Secrets To Keep

Memories are one kind of mysterious part of everyone's life. We have both good and bad memories and whether we like it or not, we have to live with them. Some memories of our lives are filled with regrets, and others are something we want to reminisce about from time to time. But life can't always go according to our wishes.

Though we wish to always remember the good memories, sometimes our brain forces us to see the bad ones too. After all, everything in this world works in a balance. Remembering a single person from the past can make you remember the whole thing related to them.

Never in her wildest dream, Annabelle knew that she would remember that horrible day again. That day was full of surprises for her. Before coming back home, she thought it would be one of the best days of her life. But who knew her grandfather was going to die that day?

At first, she was furious about discovering the whole matter of his health getting worse that day. Though she didn't cause any problems at that time, she threw a tantrum several days after her grandfather's death. But thinking it clearly right now, she felt her mother did the right thing by not informing her. Or else, her whole day would have been bad. After all these years, she at least learned to value and live in the present. No matter how bad the situation turns up, if she can live in the present, she can have a fair share of her own happiness.

Come to think of it, she really lost connections with all of them. She didn't know what the other idiots were doing and how come he is a top-notch Journalist now. The whole thing didn't make sense. Maybe he still keeps in contact with them, unlike her. That is quite reasonable, to be honest.

Actually, she doesn't deserve to stay in contact with them. After all, she could see the hatred in Jaemin's eyes for her. It was obvious, she felt it herself. Insulting her that way, making her look shallow in front of Yujun, all these were just a clear declaration of hatefulness towards her, that's all.

She expected it more or less. Maybe they are happy without her. Damn! Why does he have to be friends with Park Yujun of all people? Why did they have to meet like that? They were fine without her. She was also doing quite well without them. Then why does god have to play this kind of trick again? She was feeling more than curious about their life now, although she doesn't deserve to feel like that.

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After dropping Anna at the penthouse, Kiera went to her own apartment.

All of a sudden, she got a call from her mother after almost a year.

Why is she calling her all of sudden? Now, what does she want from her?

Kiera couldn't accept the fact of her mother's calling her simply as she knew very well that her family wouldn't call her without any reason. So, she picked up the phone to hear the new reason for her to call.

"What is it this time?"

There was silence for a few seconds from the other side.

"What kind of manners this is, Kiera? I don't remember teaching you something like this," finally Mrs. Simmons spoke.

"Oh, yeah. You didn't. Actually, you didn't have much time to teach me anything let alone manners," Kiera didn't flinch a bit as she already knew all her remarks and love is fake for her. If her mom and dad ever taught her something in their whole life, it was how to compete with others, especially with Theodore.

Mrs. Simmons was again silent as she didn't know how to advance the conversation further. These past few years, talking with her daughter has become so hard work to do that she often avoids having any conversation with her. Kiera was always a selfish type of person but she wasn't this aggressive to anybody before. What made her daughter change so much?

"Can't you cut the crap sooner? As if I am free all the time…" Kiera was getting frustrated when she didn't get any answer for a long time.

Why can't she finish what she was calling her for, now, huh?

Her family, they never even bothered to ask about her or how she is doing but they never forget to call when they need something. She was connected with the media, so sometimes her dad's colleague's daughter or son who are in the entertainment industry would seek help from her. This is not new. She already got accustomed to it.

"I heard Theodore came back to Los Angeles? Did you know that?"

That's right. Why couldn't she guess it earlier? She should have known why this woman called her out of the blue. Her mother knows very well that if Theodore came back, he would have surely stayed at Kiera's place like always. She didn't even pretend to be a good person, huh? She is just the same shameless and blunt, as always.

"You are late. He is already gone."

"What? Why didn't you tell us that before? We could have arranged this get-together sooner," Mrs. Simmons sounded a bit disappointed.

"Seriously? You guys are crazy! He doesn't even bother to meet his parents and brother who are just living a few kilometers away from my house and you are saying he would have agreed to meet you guys? Are you kidding me?"

Kiera held her head with utter frustration. These people, when will they quit it, huh? They should have been feeling shame by now if they were a normal human. When Theodore himself rejected handling his father's business and doing amazing on his own career, then why are they still at it? They should give up on getting benefits from him by now.

Kiera knew it would have been better if Theodore was the one handling his father's business but he actually never had any interest in doing that. Maybe his father also gave up on that hope by now. Then why are her own parents taking so much time to understand this simple thing?

"I guess it's just our bad luck, Kiera. Why are you talking like that as if we are someone stranger to him? After all, he considers us closer than his own family."

Nonsense! A heartless guy like Theodore would never care about his so-called aunt's family. Are they making some weird assumptions seeing him depend on her or something? Maybe because they didn't know why exactly he was depending on her?

Actually, to be honest, Theodore was not depending on her. They just knew each other very well, as they have kinda the same type of personalities. Competing with him for several years made her grow close enough to him to understand the similarity in each other. Both of them aren't into family dramas, so after coming back to Los Angeles after so many years, he decided to depend on Kiera for the first time.

"You guys really live inside your own fantasy, mom."

"Whatever it is, Kiera. We have already arranged dinner together. So, just show up this time. We also invited his family. It would have been great if he was here."

Kiera felt like throwing up all of a sudden. She didn't wait for her mother to say anything further and cut the call abruptly.

Like seriously? They called Theodore's family to show Theodore to them and make them understand that they have upper hands here? How cheap can they be, huh? She is not worthy enough for them to make a show piece of their family, so they are still kinda obsessed with Theodore though they never forget to ask for her help when they needed. She was kind of happy and relieved to know that she is not their prime material to show off anymore. She hates remembering those days when she was the scapegoat of them and had to attend all those social gatherings where her parents would show her as their new show product to all the socialites.

Come to think of it, the day of the family dinner is the date when Annabelle's blind date was set. That guy is kind of a decent one as far as she could guess after going through his whole biodata.

Actually, Mrs. D'Costa wasn't like her mother. Kiera didn't know why Anna's relationship with her parents was so bitter, but she could guess that her mother was not someone who could ever wish anything bad for her daughter.

It was her habit to hide things. But Kiera never thought Anna also had some secrets to keep from her. There were really many things that didn't make sense. Her knowing a vixen like Megan, her always feeling inferior to everything. All she did know as Anna told her. She told her the relationship with her parents was not that good as she did something very unforgivable in the past.

What kind of thing would make her this vulnerable? At least, she knows that Anna is not someone capable of doing something too shady. Also, what happened today was also a mystery to her. How come Anna knows the great journalist, He Jaemin? Their workplace, work line, all are different. He Jaemin is someone who is least bothered to connect with the entertainment industry. Even his posted columns on different magazines were also in no way connected with the entertainment industry.

What was it then? Do they somehow know each other even before Anna's debut?