Kira stood in her room, pacing, waiting for her mom to enter. Her mom was going to be very angry.

     Hannah pushed the door open and entered, closing the door behind her.

    "You are unbelievable. I can't believe you'd do such a thing Kira? I'm not raising you to be heartless." Hannah was furious and Kira could not help but be a little frightened.

Kira looked at her mom... "Mom I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

   "It's always you didn't mean to! What is your problem? You always think you can get away with everything just because your father indulges you too much. What you have done today is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this house Kira. I know Aksel might have done a mistake but he's sincerely apologized to you, why couldn't you just let it go?" Hannah shook her head.

   "Mom it's not what you think—"

   "Let me finish! You intentionally sabotaged his science project and for what? To feel good about yourself? Kira that is bad! You don't do that to people just because you're angry at them."

   Kira sighed, "Why won't you let me explain, I didn't —"

    "I'm done listening to your excuses. You acted irresponsible and careless. Not everything is about you okay? Aksel is a guest in this house, you better get used to that fact because he's not going anywhere."

    "Mom I didn't do anything here." Kira tried to talk to Hannah.

    "I don't care about anything you have to say. Why can't you be like your sister? She doesn't give me so much trouble as you do." Hannah sighed. "You will apologize to Aksel, no, you will beg him and plead that you're sorry and you will never do this kind of thing again. I mean it Kira." Hannah pointed at Kira.

    Kira frowned... "I can't do that. I won't. I won't apologize for something I didn't do." Kira wasn't going to beg for forgiveness. Never.

    "Oh you will young lady, and until you do, you're grounded." Hannah glared at her stubborn daughter.

  Kira shook her head. "No way mom you can't do—" 

    "Now give me your phone." Hannah stretched out her palm for Kira's phone.

   Kira gasped... "Mom no please. Mom not my phone I'm begging y—"

    "Oh, so now you're begging? Tell you what, go outside and beg Aksel for forgiveness." Hannah pointed to the door.

    "Ew no! I can't do that." Kira made a disgusted face.

    "Ew no, right?" Hannah gestured for Kira to come forward, "Hand over the phone this instant." She commanded.

    "Mom this isn't fair. You don't even want to listen to what I have to say." Kira held back her tears.

    "Phone, now." Hannah narrowed her eyes at Kira.

     Kira reluctantly submitted her phone to Hannah.

    "I just hope you learn a lesson from this Kira, I really hope so." Hannah said to her daughter before turning to leave.

   Kira ran, sprawling carelessly on her bed. She screamed into her pillow for some seconds then soon started sobbing quietly.
❄❄❄❄

     The rest of the day, Kira stayed locked up in her room. She didn't want anyone disturbing her, even when Blake her brother knocked she yelled at him to buzz off.

     Kira heard a knock on her door while she was reading a novel late in the night but she decided to ignore it. The person knocked again and again.

     She sighed... "Go away, I don't want to talk to anyone." She yelled out but then heard the knock again. "I said go away!!" She yelled out again.

    "Princess it's me." She heard her dad's voice from behind the door.

   Kira sat up.... "Dad?" She got up to open the door. "Hey dad." She smiled weakly.

    Jacob smiled at her. "You don't want me to come in?" He teased her.

    "Of course not." Kira opened her door wider. "Please enter." She beckoned on him to enter, when he did she shut the door. "So I'm guessing mom already filled you in on what happened." She shrugged as she walked over to her bed to sit.

     "Is that a dreamcatcher?" Jacob ignored her statement and walked up to her window.

      "Yeah." She nodded.

    "Awesome. I had one of this while growing up." Jacob touched it. "Yours is prettier," he turned to her. "Just like you."

    Kira couldn't help but smile. "I don't think I got that from mom, I got my good looks from you." Kira grinned.

     Jacob laughed. "Hmm." He walked up to Kira, sitting beside her on the bed. "Hey." He stroked her hair gently.

    "Hey." Kira stared at him.

   "Kira what's wrong? Your mom said you didn't have dinner." He asked her softly.

     "That is because I don't have an appetite." Kira rolled her eyes.

    "And.... She told me about this afternoon." Jacob frowned at his daughter.

    "Oh daddy." Kira leaned in, hugging him tightly. "Please don't be upset too. It was an accident, I didn't mean for it to break." She told him truthfully.

   He hugged her back. "Baby girl. You were wrong to have gone into his room, you should never have done that." He told her.

     "Daddy I know. That part was my fault but believe me, I didn't break his science piece on purpose." Kira told him.

    He pulled her away. "Look at me and tell me the truth."

   Kira looked up at him. "Dad I would never lie to you. Mom didn't want to hear what I had to say and she concluded that I wanted to sabotage his project. I admit I held it but I slipped and it fell." Kira said not breaking eye contact with her father.

    Jacob stared at her bold blue eyes which she inherited from her mom. It was just so hard to stay mad at her that sometimes he wondered how his wife did it. "I believe you." Jacob finally said as he concluded that Kira didn't intentionally do it.

     Kira smiled... She always knew how to get to her father. "Good." She was happy that he believed her.

     "But, you were wrong going into his room so I support your mom when she says you're grounded." Jacob told her.

    "And my phone? And me begging for forgiveness?" Kira's eyes widened with hope.

     "Well, you have to apologize..."

   "But daddy..." Kira grumbled...

   "Not beg, apologize. That should be easier for you to do." Jacob told her.

   Kira sighed and mumbled a 'fine'. "And my phone?" She asked her father.

    "Your mom and I decided that you have to assist Aksel with his project before the deadline nextweek."

   Kira leaned further away from Jacob. "What?! No! Impossible! Why would I do that? I-I-I can't. Uh-uh, I'm not doing that." Kira shook her head in disagreement.

    "I'm afraid that's the only way for you to get your phone back. Your mom plans to withhold your phone for two months, I think this is the best option you have." Jacob said to her.

    "But you can do something about it, right?" Kira groaned.

    Jacob chuckled... "You know your mom, once her mind is made up, it's really hard to change her mind."

     "But you're the only one that could change her mind." Kira was saddened by the news.

     "Not this time." Jacob said, wagging a finger at her.

    "I still don't get why mom was just so angry when I didn't do anything wrong. She was just overreacting as usual." Kira remembered how Hannah compared her to Rhea. Her mom was fond of saying that to her.

     "Your mom is only trying to correct you." He jokingly poked her nose. "Stop your brooding, get out of bed so that I can prepare something for you to eat." He ruffled her hair before standing.

    "Really daddy?" Kira seemed excited. "You wanna cook? It's like past 12." Kira glanced at the wall clock.

    "Sure! You have to eat something. I don't want you going to bed on an empty stomach. I don't want to disturb Chef Kim because I'm sure he's sleeping after all the feast everyone had as dinner." Jacob pulled her out of bed.

    "You're such a nice boss, I wouldn't be that lenient to my workers." Kira grinned at her father.

    "I don't mind cooking for you sweetheart. You know," he pulled her to his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "When I used to date your mom, I would always cook for her and that made her fall deeper in love with me." Jacob admitted as he led Kira out.

    "How come? You and mom were betrothed to one another as kids. You didn't have time to date." Kira looked up at him.

    "When we both learned that our families had arranged our marriage, we both had no choice but to get to know each other. So yeah, we dated before getting married." Jacob admitted.

     "Isn't that sad?" Kira asked her dad as they left the room.

    "What is?" He asked.

   "You know, being betrothed to someone you don't know? You don't get to fall in love with the one your heart wants." Kira said to him as they strolled down the corridor.

     "I fell for your mom the first time I laid my eyes on her. She was the prettiest girl I had ever seen." Jacob smiled.

     Going down memory lane, Jacob could remember the first time he'd seen Hannah. He had seen her when he was attending his girlfriend's prom night in her school. Young Hannah was only 17 when she won prom queen, and Jacob, a confident and dashing young man of 19. Then again, they met in Harvard and at that time Jacob recently found out about the arranged marriage, he was extremely happy when his parents told him to get closer to her.

  Jacob had a charming and graceful personality and when he offered to help Hannah settle in, Hannah was charmed instantly. After a year of friendship, Hannah finds out that Jacob is her husband to be, but no matter how thrilling the news was, she was hurt that he didn't tell her anything. Hannah was just as stubborn as Kira, when they are hurt, they don't easily forgive. It took a while before Jacob gained her trust.
🕸🕸🕸🕸
    

    Kira stayed home through out Saturday as she couldn't contact any of her friends.

    "Hey Blake!" Kira walked into her baby brother's room. It was extremely boyish with posters of marvel heroes.

   "What are you doing in here princess?" He mockingly asked.

    Kira rolled her eyes at his audacity. "I need your help."

    Blake threw a ball over her head but she remained unmoved. "Nice." He sniggered.

     "Blake I'm serious." She walked up to where he stood at the center of his room.

    "What do you want?" He asked her.

    "My phone." She stated.

    "Mommy has your phone, she hid it." Blake told her.

    "I know that. I just want to see all my messages."

   "Oohooh," Blake oohed "Kira wants to view messages from her boyfriend Oohooh." He teased her, wiggling his brows at her.

     "I wanna talk to Liam of course." Kira frowned. "Are you gonna help me or what?" She asked in a carefree tone not to seem desperate.

    "Like you have someone else that can help you." Blake walked around the room amd picked up a basketball. "So what's in it for me?" He asked, tossing the ball into a hoop just beside his door. "Score!" He jumped, fist-bumping the air.

     "What do you want?" Kira asked her brother.

     "I want a 50 dollar." Blake said walking up to take the ball.

     "What? What do you need money for? Kids don't need money?" Kira felt like slapping Blake's senses back into his head.

   "Who told you that?" Blake gave her a look. "You know, you talk too much, make that 100 dollars." He shrugged like it was not a big deal.

      "You thief! Blake I'm not giving you 100 dollars." Kira couldn't believe her brother.

   "You're not?" Blake shrugged. "Goodluck getting your stupid phone." He stuck a tongue out at her.

    "I hate you." Kira fisted her hand.

   "Face it, I'm your only hope." Blake tossed the ball into the hoop again. "Score!!!" He did a back flip.

     Kira's jaw hung open. "How... How... How'd you do that?" She couldn't believe that her 10 year old brother could do that.

    "Do what? You mean this?" He did another back flip. "I do it to impress the girls." Blake said, kissing his muscles. "Tell me Kira, deal or no deal?" He asked her.

    "Let me get something straight, you have to get my phone and you're gonna return it immediately I'm done." Kira had to know before striking a deal with her dubious brother.

     "Yeah." He said.

   Kira hesitated for some seconds. "Deal."

    "When do I get my money?" He asked, folding his hands over his chest.

    "After the job is done." Kira said to him.

    "I want 50 dollar now and I'll get the other half when it's done." Blake told her immediately.

    "Blake you're crazy." She glared at him. "Do you know that 100 dollars is a big deal of money for ten year olds?"

    "It's not a big deal of money to you, so why should I be different? " He scoffed at his sister. "Nice doing business with you sis, I'll call you when the first part of the job is done." Blake walked up to his bed and picked up his shades.

   "Okay. Don't be caught." Kira told him finally.

   He wore his shades. "Folks, it's party time." He said, dancing like a duck.

    "Weirdo. Please get it done as soon as possible." Kira said before walking out of his room

    Blake took his iPod, playing I'm sexy and I know it by Lmfao. He danced around his room.
🕸🕸🕸🕸

   Kira headed back to her room and that's when she saw Aksel approaching. She didn't want to see him but as soon as they got closer, the two of them kept colliding with each other.

    "Stay." Aksel finally got hold of her, holding her arms firmly.

     Kira's breath hitched and she looked up at him. For the first time she stared into his glittering honey brown eyes. No doubt, without his glasses, he looked different. A very good different, she admitted to herself.

    Aksel tilted his head to one side, still not breaking the eye contact. "Are you trying to bewitch me?" Aksel narrowed his eyes, watching her suspiciously.

    Kira instantly regained her senses after being lost in his eyes for some seconds. "Huh?" She looked fazed for a moment.

     Aksel rolled his eyes before letting her go. "Excuse me." He said before walking out.

    Kira turned back to watch him leave but then she frowned. How on earth did she find him different without his glasses?  She decided not to ponder on it as she waved the thought away quickly.
................................................................................

    Blake had gotten Kira's phone as soon as their mom was out that evening. Kira paid Blake and quickly turned on her phone. So many voicemail from Liam, her thousands of followers on Instagram were anticipating her live video. But first she needed to call her boyfriend.

    "Kiki! I've tried calling severally, where did you keep your phone?" Liam asked her.

    "Liam I'm really sorry. It's my mom..."

  "Yeah Nessa told me what happened. Are you okay?" Liam sounded concerned.

   "I'm fine don't worry. So did Nessa tell you about that Aksel guy?"

   "She did. I wonder why you didn't want anyone to know. Why didn't you tell me?"

  "I'm sorry, I should have told you."  Kira sighed. "Liam I'm grounded, I can't leave the house, my mom withheld my phone."

"Has she given it to you back?" He asked her.

    "Not yet. I had my brother steal it for me." Kira said calmly.

    "I understand you won't be making it tonight right?"

   "I'm sorry. I can't get in more trouble than I already am."

   "It's okay." He sounded fine.

  "There will be other parties trust me." Kira told him. "Hey, look, I gotta go now okay? I'll see you um Monday?" She said to him.

    "Yeah. Monday."

   "Bye." Kira nodded before disconnecting the call. She sighed, heading to Blake's room to return the phone.

    Leaving her brother's room, Kira saw Aksel going downstairs and she followed him. She kept on following him hiding so that he would not see her.
 
  "Don't think I don't know you're there." Aksel pointed out without looking behind him.

    Kira froze, she's about to turn and make  a run for it when her leg hit a stool.

   "Ow!" She fell on her butt, holding her painful leg.

    Aksel turned around and saw her on the floor. He walked up to her, looking at her trying not to burst out into laughter. "What's with you?" He eyed her.

    "Can't you see I'm hurting you idiot!" She glared at him. "Can't you even say sorry?!"

    Aksel made a condescending chuckle, "Sorry? Excuse me lady, did I touch you?" Aksel scoffed distastefully.

    "Who needs your help anyway!" Kira snapped at him.

    Aksel shrugged, turning to leave her on the floor.

Kira tried to stand. "Ow!!" She yelled out, falling to the ground with a thud.

    Aksel turned around, contemplating if he should leave her. His pure conscience would be tinted, so he went over to her. "Careful." He knelt in front her.