Cardinal County

09: Knowing Secrets

"I don't know..." she drawled as Judah raised his eyebrows in intrigue. "It just happened. They just stopped coming and Jacob would always come home late at night, sometimes he won't be back for three days straight. Then one day, he asked me if I wanted to have a place of my own. I was sixteen and all my life it was either my parents or my brother dictating what I should and shouldn't do. I was so thrilled. Finally, I will be free, so I agreed."

He nodded, "and since that day, have you gone to any place on your own other than school? Out of town maybe?"

"Whenever I visit my parents in Seoul, but our family's chauffeur would always pick me up. I've gone out of town twice but I have my coach with me and... that's it." Even she, herself, finds her situation pathetic and slowly, she understood what Judah wanted her to realize.

"Coach?"

"Swimming competitions," she simply answered.

"So other than school, it was your apartment and let's say, the County Proper—whenever you go shopping or eat out. Am I right?"

"And my part-time job," she looked down her hands, suddenly feeling shy. Her life's boring okay? It was a repetitive cycle of school-work-swimming practice-homeworks-eat-sleep. She thought she was content with how her life works but why is she feeling embarrassed now?

"Part-time job, huh?" This made her look up to him again, only to find him looking outside and contemplating about something. "For an heiress like you who has an overprotective brother, it's quite hard to believe he agreed for you to work. I mean, what's the point?"

She frowned, "I'm not some spoiled brat who plans to depend on my parents' money for the rest of my life."

He raised his hands, acting like he was surrendering to her. "Hey, I never said that," he shrugged before bringing his hands down again. "Admit it, even you, find it weird."

"Why are you insisting this?"

"Who are your co-workers in this part-time job of yours?," he randomly asked.

"What?" He's the one being weird right now!

"Are they close with your brother? Are they students like us? What school do they attend to? Tell me doll, are you sure your brother hasn't been monitoring you all this time?"

For every question he uttered, the lump inside her throat grew until it was hard for her to breathe. Her fists clenched as she tried to answer these questions on her own. Daniel, Spencer and Warren; they each attend different schools.

They are very close with her brother and would sometimes check on her through them. They would always call a cab for her whenever it was closing time and sometimes accompany her when she decided to eat dinner outside.

And just recently, Daniel's reaction when he saw the ring on her finger—it was very similar to Irina's. She knew all too well that it was Irina who told Tiana about her having Judah's ring, and Daniel... did he tell anybody about it? Was it her brother then? All this time, the three of them, are they—

"Your brother knew he won't always be there to look after you, so he ordered someone to. He's smart though, he chose three guys from different territories—"

Her eyes widened, "how did you know about my co-workers? I never told you a thing about them."

"Do you really think I would stop with only your name? I have ways doll, I even know your cup size."

"What the—!" She was about to stand up when he reached out and pushed her down her seat again.

"Shh doll, relax it's a joke," he then winked. And her jaw dropped as her body grew numb. He's a lunatic! Is he a stalker? Is that it? What is she doing with him again? Good Lord, this just became her worst nightmare!