Forgotten in the Fog

“I’ve made up my mind, I’m going to leave the Emersons and move overseas to live with you.” Cecil Miller’s aunt, Dianne Miller, was thrilled to hear this. She then thoughtfully advised Cecil. “Alright, Cecil, I'll help you with the immigration right away. It will take about a month so you should use this time to get together with your friends since it’s not very likely you’ll see them again once you come to Vinland. Make sure you say your goodbyes. “Don’t forget Cleo especially. He raised you since you were a kid, so you should thank him for everything he’s done for you.” Cecil gave Dianne her word. After hanging up, she left the balcony. As she was heading to the living room, she caught herself sneaking a glance at the picture set on the table. Chapter 1 “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to leave the Emersons and move overseas to live with you.” Cecil Miller’s aunt, Dianne Miller, was thrilled to hear this. She then thoughtfully advised Cecil. “Alright, Cecil, I'll help you with the immigration immediately. It will take about a month, so you should use this time to get together with your friends since it’s not very likely you’ll see them again once you come to Vinland. Make sure you say your goodbyes. “Don’t forget Cleo, especially. He raised you since you were a kid, so you should thank him for everything he’s done for you.” Cecil gave Dianne her word. After hanging up, she left the balcony. As she was heading to the living room, she caught herself sneaking a glance at the picture set on the table. Inside the picture, the sky as well as the faces of the people were lit auburn from the glow of the sun. It was a picture of seventeen-year-old Cleo Emerson standing under the frame of a swing. He was smiling and pushing Cecil, who was only seven years old at the time. Her skirt fluttered in the wind and briefly grazed the tulips in the garden. Even though it was so many years ago, Cecil could still recall how happy she was on the day the picture was taken. It was such a shame that both she and Cleo could never go back to the way they were in the past anymore. The thought of it made her feel rather sad. She quickly looked away and banished the memory into the distant past. The Miller and Emerson families had always been very close across the generations. Cleo was ten years older than Cecil, so Cecil had always addressed him as Uncle Cleo. When Cecil was seven years old, both of her parents died in a plane accident. It was Cleo who brought her back to his family and raised her. He must have done it because he felt sorry for her, having tragically lost her parents at such a young age. Since then, he has kept her by his side at all times and taken care of her. He would tell her bedtime stories at night and make sure to send her to school every day, regardless of the weather. He would buy her all sorts of interesting toys and just like that, the young man raised the little girl and watched as she grew into a fine young lady. Cecil had always been very clingy, partially because of Cleo’s gentle and attentive nature. When she eventually reached her teenage years, she could not help herself from developing a crush on the man she had grown up with. When she was seventeen years old, as usual, Cleo threw a grand birthday party for her. He ended up drinking too much at the party, and it was Cecil who led him away to get some rest. When she looked at the man that she had long had feelings for, she could not resist the urge to lower herself and plant a kiss on his lips. Within seconds, Cleo had snapped his eyes open and shoved her to the other end of the couch. Cecil could not understand his reaction. All she thought was that it was the perfect chance for her to confess her feelings for Cleo. To Cleo, every word that came out of her mouth was scandalous and completely unacceptable. He was infuriated by what he heard and became very upset. “Cecil! Don’t you realize that I am your uncle?” “I know, but we’re not related by blood! You are an Emerson while I am a Miller!” Cleo frowned at how insistent she was being. “I am ten years older than you! You are only seventeen, you’re too young to know the difference between familial affection and love! You don’t even know what love is yet!” Cecil had always listened to him, but she was particularly stubborn concerning the matter. “Is that why you’re rejecting me? Because you think I am too young for you? It doesn't matter. When I am older, I will prove that I know what love is!” She could no longer remember how they wrapped up the argument. Regardless, she started confessing her feelings for him every year on her birthday. He would always reject her, but that was not enough to get her to stop. It was going to be her twenty-first birthday next month. However, she no longer planned to confess to him. Only a month ago, Cleo came home with his girlfriend, and he introduced her to Cecil. Although Cecil was distraught, she held back tears and asked through clenched teeth if he was intentionally doing it to rile her up because he wanted her to give up. Cleo cast her an indifferent look and spoke in a rigid tone. “Have some self-awareness, it’s normal for me to have a girlfriend at my age.” Cecil was hurt by the completely still look in his eyes as he said that. She spent that night crying. Her mind was completely frantic, and she would not stop thinking about the past. When morning came, Dianne, who lived overseas, suddenly texted her. “Cecil, would you like to come live with me in Vinland? “See, I already thought about raising you here with me when your parents passed. But my career was unstable at the time. And after I gave birth to Reya, I'd dealt with postpartum depression for a long time, so I decided to give up on the idea. “Now that you’re a grown-up, I don’t think it’s proper for you to stay with the Emersons anymore. Since my situation is much better now, would you like to consider moving here and living together with me?” Cecil did not reply at the time. She did not want to leave Cleo and was determined to try again. However, her resolve wavered over the last month. Cleo had been bringing his girlfriend, Amelia Wright, all the time as if he was eager to show her off. They held hands, hugged, and kissed. They had practically done everything a normal couple would do. Last night, he even let Amelia stay for the night and sleep in his room. Cecil stayed downstairs until three o’clock. Around that point, she heard suggestive sounds coming from inside Cleo’s room, even though the lights were switched off. She covered her mouth tightly and let her tears fall, soaking the pillow on the couch. That was when she finally decided to give up. She was going to give up on her affection for Cleo. Chapter 2 Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted Cecil's stream of thought. She looked up and immediately met Cleo’s eyes. When he noticed Cecil sitting all by herself at the dining table, he darted a glance at the clock mounted on the wall. It was almost eleven o'clock. He frowned faintly before heading upstairs without saying a word. He never bothered to greet her the entire time. It was as if they were strangers. Cecil felt bitter about it and could not hold back from calling out after him. “Uncle Cleo, dinner…” Cleo kept walking up the stairs while remarking in a cold voice. “I’ll have dinner with Amelia. How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to wait for me?” Then, it was followed by the sound of the door closing with a thud. Cecil felt something stir inside her. The edges of her eyes welled with tears. Cleo would never have spoken to her in such a dismissive tone in the past. He was sympathetic to the fact that she was afraid of being alone after losing her parents and would never let her eat by herself. Even if he was busy with classes or with work later on, he made a point of rushing back home to dine with her. Whenever he went overseas, he would return as soon as he could because he was worried about Cecil losing her appetite and getting sick while he was away. It had been that way for a decade, and he had made no exceptions. Then, everything changed after the first time Cecil confessed her feelings. He started to keep his distance from her and frequently worked overtime or went on business trips to minimize the time he spent with her. Furthermore, he stopped surprising her with gifts and even withheld his affection. Ever since Amelia had shown up, there was an increasingly sharp look in his eyes when he looked at Cecil. It was as if he had turned into a stranger. Cecil understood the reason. There was nothing she could do about it. She grabbed her spoon and finished the food that had gone cold. It felt like chewing on candle wax. There was a large variety of dishes, but they all tasted bitter to her. After the meal, she packed up everything and went to knock gently on Cleo’s door. Cleo opened the door with a sharp frown. His voice sounded disgruntled. “Didn't I tell you to not bother me if there’s nothing important?” Cecil pursed her lips and twisted her fingers into a knot. “Uncle Cleo, I was thinking I’d like to change my room.” A strange look flashed across Cleo’s eyes, but he did not seem to think much of it. “Do whatever you want.” With that, Cecil nodded and silently returned to her room. She stared at the French window and all kinds of exquisite furniture in the room. Then, she regarded the dresser stuffed with her clothes, shoes, and bags. It all filled her with a sense of loss. The bedroom was the largest in the villa, with a lot of natural light. It used to be Cleo’s bedroom. When he first brought Cecil in, he was the one who made a point of yielding his bedroom to her. She remembered the way he gently touched her head and told her that she was a little princess who deserved the best room in the house. Now that Cecil was leaving, Amelia was going to move in soon. She was only an adopted girl at best and a guest at worst. What right did she have to take the master bedroom? That was why she proposed the idea of ​​changing rooms. It was mainly to yield the space to Amelia and also to help with her packing up. By the next afternoon, she had moved all her belongings into a smaller room at the end of the corridor. The room used to be Cleo's study. After cleaning the room, she gathered her documents and prepared to head out to sort out her visa. When she passed the living room, she made a very faint nod in Cleo’s direction to acknowledge him. She no longer greeted him with the same amount of warmth she used to. Cleo was not used to how quiet she was. When he observed the way she was slithering out of the house, he could not shake off the feeling that she had changed. With a slight frown on his face, he called out to her before he thought better of it. “Where are you going? It’s snowing too much out there. Need a ride?” It was a long time since he offered to drive Cecil anywhere at all. She was a little too stunned to react. “It’s going to be Christmas tomorrow. Aren’t you going on a date?” She murmured in such a low voice that Cleo could barely hear her. “What did you say?” Cecil clenched her hands into a ball and dropped her eyes. “I saw the news yesterday that mentioned something about you buying a diamond necklace that cost almost ten million dollars at the auction house. You’re going to give it to Amelia, aren’t you?” Cleo was taken aback and blurted out sheepishly, “I was going to…” Then, his voice was interrupted by the doorbell. Shortly after that, Amelia showed up wearing a knitted mini-dress. Her long and curly hair was draped down to her waist, and her makeup made her look very delicate. She immediately took Cleo by his arm when she walked in and spoke in a flirty voice. “I’ve got a Christmas gift for you, Cleo. Do you want to guess what it is?” It was just as Cecil had expected. She lowered her head and smiled bitterly. Perhaps because she had made up her mind on leaving, it no longer hurt as much to know that they were going on a date. She quietly withdrew to make room for them. It helped that Cleo had dismissed their previous conversation as well. Just as she was about to leave the house, he suddenly called out after her. “Hold on, where were you going? I’ll drive you.” Cecil was briefly taken aback by the gesture but still accepted it timidly. “Thank you, Uncle Cleo.” This time, she thanked him sincerely. She was especially sincere in addressing him as her uncle. Chapter 3 Cecil rarely went out on weekdays. Usually, she spent most of her time in her studio, which was why Amelia was intrigued that she was going out on such a snowy day. “Cecil, you don't have a boyfriend, so why are you going out in this weather?” Cecil did not know how to tell them about her plans to leave and ended up saying vaguely, “I… I just need to get something done.” Either way, they would be able to connect the dots when they arrived at the visa office. Amelia did not continue pressing for answers and instead turned to Cleo to ask about their plans for the day. The two were chatting away enthusiastically and seemed to have completely forgotten about the presence of Cecil in the back seat. When they reached a red light, Amelia produced a lipstick and asked Cleo to help her touch up her makeup. Cleo was very receptive. He cupped her face in his palms and was very gentle with her. When it looked like their faces were drawing closer, Cecil quickly turned away to look at the snow wafting out of the sky. When they were about to reach their destination, Amelia suddenly mentioned that she needed to head back home to get a coat. The navigation screen showed that they were only two kilometers away from their destination. Without even thinking about it, Cleo mentioned that he would have to take a detour and so beckoned for Cecil to hail a ride to get to her destination. Cecil smiled bitterly and did not protest as she got out of the car. Cleo’s car sped away after that, its wheels tossing up a large mass of snow. There was not a single soul anywhere along the side of the road, so Cecil walked for the remainder of the journey to the office and handed in her documents. When she left the office after sorting out the paperwork, she bumped into one of her teachers back when she was in high school. The two chatted briefly. Upon hearing that Cecil was going to move overseas, the teacher seemed taken aback. “Are you not going to come back after that? Is your uncle okay with that?” Cecil did not know why her teacher suddenly brought up Cleo and briskly made up something on the spot. “Yeah, he’s okay with that. Besides, we’re not related by blood, and now that I am of legal age, I can’t keep troubling him anymore. It’s good for me to go overseas and see the world anyway." The teacher nodded solemnly. “It may be true that you two are not related, but still, Mr. Emerson has been nothing but wonderful to you. “There was once when you attended a competition and were accused of plagiarism by the other teams, and Mr. Emerson was having surgery for his appendicitis at the time. He rushed to the competition venue immediately after the surgery to vouch for you. “This other time, when you had a fall at the school, Mr. Emerson sped to school and took you to the hospital right away. I heard he was in the middle of negotiating a deal worth several millions of dollars, and he just walked away from it! “There’s also that time when some punks were trying to bully you, and he had someone teach them a lesson…” Cecil found herself thinking about the distant past as well when she heard her teacher recounting her stories. Towards the end of their conversation, the teacher held her hand tenderly and earnestly advised her to remember Cleo’s kindness and to repay him. Cecil nodded silently. She had been thinking about repaying him for all the dedication and kindness he had shown her. She wagered that the best way she could repay him was to tell him she was leaving. That way, he no longer had to worry about her holding onto him. When she got home, she changed out of her clothes soaked by the snow and sat at her desk to make some calculations. She had been living with the Emersons for many years and had been paying attention to the household expenses. She had managed to arrive at an approximate sum. Apart from the general expenses, there must have been plenty of other hidden expenses over the years. To be on the safe side, she decided to triple the tallied amount. Around noon, she sorted out all the gifts Cleo had given her in the past and listed all of them on an online market site. Then, she contacted a real estate company and put the Millers’ family home on sale. After everything was done, she felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. As soon as she lay down on the bed, her phone vibrated. It was a stream of messages from Amelia. There were dozens of pictures followed by a brief text. [Cecil, I’m going to be in Hawaii with Cleo for a few days. Make sure to be good at home by yourself!] She did not need to open the pictures to know they were pictures of the couple boldly displaying their affection for each other. Ever since they had become official, Amelia would send her dozens of such pictures after their dates. In the past, she would become so upset at seeing these pictures that she would lose sleep over them. She would even sometimes cry until her eyes became red and swollen. Now that she had decided to see Cleo as nothing more than a family member, such pictures no longer affected her the same way. Furthermore, she was no longer interested in deducing Amelia’s intentions. All she did was send a brisk reply. [Sure. Have fun.] Chapter 4 Five days later, Cleo returned with Amelia. As soon as they stepped into the house, Cecil's eyes were immediately blinded by the dazzling necklace around Amelia’s neck. She snuck a glance at it before looking away. Her hunch was right; the necklace was meant for Amelia. In that case, what was it that Cleo was trying to say last time before his sentence got cut off? Whenever Cleo was around, Amelia had always been very warm and friendly with Cecil. This time, she went right up to Cecil and took her hand. “Cecil, you must have been so bored at home these last few days! Look, I bought a bunch of things. Come and see if there is anything that you like!" With that, she took off her coat and dragged over a large box. Cecil shook her head a few times to refuse the offer. Amelia reacted by casting a strange look at her. “Come on, don’t be shy! Just think of it as a gift from your future aunt, alright?” Amelia said in a tone that was hard to read. The sheer mention of the word ‘aunt’ made Cecil look up subconsciously. She immediately felt something jolt inside her when she caught a glimpse of the red marks on Amelia’s neck. Amelia had sent a lot of pictures, and one of them was a shot of the bed inside the hotel room. At the time, Cecil could not figure out why Amelia had sent that particular picture. It was easy to form the connection now that she had spotted the marks Cleo had left on her. Cecil kept her head down and stayed silent. While they were unpacking, Amelia began to talk about the banquet that was happening tonight. “Cleo, let's bring Cecil with us to Miss Maya’s twenty-first birthday banquet! Those two are around the same age and should get along very well.” Cecil did a double take upon hearing the mention of a banquet. Ever since her parents passed away and she moved into the Emerson house, Cleo had never brought her to attend any parties with him. She did not think much of it, but she was aware that there were some people making comments about her being a parasite. Just like every other time, Cleo shook his head and dismissed the suggestion entirely. Amelia wrapped herself around his arm and tried to persuade him in a sultry voice. She claimed it would be boring without Cecil around. With that, Cleo gave in and agreed to the suggestion, mainly out of affection for Amelia. Upon observing the display of intimacy between the couple, Cecil kept her head down to hide a faint smile forming on her lips. Amelia was truly one of a kind for Cleo to willingly set aside his principles for her. It looked like he was very fond of Amelia. That was all Cecil needed to know. She had the strength to leave Cleo, knowing that he could find happiness, even if Cecil was not the one to give him that happiness. It was a very lively banquet with many people interacting in quick succession with one another. Cecil stood by herself in the corner and watched as Cleo drank to countless toasts for Amelia. Meanwhile, Cecil quietly sipped from a glass of fruit juice. At one point, several chattering girls passed by and accidentally spilled a drink on her. They were very apologetic, and Cecil was, in turn, very gracious. She did not seem very bothered and proceeded to head to the washroom to clean herself. Before excusing herself to the washroom, she handed her bag and phone to Cleo. When she returned ten minutes later, Cleo regarded her with a frown and spoke in a tone that was hard to place. “Your aunt, Dianne, just called and asked me if you were available to talk. She says she’ll call again later when I told her you’re busy.” Cecil tensed up at the mention of Dianne. She managed to relax when she realized Dianne had not mentioned anything about her going abroad to live with her. Cleo was very perceptive and noticed the subtle change in her demeanor. He could not stop himself from probing. “When did you get in touch with Dianne?” “About two weeks ago. She just asked me to send some old pictures of my grandparents.” The lie she made up on the spot seemed to put Cleo at ease. He no longer suspected her of anything and proceeded to turn around to help Amelia fix her hair. After Cecil retrieved her phone and handbag, she turned around and prepared to head back to her corner. It all happened very quickly. Someone had accidentally knocked over a nearby tower of champagne glasses, which came crashing down in Cecil and Amelia’s general direction. “Careful!” Cleo was the closest to them. He instinctively reached for Amelia and pulled her into his arms in one swift movement. Bang! The champagne tower collapsed and produced a thunderous crash. Cecil barely had time to react and was thrown to the floor. There were broken shards of glass everywhere, and she had landed on top of them. There was blood everywhere, and her white gown had turned red. It was a horrifying sight to behold. Everyone present at the venue was equally shocked by the sudden commotion. Even though Amelia was unscathed, she burst out crying from shock. Cleo looked at Cecil, who was covered in blood and lying on the ground, then at Amelia, who was crying in his arms. He hesitated for a moment before turning to his bodyguard. “Take her to the hospital.” After issuing the order, he carried Amelia away from the venue. When the pair disappeared, Cecil stumbled to her feet. She could feel countless pairs of sympathizing glances cast in her direction. It was an hour past midnight by the time she got home after dressing her wounds. The doctor had given her more than a dozen stitches and made arrangements for her to be hospitalized. However, she refused hospitalization and insisted on going home after collecting the medicine. Cleo was not home yet. She switched off the lights and lay on the bed, then she stared transfixed at the ceiling, drowned in darkness. Her body was screaming all over from the searing pain, it was difficult to sleep at all. By the time she finally felt like she was about to drift off to sleep, it was three o’clock. Suddenly, the lights in the living room came on. Cleo staggered into the house and went upstairs. He reeked of alcohol. Instead of heading to his bedroom, he went to the last room down the corridor that used to be his former study. He gently opened the door. Cecil tended to move around when she slept, and when she turned to the side, she was irritated by the contact against her countless cuts and coughed faintly in her sleep. Cleo was alerted by the faint voice she made. He followed the direction of the voice and went to the head of the bed. In one swift gesture, he pulled the figure in bed into his arms. With one hand, he pulled apart her shirt so he could press his hand against the soft of her waist. With the other hand, he cupped her chin and proceeded to kiss her. Chapter 5 Cecil was only half asleep and was quickly awakened by the sudden movement. She immediately caught a hint of the familiar scent of cologne, which helped her identify the person. Uncle Cleo? Why had he suddenly charged into the room to kiss her? She was thrown off, and before she could even react, she heard Cleo’s raspy voice followed by the heat of his breath beating on her skin. “Amelia…” She felt herself tense up at the name. The accompanying smell of alcohol helped her decipher the situation swiftly. Cleo was drunk and mistakenly thought she was Amelia. While she was still processing it, she felt Cleo’s hand creeping downward. She started to panic upon realizing what was happening. She reached for his hands to stop him while attempting to push him away. “Uncle Cleo, you’ve got the wrong person! It’s Cecil!” she cried out frantically. Cleo must have been too drunk to understand what she was saying. If anything, he seemed to have become more excited by her actions. He kissed Cecil with increased intensity and started sucking on her lips. Cecil felt like she was going to be suffocated. She felt so frustrated that she started to cry. Her tears wet her bandages and sent a prickly feeling running through her body. “Uncle Cleo, you’re hurting me, my cuts are…” She was not sure if it was the alcohol or her cries that finally reached him. Cleo suddenly stiffened, and then he let go of her arms shortly after that. Cecil quickly turned to the side and scrambled out of the room, not even bothering to put on her shoes in the process. She ran downstairs to the living room and wrapped herself in a blanket until the morning when she finally fell asleep. The next afternoon, when she opened her eyes, she saw Cleo sitting in front of her with an expression she had never seen on him before. She suddenly recalled the scenes from last night. She was so scared that she shrank into the corner of the couch. A cold look flashed across Cleo’s eyes when he observed the way she reacted. “Was it you who tried to get me into your room last night?” Cecil was thrown off by the question. Just as she was about to explain, Cleo cut her off with a sharp frown. “Don’t you ever hatch that kind of idea about me again. I’ll kick you out.” Cecil studied the determined look on his face. She was about to tell him that he was drunk but decided against it. Seeing as she had tried to sneak a kiss on him in the past, she realized that Cleo was not going to believe her no matter what she said. With that, she gave up on explaining entirely and opted to stay quiet. She looked down and stared at their shadows cast on the floor. When she noticed the figure of the shadow in front of her reaching a hand across, she instinctively looked up. Cleo's hand hovered on top of her head, and it looked as if he was going to pat her head. Cecil froze. Her eyes were filled with disbelief. When she was a child, there were times when she would miss her parents so much that she would cry to the point of hysteria and then lose her breath. During those desolate moments, it was always Cleo gently patting her head and comforting her that saved her. It was a symbolic gesture between both of them for a long time. When she turned seventeen, there was no longer any physical interaction between the two. The thought of Cleo doing it made her so nervous that her heart could stop. A second later, Cleo angled his hand further upward and grabbed a bottle of red wine from the cabinet behind her. She had been reading too much into it. All she could do was laugh at her naivety. Because she was in a hurry for cash, she had listed all of her belongings as well as the family house at a price lower than the market average. It did not take long for everything to be sold. She managed to put together roughly nine million dollars, but it was still several hundred thousand dollars short of the amount she planned to return to Cleo. Since she was going to Vinland very soon, she did not have much time left to put together the money to make up the difference. She was a painter and was relatively new to the scene, but despite that, she managed to win many awards over the last few years and was relatively well-known in the industry. With that in mind, she decided to hold an exhibition to sell her paintings. It was going to be too hard to coordinate all of that by herself, so she decided to go to Cleo for help. Amelia happened to be nearby when she approached Cleo. She seemed surprised at the mention of an exhibition and approached them with a radiant smile. “What a coincidence! I'm also preparing for an exhibition! Why don't we host a joint exhibit?” Cecil turned to Cleo, and seeing that he did not object to it, she agreed as well. Five days later, the joint exhibitions of Cecil and Amelia were held at the art museum. Amelia had been painting for more than a decade, but it was her first large-scale exhibition. Because of that, Cleo was particularly invested in the exhibition. He designated that Amelia’s work be displayed in the main gallery and even ordered the gallery to be renovated. Significant effort was put into advertising as well. On the opening day of the exhibition, many celebrities and intellectuals showed up, so much so that the museum recorded a new high in the number of daily visitors. Meanwhile, things were not as ideal in the other wing of the gallery. There were nearly a hundred paintings, all cramped into a room barely ten square meters large. It was so confined that the visitors barely had any space to walk. Auctioning any art on display was completely out of the question. Cecil stood by the entrance and stared at the commotion in the main gallery with a dejected look in her eyes. A few of her friends who showed up were just about to console her when they heard a sharp shriek in the room. “Cecil, there’s a situation!” Chapter 6 There was a wave of controversy on the internet about a certain artist plagiarizing from another fellow artist. The artists in question were none other than Cecil and Amelia, who were holding an exhibition on the same day. Cecil looked at the illustrations made by the netizens on her phone. It was a side-by-side comparison of two similar paintings, along with a reference that indicated how similar the composition and color chart were. It did not take long before the topic “Cecil Miller is an imposter” became viral and went to the top of the trending topic list. Her friends crowded around her, all of them as anxious as the other. “How could they accuse you of plagiarism? The shirt you are wearing in this picture is from our high school! Are they stupid?” “That's right! This is Cecil herself! We can vouch for you!“ “Amelia is the one who is plagiarizing your art. How shameless!” Cecil stayed calm and rational the entire time. The first thing she did was rush back home to collect her draft so she could prove her innocence. She felt her head spinning the entire time. She recalled a specific episode from when she was just starting as an artist. At the time, she was only eighteen years old. It was shortly after Cleo stopped picking her up after school. She was rushing back home with her exam report that showed she had managed to come in first place in her grade. She wanted to show it to Cleo to impress him. When she got home, the room was very quiet. She found Cleo slumped against his table and asleep. She gently tiptoed to his side. The auburn glow of the setting sun beat against his profile. It made him seem more mesmerizing than ever, as if he had come straight out of a fairy tale. She decided that she must be the one destined for him in this fairy tale. She covered his face with the exam report and planted a gentle kiss. Cleo was awakened by the rustling movement and ended up telling her off again. However, she did not take his lecture to heart and ended up setting the scene to her canvas. She kept the painting for many years after that. Now that she had finally moved on from him and needed quick cash, she put that painting into the exhibition as well. Little did she know, it was to her ruin. When she got home, she searched everywhere in the house but could not find the initial draft, no matter how hard she looked. She began to panic and tried to jog her memory to figure out where she had put it. Around this point, she received a text on her phone. It was a friend who sent her a link and urgently beckoned her to open it. She tapped the link and immediately saw Amelia’s face show up on the screen. Her heart dropped when she saw the panel behind Amelia with the words “Press Conference” printed on it. It was a live broadcast, and Amelia seemed especially stoic. She was in the middle of giving a statement addressing the plagiarism accusations, then she began to describe the process of her drawing. Shortly after that, she revealed the first draft she brought with her and showed it to the reporters and cameras. “I am very close with Cecil, the up-and-coming artist who has been named in the plagiarism controversy. “She is a young, innocent girl, and I believe she did not do it to be malicious; it was just a mistake, and I don’t blame her for what happened.” With the press conference, the collective opinion of the public immediately shifted toward Amelia’s side. A whole wave of people flocked toward Cecil’s account and began to hurl insults and criticism at her, the comments numbered up to a hundred thousand. Meanwhile, yet another topic went trending: [The Daughter of the Wrights Just Kissed the President of Emerson Corporation! A Love Story is Budding Before Our Eyes!] There was a video that followed the article. In the video, Cleo was seen arriving at the press conference in a sports car. As soon as he showed up, Amelia ran up to him and threw herself into his arms with a beaming smile the entire time. The couple shared an intimate embrace before burrowing into the car. Moments before the privacy screen came up, the camera managed to catch a glimpse of them sharing a passionate kiss. Their relationship had become public even when they had just started dating and drew in a large following over time. A lot of the fanbase poured in with a string of comments. [So sweet! Oh my God, I can’t!] [No! Don’t put up the privacy screen! I want to see all of it!] [I heard Cleo is Cecil's uncle. If you consider Cecil and Amelia’s recent plagiarism scandal and the fact that Cleo vouched for Amelia right away, doesn’t that basically prove that Cecil is guilty as charged?] Cecil swiped out of the comment section with a numb expression. Then, she watched as countless notifications poured in, all of them from people criticizing her. They accused her of malpractice, lacking basic decency, and for being a poor artist in general. Some of them dialed it up further and began to insult her family as well. They began to make comments about her lack of manners and that she was poor. At one point, her finger hovered stiffly over the display, and she began to tremble from head to toe. A single tear fell on the screen of her phone. The text on the display was blurred, but that was not enough to censor the pain inside her. She called Cleo. Chapter 7 He did not pick up the first time. He did not pick up the second time either. Cecil called again and again, and it was only at the ninth call that Cleo finally picked up. She could hear his heavy, rhythmical breathing from the other end of the phone. She suddenly recalled a similar incident when she was in high school and was also accused of plagiarism. At the time, she felt ostracized and helpless, and that was when she decided to call him for help. He had assured her immediately after picking up the call, “Don’t worry, I have your back.” But now, she was the one who started the dialogue with a swift accusation, “Were you the one who gave Amelia my first draft?” Cleo confessed without a second thought. “I did.” The response from Cecil was a long, heaving sigh. “Why did you do it?” After a brief silence, Cleo answered. “That painting should have never existed in the first place, especially not with your name attached to it. What part of this don’t you understand?” So that was it. He was afraid of someone noticing. He was still worried about Cecil having scandalous ideas about him. Cecil grinned ironically, then she shut her bloodshot eyes. “Still, it wasn’t me who plagiarized the piece, it was all Amelia! If you give her my first draft, how am I going to clear my name and beat the accusations? “My entire career as an artist is going under!” “Amelia made a blunder. She didn’t mean it. Why can’t you take the backlash just this one time? “Back when I first taught you how to paint, I only intended for it to be a healthy hobby and a way for you to kill time. There’s no need to be so serious about it. “Either way, I am going to take care of you for life, so you don’t have to worry about finances.” Then he hung up without another word. Cecil continued clutching onto her phone and stared blankly at the mirror in front of her. She observed her reflection, particularly noting her red and swollen eyes from crying for so long. She looked so haggard that she could barely recognize herself. Was that her in the mirror? More than anything else, she felt like she could not recognize Cleo anymore. Was this the same man who would go against the entire world for her sake? There was no telling if that very man was still there. The exhibition turned out to be a complete flop, but that only made her more determined to return all the money she owed Cleo. A few friends introduced her to various part-time jobs for her to bring in some quick cash. The jobs ranged from working as a caddy at a golf course to part-timing as a waiter in high-end clubs. Since she had to raise the money as soon as possible, she was not picky and would take up any job that was offered to her. She would work from morning until night and was rarely seen at home. A week before she was set to fly to Vinland, she managed to put together the remaining sum. After she had changed into her waitress uniform, she opened the door to the private room and prepared herself for her final shift. As luck would have it, she just had to run into someone she knew on her final shift. There was a group gathered and playing some sort of game. Cleo lost in the very first round. The host of the game proceeded to read out the punishment from a card. “You have to kiss someone of the opposite gender for three minutes!” The group burst into excited cheers at the dare. They all turned to Amelia, whose cheeks had turned stark red. Meanwhile, Cleo confidently got up and filtered past the group. With every step he took, he drew closer to Cecil. Everyone in the private room was stunned by what they were seeing, and there was a round of commotion. Just as they were still trying to figure out what was happening, Cleo produced a phone from his pocket and handed it to Cecil. “Record it with my phone.” Cecil felt a subtle quake inside her heart. She had a feeling of what was to come. What surprised her was that the realization no longer stung her the way it did in the past, perhaps because she had truly given up on him. There was no way this could ever hurt her feelings anymore. She took the phone calmly and swiped to the camera. Then, she angled the camera and hit the record button. The camera was very high quality and managed to capture every detail inside the private area despite the dim lighting. The footage was clear as day. After Cleo returned to his seat, he pulled Amelia into his arms and kissed her. The time was indicated on the display. Three minutes. A hundred and eighty seconds. No more and no less than that. That was not the end of it. After they were done kissing, Cleo got on his knee and produced a diamond ring from his pocket. He spoke in a voice filled with tenderness. “Amelia, will you marry me?” He had proposed to Amelia! Cecil could not catch what Amelia said. It did not take long before the rest of the group crowded around the couple and shielded them from the view of the camera. Their rabid screams echoed across the private room and were so loud that Cecil felt her eardrums would burst. With that, she stopped recording. Her manager showed up just in time to instruct her to head to another private room to attend to a new group of customers. She handed the phone to her colleague next and turned to leave the room. She did not linger a second longer than she needed to. Chapter 8 After Cecil was done, she dragged her exhausted body back home. Cleo got home before her and was sitting on the couch in the living room. He called out after her as soon as he saw her. “Stop! “Why were you working in a place like that? Don’t I give you enough money already?” Cecil braced an arm against the doorway while she changed her shoe. “I’m bored at home, there’s nothing to do, and I figured I should experience other dimensions of society.” Cleo’s anger seemed to have visibly deflated, but his tone was still very icy. “You’re not allowed to go to places like that again in the future.” Cecil was not going to go anymore anyway. She nodded faintly, then went back upstairs with her head down. Over the next few days, Cleo was rarely home at all. If anything, Amelia was the one who constantly bombarded Cecil with pictures. Pictures of rings, their wedding shoots, giant bouquets. Every picture was filled with joy and enthusiasm for their upcoming wedding. Cecil did not reply to any texts since she was busy packing her luggage. It was only three more days until her departure when she bumped into Cleo at the stairway, just as he was heading out. She called out after him. “Uncle Cleo, are you free in the next few days? Could you take an hour out of your day to celebrate my birthday?” Since he had brought her up for so many years, she figured she should properly say goodbye to him. To Cleo, the request sounded like she was trying to rile him up. Over the last few years, Cecil would always use her birthday as an excuse to hurl a string of unruly confessions at him. With that in mind, he refused her without even considering it. “How many times do I have to tell you? Stop making such unreasonable requests!” Noticing that he was upset, Cecil hurriedly explained. “No, I wasn’t trying to upset you. I’m not going to confess my feelings for you the way I did in the last few years, I just wanted to…” To say goodbye properly. Unfortunately, Cleo failed to catch the last part of her sentence but agreed to her request with a quiet nod. On her birthday, Cecil waited from morning till night, but Cleo was still nowhere to be seen. Seeing as it was about time for her to get to the airport, she reached for her phone and called Cleo. It took ten seconds before someone picked up. It was Amelia. “Hello? Cleo is taking a shower, he can’t answer the call right now.” She said it in such a suggestive tone that Cecil felt her heart skip a beat. She glanced at her watch and then decided to be firm about her intention. “How much longer is it going to take? I can wait.” Amelia responded with a mocking snicker. “Cecil, what are you doing all this for? He's already in the shower. “I’m just going to put this bluntly. We’re at a hotel now. “You’re an adult, so you should know what we’re going to do after he showers. Were you hoping to watch? “He's your uncle! You may like him, but you shouldn’t stay at his house when he’s about to be married. You should stop pestering him all day. Don’t you realize how shameless…” She went on a long rant to humiliate Cecil. Every word she spoke stung right where it hurt. Cecil bit her lips tightly to prevent the tears from falling. After Amelia was done, she hung up right away. Cecil looked at the display in silence. After what seemed like forever, she extracted the candles from the cake box. The cake had been inside the box for a while, and the icing on top had begun to melt. When she poked in the candle that spelled out “21”, it stood crooked. After lighting the candle, she leaned over the cake and made a wish. Her birthday wish was to spend the rest of her life without Cleo. She wished him a long, healthy, and prosperous life. She wished that he would live peacefully without her. Then she blew out the candle. She cleared out the final traces of her existence in the house. All that was left behind in the house she had spent more than a decade in were three items: a bank card with ten million dollars deposited inside that was meant to repay Cleo’s kindness over the years, a wedding gift meant to wish him a wonderful life with his lover and at last, a letter of farewell. “Uncle Cleo, I give up. I wish you nothing but happiness.” With that, she grabbed her suitcase and took one last look at the house before walking away. She did not turn back for another look.