Fear

"I think I should leave now," Catherine Sage stated; breaking the silence that went on for almost a minute. She gazed down at Emery and continued, "It's getting late and your brother is also here now."

"You won't stay for dinner?" Emery looked up and met Catherine's gaze, perplexed.

"We just had lunch," Catherine reminded her with a little smile. "I don't think I'll get hungry again that soon."

While Emery Hayes was struggling for words or excuses to say, Catherine turned back to the Vice-Chairman who was still fixating his gaze on her. "I'll get going, Mr. Hayes."

Emery looked up at her brother, wondering how he would respond, but...

"Alright. Thank you for the trouble, Miss Sage. I will pay you back for it later." Jason's voice was quite calm and Emery inwardly cursed him for not doing anything to hold back the woman.

He's so hopeless!

"You don't have to, Mr. Hayes. I care for Emery and I'm glad that I was able to do something for her," Catherine Sage promptly responded. "Goodnight then." She glanced at Emery and said, "I'll come and visit you again."

Emery nodded and just like that, Catherine Sage walked out of the Hayes family mansion.

The moment Catherine was out of her sight, Emery promptly glanced up at her older brother and sighed. "How can you just let her go like that, Jason? You're so hopeless!"

She was looking at her brother with disappointment written all over her face but... Jason Hayes didn't even react. He just stood there and gazed down at her with an unreadable face. Once again, Emery was curious about what her brother had in mind.

"Brother -"

"That's not what important right now," her brother interrupted and put his coat down. Then he took a seat opposite her, the same place where Catherine sat a while ago. He was leaning a bit toward her and observed her once again.

"Now tell me. What happened today?"

Emery fought back the urge to blink as she wasn't expecting this.

Shouldn't he go and settle things with Catherine first? Her story can wait!

"Will you really let her go like that? You won't -"

"Emery."

She fell silent when she heard Jason's voice which sounded quite stern. Though it surprised her, the fact that her brother narrowed his eyes and let out a breath surprised Emery even more.

"I always told you that you're my priority. Do you already forget?" He asked when he looked at her again. "So, stop thinking about other matters and tell me what happen today. My patience is running dry."

For the first since her brother arrived, Emery realized just how high the level of Jason's concern was!

He waited to hear something from Catherine Sage for two whole weeks and he finally saw her again. Yet he was willing to let go of this chance just so that he could soon know what happened to her?

"Emery." Her brother's prodding snapped Emery out of her thoughts and in an instant, what happened at the Pierre family mansion crossed her mind.

She wasn't a fool to not know that telling her brother the whole story would bring no good.

"I try to come home alone but I got lost," she started, telling a half-truth. "Miss Sage happened to call me at that time and she came for me. You know the rest."

"That's all?" Doubt was more than obvious in the way Jason glanced at her and somehow, Emery found it hard to respond.

She truly didn't want to lie to her brother of all people.

"Yes," she muttered with a nod.

"That makes no sense." Jason's remark came faster than ever, only to make Emery feel the pressure more. "Weren't you with Marcus? Why would you try to come home alone while you didn't know the way?"

With her brother observing her every reaction, it was only getting harder for Emery to stand her ground.

She only realized now that her caring brother could be very intimidating too!

"Must you do this, Jason?" She finally asked in a low voice. "There are some things which I want to keep to myself. I mean, I don't really want to talk about it."

Jason Hayes who was very intent on knowing the truth just a while ago was now thinking twice. After maintaining his silence for a while, he leaned back and pressed his back against the backrest of the couch.

"I'm sorry," he muttered and Emery noticed how he kept on pressing his nails against each other. "I was just scared."

"This is not what you think about, brother," Emery clarified when she finally sensed the fear and pressure that her brother was feeling. "Please don't worry too much."

Jason Hayes narrowed his eyes and sat still as if he was thinking of something. All Emery could do was stare at her brother until... the latter abruptly rose from his seat.

"Alright. I believe you," Jason Hayes said while staring down at his sister. "I'll go and get changed." He bent down to pick up his coat and then walked up to the upper floor where his room was located while Emery stared at him with a troubled mind.

*

Jason Hayes walked inside his room and then close the door after him. He slowly walked towards his bed and sat there without changing right away.

When he glanced at the photo of him and Emery on a frame that was placed on top of the drawer next to his bed, he was reminded of some memories from the time before Emery's amnesia.

He was telling the truth when he said that he was scared and even now, he still was.

Before Emery's sudden disappearance which led to her mysterious accident and memory loss, he noticed the change in her behavior. He always knew when something was wrong with her but... no matter how much he asked her what was wrong, she always said that she was fine and told him not to worry.

As the old Emery had quite a temper, Jason always back down despite knowing that she was lying.

No one knew how much he regretted doing that when Emery suddenly disappeared. Since then, fear never left him.

The fear of making the same mistake.

What if he decided to be stubborn and pressure his sister just for once? Will he be able to avoid all those incidents?