Lina woke up in tears. She clutched her chest and clawed at her heart. She hated these dreams. Hated seeing the love on his face. Hated seeing the adoration he held for her. 

When Lina had entrusted her heart to his hand, she thought he’d clutch it, but he crushed it. Their love crashed and burned, and the remnants of it were ashes that fluttered in the wind and fell into the ocean. 

​​

“How much does he remember?” Lina muttered to herself, wiping the tears from her face, angry that she had cried over him again. 

No matter how many times she witnessed the dreams, the pain was always there. It was like a knife twisting into her heart, drawing all the blood from her body, and pressing further when she bled to death from the pain.

Lina didn’t even have time to properly decipher the dream before she heard a loud scream downstairs. She cringed. The shriek might as well have shattered windows and glass. What the hell?

Not a second later, she heard rushing footsteps up the stairs, followed by the shatter of vases.

“Lina, Lina!” Milo shouted, flinging the doors to her bedroom open. In his shaky hand was his mother’s flat-screen phone. He had yanked it from her hand when she yelled her head off.

“It’s eight in the morning, Milo,” Lina groaned, flopping back onto the bed.

“It’s two in the afternoon. Wake the hell up,” Milo scolded her, yanking back her blankets. But she was wrapped in the blanket like a comfortable burrito.

“Ugh, fine, I’ll do it myself.” Milo stomped to the window and pulled back the black-out curtains. Instantly, he heard her hiss and protest.

“Close the curtains, the light is disturbing my beauty sleep!” Lina said, rubbing her face into the pillow so he didn’t see she had cried in her sleep again.

“You’re already as ugly as a beast, so no point in getting your beauty sleep anymore!” Milo said, stealing one of her pillows off the bed and whacking her with it. 

“Come on, come on, wake up before mom comes in here!” Milo shouted.

Lina instantly sat up. 

“Yikes…” Milo trailed off, his lips pulled back to his teeth to reveal his disgusted expression. 

Milo stared. “Which species of bird laid a nest in your hair?”

Lina shot him a glare. She threw the nearest pillow towards his head.

“Hah!” Milo shouted. “Missed me—”

She threw another. The pillow bonked him on the forehead, sending him staggering back.

“I don’t have time for your childish pillow fights,” Milo complained. “Act your age, big sis! You’re already twenty-one, and yet, you’re still here throwing pillows?!”

Lina groaned. “Act your age and stop throwing a tantrum. My eardrums hurt from your screaming.”

Lina tiredly rubbed her eyes that felt like they were stuck together. She let out a loud yawn and stretched, earning a protesting yelp from Milo.

“Your breath stinks so bad, I think I see flies coming out of it,” Milo said, shoving her face away.

“As if yours is any better,” Lina retorted, slapping his hand. She scooted back into her bed and tiredly hugged the pillow.

“What is it?” Lina finally asked, tiredly nodding towards his phone. All she wanted to do was sleep her life away. It was winter break. Couldn’t she catch a break?

“Oh shit, I almost forgot,” Milo said, quickly approaching the bed. “Look at this.”

Milo shone the brightly lit phone to her face.

“Ack!” Lina shoved it away, grabbing her eyes. “Why is the brightness so high? You want to burn my eyeballs?”

“Ugh, you’re so… ugh!” Milo quickly lowered the phone’s brightness and showed it to her again. “Look at this headline. Look at it!”

“I am, I am,” Lina said, peeling her eyelids open. When she read it, she snatched the phone from his hand.

“What the hell!” Lina shouted, rapidly tapping the screen as if it’d make the headline go away.

“Lina Yang’s Two-Timing The Nation’s Most Eligible Heirs?!” Lina read out loud. 

Lina blanched at the horrible title and checked the source, only to find it was the most reputable newspaper agency.

“Oh give me a break.” Lina threw the phone onto the bed and flopped onto her back. 

Lina was exhausted. First the news of her and Everett’s date in the museum break out, and now this?

Milo shoved the phone back into her face. “Look at the photos, sis. It looks so bad, and by bad, I mean your angles are so horrendous in these pictures—”

“Let me see,” Lina said, snatching the phone from his hand again. She took one look at the scandalous photo and tossed it back to Milo.

“Oh god, just kill me,” Lina whispered, burying her face in the pillows. 

Now, Lina understood what Kaden meant yesterday—prepare for tomorrow. Who kept on allowing these photos of her to be released?!

“I won’t, but mom and Uncle might murder you,” Milo whispered, glancing at the live reports of Yang Enterprise’s stocks that was beginning to slowly but steadily drop.

“Look at this, you’ve managed to single handedly cause our stocks to plummet for the first time in like—”

RING! RING!

“Oh my god!” Milo yelped, tossing the phone like it burned him. “It’s Grandfather!”

Lina breathed through her nose and let it out. It was time to face the music. She sat up, grabbed the nearest hair tie from the nightstand, and pulled up her hair. No use in hiding from the news.

“Give it to me,” Lina said.

Milo didn’t hesitate. He threw the phone into Lina’s hand as if it was a ticking time bomb.

“Good morning, Grandfather,” Lina greeted in a chirpy voice.

“It’s two in the afternoon, and you have the guts to say good morning?” Lawrence mused, whilst leaning back on his large leather couch. 

Lawerence had just gotten off the phone with his eldest son. That heartless man. 

“Well, it was a good morning until I saw the stock prices,” Lawrence deadpanned. “What are you going to do about the news? We’re going to have to release an article soon.”

Lina’s brows raised. “I plan on denying the rumors.”

Lawrence pinched the spot in between his brows. Why did she seem so calm in the face of a storm? 

“Good idea, except it has already ruined your reputation, brought down the shares, and tarnished your family’s name. What now?” Lawrence said.

Lina paused. She felt like this was a test from her grandfather, to see how well she’d handle this situation with no preparation and all the pressure on her. 

“So you’re saying… it’s an ambush on all sides,” Lina stated. 

“Precisely.”

Lina weighed the options. Yang Enterprise’s stock prices had taken a hit. Her reputation was being threatened. Her family’s honor was on the line. This was going to ruin her if she let it prolong. No amount of rejection rumors were going to change the fact that she was supposedly cheating on two heirs at once.

“I’ll speak to Everett and force a statement out of him,” Lina finally said.

“Hah, good idea,” Lawrence mused. “Too bad you overslept and your Uncle already made the decision for you.”

Lina blinked. “What?”