No Family

Prince had to play the mysterious card. If Aria seemed to cross the line by being nosy, he has no choice but to let the lies swarmed in his tongue. Prince doesn't have enough time to recuperate, and also, he's still stuck at the age where his father left him for prison.

"I have no girlfriend. I'm single since birth," Prince answered in an honest way as he could.

It was hard at first, though. But little by little, as Aria believed in those words, later on, Prince would bear the fruit. He'd just stay silent, but Aria would come over and hug him as tight as he could. Prince had that impact, and no one can even tame it down from Aria's soft heart.

"Oh. You just cared a lot, do you?" Aria hugged the pillow. She walked past ahead of Prince and walked towards the bed, sitting down carefully, on the very edge. Aria doesn't want to spread her shabbiness all over these expensive bed sheets. It's fine to just take a seat down before everything else.

Prince turned around, saying, "I learned to care a lot when I lost my family a few years back."

It's time to act well, activate his skills, and gain sympathy from her. If it weren't for his acting, nothing could be done that well. Prince had to articulate a very good pretend story so that everyone would believe it, including Aria.

"Family? You lost your family?" Aria asked horribly.

Prince took a seat down beside her on the bed. He nodded silently.

"Oh, that… I'm sorry for…"

"No, you don't have to apologize. My mom died when she's giving birth to me, and my father followed a few years after. When they died, I was left alone. I only have the maids and a personal lawyer to take care of my business for a while. I also have a bodyguard, so I can keep track of what's going on outside. Then, when I grow up, I need to work right away."

Some of them are true, but part of it was a lie. Of course, the father part was false.

Prince wouldn't let anyone to kill his father as long as Aria was still alive.

He had to mess up with Lara's plan to gain a lot of takeaways. It gave him headache, but Prince knew it'd play a lot well better than anything else.

"I studied law first. I graduated with a Latin Honor, and I became a lawyer at the same year. Prince Gomez wouldn't let anyone step on his dignity, so I have done a lot of hardships before coming into this life. It's hard, but climbing steps by steps would eventually lead to success," he stated.

Aria was listening intently to every word he said. Every time he opened his mouth, Aria admired the curl of his lips. She recalled the way they kissed down at the garden, but they should forget it about now. It all happened a few weeks ago, and it's not good to recall it on a serious talk.

Aria just had to wonderfully undermine her feelings for now and let Prince talk about his life.

"Since then, I'm working all day. Afternoon and night, sometimes I'm done by 12am. I woke up at 6, and my sleep isn't that long to rest well. You know, Aria, there's more to life than just working and earning money. I haven't been socially inclined because I used to work a lot."

Aria nodded. She completely understood the things Prince talked about. When Tin, the woman who took care of her when she was a baby, let her act as an adult for a month, she got used to it. Aria doesn't have anything to say. Refuting isn't a good choice.

"Now that I have a lot on my plate, I still have to know what kind of a carefree life does everyone lies on. Prince Gomez is one hell of a working buddy than a traveler. I don't have the time to use up for letting that pile stack longer. So when I finally fell in love, I wanted her to understand how much a burden a prosecutor can be."

This is the side of the coin for Prince. He had thought that moment he lost his mother could be a devastating point, but no, it was the memory when his father changed from being an epitome to someone everyone should despise at. Prince had never seen his father getting annihilated from getting separated from his son.

For all he knew, it was bombarding. He had to take a rest from school one year before everything else. The little Prince liked to walk back and forth to the penitentiary state to see his father. It was enough to lead him to a revengeful and awful path no one could have taken for.

"How about you? Do you have anything to say about your family?"

Aria do seemed interested with the topic. This time, she's skeptical on telling a few details.

Prince do like to record her words, since, it can be used on the appeal upon Lara's testified statements. One by one, he'll destroy them. It's enough to make them realize how much his mind had turned to a cruel one because of an injustice.

"Ah…" she chuckled shyly. This time, she doesn't have an accountability to talk about it. Aria barely talked about the only family she had. In addition, she treated Bryce as one, too. And now, with the baby's growing inside her, she instantly felt someone was behind her already.

"My family…"

All of a sudden, before she could start her dramatic talk, the lights went out.

The fear haunted her again. This time, when the lights went out, she trembled slightly. Prince looked outside of the balcony through the lacy curtains and doesn't seem to see something suspicious. He sighed, walking towards the lamp, and expected for the generator to come open again.

Since the door is locked, Prince should assure that the balcony's glass door does, too.

He turned to Aria first, and saw she's actually in stout. She hadn't moved at all. Prince tried to touch her shoulders, but it is best not to do it at all. Prince sighed, observing Aria's reaction while tucking in her hair behind her ear.

She's huffing deeply, too. Prince bit in his bottom lip. He doesn't know what to do first. If he'd lock the balcony door, Aria might scream out and leave the room. It would be more dangerous to come outside without any person by her side.

Prince had a thought someone intrude here and turned off the lights.

If he retrieved the matchbox inside the drawer, Prince might delay their safety inside.

He closed his eyes. Prince would lend a few seconds to let Aria handle her trauma.

"Stay there, Aria," he reminded.

Prince stood up, not afraid of someone crashing inside to smack down the glasses.

In this case, he knew what would happen.

The moment he reached the distance between the bed and balcony glass door, someone threw a boomerang in that direction, slamming the glass completely. The boomerang found its way to its owner, and before Prince could see the one who threw it, he protected his face for a while.

Shards of glasses scattered the whole floor as Aria covered her ears, falling down the floor to defend herself.