I Was Only Five...

As the sun began to set, the hues of orange and red blend messily in the sky, covering up the blues from the day. The sunset rays intruded the office, casting golden rays onto Selina's pale skin. Raising both hands, he swept strands of her hair behind her ears. His gaze met hers over and over again, but it never bored him.

Drowning deeply in her affectionate gaze, the warm light outside the office shone onto her eyes. With the soft light shining into her light hazel eyes, specks of gold could be seen shimmering in their unceasing eye contact. Her eyes reflected his face like it always did when she looked at him, but this time it felt different.

This time, she remembered him and the look of familiarity could be found inside her determined eyes. Sliding his palms down her arms, she let out a slight hiss; drawing his attention away from her face. She was wearing a long sleeve blouse and sky-blue colored rip jeans on the knee area today. Even if he wanted to see the injury on her arms, it would be inappropriate to do it in the office.

"Let's go home." He took his car keys, phone and held her hand as they walked over to the elevator.

She blinked. "Huh? But your work..."

"It's done." Right before she rushed into his arms, he had passed the files to Aaron. In other words, he has completed all his work for the day. However, she knew regardless of whether his work was completed, he would still put her as his priority.

While starting up his car, he called his parents to inform them about where they were going. He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, but first, he needs to make sure her injuries are taken care of. During the drive, the two of them remained quiet. Once in a while, they'll sneak glances at the other and smile to themselves.

When they arrived at the villa, they realized nobody was home. Then, he received a notification from his mom telling him that they were eating outside today. In actual fact, they wanted to let the couple have their private time alone to talk it out without anybody's interruption.

Grabbing the medical kit from the living room, Jason led her up to his room where she changed out of her outside clothes and dressed in her regular pajamas. The oversized t-shirt she wore covered up the shorts when she sat on the edge of the bed. Kneeling down with disinfectant products in his hands, he rolled up the short sleeves and clipped it in place.

His face darkened with a deep frown when he saw the dark colored nail prints on her arms. It's been hours, yet the marks were still evidently visible on her skin. He suppressed his anger and gently applied proper treatment to the affected areas. Once he was done, he wrapped her up in his embrace, combing her hair between his fingers.

"What happened today?" He left a long pause between them before asking.

He felt her burying her face deeper into his chest as if she wanted to merge into one with him. Though she felt weak, she wanted to explain everything to him while looking at him and not hugging. The scent of his cologne calmed her emotions, encouraging her to speak. She placed her palms flat against his chest, breathed in a gulp of breath and left a small gap between them.

Patting the empty space next to her, she gestured him to sit. She sighed, gathering her long hair to one side of her shoulder. "While your parents were stuck in line at the supermarket, Celinda went with me to get a bottle of soy sauce. When I found it, a woman appeared and suddenly grabbed my arms. She knew my name and started spouting nonsense."

"Her voice repeatedly rung into my mind. I saw many flashbacks occur at once involving her in my past. Though, the memories were mainly fragments, and I've only recovered my memories up to the orphanage; it was terrifying." She looked up with reddened eyes. Taking his hand in hers, she started playing with his fingers.

The heart-broken intensity of her stare had left a part of him broken before she even began talking about her story. Her lips quivered throughout the story, and her body changed positions multiple times. He kept quiet as he listened.

Her voice cracked, sounding like a lost soul. "She brought me to the graveyard and told me to wait for her. It was near sunset at that time. Everything around me lost its colors and turned black. She said she was going to use the restroom, and she would come back for me, but she never did."

"She left me there in the middle of a cold night. If I didn't remember hearing children laughing at an orphanage nearby, I would spend days in the cold. I found my way to the orphanage, but I didn't know what this house was for at first. To me, it was a whole different place. I remember how we met and the warm smile you showed me when you patiently spoke to me."

"I remember how warm your hands were when you held mine and brought me in for a warm meal. You didn't ask what happened. You took care of everything for me and didn't force me to blend in with other kids."

"I remember her face, her cold eyes and her emotionless voice. I wanted to forget this ever happened. I didn't..didn't want to remember that my mother would abandon me. I was only five years old. I was only..only..."

Words trapped in her throat as she failed to say another word. He pulled her in his arms, caressed her back and planted kisses to her forehead. Tears flowed down her cheeks as pain and fear crept through her mind. Now she understood why she disliked horror movies but still watches it. It was because of this experience at the graveyard.

She was afraid of being abandoned and left alone again. It was a memory she never wished to recall, but it surfaced once again. Her cries echoed the room until she grew tired and fell asleep in his arms. Still, he continued comforting her as she slept in his arms.

He whispered, "I'm right here. You'll recover all your memories one day, and I'll have each of them pay their debt in front of you. Each of them."

At this moment, his phone buzzed and the phone screen brightened. Celinda had sent him a photo of Katrina's face. She had a haggard appearance with weirdly angled legs. He forwarded the picture to Bryan, Aaron, Michael and Alfred.

Meanwhile, his parents have already directed their secretive guards to scavenger hunt for Katrina all over the city. At the same time, the Clovers also found out that Katrina had escaped from their guards.

After her leg was fixed, she knocked the doctor out and swapped their clothes. To buy herself time, she stapled the doctor's mouth and tied her wrists to a dead knot with wires. By the time the guards realized they've been tricked, it had been too late.