CHAPTER 24

My body suddenly trembled when I saw Jessica's fuming eyes. I told Cassy that I wanted to go to the restroom for a while and to calm myself.

"Do you want me to go with you, Arien?" Cassy asked. I nodded and said, "I will go by myself, Cas. Please stay here and enjoy yourself. I will be back right away." I headed to the restroom and didn't notice Jessica was following me.

"Relax, Arien. It is not like she is going to devour you whole." I talked to myself in front of the mirror. After taking a breath to calm down, I bumped into Jessica outside the restroom. She dragged me back inside while some of her friends kept an eye on the outside of the restroom to see if anyone else was entering. I tried to struggle, but I couldn't fight back against them.

"Relax! Stop trembling. I won't do anything for you. Hahaha! I promised Nicole that I wouldn't cause any trouble at her party."

"What do you want from me?"

"Stop fantasizing about Zion. Because you are the one who will be hurt in the end. You are aware of our engagement, right?""

But Zion told me he didn't want to get engaged to you."

"Maybe Zion told you that, but his parents want us to be engaged. He can't do anything to oppose his parents. Do you want his family to be ruined by you? And put this in your mind: Zion's parents will never accept someone like you! He will never be yours!" After I heard Jessica's words, I felt glum and hurt. I didn't notice that I accidentally dropped the bracelet when I struggled with Jessica's hands inside the restroom. I left Jessica without saying a word. Jessica found my bracelet on the floor when she was about to leave the restroom. She picked up the bracelet and checked who would be the owner. Jessica screamed and clenched her fist when she found out what they engraved on the bracelet: ("Arien, I'm forever yours"-Zion)

"Zion! How dare you fall in love with that woman? I am going to destroy that ugly witch into pieces. I am going to ruin her reputation! Jessica was screaming inside the restroom and throwing a fit.

Meanwhile, I thought about what Jessica told me.

"She was right. Even though Zion told me he didn't want to get engaged to Jessica, his parents still forced him to get engaged to her. And I don't want him to fight with his family over me. Because I know the feeling of not having a family by your side." I whispered, while heading back to the pool. Before I went to our table, I looked at Zion from a distance and remembered what Jessica and I had talked about. My tears suddenly dripped down my cheeks and I started sobbing.

"Zion, I wouldn't know the words of love if I hadn't met you. You are the only person who makes my heart beat fast. I experienced the feeling of being jealous, angry and happy because of you. It has turned my life upside down since I met you. But in exchange for my experiences with you were pain and sorrow because of the status of our lives. Even though we love each other very much, many people will hinder us from how we feel. Zion, I never regret loving someone like you! Thank you for all the love that you gave me." I whispered, looking at Zion. It startled me when Lawrence called me so loudly.

"Arien! What are you standing there for? Come and drink with us. We've got you one glass!" I wiped my tears and approached them with a big smile. Luckily, they didn't notice I swelled my eyes from crying.

"Arien, practice how to drink alcohol. Hahaha! Lawrence handed over the glass of liquor to me. Because I felt a pain in my heart, I drank in one go the alcohol. Cassy tried to stop me, but it was too late. I finished drinking it all. Everyone was surprised.

"Arien, I didn't know you were good at drinking alcohol." Lawrence said.

"Arien, are you OK?" Cassy asked. I nodded to her and said, "I feel dizzy. Cas. I want to r... " Before I continued my sentence, I lost consciousness. Luckily, Zion caught me in an instant. Everyone was panicked. Zion carried me and told Nicole to guide him to the room, where I could rest. Zion touched something strange on my back.

"Let her rest in my room." Nicole offered.

"I'll go with them." Dave said.

"We are fine, Dave. You can stay here." Zion declined him. And they headed to Nicole's room.

Zion laid me down on the bed. He turned me to see what strange thing was on my back that he had touched when he was carrying me. Zion was shocked by what he discovered. Zion gently touched my back.

Nicole was startled and forgot about my back because Zion had already found out. It surprised Nicole when she saw Zion was crying and touched my scar.

"Zion, I am happy to see you like that. You finally found a person to love." Nicole stated.

"Nicole, do you know why Arien has this scar and who did this to her?" Zion asked furiously.

Nicole nodded and answered him, "I was surprised too when Arien showed me her back earlier. I told her to tell me if she had a chance next time. I wanted to know the history of her scar and why she has it. If you are really eager to know about it, I think Cassy knows where Arien got it from. You can ask her." Nicole stated.

Nicole lent me her dress to wear.

When Nicole and Zion were talking about my scar, someone was eavesdropping on the door.

"Zion, let's go back now. Maybe everyone was waiting for us. Let Arien rest here first." Nicole and Zion went back to the pool. While everyone was drinking, playing games, and swimming, Zion was irresistibly worried about leaving me alone in the room. He decided to check on me in the room. He abruptly stood up.

"Zion, where are you going again?" Jake asked him.

"I can't stop worrying about Arien. I want to check on her. I felt something was wrong." Zion answered Jake and immediately went to the room where I was resting.

Zion saw my dress lifted at my back. He immediately covered my scars with a blanket. Zion wondered why the scars on Arien's back were shown.

"Did anyone come after we left?" Zion mumbled.The door suddenly opened. Dave entered the room.

"How is she, Zion." Dave asked.

"She was still asleep, maybe because of the liquor and tiredness from work. I can't leave her alone knowing that Jessica was here at the party as well."

"Let's watch over her."

Two hours later, the party was over. Cassy and Nicole went to check on me.

"Was she still sleeping, Dave?" Cassy asked. Dave and Zion nodded.

"Ok boys, you can go back now to your own room. And we are going to rest now. We will take good care of your beloved Arien, so don't worry."

When Cassy was about to close the curtains, she saw one of Nicole's maids was headed to the gate and talking to someone. Cassy couldn't recognize their faces because of the darkness. She called Nicole to ask, but Nicole didn't respond because she had fallen asleep.