The door harshly slammed shut behind Gael. He had a hand on his waist while the other ran down heavily on his face. He closed his raging eyes in an attempt to calm himself down but it was a struggle when he could feel his heart thumping so fast in his chest, causing his body to feel hotter than normal.

He tossed the hardbound book on the bed and walked straight to the bathroom. Stepping inside the shower and standing under the showerhead, he turned the cold setting on and let the water fall on him while his clothes were still on.

Gael De Luca was pissed and frustrated and he didn’t know why. He doesn’t usually get mad at women so easily but there was just something about Angela and the way she was earlier that made him tick.

If she was a man, he probably would have cocked a fist to the face already. But he never abused women. Female assassins or fixers from enemies that were sent to target his family were different. They were a crazy bunch and fighting them was different. But innocent women like Angela or anyone outside the Mafia were treated fairly.

The cool water trickled down his body, his clothes that were now wet clung to his skin. He came to Esmea to track her down and put an end to this matter as fast as he could. When he saw her the first time several hours ago, after a long time, he had the urge to play with her first. But after what she said earlier that got him so riled up, he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore.

She wasn’t even his type. What was he thinking—wasting his time and playing with her? He must be totally insane. “Get your shît together,” he scolded himself.

…

Meanwhile, Angela stayed rooted to the carpeted floor out in the empty hallway, unable to move. Her face was ashen and her delicate hands that she held together slightly trembled.

Gael’s spiteful words rang in her head, causing her to get teary-eyed without her realizing. She finally got out of her trance when her vision got blurry with hot tears threatening to escape her eyes. She blinked so fast because she didn’t want to cry. Angela Su no longer cried.

She couldn’t even remember the last time that she cried… And she wanted to keep it that way. She was no loser. And only losers cry.

So before a tear could roll out of her eyes, she closed her eyes for a few seconds and inhaled deeply. When she opened them again, she forced her lips up in a smile. It looked so fake on her but it didn’t matter.

Turning around, she went inside her suite and as soon as she sank on her massive bed, a memory of her past haunted her like an unwanted nightmare while she was awake. A nightmare that she didn’t want to relive—that she wanted to shove out of her head and never to think about again.

She was scared… and her heart stung like claws were scratching its surface. The familiar feeling made her feel empty but at the same time, it made her feel alive. She couldn’t believe it had already been six years—almost seven since that day. Yet with the way her heart hurt even until now, it felt like it was just yesterday.

Angela contemplated calling her brother as her hand tightly clutched her phone but she didn’t want to ruin his evening. She couldn’t always call him whenever this happened to her. It wasn’t fair to him. So like the loner that she was, she curled up in the middle of the bed, pulled her knees up and hugged herself.

She stayed in the same position for a while before she finally grabbed the notebook and pen on her nightstand and started writing.

…

At the beach, everyone else was still having fun catching up with everybody. Samantha Kim chatted with two of her girlfriends Hannah and Becca at a picnic table. The girls were casually talking about the common people that they knew when their conversation ended up with Oliver’s sister, Angela.

“I’m not really that close to Oliver’s sister.” Samantha took a sip of her cocktail drink. “Back then, Oliver and I weren’t close in high school and I rarely saw his sister so I don’t know much about her.”

“Why are you girls talking about my sister?” Oliver’s husky voice came from behind Hannah, causing her to jump in fright and shriek, “Oh my god! You scared the bejeezus out of me!”

Oliver rounded the table and sat next to Samantha and opposite to the two other women, taking a swig from his beer bottle as he raised a brow at Hannah who glared at him.

Feeling sorry, Samantha formed an apologetic smile as she said, “Sorry, Olie… We didn’t mean to talk about her. Becca just said that she recognized Angela somewhere but she couldn’t remember—”

“Holy cow!” Becca’s surprised look paired with a loud voice made the passersby look at their table. She realized this and so she softened her voice and spoke in almost a hushed tone, “Is she that woman from that scandal a long time ago?”

“What scandal?” Hannah who was eating a watermelon suddenly perked up, evidently interested in gossip that she abandoned her watermelon and gaped at Becca and Oliver.

The three women looked at Oliver and he instantly regretted sitting with them. There was no point in denying it, knowing they could just search it up online and put their women-detective skills into use. But this was something he didn’t really want to talk about, especially behind his sister’s back.

“Please… just… don’t talk about it in front of her. It’s a sensitive topic.” Oliver sighed, downing the rest of his beer before grabbing another one from the cooler by his feet—a very convenient location at the moment. He didn’t know whether to be thankful or not.

“I don’t know anything about this scandal…” Samantha got curious and Hannah chimed in, “Me neither. It happened in Esmea? Why don’t I know about this?”

“Can you tell us about it?” Becca, the ever so bold and carefree woman, didn’t think twice before asking Oliver.

Seeing the curious expressions on the women at the table, Oliver cursed himself. He should have just walked away when he heard his sister’s name earlier when he was passing by. Now, what was he supposed to do? Damn it.