3:00 A.M.

XVIII

My hands clasped the hard silicon case of the phone as my heart hammered the thin of my chest with anticipation.

Dad. Mom.

It had been weeks and the facade that I've been wearing to mask my worries about my parents to help me carry on everyday is now fading away.

I feel like a child who had been separated from her parents and is now finally heading home.

I put the phone in front and started driving for the mansion.

When I came out of the apartment earlier, Lucas was not there anymore and it was a relief because hearing some news about my parents made me more sensitive. One more encounter with him would have made me snapped.

These past few weeks had been a ball of different emotions thrown one by one at me.

I'm so happy to have my parents back because I don't know if I can survive another week without them.

After an hour battling with the traffics and hot sun, I finally arrived.

Unlike the last time that I visited the house, I'm welcoming the warmth the huge mansion gave me. I clang to it for a sense of comfort.

I didn't waste any time and immediately ran for the door.

"Mom? Dad?" I called.

My voice echoed, the walls carrying it to every corner.

Nobody answered.

"Mom?" I called when I peeked at the kitchen.

I walk back when I found out no one was there.

"Dad?"

I opened Dad's study room but he's not there also.

I started to panic and ran from rooms to rooms.

After a few minutes of searching, I went back down the stairs and was about to call the company when I heard someone call my name.

The voice was low so I had to follow it.

Right! The back patio!

"Tana?"

My heart leapt in overwhelming happiness and relief when I saw my father's stern and confused look.

He still wears that strict demeanor, the one which no one should take lightly because one wrong move would earn you a mockery and shout but right now I didn't care.

"Why are you here, Kintana?" He asked, his brows furrowing deeper.

On normal times I would have thrown him a counter of equally cold looks. Instead, I ran to him like a child and spread my arms before hugging him so tight.

"Dad!" I said.

I inhaled his scent and let it warm me. Dad smells of burnt woods and cigarettes but I loved it.

Dad's confusion were obvious on the way he awkwardly rubbed my back.

"What happened to you, kid?" He asked which even if it sounded stern, I still love how he used the endearment he always called me by when I was a little girl.

I pulled back and felt my eyes water.

I shook my head as my nose shivered - a mannerism I developed whenever I'm trying my best not to cry and Dad is so much familiar with this that he seemed surprised.

"Tana, are you okay? Did something wrong happened?" He asked, his voice still the same but with a flicker of concern and panic while his eyes were genuinely caring.