Dad's surgery took for about six hours. My dad's friend, the head of our DR department picked us from the airport. In the middle of summer I could feel my fingers getting stone cold.

The surgery ended in an hour within our arrival.

"Can I go see him?"I asked the nurse. She denied,"He's under observation for few hours...we'll let you know,sweetie." I looked at grandma, she smiled at me,"It's going to be okay."

The hysterical thoughts inside a person's head are always the cause of worry. It's the dell of overthinking that's madding the teenagers. Even at the situation where I had nothing in my hands I worried and blamed myself. It was a toll on my mental health that led me to many decisions I shouldn't have agreed, I often regret not being able to live a normal teenage.

I was waiting eagerly for those 'few hours' to pass. My head between my hands and each living breath getting heavier. I took his warm hugs and care; for granted, when I knew I only had one parent left to cherish, I couldn't lose him.

I looked up at her, although I hated her for the past two years but right now she was in the same state as mine. As if she had almost lost someone close to her. Daveney, my dad's secretary, was one of the few reasons my arguments with dad went increasing, horribly.

I shuddered at the thought of how many times he had said ,"YOU'RE BEING UNREASONABLE!" to me and I had demanded her resignation JUST because I felt danger from her side. As if she'd walk in his life and I'll be thrown out.

"Nora?"Grandma gently hugged me. I hadn't asked for it but I somehow felt like I needed it.

"I'm going to find out who did it." I whispered in her ear. Grandma only gave me a slight nod.

Wait...what if it has something to do with her?I looked up at Daveney, my scowl grew larger when I thought of her plotting with someone against his life. How was I even thinking of this? I felt ridiculous.

She glanced at me with the corner of her eye, she was well aware of how unprofessional she was acting right now.

"Nora..."she sighed,"can I talk to you privately?" I stared at her and then agreed, let's listen to her side of the story.I told grandma I'll be back in some time. We walked outside, the air was fresh and it seemed to freshen me up a bit.

"He might have asked me to not let it out but I can't stay quiet after what just happened!"she began.

"Say what?"I crossed my arms, avoiding looking at her face and staring at my own feet.

"James is being targeted,"she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Targeted?"I frowned in worry, turning to face her.

"He got calls two years back, they tried to threaten him and blackmail him,"she almost felt faint, her appearance made her look worn out and horribly tired. I couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for her for once.

"What do you mean?"

"They told him they'll target you and that's why he tried to keep his contact with you as minimum as possible."She explained. Her words somehow...started to make sense. No wonder dad was being so distant. I felt guilty that exact moment.

"Dad agreed on letting me live with grandma for this?"I felt a knot in my throat again. I was the most stupid daughter of all time.

"I'm aware of your hatred towards me and I'm sorry for that but I couldn't help not telling you when they've clearly started making him an open target!"She shuddered and almost fell down, I grabbed her. I brought her to a bench.

"I don't think you're in a state to actually talk about it all,"I sighed, heaving in the fresh yet poisoning air of this city. It was so addictive that I would have hated it if I stayed any longer. "Talk to me when you're in a state to clear it all until then I have sent someone trustworthy to trace the incident. I'm sure we'll get some clues soon." I stood up, tied my hair in a pony tail.

It wasn't surprising when I heard about this news, why?because I know mom was also killed by dad's enemies, it wasn't that easy to be in this business when you have enemies all around you. Alhtough I wasn't going to sit and do nothing this time.

I went inside, Joseph was there. Talking with uncle Zhao and I could tell they were busy with the company.

"You okay?"He asked me the moment his eyes fell on me. I nodded,"I'm fine...how long till he's shifted?"I asked. He smiled,"They've said he'll recover faster than you'll even know." I felt relieved.

Joseph was my first cousin from dad's side, well we didn't get along with my grandparents cause they always seemed to disrespect my mom. Only Joseph was the one we trusted, he was always there to back me up as a big brother and I've always been grateful to him for that.

He had his father's genes running fresh in him, he was near 6'3, which made him a giant for me to look at. He had the signature golden locks in his hair that curled at their ends, and hazel eyes, freckles, a very deep and silent personality, everything proving him to be the descendant of the Scotts. Joseph Elliot Scott, the perfect bachelor of every mom's dream to get her daughter to hook up with.

I on the other-hand was more prominent on my mom's genes, I was half Japanese and half American. I had dark brown hair that reached till my waist, my eyes were light blue and my height wasn't the best part, I was 5'6 and often dragged because of it.

Hāfu; something my grandma used to introduce me as. She'd always call me "peas" because she said I was the oddest out of us all half Japanese-Americans. It never made any sense tho.

My life was never normal to begin with, I had always wished for an ordinary one tho. A good night to die in New York, on my death bed at the age of twenty five... AFTER I've had my world tour with Tyler and Britt, then it'd hit the end. I never thought of wanting anything in my life that was too much to handle let alone dating. URGH!the idea of commitment and smooching on a bed were the top of "DON'T-EVER-DO-IT!" list.

Mom's death wasn't an accident, even the accident on my road trip to Shintoku,Hokkiado was never an accident to begin with. I was always aware of being watched. I felt like two pair of eyes fell upon me every single second, boring holes in my back. It didn't settle, the feeling never even settled in Ohio, I had went there for a change of life, a slice of reality where no one knew about my past or my present. I know my father's decisions had brought their toll on us but that didn't mean I'd be ungrateful for his love and care. No!I just didn't want to be a CEO's daughter, I wanted to be ordinary. I wanted peace...but it didn't seem to fit in with God's description of my life's script for me.

"Nora?"Grandma gave me a worried look. I smiled at her,"I'll stay with him, you should go home and rest it's not good for you to be up so late."

"I'm totally fine, honey." 

"You don't look fine,"I stood beside his bed,"I took my nap already...I'll stay and you go,"I lied, tracing my fingers on his', "come back in the evening and I'll return."

"You did?"

I nodded.

I stayed behind and grandma went with the driver.

He dropped her off at our place. I sat by his bed, looking at my hands. I had given my phone to grandma after turning it off. Dad had been shifted to his Deluxe room. He was practically under surveillance, his company wasn't made aware of anything. They were told he's on a leave.

Joseph returned to the company. Things needed to be settled down.

I sat on a stool beside him, finally letting the feeling of his and my time alone but him not being able to return any emotion back to me for the time being...I let myself cry, for being ignorant, for being selfish...maybe also because I was just a teenager? Being nothing more than a burden. I wasn't a big help. I was tension multiplied by 10 in this situation.

"Mom left in an accident...you're really cruel if you want to join her up there,"I scoffed,"you won't even go to heaven...you'll be in hell with that, secretary Daveney." I hovered above him as his eyes were shut. He had his ribs fractured and the hand break had hit his right kidney as the car skid down the road. They said that a car hit his car on the highway. His head was bruised, things were not good, his face was going to look hundred years older when he'd wake up. Poor dad.

By evening I went back with the driver, to our place near Huntington Beach, at a small villa by Sunset beach. It almost had the Pacific coast highway in it's view. Grandma insisted on making me take a rest.

This wasn't our original place, that was back in Hidden Hills,California but dad and I had lived here after he moved his main office to here. This small villa was mom's favorite and she rested here in her last days. She hated the main city life, always complaining how the cars had ruined our peace but whenever she visited this place, she'd be at rest and had very less seizures. Also another reason was because this was the closest place to dad's hospital.

I wasn't sure but why did Daveney had to tag along with me. We reached back with a silent car ride.

"Are you in a state to talk to me?"I asked her so that she could resume the conversation from where we had left off this morning.

"Your dad had you under supervision in, Ohio."She poured a glass of wine for herself and offered me peach juice. I took it.

"Do you mean a spy or something?"I joked, so unlikely of me.

"You had a guard around you?right?"she asked, furrowing her brows. So she wasn't joking?

I stared at her blankly. "I had someone staring at me 24/7 there as well?"I choked on my juice.

"He was told to keep a low profile. Also he's your father's most trusted guy out there."She shrugged looking at me with an uncertain look,"You really didn't have anyone around you?"

"I didn't I guess..."I trailed off to thinking about the random pair of eyes that were boring through my soul but never showed up. But my high school life had been the most decent time. Who was he?

"Do you know his name or anything?"I asked her out of curiosity. I would've fainted if it were one of my classmates...eww that sounded so weird.

"Uh he was told to keep it natural all this time...lemme think,"Daveney fell into her phone, rummaging through her I don't know what but she ended up finding it. A simple smile split her lips up as she looked at me. I had to be honest, this was the longest we actually got along since the past two and a half years.

"He's on a flight here right now,"she smirked. "Wait what?"I was shook, I didn't want to see someone familiar all of a sudden. Why was everything so difficult in my life and so out of control?!

"Daveney is he someone I kno-"

Before I could even finish my sentence, I was interrupted by the familiar voice of someone I didn't know I was so eager to listen to right at that moment. I turned a one eighty and my jaw fell down.

He smiled at me, it was the most genuine one he had given me in these past one and a quarter years of knowing him.

My voice cracked at the sight of him."YOU?"

He smirked, knowing me way too well. He parted his lips and said in that husky but mocking tone,"It's nice to see you in one piece, princess."

~

"I lie to them, saying that we're frenemies...but it's just us. So us."