Chương 10: 20 years ago

Once in his car, the man picked up his phone and called his assistant, "I want every information on the old lady who died in the VIP suite in the North Wing. I want to know all about her granddaughter." He then drove off to go home.

As he drove, his mind was preoccupied with those ghostly eyes. Those eyes. My eyes. He saw her rushing towards the roof. He followed close enough but not too close to alert her that he was tailing her. He saw her taking off her heels and climbing onto the parapet. He remembered her arrogant look when she looked down below. Then tears started to pour down that arrogant yet beautiful face. However, no sound can be heard. The face that was emotionless when confronting her family was now filled with many emotions. Suddenly, he saw her losing her balance and could see the fear in her eyes. Without thinking much, he yanked her towards him. He could hear her heart beating against his chest. He froze when she snuggled to be closer to him a stranger. He didn't know if he should laugh of cry when she fell asleep in his embrace. The warmth that they shared disappeared when he placed her on the bed in the hospital VIP suite and left him with an unpleasant feeling of emptiness. His felt pain in his chest when he saw her cry because of her nightmare. All these emotions, he has long learn to hide and let go 20 years ago. His heart has long forgotten what is pain, warmth and love.

Derek Lee, the only child of Dexter Lee and the late Esther Chen. He is one of the youngest C.E.O and is well known in the business circle. His nickname Demon Prince because he is ruthless and decisive. No one really dares to cross him or defy him. He cold and unfeeling demeanor only came about 20 years ago. After the incident, he became withdrawn, quiet and unfeeling. He was only 9 years old when his happy, and innocent life shattered. Being the only heir to the Lee multi billion technology business, he was constantly targeted but was oblivious to it because his parents always assign people to protect him in the shadow. He was aware of his hidden guards and would occasionally ditch them whenever he felt mischievous.

On that fateful day, he received a call from his best friend to meet at their secret hideout. He did not detect the anxious and fearful voice of his best friend, Michael Ma. He slipped out of the house despite it was his curfew and he managed to shrugged off his shadow guards after misleading them a few times. Imagine the horror he witnessed when he arrived at their secret hideout. It was eerily quiet and he felt uneasy when he arrived there. He called out Michael name a few times before he heard a reply. His instinct told him to turn away and run but somehow he continued to walk towards the old abandon shade in the woods. He was puzzled because Michael would usually greet him outside. Upon entering, he was seized by two scary looking guys with rippling muscles. His friend, Michael on the hand, was held hostage by another guy holding a gun. Michael started crying when he saw Derek and apologize for luring him here because they held him and his family hostages. Michael was crying while the man holding a gun against Michael's temple was shouting at Michael to stop and then he focused his attention on the daze Derek. "Kiddo, you better listen to us, if not your friend here will die, I promise you this. If you follow us nicely and do as we say, we'll let both of you go." says the guy with the gun. He is an attractive looking guy but his looks was spoilt by a long scar across his right cheek extending all the way to the corner of his lips. Derek was reminded of the Joker in batman. Derek knew they won't make it alive because his kidnappers brazenly revealed their face.

Derek closed his eyes trying to suppress the pain he felt and hoping that this memories disappear. He was brought back to the present when the car behind him honked furiously urging him to move because the traffic light has turned green. He sped his way home. He entered his study room, poured himself a glass of whiskey and sat down in the dark. After the kidnapping incident, for ten years, he was afraid of the dark. After many therapies sessions, he finally could accept the darkness. He still blames himself for the death of his best friend and his lovely mother whenever his thoughts wander to that eventful day. He is still suffering from PTSD but the severity is much lesser now and only once in awhile in acts up. The death of his mother took a toll on his father and grandparents. He did not need them to point it to his face and said it was his fault that his mother died but deep down he knew they blamed him and that his presence reminded them of her death. Since then his father only had minimal contact with him and the loving feelings they had prior to the event dissipated and what left is only sense of duty.

He felt pain in his chest, thus, he clutched his shirt covering his chest. Pain, pain, pain .. it is all coming back. No matter how hard he wanted to forget, the past keeps haunting him again and again. Once, he tried to kill himself because the pain was unbearable but his father slapped him with a realisation that he should never ever take his own life. "You ungrateful bastard. She saved you so that you could live and this is how you repay her?" He was left weeping on his bed on the hospital bed with a broken right arm, leg and heart. He attempted suicide by jumping off his school roof, a six storey building. He landed on his right, that was why he injured his right side mostly. He was only 10 years old that year. His father then removed him from school and hired private tutor and was home schooled.

His mind flashed back to the day in that wooden shed, he was looking at Michael crying. He could see the man with the gun shouting but his mind could not process what he saying despite his shouting. Both of his arms were hurting so badly because of the tight grip they had on him. He was kicked to kneel on the floor. His puny self could not struggle much against those steroid pumped muscles guys. Out of a sudden, he saw Michael's eye widened with fear and then a loud bang followed and Michael dropped to the ground with a hole at his temple and the ground was dyed red. He remembered vomiting looking at the gory scene. Currently, he suppressed the wave of nausea that overcame him out of the blue.

Then the scenes fast forwarded to the day of ransom exchange. He wasn't sure why his mother was the one delivering the ransom. There was a shoot out and he was about to get shot and she pushed him away and was shot right in the head instead. She fell over him covering his whole being with her body. She received further shots over body. He fainted for a second and woke up to see his beloved mother's frightened eyes and face filled with worries. Her warmth was leaving her body and he was soaked with her blood. He fainted again and woke up in hospital screaming. His kidnapping made headlines for months and his life underwent a drastic change.

After the last scene, he was pulled back to the present time. He opened his eyes and he started vomiting out all his stomach contents. into a nearby bin. He wiped his mouth, took a gulp of whiskey and hugged himself. His action reminded him earlier of that woman who snuggled in his embrace earlier. She felt like she belonged in his embrace. Suddenly, he did not feel so cold anymore. Maybe there will be light ahead to light up the darkness within him.