Lightning Strike (Billionaire Boys Club #3) | ongoing

Chapter 27

Alora:

"gwaenchanh-a?" (Are you okay?)  My mom asks on the drive home. "You hardly spoke a word when we got back. Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing." I shake my head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Nothing happened."

"Did you talk to Madden?" She presses and my body goes tense. "Did you see that boy? So handsome and polite. What do you think of him?"

"You don't want to know what I think of him." I mutter under my breath.

"mueos?" (What?)

"Nothing." I say a little louder.

"I think he could be a good match for you." She goes on and I start to feel my stomach turn. "He's not Korean but he's still Asian. And his family is just as prestigious as ours-"

"Absolutely not." I interrupt her hurriedly. She simply cannot get ahead of herself with this.

"Why? You don't think he's cute?"

"Yeah." I scoff. "So cute I want to stab his heart."

"Oh." She nods. "So...I take it you've known each other longer than tonight?"

"Perhaps." I turn my head to look out the window. "So have you." My mouth races to let out what my brain is thinking without consultation.

"I don't think I have. His parents, a few times, but he's never been with them."

"You wouldn't remember." I tell her. "Not in the state that you were in."

I hate the taste in my mouth when those words let slip as well. But at the same time, a part of me feels relieved to had said them.

She's silent for a while and I manage to face her again.

She plays with the wedding band on her finger, spinning it round and round as she stares at it. "How...?"

"He was in front of the house and I was speaking with him. You came out drunk and one of the maids had to drag you back in because you could barely stand on your own."

"I'm sorry." She whispers.

"I don't want you to be sorry." I move to fully point in her direction and train my eyes on her. She meets my gaze. "You know you're not supposed to be drinking on your antidepressants."

"al-ayo." She runs a hand through her hair. "Sometimes I just...Sometimes I just wake up and...The bed is empty, the house is quiet..."

"I know." She looks to me again. "I miss him too. But he wouldn't want you doing this. And I can't have you doing this. I can't lose you too."

"Oh, Alora." She takes my hands in hers.

"I think you should go back." I say

She knows what I'm saying. That she should check back in to the rehabilitation hospital.

She blinks a few times but eventually squeezes my hands and nods. "Maybe you're right."

"Thank you."

She raises a hand to stroke my hair and smiles. "Now that that's out of the way. Tell me more about your relationship with him."

I let go of her and straighten in my seat. "There is no relationship. We don't like each other."

"You don't like each other...but you were talking in front of the house?"

"Well, technically, we were bickering." I brush off an imaginary piece of lint from my dress.

"Mhm." She hums.

"Eomma." I warn and she laughs.

"al-ass-eo, al-ass-eo." (Okay, fine)

"I mean it. I don't want his name mentioned in our house. It'll bring bad energy."

"That will be impossible, I'm afraid. His father and your hal-abeoji seemed to come to an agreement tonight. They will be in business together."

"mueos?" (What?) My eyes shoot wide.

"We have certain resources and skills and connections that he needs to branch out into whatever it is that he wants to expand his own businesses in. He has similar traits for us. You know I'm not the greatest with explaining these things but you get the idea."

"But there won't be a merger, right?"

"No." Her answer is firm and my shoulders sag in relief.

"Good."

The least time I have to spend in his presence, the better.