rose from the couch where he was sitting and approach Alex. He stood before him and looked at him. "What do you think you are doing?" His voice was firm and powerful.

Alex stood still with his eyes glued to the floor which made the fiance very displeased. The latter roughly grabbed him on the collar, barely resisting the urge to use his fist. "Are you deaf?!" He hissed.

"Leon," Nicole called her fiance, shooking her head. She didn't care about the possibility of Alex being beaten up but she didn't want violence to occur in her office.

Tightening his grip on Alex's collar, Leon roughly withdrew his hands all at once; the shake on his body aroused Alex from his stupor.

He glanced at Nicole who was staring at him with an irritated face. "The Minister of Justice wants you to have dinner with her." He could barely utter the words.

Seeing the anxiousness on Nicole's face, Leon immediately stepped in. "Tell the Minister that Nicole has plans with me tonight. A loving mother won't get in the way of her daughter's date. Am I right?" A mockery smile appeared on his lips.

Meeting the fiance's confident demeanor, Alex can't help but back out. "I will relay that to her." Realizing about the acquaintance being hospitalized, he understood right away that he can't question her In the presence of this man.

As such, Alex bowed and reluctantly left the office.....