The gate was open and we were about to enter the vicinity when my two bodyguards suddenly fell down the ground.

"What's happening?! Are you both okay?!" I panicked and check on them. I screamed in horror when I noticed the blood that was coming out of their bodies as they groaned in pain. Looked like someone shot them using a gun with suppressor.

I quickly took my phone from my pocket and was about to call the police again when I saw someone emerged from the dark, approaching me. It was obvious that it was a guy but I couldn't recognize his face because he was wearing a black helmet. Then, I saw the gun that he was holding.

I was right. It was a gun with a suppressor. He was the one who shot my two bodyguards.

"W-Who are you?" I asked with a trembling voice but I tried not to succumb in fear. He didn't answer as if he didn't hear my question.

He continued coming closer to me and every step that he was taking was adding to my fear. Even though I didn't want it to control me, seeing the gun that he was holding was enough for me to get overwhelmed by intense fear.

I turned my back on him and was about to run away, taking my chances, but he managed to catch up to me and grabbed me by my wrist before pulling me roughly towards him.

"Let go of me! Help!" I screamed but looked like he got pissed off. He punched me on my stomach which took all my strength away. I felt like losing consciousness as I fell on the ground.

I tried to scream for help but I didn't have enough strength anymore. I panicked even more when he lifted me up onto his arms and carried me towards a black car.

"N-No...Let me go..." I tried to protest but he didn't listen. Inside of me, I was hoping for the police to arrive soon because I already called them before arriving here, but until he opened the car, not a single soul came. I didn't even hear any siren from them. He put me down onto the backseat and was about to close the door when we heard a voice.

"Let go of my daughter!" My eyes widened. That was surely my mother. He quickly pointed his gun towards them to eliminate them and the fear within me doubled. This time, my fear was for my mom.

"D-Don't..." I tried to get up and was about to kick him but he already pulled the trigger. I felt like my heart stop beating. I wanted to get out of the car to go to my mother but I didn't have enough strength, not to mention that he was blocking my way.

Then, the guy hurriedly closed the door, quickly got into the driver's seat and then drove off. I tried my best to see what was happening behind us and I felt relieved when I saw my mother and her guards got into the car to follow us.

Looked like no one among them got shot.

"W-Who are you?! Let me out of here! The police are surely going to come after you so you should surrender yourself now!" I tried to open the door but it was locked. I felt so scared but I knew that I should do something to get out of there as soon as possible before he could do something bad to me.

Even though I was scared, I should fight for my life with all my might. If I only agreed to take martial arts before, at least, I could probably try to fight him. But it was too late to regret that now. I'm already in this dangerous situation.

I looked around, trying to find something I could use to fight him but there was nothing. I still felt so weak and I knew that if I'd fight him physically, he would easily kill me. He was pointing the gun at me with his left hand while his right hand was on the steering wheel.

I couldn't believe of what's happening. I went out of the palace without a second thought because I wanted to rescue my friend Amara. It never occurred to me that I would get into this kind dangerous situation.

I felt so bad because my two bodyguards got shot because I brought them with me. I just wanted to go to Amara's place to ensure that Flavio wouldn't hurt her anymore but this happened. I didn't know what I did for this to happen to me.

My mother even came to rescue me and I was afraid that this kidnapper might hurt her too.

Then, I heard a series of gunshots which made me squeal in fear. The kidnapper cussed expletives as he tried to avoid all the gunshots but it looked like he failed because after that, I heard the sound of the squeaking tires as he lost control over the car. I didn't know what happened but the next thing I knew, the car bumped into another car.

The impact was so strong that I momentarily lose consciousness. When I came to, I saw blood all over the place. I felt like my body was numb and it was so hard to move a muscle. I heard someone groan before I felt movements in the car. It was the kidnapper.

He was now getting out of the car but having a hard time doing so. Just like me, his head was bloody. Both of us were badly hurt because of the impact. I momentarily couldn't hear anything but after a couple of seconds, my hearing cleared up.

From my half-closed eyes, I could see that the car that we collided into was in equal state as the car that we were in.

Then, I heard a sound of a car fast approaching towards our direction, coming from our left. Then, another car was coming closer to us, coming from the right this time. I did my best to move to see who were those people even though I felt like losing consciousness again with each slight movement that I've been doing.

"M-Mamma." I mumbled weakly when I saw that the car on the right was my mom's but the car on our left was unfamiliar to me. I knew that I would pass out any moment now but I persevered. I was determined to get out of there and go to my mother.

I did my best to open the car door and I succeeded but because I didn't have enough strength, I fell on the ground while trying to get out.

"Argh!" I screamed when I felt that intense pain in my body especially in my legs but I didn't care. All I wanted was to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Damn!" My kidnapper cursed and gave his all into running towards the woods even though he was staggering and obviously weak.

My mother's bodyguards followed him and rained bullets to his direction while the people inside the other car on our left got out as well. My heart pounded in fear because all of them were wearing masks so I couldn't see their faces. There were three of them and they looked suspicious.

Even though my eyes were already half closed, I could still clearly see their every movement while still lying on my stomach on the ground.

They were obviously after me. They were about to approach me when we heard a loud explosion. I screamed but my scream didn't come out of my mouth because I was too weak not to mention that I was on the verge of losing my consciousness.

I closed my eyes shut. Thankfully, the car that the kidnapper used to kidnap me was behind me and served as my shield from that loud explosion. There were a couple of debris falling from the sky because of how powerful the explosion was.

After that, everything went silent and it was deafening. I slowly opened my eyes and tried my best to look what was that explosion about just to see my mother's car burning, torn into pieces. My breath literally stopped for a couple of seconds before I found my voice.

"M-mamma....Mamma!" I felt like I lost my sanity because of what happened. I knew for sure that my mother was inside that car because I couldn't see her anywhere outside the car. She followed me all the way here just to rescue me but this happened to her. I kept on screaming and crying for I didn't know how long.

I tried crawling, determined to approach the now burning car. Even though my whole body was aching, I didn't care. All I was thinking was to see my mother alive.

"M-mamma...mamma." My tears continuously fell as my heart felt like it was about to explode too.

"No...You're not in that car...You're not in that car...Mamma." I kept telling myself while crawling using my arms because I couldn't move my legs anymore. No matter how I tried, the pain was too intense that I had to stop.

I didn't know what happened to the men who were wearing masks a while ago and the kidnapper who went to the direction of the woods. All I wanted was to see my mother and make sure that she wasn't there but after a couple of minutes of trying, I lose consciousness.

when I came to, I heard the bad news that my mother was indeed inside that car when it exploded. She died and we didn't even have a body to mourn to. I didn't even care even after the doctor told me that I couldn't walk anymore. My whole attention was about my mother.

I felt like my world crumbled. It was the most painful moment of my life. I couldn't accept what happened and just cried and cried until my tear ducts couldn't produce any more tears. Guilt and regret accompanied by so much pain were a potent combination which made me changed a lot...

I felt Maximus kiss me on my forehead and then guided my head on his chest as he hugged me tightly.

"Just cry everything out. I'm here for you, mi hermosa." He whispered soothingly. I didn't know how long that we were in that position while I was crying but after that, he made me look at him by placing a finger under my chin.

He then wiped my tears. I couldn't even recall when was the exact moment I began to cry while telling him what happened in the past.

"Until now, it really hurts here. I've been living with so much regret and guilt that I even wanted to die a lot of times. It was my fault why mamma died that day." I uttered in pain while pointing at the part of my chest where my heart was located.

"I know how painful it is for you and I understand that very well. What your feeling is just normal. That kind of experience is not easy to forget, especially that your mom was taken away from you just like that because of what happened. But stop feeling guilty over it because it wasn't your fault. That b*stard kidnapper was the one to blame." I noticed that his jaw was flexing tightly and there was a strange emotion that passed through his eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

I mentally shook my head. Maybe, I was just imagining things.

I bit my lower lip and then buried my face against his hard chest.

"You know what? I kept on dreaming about that day but the difference was; in my dream, I was inside that car with mamma. I saw that she was bloody and unconscious. I kept on waking her up but she wasn't responding to me. There was blood everywhere. The scene was so vivid that it felt like it wasn't a dream." I swallowed hard as my throat ached because my emotions were beginning to get out of control.

"Maybe, I keep on dreaming about it because ever since I woke up and discovered that mamma indeed died that day, I've been wishing a lot of times that I should've been with her inside the car when that happened. At least, if that really happened, I got to be with her during her last moments. I wouldn't've mind dying with her." My voice began trembling again as my tears poured continuously like waterfalls.

"Shhh. Don't think about negative things like that. The least thing you could do for now is to live your life happily because that's what you mother wanted for sure. She followed you that day because she wanted to make sure that nothing bad would happen to you and save you.

"If you think negatively like that, it's like you failed your mother because she did everything for you to be safe but you just gave up in life just like that. Don't disappoint her again by having these thoughts because I know that she wants nothing but the best for you. Show her that she wasn't wrong of choosing to save you. Show her that whatever happened in the past, you could overcome everything because you're a strong woman." Maximus said full of gentleness while gazing into my eyes lovingly.

I smiled even though I was still crying. "You really think so? It's okay for me to be happy and live life again even after all that had happened in the past?"

He smiled. "Of course, mi hermosa. I know because a good mother will always think of her children first before herself. For sure, she will be happy too and can finally rest in peace if you become happy and finally move on from the past." I bit my lower lip and then nodded my head. He's right. I should stop pitying myself and start living my life.

I already gave enough headache to my mother when she was still alive not to mention, lots of disappointments so now, I should start anew and show her that I've finally changed for good.

I really thought that I would be bounded into a wheelchair for the rest of my life because I wanted to punish myself. I felt like I didn't have the right to live happily and normally because I was the one who caused my mother's death.

I've been feeling so down and alone because I could tell that my own family have been blaming me too. Even though they never said it to my face, the way they treat me changed. They became distanced which was secretly hurting me.

Thankfully, Amelia wasn't the same. She was always there for me and it helped me a lot not to really end my life. There was Íñigo too. That kid always makes me smile.

"You're right, dolce metà. Mamma is surely not happy of what has been going on with me these past months after she died. Our whole family changed and now, I should do my best to fix everything. I've been distancing myself from them for so long because I chose to be alone."

"You won't be alone now, mi hermosa. Your family is just here. You just have to reach out to them. I am here too and I will never leave you. I'll be your strength." That made me smile. I caressed his cheek and then gazed at him lovingly.

"I've been living in the darkness. I thought, happiness wasn't for me but everything has changed now because you're here with me. Thank you for coming into my life, dolce metà. Because of you, I learned how to be happy again. I am the best version of myself whenever I'm with you. I love you so much."

"We're the same, mi hermosa. You were the one who changed me for the better. You made me realize that I could love someone unconditionally and be a good person in my own way. You're the best thing that ever happened to me and I love you so much. I can't be happy without you in my life so please, don't ever leave me." His eyes were begging while saying those words.

I cupped his face. "Never, dolce metà. I love you too much to leave you." He smiled but for some reason, I noticed the sadness in his eyes. I was about to him what was wrong but he already drew his face closer to me and then kissed me.

I automatically closed my eyes when our lips met. It was such a gentle yet passionate kiss. We could feel our love for each other with that kiss and it made my heart swell.

Maximus never failed to make me feel loved whenever I'm down and lonely. He makes sure to make me smile with his words of love and promises and it made me fall in love with him even deeper than before. I just wish that nothing could destroy our relationship because I wouldn't be able to take it for sure if I lost him...