I was sitting on the garden swing. Watching as the trio of Diego, Noah and Eveline played badminton.

"Big brother, can I play too?" I asked for the fifth time. I wanted to play with them.

"I thought I told you to wait for your turn," Diego shot me an annoyed gaze.

"But I have been waiting for an hour already!" I whined. When would my turn come? It will be dark soon.

"Alright, you can join us if you have a racket of your own." Diego smirked at me.

"Really? Thank you!" I hopped down in excitement. Stephen had bought me a new racket last week. He even taught me how to play in his free time.

"Am I in your team?" I asked Diego. Eveline and Noah had teamed up against Diego. I don't know why they made me wait when they were already short of a player.

"Yeah." Diego nodded. I went to his side at his signal.

But as soon as I reached his side, Diego snatched the racket from my hand.

I watched horrified as he threw it to the ground and started stomping on it. I tried to stop him but Noah held me back, laughing.

"Oops, you can't play anymore." Diego stopped only after making sure it couldn't be fixed anymore.

"I'll complain to Stephen," I cried, holding my broken racket.

"He's not going to believe you. Its your word against three of us." Noah spoke. They had already resumed playing again, ignoring me, like always.

I knew he was right.

No one would believe me. For them I was only a liar portrayed by these three even though I never once had lied.

... ... ...

I woke up in a bad mood. I hated having flashbacks of memories I didn't want to remember.

I remember what happened after that.I went through my threat of complaining to Stephen despite knowing the consequences.

But like Noah had warned, it backfired on me. They told Stephen they let me play and when I couldn't hit the shots I became angry and broke my racket. They had tried to stop me but I didn't listen.

I'm sure Diego made up the story. The rest of them didn't have that much creativity. Stephen believed them obviously. So instead of scolding them, he grounded me for a week for lying and breaking things.

I stopped complaining to Stephen after that day. I had already learnt my lesson.

I had woken up later than usual. It was already time for breakfast.

Today's breakfast was pancakes. My eyes went to Kai who was sitting in the corner stool eating his portion.

Was he really detached with everyone like Eve said?

Feeling my stare, Kai stopped eating, "What?"

"Can you pass me the syrup?" I asked even though the syrup was far from him.

I didn't expect him to actually give me the syrup but he quietly stood up, went to the other side of the kitchen aisle, grabbed the syrup and passed it to me.

"Thanks."

He didn't respond. I wanted to prolong the conversation, verify what Eve had said about him hurting from my absence.

But I wasn't brave enough to confront him about the past. I don't think I'll ever be.

... ... ...

When Stephen told me he wanted to take me shopping, I wasn't expecting this.

"Pack this."

"This, too."

"This colour will suit Aylin. Pack it."

"Those, too."

"Don't forget these."

He was practically buying everything in the shop. If I touched a dress or even stared at it for more than a second, he would ask the shop assistants to pack them.

I mean I knew he was rich but spending so much in a day seems a bit too wasteful. I didn't even like most of the stuff he bought.

I thought he would stop after a while. But even after buying 20 pairs of shoes, dresses and what not, he showed no signs of stopping.

"I'm tired. Can we take a break?" I asked, honestly exhausted.

Stephen turned back to look at me, he was ordering the shop assistant to pack the necklace he thought would compliment my eyes. "Yes. Let's take a break."

After commanding his bodyguards to send the shopping bags home, he lead me to a food court.

"What do you want to order?" Stephen asked, handing over the menu to me.

I scanned it to find only fast food in it. But why were they so expensive? "Chocolate Mocha," I pointed to the least expensive item on the menu.

"What else?" Stephen prodded.

"Just the drink will do."

"Ezra tells me you like junk food."

"I'm not that hungry."

Stephen sighed before standing up and ordering for us. The food arrived shortly after. The chocolate mocha was just as delicious as I had hoped.

"Help me finish it." Stephen pushed the pizza he ordered towards me.

The pizza was indeed too big for him to finish alone, so I gladly took a slice.

Why did everything I eat taste so delicious?

After eating we went to a few more shops. I protested because Stephen had already bought way more than necessary. I don't think I will have to buy anything for the next two years.

... ... ...

Stephen had dropped me home before leaving for work.

I went to my room to find everything we bought already laid out in my bed.

Deciding to open them later, my eyes zeroed on the book on my nightstand.

Picking it up I went to the library where I was sure I would find Kai. As expected he was sitting on the sofa reading a different book today.

"Why are you smoking in a closed room?" I asked, opening the windows to let the smoke out.

"None of your business."

"I brought the book back." I placed the book in the small table infront of him.

"I don't want to read it anymore." He said. His eyes hadn't wavered once from the book in his hand.

"Don't you want to know who the killer is?" I asked. The story was about a group of people trapped in a island. One of them was the killer who would kill one person every week. They had to catch him to survive. They failed though. When the killer killed his last victim,he shot himself in the head and killed himself, too. No one came out alive from that island.

"I already know. Its James." Kai yawned. The book in his hand must be boring.

"It's not him," I lied taking a seat beside him. How did he even know?Did he skip to the last page?

"Tsk. See what I will do if you are lying." He closed the book he was reading and picked up the detective book I placed in the table.

I wasn't scared of the threat. Instead I felt the corner of my lips rise a little. I wanted to stay with him a little longer. So I picked up the book Kai just put aside and started reading it.

"Did you cut your hair because of me?" Kai asked after twenty minutes of silence, still looking at his book.

"Yeah, do you like me now?" I asked, quietly. All that just to win his love. It would be really disappointing if he still said no.

"Don't do something like this next time. I love you regardless of what you do or look like."

He didn't say anything after that. But my head was exploding. Did he really just say he loves me?

I didn't mishear it, right?

"Can you say that again?" I asked not believing my ears.

"You heard me the first time."

I tried to make him repeat it again but he refused to comply.

But it still wouldn't change the fact that today was the best day ever.