YELENA

Look stiff and uncomfortable with his sister, Trevor was restless in his seat. He could hear his own heartbeat; he could even hear his nervous breaths. His uneasiness doubles when he hears Sumire's name and the gift from the lips of his older sister, Yelena.

"Why does it have to be her?"

Jaw-clenched, Trevor asked making Yelena an eyebrow at him. The tall woman confidently crossed her legs, lowers her big sunglass and slide it down to her pointed nose, and flashed a smirk.

"Why not her?"

Yelena asked, head slightly tilted on the side. Oozing much more power and authority than him, Trevor bent his head down after her. He couldn't meet his sister's sinister gaze.

"Do you like her?"

Yelena asked in a cold tone when she couldn't get an answer from Trevor. Lips firmly closed, the young man heaves a deep sigh.

"No, but she's my friend and someone close to me. Sumire is more like a little sister to me."

Trevor abruptly answers. The traces of good and sincerity can be seen in his eyes. Yelena gives him a baleful look and snorted.

"If you wanna create your ideal family then give her the gift. That's the first step, Trev."

Yelena said that Trevor gritted his teeth. The woman stood up and then approached his place. Slowly, she patted his head.

"I know you don't trust me but I'm confident you will do everything for the freedom you hope for. So don't ever disobey my last command if you don't want more people close to you will gone in the dust."

Yelena added in a calm tone with a hint of threat in her voice, leaving her young brother speechless, pale, and statued in his seat. Trevor felt the sweet breath of Death caress his cheek, whispering into his ear. The beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

He was snapped back in the past. He vividly remembers his dark childhood memories with his family, especially with his sister. His whole body begins to tremble unconsciously again. His hallucinations begin to actuate. The gruesome piles of dead bodies in his playroom and the swimming pool that had turned its pristine water into a pool of blood came flashed into his mind. The wicked laughter of his sister echoing the room while torturing someone mercilessly and how his father taught him to fire accurately that instead of using a mannequin for practice, he aims at living people's forehead and shoot them dead despite their cries, pleads for sparing their lives. Trevor remembered the fear painted on their victim's faces, and how they pissed on their pants. Their head exploded and splintered on the walls grotesquely whenever his father got mad at him for letting go of the gun after he kills them.

Soaked in sweat, Trevor was panting and breathing heavily. Those nightmares give him chills and were haunting him to this very day. Only then did he snap back to his consciousness when his phone suddenly rang and vibrated. Trevor picked it up immediately.

"Are you okay?"

His manager on the other line came to him and asked worriedly. Trevor kneaded his frowned head and didn't even bother to wipe off his sweats.

"No."

"Wait for me."

For the next few more days, there was no sign of Trevor showing up for their taping. In order not to waste time waiting for him, the production team decided to shoot the minor scenes where he had no scene to play.

"This is the fourth day he's been away. What happened to him?"

Sumire asked irritably while sitting in the luxury bar stool chair, leaning on the counter. She was sexily dressed in high-end attire with red lipstick on. They were in a luxurious bar where the next scene is to be played. The crowd and music dominate the atmosphere. The maiden chose to shoot the next scene at the bar of one of her relatives. Next to her was her manager Eiryss who is drinking Gin Highballs.

"Why do you seem so angry?"

Eiryss curiously asked, noticing that Sumire was always frowning recently. The maiden didn't miss every damn minute during their break peeking at her phone as if she was waiting for a call or maybe a chat. Whenever she picks up the phone and doesn't see what she wants to see, the maiden slammed down the phone on the floor so, Eiryss had no choice but to buy a new phone for her several times. No matter how durable and expensive she buys for her, it is easily wrecked by just one blow from her darling, Sumire.

"This is me."

The maiden responds in a monotone, once gazing at the phone again. Eyes squinted in fury, her grip on the phone tightened and she was about to slam the phone again for the second time when Victoria suddenly laughed, which caught her attention. Sumire slowly turned and darted her burning glare at her mortal enemy sitting at the very end of the counter. Victoria looked at her with a mocking grin plastered on her reddened lips.

"How's your relationship with Mr. Aslanov?"

Victoria's sarcastic question made Sumire give her a blank stare and bitchy raised her eyebrow.

"None of your business."

Sumire's cold response made Victoria laugh boisterously which almost caught everyone's attention and made the maiden's face twitch in annoyance. Slowly, Victoria approaches their place and starts taunting her.

"I knew it. You are just one of his toys and now he's tossing you away. Maybe because you are boring? You bore him? I'm not surprised at all. Without that face, you're just a plain stupid monkey."

Victoria's insulting remark. Sumire was stopped, staring and motionless, glaring at the woman from head to toe. 'This talking harlot doggerel...'

'Am I really boring?' the maiden added, asking in her mind and reminiscing the time she had with Mort.

"See? You just realized that now? And here I thought you had a brain."

Victoria crudely added that Eiryss was about to stand up to slap the woman in the face but her hand was left hanging in the air when there was a sudden commotion at the entrance of the bar.

"Trevor is here!"

A staff member shouted from the bar ingress where everyone rendezvous, greeted the young handsome man with a tease. Trevor flashed a beguiling smile appeared to them who brought a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates.

Elated, everyone makes a way for him as he approaches the maiden's table who was now stunned in her seat.

"I'm sorry."

Trevor said apologetically and hand over the flowers and chocolates he brought for the maiden. Sumire gladly accepted it with a shy smile and the crowd began cheering and teasing them again.

Lyric, who was seated in the farthest and darkest corner of the bar with a glass of wine in his hand watching the group, grinned.

"Boss, someone just crossed the line."

On the cloud nine, face full of gaiety, the bar was quickly filled with a tease, thrilled, and cheers. Series of applauding and gently slapping one's shoulder out of bliss at what they just witnessed. Victoria, on the other hand, eyes filled with envy. She was standing on the back bitterly watching the team cheering her hated person in the world who was now smiling sweetly at the co-actor. But the place quickly fell into silence when the Assistant Director coughed loudly and interrupted their exultant cheers and everyone's attention shifted to him.

"Aherm, who ordered three trucks of red roses and three trucks of chocolates?"

He asked. Everyone exchanged glances with questioning eyes. Short after the place was filled with murmurs. No one seems to have any idea who those are for.

Suddenly one of the truck drivers entered the bar.

"Flowers and chocolates for Miss Massoullève."

The middle-aged delivery man said that everyone looked at the maiden who was now standing stunned in disbelief. Who the hell would give her that tremendous amount of flowers? She is not into selling. What will she do with those tons of sweets?

"That's pretty darn too much, Sir Trevor."

Trevor frowned at a female staff member who was now squealing on his side uncontrollably.

"I'm no-"

Trevor didn't finish what he was going to say when the driver holding a black card spoke again and read the sender's name written in expensive gold ink.

"It says, Mr. Aslanov."

Sumire grinned. Everyone's gaze darted to her place again, silent and now speechless.

"Boring, huh?"

She smirked as she get the black card handed to her by the driver.

"Please sign this, Miss."

When Sumire finished signing the paper, she went to the bathroom of the bar to call Mort. After the second time ringing, the man answered her call immediately.

"What the fuck is your problem?! After you've ghosted me for four days now you're suddenly sending me trucks of flowers and chocolates?!"

Sumire shouted in annoyance as her voice echoed in the corners of the bathroom. But what made her even more annoyed was the loud bolts of laughter she heard on the other line, whoever was with him right now.

"That's Mort's love language, darling."

That voice was familiar to her. Laurel had that voice. She is the person she had in mind.

"You can throw them away."

Mort responded in a cold tone and sounded indifferent. Sumire looks at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, eyes narrowed and burning with anger.

"Oh, yes I will! Because Trevor's presents are perfectly enough for me!"

Sumire furiously yelled that the laughter of the people who were with Mort on the line intensified.

"Sure."

Mort shortly replied. The maiden would have answered him when the call was suddenly cut off. Annoyed, Sumire threw her phone away and it was shattered on the corner. After a short minute, she came out of the bathroom completely calm and cool. Sumire returned to the counter with a beautiful and sweet smile painted on her lips like nothing happened. She didn't want Victoria to see her frowning or that flirty slug may have something to say to her again.

"Sumire, why did you throw away the flowers and chocolates I gave you?"

Trevor asked in a sad tone when he saw them in the trash bin at the nearby bathroom entrance where Sumire came out. To her surprise, she looked at the bin where the flowers and chocolates have discarded.

"No, I didn't-"

"Ungrateful bitch."

Victoria interrupted her that Sumire slowly turn to face her.

"It's you, isn't it?"

Sumire's accusation against Victoria. Some of the production team gather together from their seats. She knew that the woman was jealous and envied her. She was hundred percent sure that Victoria was the one who threw it away, which everyone agreed with.

"You're fucking right!"

Hands clenched, Victoria took the blame with an eyebrow raised even though the truth was that it wasn't her but she knew no one would believe her so she admitted the fault.

"Wow, pathetic."

Whispers of scorn buzz in the air again and Victoria's anger towards Sumire inflamed cursing the maiden thousand more times inside her mind.

"You fucking chose this."

Victoria hissed, throw a spiteful glare at Sumire and walk out of the bar. Everyone was left speechless at Victoria's words but Sumire noticed something.

'Who is it?' Brows wrinkled, Sumire asked in her mind as she looked at Trevor who was already sitting in the high stool chair and holding a glass of Tennessee Whiskey Jack Daniels.

"I'm sorry about that." Sumire sincerely apologizes and climbs up, sitting in the high chair next to him and seated properly.

"It's okay."

"How are you?" Asked the maiden making Trevor stop and couldn't meet her eyes. His hand clutched the glass tightly.

"Good," Trevor replied thrifty once sipping back again on the wine he was drinking.

"You don't look fine to me." Sumire honestly said. Trevor look at her and broke into a chuckle.

"Is that so?" Trevor asked as the maiden nodded in agreement. His smile slowly faded when the maiden gave him a scrutinizing stare. Trevor fakes out a cough.

"3 days from now it's your birthday. I got you something. And I hope you'll like it.." The handsome man changed the subject and Sumire's face suddenly lit up.

"How about this, join me in the auction I told you about days ago." Sumire jovially invited him as her smile reaches her eyes. Trevor looks at her and did not hesitate to accept her invitation.

"I would love to."