It was only the moon that made them glow in the middle of pure darkness. Calm waves of endless sea covered their naked bodies as they held each other, the water's sound was synchronizing with the rhythm of their wild heartbeats...pounding as one, pace was growing fast with burning passion.

But nothing's more superior than the heat that brought them together, the one that no matter how hard they tried to resist, it just made them crave for more...

TEARS OF RAGE formed in the corner of her eyes as the media played, showing herself dancing with a popular actor. The place was dark, but the neon lights made her face so clear in the 15-second video. Before the record ended, the camera caught them sharing a kiss. Her eyes were shut closed, while the man had his arms tightly wrapped around her.

Her teeth dug deep on her lower lip as she continued browsing through the comment section, reading people's share of opinions about her current and biggest issue in her entire modelling career. She gritted her teeth, heart hammering wild in anger and disappointment.

So she's nothing more than a third party. I have always known there's something odd with their closeness.

Snake!!!

Lucy Heartfilia was once my idol. I didn't know she's a wrecker.

Lucy knew she had a fair share of fault, too, but it wasn't what she wanted! It's not like she planned to ruin everything! She's not so stupid to risk her career just for a man she didn't care about one bit! But why... Why did these people judge her as if they knew the whole story?

What's ridiculous about this was that the blame was all on her. People had never seen the fault of the other party involved.

Surely gonna use her father's influence to get away from this.

And hide under her momma's skirt.

Hey, guys. We haven't even heard from her yet. Maybe it's all just a misunderstanding?

Misunderstanding, my ass. It's clear she liked it.

Her lips parted in disbelief, brown eyes were darkening by the second as she felt her chest tighten badly.

Is that how her parents raised her? Disgrace.

In a blink of an eye, the sound of her phone colliding against the wall was what filled the room followed by her shouts of wrath. How dare they involve my parents here!

"That vase costs ten million jewels, Princess. Please don't waste money," her personal maid, Virgo, said with her monotonic voice with no expression plastered on her face.

Lucy's tears couldn't be stopped from falling after receiving a warm embrace from her. But she didn't want to show weakness. She shouldn't be affected because she didn't do anything wrong.

She was the victim.

Virgo carefully took the vase from her and placed it back on the cabinet before she guided her to settle on the bed. Rushed footsteps from the outside caught their attention, making Lucy close her eyes when she heard that voice.

"Lucy Heartfilia! What happened?!" Her manager, Aquarius, was dumbfounded upon seeing her current state. She clearly had no sleep and just cried all night.

Aquarius knew something was wrong since Lucy, who obviously got home from who-knows-where, knocked on their suite last night. But she didn't ask anything because she still respected her privacy even though she broke one of her rules. Then she had heard her cry in her room, so Aquarius had given her the space she needed despite her worries. However, when the news suddenly exploded this morning, she regretted not confronting Lucy much earlier.

"This is what I'm telling you! How many times did I remind you to not leave without any of us! Without my permission! Look what happened!" She watched the two maids enter and start cleaning the mess before returning her glares at Lucy. "Where have you been last night?"

Instead of an answer, Lucy's tears were what all she received. A lump formed in Aquarius' throat. She knew something deeper was going on. She had been Lucy's manager for so long, and she knew how tough of a woman she was. None of her past issues and people's comments affected her this much. And to see her this way, desperate to get rid of her tears that kept on falling, it's as if everyone could also feel her pain.

"Lucy…"

"I don't want to talk about it."

From sitting on her bed, Lucy stood up and walked towards the window. Peeking through the heavy curtain, she had a clear view of the countless paparazzi outside the building. No, it's not this huge just because of her, it's because of the fact that their family was well-known to the society as very private and meticulous. The heiress of the empire getting entangled in a scandal was such a huge scope.

Lucy swallowed hard. "W-What are we going to do?"

"Facing the media would be the worst option…for now," Aquarius sighed, narrowing her eyes when she saw the broken phone at the corner. "Let's wait for the fire to subside before making a move. Everyone's still blind and too worked up to destroy you. Defending yourself against closed ears is pointless."

Lucy ran her fingers through her golden hair in frustration, breathing slowly to calm herself. "But what about my job? My schedules?"

"About that…" Aries, her assistant, brought out her tab. "The brands you're supposed to be modelling these coming weeks pulled back their offers…"

"The TV commercials and advertisements also backed out," Cancer sadly added, the hairstylist.

"The scandal is all over the news and social media, Lucy. Of course, the business enterprises won't risk their products and name, especially if you're against one of the biggest fandoms out there," Aquarius rolled her eyes, a shiver running down her spine as she spat the last few words.

Lucy felt like she lost her strength. Her eyes blinked, fighting out to not shed another tear. Her life... It crumbled apart with just a single video. She didn't want any of it, she didn't know how it even happened. She was lost, and she had no idea how she would get back to the life she'd worked so hard to build up from scratch.

The silence that had enveloped them for a moment was interrupted by a ringing phone. As soon as Aquarius saw the caller, a heavy sigh escaped her lips as she pressed the answer button.

"Good morning, Mr. Heartfilia."

From her clenched fist gripping the curtain, Lucy's eyes darted up with its visible darkness. She didn't know that all the emotions she's feeling could be worsened just by hearing her father's name...

It's all his fault.

That night, if she wasn't so heartbroken because of his own doing, all of these problems would have never happened.

If she never caught him seeing another woman behind their back...

Lucy trusted him. She loved him so much that she felt so betrayed. What more if her mother heard about it, too? She couldn't imagine the pain she'd be going through.

Back then, as she grew up, Lucy always wanted to have a love story like her parents. The one that despite being full of challenges, it survived and continued growing deeper as the years passed by. She wanted to find a man who was just like her father, who she had once thought so perfect and the priority was only them...alone.

But she guessed nobody's really perfect. Everyone had flaws, everyone made mistakes. But she couldn't accept that the mistake he chose to make was something like this…

Now, all she could feel for him was disappointment. The adoration and love she once had disappeared the moment she saw him with another woman in his arms.

However, even if Lucy knew what was the right thing to do, she neither had enough courage to tell it to her mother, nor confront him for an answer. She was so conflicted, too emotional to think straight.

Lucy had only drunk a few shots. She wasn't feeling dizzy or anything. She was on the dance floor, trying to forget everything by enjoying herself…even just for a little while. Then she felt hands from behind that landed on her hips as the owner followed the sway of her body. She turned around to face the man, and found herself giving him a smile when she recognized who it was.

"Hi, Lucy. How have you been? You're not answering my calls anymore..." He leaned closer to whisper in her ear, his grip on her waist tightened. "I've missed you. So much…" Sting Eucliffe. A very famous actor.

The times that they had worked together in photoshoots and some TV commercials could be counted in Lucy's fingers. She couldn't forget those few collaborations with him because aside from he's so professional, he's also a gentleman. They became close friends, and Lucy liked him. But that was years ago, because she quickly threw her little crush away when he was partnered up to a female celebrity... Yukino Agria.

Their love team bloomed so brightly. Their movies were always a blockbuster, fan meetings were sold out. They were the brightest stars of their generation. And their fans had gone much crazier when the news that they're dating in real life came out in public.

Lucy was genuinely happy for him and for their success.

Until he destroyed it himself.

He kissed her. Lucy stood frozen in her place, her hands landed on his chest. She tried to push him away, but he wouldn't budge. Different scenarios appeared in her head and all of them were the worst, and so she tried to fight back. However, her movements only gave him more reasons to press themselves much closer than before. Lucy could smell the strong scent of alcohol coming from him.

"Sting—!"

He cupped the back of her neck, angling her head up for a better access.

Suddenly, the image of her father holding another woman flashed in her head. Tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as she used all her strength to push Sting away. The moment they broke apart, Lucy's hand landed on his face in a flash. The impact made him turn to the side with shock as if it awakened him. Her hand trembled before getting numb. She was breathing heavily, cheeks were burning in so much anger. No one could describe the disgust she was feeling at that moment. Disgust for Sting and for herself.

"L-Lucy, I'm...I'm sorry—"

"I don't want to see you ever again."

Hugging herself tightly, Lucy strode her way out of the bar and slid herself in her car, trembling and panicking. She quickly reached for her bag and searched through her things until she found a small bottle of pills. After taking two, she leaned her head against the steering wheel, tears blocking her vision again.

I'm so stupid…

"Your father wants you in the mansion," Aquarius' voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Right now."

"I don't want to go home," Lucy coldly replied. Everyone in the room exchanged glances, surprised at her response.

"B-But...Layla was the one requesting you the most there."

Layla... her mother. Her lovely mother. The one who made her feel like their family was perfect, the one who's doing everything for her happiness, the one who deserved all the love in the world.

So why... Why did she have to be cheated on like this?

Lucy was afraid that she might destroy their family once she told Layla about her father's sin. But then she realized, Jude had already destroyed everything.

"Okay. I'll go."

Lucy removed her sunglasses the moment she stepped foot inside their mansion. The maids greeted her, but none of them had received a response as she was already focused on reaching her father's office. Her emotions were getting the better of her, and it was already fixed in her head how she'd confront him. She wouldn't care even if Layla's there. Truth, that's what she wanted.

"Lucy!"

But then, when she saw her mother's worried face, when she felt her tight hug of comfort, her mind had completely gone blank.

"Lucy? Are you okay? Did they harass you?" Layla pushed her gently to check if something's not right on her body. "I heard a lot of paparazzis and StingYu's fans were gathered outside your condominium! Did something happen?"

"I-I'm fine…" Lucy forced a smile, watching her exact copy of eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "D-Don't worry, Mama. The guards did their job."

Although the hurtful words and threats being thrown to her couldn't be blocked by anything or anyone. Still, Lucy did great to hide her emotions.

"I'm glad you're safe," a low voice interrupted their conversation.

Behind the office table, Jude Heartfilia stood with a small smile that she didn't return. Despite her strange actions, Jude still approached her and attempted to hug her as a habit of greetings, but she stepped back while throwing glares in his direction.

"Don't you dare touch me."

"Lucy?!" Layla questioned, staring at her in shock. Jude stayed calm even if confusion was visible in his eyes. It was the first... The first time she acted this way towards him. Why?

Lucy didn't break her eye contact with her father. She was making sure that he could clearly see her disappointment for him. She wanted him to know how much destruction he had caused her.

This was the right time. All she had to do was to open her mouth and voice out everything she found out. However, for some reason, she couldn't find the proper word, or maybe she couldn't just say it at all.

Her eyes landed at her mother's hands gently gripping on his arm, then her gaze moved up and stayed on Layla's face. Her expression was soft, but Lucy could clearly see that she was hurt because of how disrespectful she had just acted a while ago. And she couldn't take seeing that again on her face.

"I... I want to take a rest." At the very end, she couldn't say it. Not now, at least. Clenching her fists, she turned her back to walk out of the room when Jude's calm voice echoed again.

"I don't know what I've done wrong, but I figured it's not the right time to address it," he started.

He...doesn't know? Hah, give me a break.

Lucy heaved out a sigh, too tired to argue with him. For her, their family was way more important than her public image. But since she had planned on keeping her problem with him to herself for the meantime, she'd shut her mouth.

"I called you here for your safety, but that's not the only reason."

Furrowing her eyebrows, she looked at him over her shoulder. And now, Layla was watching her intently, clearly not accepting a rejection from her to whatever her father was going to say.

"I want you to live in Tenrou for as long as we resolve your issue."

"W-What?" She stared at them in horror. If her problems were just her falling down career and cheating father moments ago, right now, she was busy dealing with her sudden inner battle caused by her past...by the long forgotten feelings.

"Just like what you have heard, Lucy. We're doing this for your own good. On our private island, you'll be untouchable. No one can harm you."

No...

"But I don't want to go back there, Papa!" Suddenly, memories flashed in her head. Her cheeks flushed red, burning so much for a reason she never wanted to remember. "Please let me handle my own problem! I don't need to hide because I'm not guilty—"

"You'll live there without any connection to the media. Take a break from this industry, Lucy. Live a normal life again just for once."

This can't be...

"No... No, please don't do this to me!"

Tenroujima...

"Lucy," Layla's stern voice made her lose all of her hope. Lucy knew she had no way out. "We made sure that the incident years ago will never happen again. There shouldn't be anything to be afraid of."

...was filled with so many memories of him.

She had been trying to bury it deep in the darkest part of her. She wanted to forget all about the incident, and all about him. His harsh words…how much he wanted her out of his life. She wished she could just erase it all in her head.

Layla reached for her hand, squeezing it gently as she gave her a smile. "You'll do what we wanted, right? We're doing it for you, my princess."

They wanted her out of danger, away from threats of people hating on her. But they didn't know, that island would be the cause of her death.

THE NEXT DAY, Lucy just found herself stepping down their private yacht. The sinking of her feet on the white sand brought her nostalgia, as well as the sound of the waves and every blow of the salty breeze that made her floral white dress dance around her legs. She was here... She was officially back in Tenroujima after seven years.

She had never imagined that she would go back, as she could remember a promise to herself that she wouldn't step foot on this island ever again.

But promises meant to be broken, I guess.

From afar, she could see the back of their mansion standing as proud as ever. Her heart started pounding harshly against her chest, throat was going dry. She shook her head, trying to calm down by reminding herself that he wouldn't be here because he's abroad. And it's not like he had a reason to be here!

Back then, that jerk was staying in the mansion because he needed to. But now, he had no reason. No one would be in this place but her. Alone. And knowing him, he was seeing her as an eyesore. So yup. He would never be here. That's impossible.

Lucy was careful as she climbed up the stone stairs to their manor. The huge garden greeted her as soon as she reached the top. Like what she had expected, this part would be the most well-taken care of. She could see different kinds of plants arranged and trimmed in every corner of the place, blooming as healthy as they should be.

Few more steps, she reached the front door where their caretaker was patiently waiting for her.

"Lucy!"

"Spetto-san!"

The woman greeted her with a wide smile, and soon looked all over her in adoration. Lucy watched her with such care. Wrinkles were now much visible every time the older woman smiled. Her hair already had a bunch of white strands. She was getting old and it made Lucy's heart ache.

Going back here isn't so bad…

"How are you? You grew up a fine lady, Lucy!" Spetto pulled her inside the mansion with such excitement. Lucy's bodyguards followed them with her luggages. Her eyebrows furrowed when she realized that no one's around.

"Where are the maids?"

Spetto gave her a sad smile. "No one's staying here anymore. Even me, I was only going here twice a week to clean," she shook her head, a cheerful aura coming back. "But don't worry! Since you'll have your vacation, I'm gonna stay here for the meantime!"

Lucy nodded, relief was rushing through her chest. At least she knew she wouldn't be entirely alone. "Thank you, Spetto-san."

"Heh, you're always welcome!" The old woman giggled, letting go of her hand. "We have a lot of catching up to do, but I know you're already hungry! If you want, you can go to your room first to arrange your things while I'm preparing your lunch."

"A-Alright…" Lucy watched her vanish into the kitchen. After a moment, her eyes started looking around, feeling all the familiarity.

Everything's still the same; thick and dark curtains covering the tall windows, furniture and displays were antique and free from dust, and the marble floor was shiny as if it wasn't older than her. But more importantly, the atmosphere was light and peaceful, a sign that no one's really here aside from them. She sighed in relief.

Lucy looked up at the wide staircase before she slowly climbed up, her fingertips running through the bannister. The red carpet muffled the heels of her boots. She had a small smile on her lips, remembering her happy memories of childhood until he reached the next floor. Her feet halted, her smile disappearing upon seeing a man leaning against the wall next to her room's door.

Judging by his suit and untied necktie, she was sure he had just also arrived probably minutes before her.

From his shoes, he lifted his cold gaze to her without hesitation in showing his anger for an unknown reason, causing Lucy's heart to react like how it had been before. She hated herself for it.

He stood straight, hands were shoved inside his pockets. Tilting his head, he watched her intently, running his eyes from her blank face down to her body without shame until he reached her rooted feet, before returning his stare with such intensity back at her own that mirrored his.

Meanwhile, Lucy was clenching her fists tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. She felt humiliated by how he watched her. Comparing herself to another woman was what she hated the most, but she couldn't help it especially if that's what his eyes were screaming off.

I still haven't reached his standards, huh. And so what?

"What are you doing here, Natsu?" she hissed through gritted teeth.

Instead of a proper reply, the small annoyed smirk that slowly formed on his thin lips made her eyes narrow in irritation.

"You're still the spoiled little brat back then, I see."

She swore a vein popped on her forehead. "And you're still the grumpy old man back then, you brute."