There was no flower in my father's funeral.
Even when the guests arrived , none of them bowed at him.
They bowed at me like I deserved their sorrows and worries , like I owed them some debts .
The cameras and reporters never left my side . I had to hide my poor mother to another room. She was wailing in fear from all these noises .
Of thirty years of marriage to a monster that made her , who made her go through hell - now even his death was bringing her pain .
My mother still wasn't free from his clutches .
As long as she stayed alive , people would recognise her , knew her story . She would never be just a normal human being in other's eyes .
Liam came with other idols to show his grief and condolence. So did Mira .
Before going away he whisphered to me that he would be back before midnight again .
I knew that he had a lot on his plate .He could not possibly stay here when Sunshine corporation had been facing Backlashes due to Mira's attitude.
Today was a big day for him .
There would be an announcement.
We were off to a war after this .
And I am afraid that he is being too hurried about this .
In the middle of everything I fell asleep . My friends - Winter and Summer did not wake me up .
I dreamt of my father .
He was sitting in the dining room . And I was drawing on the floor .
" Look at me princess," he called me gently .
I looked up smiling .
He was holding a necklace that glittered like rainbow under the chandelier above our head .
" Oaaah , that is so beautiful !," I had jumped up and down in excitement," I am really a princess now ."
" You are ! You always will be my princess," my father had picked me up.
" Then you will be my king ," I had laughed out .
" Don't lie to my face , princess ," he stopped smiling then ," Didn't I tell you to not lie ?"
" You really are ! You will forever be !," I had hugged him ," I love you ! I love you a lot , daddy ."
My heart was drenched with sadness . I was crying when I woke up .
I missed him terribly. The monster who once acted like my father . Even after everything he had done to me , a part of me still looked at a parent .
A parent that brought me gifts and called me princess .
How ashamed I was , how hateful I was towards myself - this stupid , stupid heart that took in all those fake endearment from Mr. Dane.
A person who would really love you , would not hurt you like this - I knew it , I knew it very well.
But my heart did not ..the kindness he had showed me was buried deep in it , now ached in his absence.
It was darkness around me when I woke up .
Worried ,I looked around .
" Your brother has gone to return your mother to the nursing home and your friends are seeing the guests off ."
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness , I realised that I was lying at the foot of my father's coffin.
I shivered , I did not know that it was this late . And I did not want to be this close with my father even when he had turned into a corpse .
On his coffin , there was a single white flower .
I picked it up . Atleast he had received one condolences.
" You have to pardon me . I know that you hate to see him receive even one funeral gift but I had to , he was an old friend ."
I could hear the sky rumbling outside . There was a storm coming . Hence , there was this darkness.
I recognised this voice . I recognised this man .
" How shameless of you to try and kidnap me in my father's funeral," I smirked at Rupert Hunter," No wonder your family doesn't want to see your face ."
A thunder cracked outside . I knew that I was playing with fire . But after all the things he had done to my husband , I couldn't just keep quiet.
" They loved me as long as they thought that I was beneficial for them ," Rupert said ," As long as my wife was climbing the ladder , she saw no problem. But they never realise the ladder is built on the blood and flesh . I was teaching my son my way and suddenly she could not stay blind anymore . The hypocrisy in her choice is what hurts me . All the things I have done for her , came with a price and she relished on my labour to become what she is now . Tell me , Autumn Dane , aren't you going to be the same ?"
" I don't understand what you are saying ," I said .
" You understand exactly what I am saying . You doubt your husband for the choice he has made ."
I was silent .
" You grew up like a princess in a castle . All the things you had was served to you on plates .And you never wonder where the blood money comes from . You become just a ungrateful little brat and judge the one that feeds you when you were the one who grew up on depending on what you consider the filth. My son ...he is different. I did not want him to be a brainless chaebols like those in his age . He needed to know the way so when the time comes , he will stand tall and strong . So he can fight tooth and nails for what is his ."
" You sent him into a Wolf's den ," I reminded him ," You watched those animals torture him."
" Cause he needed to know that pain !"
" No ," I whisphered softly ," You could have protected him ."
" And then what ? How else would be protect himself in the future ? Amuse me Autumn Dane," he sneered at me," I also had to learn from the depth of hell and now look at me , I am invincible."
" Ah , you just wanted him to know your pain ," the realisation hit me ," If you are really invincible, then you could have protected him forever and he never had to go through all of this . But you are not as strong as you think you are . You have no confident in yourself."
" Do not give me lectures ," he smiled ," I know what is going inside your head . Why don't we talk about it ?"
I holded my breath waiting for him to spill it out .
" How do you like it that your husband has murdered your father ? What do you have to say on that ?"