I wasn’t having the best day of my life. Might as well be second worse. The worse day would be when Jasper, my brother, died. But today seemed like a really bad day. It all started with the spoiled milk. The milk I forgot to put in the freezer last night at the bakery. Today without noticing the odor because I was still confused from the hoody guy and my Google surfing yesterday, I made the entire batch of mini sponge cake from it. It tasted so bad that I barfed when I took a bite from it. River and Sierra laughed their asses off on me. After that the delivery for next order of chocolate and coffee beans were late. Following with one of the ovens shutting down in the middle of baking the scones. Thankfully the bakery ran without any hitch. I kept thinking about that hoody guy, what he said, and my little Google search but didn’t come to any conclusion as to why he wouldn’t want me to cater Giant.

It just didn’t make sense. I didn’t even know who James Dumas or Sebastian Maxfield was before last week. 

From Google, I found out James Dumas was a business magnet, a self made billionaire who started off at a shy age of 16. His company, Dumas Inc is the leading company in the whole world right now. He owned multiple chain of hotels around the world and his company invested in many  major construction projects. As for Sebastian, he was the Real Estate guru, as the internet dubbed him as, he was the man with a golden touch that turned collapsing business into 8 figure generating companies and made it big. Both of them were dubbed as amoong the most eligible bachelor along with Neil Alvarez, Lucas Carter and Maverick Black. Yes the same doctor Maverick Black that treated Emily. A pediatric specialist who completed medical school in just three years, he was the genius hot doctor that was single. Lucas Carter owned the leading cargo company and his hotel chains, Carter Hotel was as popular as Dumas Inc. Many people speculated that James and Lucas were enemies. 

 Scrolling through the internet, I stopped at the picture where all five of them was dressed in black tux, looking like the enigma they were. I had zoomed the picture and focused it on Neil Alvarez, the blue eyed man. He looked so hot in his dark red velvet tux that I couldn’t help but searched him up on Google. Surprisingly, there was nothing much about him. Just about his business, an automobiles company that governed the world of cars. He held many awards for being the best automobile company but there was nothing about his personal life. I didn’t know what it was but he looked so familiar, like a past memory in my brain, a distant picture blurred behind my eyelids that caused a sharp painful headache which was why I didn’t had a good night sleep. 

Deciding that I wasn’t going to be much of a help at the bakery today, I bid my goodbyes to Sierra and River and made my way out. I didn’t tell them about the hoody guy. It just didn’t feel like he was threatening me but rather pleading. His voice, I couldn't get it out of my head. It kept playing like a broken record, making me feel flustered and confused. All the questions kept swirling in my head. What was it about that hoody guy that seem so familiar? Why didn’t he wanted me to carter Giant? Why did Giant wanted me to carter him? What the hell was wrong with me for not telling someone about the hoody guy? All of this thinking was making me have a mind pause. Maybe I was going cookie, something Emily says when one of us wouldn’t pay attention to her.

Walking through the park, I stopped myself from thinking about anything. It was peaceful, around seven in the afternoon. The sun was going to set soon, a chilly wind blew making me shiver. There were people scattered around, some playing with their children, some snuggling with their lovers. There were some who were playing with their pets. Some were surprisingly on a picnic. I felt sad looking at the hugs and hands holding each other. Even though I had the best people in my life, my heart still hurt from the lost of my brother, Jasper. Looking at the families made me feel nostalgic, a sense of loneliness creeping in my soul. What did I do wrong that my parents turned their love from me? Why did Jasper had to die? Why did it have to be like this? When would my heart heal, this brokenness that I feel, when would it stop?

There was no answer to my questions. 

I kept walking till I reach a rather secluded area where there was a lake. Sitting down on bench that gave the perfect view of the lake, I shivered from the chilly wind. It was quiet, the bird chirping softly, the sky now purplish orange, a sudden movement made me snap up my head. Mr. James Dumas was sitting on a bench, across from where I was sitting and he was intently watching me. An awareness crept through my bones that there was no one besides him and me. He was still watching me with keen interest that made me go rigid. Billionaire or not, this guy was creeping the fuck out of me. Trying to be as discreet as possible, I tried to take my phone out when suddenly, He was infront of me. My breathing stopped, eyes wide, I was ready to kick his ass when he said,

”Megan is your mother and Alvin is your father. You are the girl that was saved from a sex trafficking  raid. You are Scarlet Morrison, who saved twenty girls from being trafficked by hitting your own parents to unconsciousness.”

I went stiff, completely frozen on my spot. A pin drop silence resonated in the dark park, reminding me that I was alone with a man, a very dangerous man.

Eight years of trying to hide myself, making myself believe that it wasn’t my own parents who wanted to sell me in an auction but they were monsters who resembled my parents.

Eight years of trying to console myself that it wasn’t my fault those girls were getting shipped.

Eight years and it took this guy to remind me of all the pain again.

Son of a bitch.