Zoey ran to the nearby bus stop as the rain started pouring. Her ocean blue eyes shone even in the dark atmosphere. Her neatly tied hair was loose now. She slowly took off the band from her hair. It fell smoothly on either side of her shoulder. She tucked back the hair locks which fell on her cheeks. Her pink heart-shaped lips shivered in the cold. She turned left to look at her friend who hadn't reached the bus stop yet.

“Rose, stop playing in the rain… you are going to catch a cold… don’t come to me when you are sick.” Zoey shouted at Rose who was enjoying the rain.

Rose was getting irritated by Zoey’s motherly tone. She ran to the bus stop where Zoey was standing.

“You got no fun at all Zoey,” said an irritated Rose.

Rose Anderson and Zoey White were best friends since high school and they have sworn to be together forever. They always kept their words till now. Both of them are journalists at Cosmic, a well-reputed Magazine company in New York. They just left the company after work but were caught in the rain.

“My little uncle would kill me if he finds out that I played in the rain”. Zoey said with a sigh.

“Blah blah blah. You and your little uncle! I don’t want to hear anything”. Rose made an angry face and turned away.

Zoey started to laugh seeing her childish reaction. Rose was always like that. She always loved to enjoy the rain, but Zoey, on the other hand, hated rain. She wasn’t a big fan of rain as she would easily catch a cold.

Zoey met her little uncle when she was five. She came back to her father’s house from Greenwich Village where she lived with her mother Sarah John alone till she was five. She rarely saw her father back in Greenwich Village. Sarah always told her that her father was a businessman and he was busy managing his company and she always didn’t forget to mention that sooner or later he would come and take them back to his home.

One day when Zoey came back after playing with her friends, she found out that her father had come to take her and her mother to his house. She was very excited to go there. Her friends from Greenwich Village told her that rich people had big houses, cars, and big rooms. So the sight of the big Whites Mansion created awe in 5-year-old Zoey. That’s when she saw her little uncle. Mother and father told her that she can play as much as she wants with her little uncle. The impression of that 10-year-old little uncle looking at her with his dreamy eyes imprinted on her heart forever.

He was her everything from that very day. They played, ate, slept, and even did many mischievous things together. Even though her little uncle became a little cold after he grew up, she still loved him a lot and he was always her favorite person. She could look at his handsome face all day and night and he was the most perfect person in her eyes. When she was 8, her parents died in a car accident and all she had was him. As years passed by she slowly realized that she was falling in love with her little uncle. She knew she was wrong and she shouldn’t grow any feelings for him. But she was unable to prevent her heart from falling for him and he was the first man she had ever loved.

...****************...

“Rose, don’t forget that we have to take the interview with that singer tomorrow. We will be screwed if

you fall sick”, Zoey said.

“Gracious! Thank god you reminded me. I haven’t completed my draft yet”. Zoey sighs as she thinks

about how careless her best friend is. Suddenly her phone rang. An ear-to-ear smile appeared on her face

as she attended the call.

“Hello”

“I just got off work. I’ll come there soon”.

“Don’t worry. I promise I won’t play around. Okay see you”.

She kept her phone back in her pocket and turned to Rose with a flustered face only to find out that she

was staring at her all the time.

“Is that your little uncle?” Rose asked with a smile.

“How did you know?” Zoey was quite surprised.

Rose laughed and said, “It’s written all over your face and your smile says it all”.

Zoey was already a blushing mess by then. She turned away to hide her apple-red face from Rose. She

was like that, a single call or message from her little uncle made her ecstatic to a very extent where she

even jumped out of joy in the middle of a lecture and her professor sent her out for not being attentive in

the class. All of her classmates thought that it was her boyfriend.

“Zoey, by the way, what’s your uncle’s name? I had never heard you mention his name”. Rose asked

curiously.

“Hardin…Hardin White”. A smile appeared on her face as she uttered his name.

“Oh, nice name….wait…Did you just say, Hardin White?” Rose asked in a literal shock.

“Yup”, suddenly Rose pulled her by her hands and made her face her. “You mean the President of Solasta

Entertainment, Hardin White”.

Zoey nodded her head as Rose stood there in a gaze. She couldn’t blame her as she never mentioned

Hardin’s name in front of Rose and she couldn’t even disclose the fact that she was the young missy of

Whites, due to some reasons Hardin forbid her to disclose that to anyone. The next ten minutes were hard

for Zoey. Rose kept praising Hardin without a full stop as he was a successful young businessman in New

York City and a heartthrob of every girl.

......................

She was quite tired when she reached White's Mansion. She saw Hardin sitting on the sofa as she entered

the hall. He was wearing a white bathrobe. Tiny water drops are still dripping from his hair. Some of his

hair covered his beautiful dark blue eyes. His sharp jawline was clearly visible which brought out his handsomeness. He turned as he heard a footstep approaching him. His eyes widened as he saw her but

eventually narrowed seeing her drenched in rain.

“Zoe, what is this? Didn’t I tell you to not get wet?” he asked coldly. Hardin used to call her Zoe.

“I…I’m sorry uncle”. She stood there looking at her feet in guilt. All thanks to Rose for pushing her into

the rain all of a sudden.

...****************...

“Come here” he sighed and said with a low voice.

She obediently went and sat next to him. He had

already prepared a towel as he knew that she would get wet. Richard dried her hair as silence filled the

room. She silently enjoyed how he dried her hair. She always did.

“Zoe” he called her with his husky warm voice.

Zoey was playing a game on her phone. She lifted her

head and looked at him.

“I’m getting engaged!”

Suddenly she dropped her phone. She felt numb as a thousand thrones pricked her heart at once. She

couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Hardin bent down to take her phone and kept it at the table.

“You know her. She is the new director of Jiang Enterprises. Anne Jiang. She had come here many times.

Don’t you remember her?”

Isn’t that a business marriage? Why? Why does uncle suddenly want to get

engaged? Tears rolled down her cheeks darkening her light blue dress.

“Zoe” he called her as she was in a daze.

“WHY?”. It was all she could utter through her uneven breath. He turned to look at her only to find her

teary eyes.

“Why are you crying Zoe?” he worriedly extended his hand to touch her face and suddenly she shoved

away his hand.

“Why do you want to get engaged now?” her voice raised a bit as she tried hard to not cry.

“Is that even a question? I will have to get engaged with someone sooner or later. You are a child Zoe,

you won’t understand”. He said with a calm voice and his very calmness made her furious.

Suddenly she

stood up from the sofa and shouted, “CHILD! Open your eyes and see, I’m not a child anymore. I’m 23

already”.

He stood there without even blinking as he had never seen Zoe like this. Why is she behaving

like this? She was always gentle and calm. There must be something going on.

She continued, “Uncle, what have I been in your heart all these years…a child of your dead brother… a

little niece who doesn't have anyone… or am I just an obligation you have to carry out”. Her voice broke

as she said that and Hardin didn’t know how to react. They stood there like that for minutes. Neither he

spoke nor he looked into her eyes and his silence made her heart broken. Does he not care about me at

all?

“Go and sleep now,” he said coldly without looking at her face.

“I don’t want to see you anymore. I hate you”. Zoe covered her mouth and ran to her room. She couldn’t

control her tears hearing his response. It made her even more angry and sad.

“Zoe, wait, listen to me”. Hardin ran behind her and before he could grab her hands, she slammed the

door on his face and locked it. She slumped down onto the ground. She was completely broken. She

didn’t want Hardin to see her like this. She knew her love for him was wrong but she couldn’t help

herself.

...****************...