Aaron noticed Sienna was fuming and watched her short hair sway as she walked away. She looked different tonight. She was confident and gorgeous, which made all the men like her, but how she spoke and carried herself is why they respected her. Not many wives know about their husbands’ companies, which made Sienna stand out among the crowd. 

“Miss Chae-Soo, wait!” Aaron called and hurried after her down the passage.

“Just leave me alone for a bit.” She mumbled and stopped to face him. “How could Declan just flirt with another woman in front of me? Even if this is all fake, it’s disrespectful, and everyone judged me for not making him happy enough. You should have been the disgust on those women’s faces. I have never been made to feel so small in my life.” She said, frustrated. 

“Sienna, you are a perfect woman, and anyone would be lucky to have you. The investor liked you so much, and you saved this deal. Declan has never respected you. Not like I do. Don’t let him put your head down.” Aaron replied and took her hands into his. 

Sienna looked into his eyes and felt moved by his words. She completely mistook his kindness and stepped closer to him. She went onto her tippy toes and, without warning, kissed the private investigator. Aaron froze and wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to push her away and hurt her more, so instead, he forced himself to kiss her back. It was the completely wrong thing to do, but he knew she needed to feel wanted right now. Was this what his life had become? He risked his life to save her; he stuck by her side no matter what, and now he kissed her back to keep her happy. Why did it feel like she was the only important thing in his life? It wasn’t anything romantic, but he felt obligated to keep her happy. 

Sienna imagined she was kissing the billionaire and completely forgot that this was Aaron. His lips were soft against hers, and he kissed her ever so gently and sweetly. Her heart didn’t know what to make of the situation, but she knew that it felt strange… wrong perhaps. His hands didn’t touch her, while Declan would be holding onto her. His lips kissed her back, but there was no passion or eagerness like how the billionaire would kiss her. His face was smooth and clean, yet she missed the rough feeling from Declan’s beard. Why couldn’t she stop thinking of the billionaire?

“What the fuck is going on here?” Declan hissed and jerked Sienna away from Aaron. He took a swing at the private investigator, who quickly dodged his punch. 

“Sir, wait, I can explain,” Aaron stated.

“Why are you fucking kissing my fiancé?” The billionaire yelled and grabbed onto Aaron’s shirt. 

“I kissed him! He didn’t kiss me. It’s not his fault.” Sienna screamed and pushed Declan away from Aaron. Just then, the ground started shaking, and a loud rumbling erupted, which made them all look out the window. A massive avalanche started tumbling down the mountain and headed towards the hotel. The earthquake also caused the windows to shatter, and both men stepped in front of Sienna protectively. 

“Fuck!” Declan cursed as the glass cut into his skin, and a strong gust of cold wind blew in. 

“Let’s get out of here!” Sienna shouted and grabbed both of their hands as she ran off. The three of them sprinted towards the stairs as the snow came crashing through the windows and luckily got high enough for the snow to stop. 

“Kian is down there!” Aaron screamed and tried to dig into the snow. His hands were freezing and started to go numb. 

“Aaron, you can’t dig through that!” Sienna yelled and pulled him away from the snow. All the electricity went out, and they fell into darkness. Declan fumbled for his phone and switched on the flashlight. They were all freezing and shivering in the dark. 

“Let’s… go up and find warmth,” Declan ordered, and they agreed. Tears ran down Aaron’s face, so Sienna cuddled close to him and helped him walk up the stairs. “There’s no signal!” Declan fumed and lighted the way as he tried to phone anyone to help them. 

“Help!” A woman yelled and banged on the other side of a door. “I can’t open the door. I’m stuck.” 

“Stand back; I’m going to kick the door in,” Declan shouted and handed Sienna the phone to hold. He easily kicked the door, and it flew open. A woman and her child were trapped in the room and thanked Declan for saving them. They grabbed all the blankets and warm clothes they could and continued to break into more rooms. Everyone on the top floor was safe, and they formed a group of about 15 people. 

“What about everyone on the lower floors? My wife and daughter were still at dinner. I just came up to fetch their jackets.” An elderly man asked and held onto two feminine jackets. 

“We aren’t sure, sir.” One of the hotel staff that were part of the group stated and covered the old man with a blanket. 

“For now, we just stick together and stay warm. Did you grab all the beverages and food you could from the rooms?” Declan questioned. 

“Yes, sir. We have a bag full so far. What are we going to do?” A woman replied.

“Wait to be rescued,” Sienna replied and touched her shoulder encouragingly. Declan nodded then kicked in another door. His, Sienna’s and Aaron’s rooms were trapped below the snow, so, unfortunately, they had to use other people’s clothes to stay warm. 

“This room’s windows haven’t broken. We’ll stay in here. Move all the unnecessary furniture out and collect mattresses to lay down on the floor.” The billionaire instructed. He had taken control of the situation and remained calm even though they were trapped in a hotel covered by snow. Declan walked on to find more survivors, and Sienna ran after him. 

“I’m coming with you.” She stated and put a blanket over him. 

“Sienna, stay with the others, so I know you are safe. Aaron will protect you.” Declan replied.

“And who will protect you?” She asked, then added, “Exactly. We stick together.” 

Declan nodded, and they broke into more rooms. Sienna held onto his phone as they went on and tried to stay warm. They didn’t find any more people and checked if the other stairs were free, but they were also covered in snow. 

“Why did you kiss Aaron?” Declan asked and couldn’t get the image of them off of his mind. 

“I was jealous of you and that woman with the black dress. He said some kind things to me and… I don’t know; I felt like we had a moment.” Sienna replied.

“That woman was close family friends with my foster parents; she’s like an aunt to me.” Declan chuckled.

“Oh my gosh.” Sienna blushed and covered her face. “I’m so sorry for assuming.”

“Did you… like kissing Aaron? You do know he’s into men, right?” 

“No! I didn’t know that. How was I supposed to know that?” She gasped. “But no, I didn’t like it. It felt wrong, and I realised that even though I hate you, you are the only one I want to be with.”

Declan looked at the waitress and was surprised by what she said. He truly thought that he had ruined all hope of them being together. He was about to respond when he heard a faint noise coming from the elevator. 

“Do you hear that?” He asked and pressed his ear against the cold metal door. People were trapped in the elevator, and Declan managed to stick his fingers through the gap in between the door and force it open. Thanks to the training he went through, he was strong enough to do so, and since it opened, it meant the elevator had stopped between floors. 

“Hello! Can you hear me?” The billionaire shouted loudly. 

“Yes, hello! We’re trapped! Can you help us?” A man yelled back, and the people in the elevator cheered.

“How many people are with you?” 

“5!” 

“There should be a trap door on the ceiling. Can you see it? Open it!” Declan shouted. After a few minutes, the emergency trap door opened, and Declan watched a man stick his hand out. “Great! Okay, we are going to throw some blankets and water bottles down! Stand against the walls.” He yelled. Sienna and he quickly fetched supplies from the rooms and aimed to drop them in through the trap roof. The elevator was a few meters down, and unfortunately, there was no ladder or way to climb up.  

“Stay warm! We’ll get you out as soon as we can.” Sienna yelled, and the people in the elevator thanked them. “We have a group of survivors with us. Just wait till we are rescued.” She added before she and Declan went back to the room with everyone in. 

Hours went by, and most people had dozed off. Sienna fought to keep herself awake and still shivered as the cold crept through her blanket. Declan could go days without sleep and sat by the door watching over everyone. He pulled Sienna closer to him and wrapped her under his blanket with him. 

“I’m just holding you to keep you warm. That’s it.” Declan stated as she tried to push him away. 

“Fine, but just because I’m cold.” Sienna nodded and cuddled closer to him. They shared body warmth, and she fell asleep. Declan ran his hands through her short hair and regretted ever cutting it. He loved her no matter what she looked like, but he missed her long hair. Wait, did he just say that he loved her? Declan stopped playing with her hair and looked down at Sienna. He did love her. He felt like his heart ached whenever he looked at her, and this whole time he tried to hide his feelings behind anger. Now that he let himself open to the idea, he realised he had loved her ever since that night they first met. Maybe it was covered with lust, but he knew he truly cared about his fiancé and didn’t want to spend his life without her by his side. 

Why did it take so much heartache for him to realise this? Why did it take being trapped in a hotel after an avalanche to learn that he loved her? 

Declan noticed lights outside the window and gently pushed Sienna off him. He stood by the window and watched a rescue team make their way through the snow. It was still heavily snowing, so he took out his phone and waved the flashlight to get their attention. 

“Hey! Over here!” Declan shouted, which woke up the people in the room. They all started calling out, and the rescue team looked their way. 

“We’ve saved!” A woman cheered. Declan made his way back to Sienna and cupped her face in his hands. 

“I’m going to tell the people in the elevator.” He stated, then quickly kissed her lips before she could stop him. Sienna stared at him in confusion as he walked off and noticed something had changed inside the billionaire. Perhaps he was just happy the rescue team had arrived. 

A man from the rescue team broke the window and helped everyone out. Sienna told him about the people trapped in the elevator, and they started to work on getting them out. She waited in the snow for Declan, and snowflakes hung in her dark hair. Aaron eagerly waited for more survivors to be rescued and prayed that Kian would walk out alive. He questioned every survivor if they saw Kian and ran up to the investor. 

“What about Kian? Where is he?” Aaron asked, and the investor shook his head.

“I’m sorry, but Kian was trapped under the snow while trying to get everyone into a room as the avalanche hit.” The investor sadly said and was led away by rescuers. Aaron fell to his knees, screaming as they pulled out a familiar body from the snow. Kian’s handsome body was frozen still.