After a long drive, we finally arrive at the address Remi told me to go to. I'm shocked beyond measure when I see it and I turn to him angrily, my face flushing warmer and my brows furrowed. "How dare you make me come!"

Remi shrugs. "Okay, you're fired."

My face flushes again, but this time from humiliation and not anger. How many times has he said that to me? It only serves to remind me that he holds the power here, not me. He is the dominant one while I have to submit to him. It's pathetic.

"I don't want to go in!" I cry, knowing I am acting like a child but unable to help it. This house- no, this mansion in front of me is something I have seen in magazines, on television all the time. The biggest house in the country. To think it was owned by the Trystons. Of course it was.

A tapping on the window draws my attention. Maya is eagerly looking in, smiling widely. Behind her stands a bulky bodyguard with a gun on his waist. I shudder. If guns were illegal, I would be so much happier.

"Come on! Let's go in!" She screams so loudly Remi and I can hear.

"You go," I grouch.

"Nuh uh. You're coming to meet my family. Besides, are you going to sleep in the car tonight?"

"I'll just drive back." And never come back, I add mentally.

Remi frowns and unlocks the car door, stepping out. A fight ensues as he tries to get me to come out of the car, and finally, I am pulled out by Remi and Maya.

Maya explains his determination to me as we walk through the lush greenery. The mansion looms ahead of us. The majestic balconies line the levels, and there are intricately designed windows, with beautiful shapes and curves. Alright, the architecture is fantastic and I know it. The gardens are also beautiful, with purple, pink and blue flowers blooming around me, a pond singing happy tunes, and a quaint swing slightly hidden in the greenery.

"He doesn't want to meet Mum and Dad. So he needs someone for moral support, but not me, because I'm a sister." She rolls her eyes at that. "Brothers."

I pause. Did Remi consider my feelings? I certainly do not wish to meet his parents. Suppose they find out that I attempted to con one of the most influential people in the country, and am now trying to con her brother. Oh dear. That would not make a pretty dinner story. So I abruptly say "I don't want to meet then either."

"How rude," Maya chides, but she's smiling. "Alright, Mum and Dad are a little stuffy, but can't you stick on for Remi? I bet he feels better with you around."

I lapse into a sulky silence. As we walk, my mind is busy coming up with escape scenarios. However, none of them seem particularly feasible, and I have no choice but to face the reality: I am going to meet the Trystons.

---

Dinner is delicious but uncomfortable. Everyone eats daintily- luckily I can too, having conned some rich folks in the past and seen fine dining- and take such small bites that I feel they are insulting the food.

His father is as handsome as Remi is, with beautiful grey eyes and a sharp jawline. Remi's mother has soft auburn hair and light blue eyes. She looks kind.

Remi locks eyes with me and I know he can tell what I am thinking, because a his mouth quirks into a tiny smile. Then he snaps back into a serious expression as his mother addresses him.

"Give up, Remington. I have told you repeatedly to give up. Will you just listen for once?" His mother clips off every word painfully, in a sharp voice.

Glancing at him, I notice his jaw tighten. Remi sits straighter and meets his mother's gaze squarely, saying "No, I will not give up. You may not care, but I do."

"I care," she says, wincing in pain. Her face twists into a neutral expression, her fleeting show of emotions gone. And although I don't know what they are discussing, because of how vague they are deliberately keeping the conversation, I know that she is not lying. His mother really is feeling sad, and really does care. Yet Remi cannot see that.

His grey eye darkens and the golden-blue one becomes darker, until the gold specks fade into the sea of blue. "Stop lying, Mother. I'm not hungry. Please continue eating."

He gets up and leaves a deafening silence in his wake. The door slams behind him. Maya nudges me and says "His girlfriend is going to pacify him, Mother. Don't worry."

People really like calling me their girlfriend, huh? Jay did it. Now so is Maya, in the place of her brother. Reluctantly I part from my delicious dinner, regretting not having taken large bites like a barbarian. I should have just gone ahead and done that. His mother and father look pretty annoyed with me as it is.

"Remi?" I call as I wander the halls.

Surprisingly, Remi answers. He emerges from a room. My eyebrows raise in surprise. His suit is off for once and he's just in business pants and a white dress shirt. The black tie is loose, hanging askew from his neck.

"What?" He rubs his eyes. His voice sounds tired as he says "You should go back to eating. You didn't have much to eat today, did you?"

I hesitate, not knowing what to say for once. Remi flaps his hand dismissively. "Forget it. Come in first. I'll get you some food. What's your favourite?"

"Chinese," I reply instantly.

He taps an order on his phone and then leads me into his room, the door hanging ajar. It's very minimalistic yet pretty: crisp white curtains, light brown floorboards, a bed with a wooden bed post, a warm golden lamp. There's an armchair by a row of pictures and a desk in the far corner of the room, near a window. I bet the view is amazing.

Remi gestures for me to sit on the armchair while he sits on he chair at his desk facing me.

"Is this too overwhelming for you?" He asks hesitantly, raising his eyes to meet mine.

I'm blown away yet again by the beauty of his eyes. The gold accents in the blue eye...breathtakingly beautiful. "No, it's okay," I say sincerely. "But are you okay?"

He doesn't smile or reassure me that he is okay. Instead he says bitterly "You want to know what we were talking about, don't you? I should have known."

"No-"

"Angel, what are you really here for?" He says in a defeated voice, pushing the dark locks of his hair back from his forehead.

"I-" the words cannot leave my throat. The lies are caught somewhere in my system, and I know I need to force my tongue to speak these lies. For the first time while doing a job, I wish I don't have to constantly lie. Remi looks so tired and sad...I want to help him and not lie to him.

Yet I know what I have to do, so I say "To gain experience. I told you I turned over a new leaf. I've been volunteering and stuff, and learning to drive. It's called self improvement. So I'm truly grateful for my job."

Haha...hope he believes the bullshit.

Remi cocks his head thoughtfully and adjusts his position on the chair, crossing a leg over the other. "Did my parents pay you or something?"

"Hell no," I gasp. He's getting more and more crazy. "I swear I'm just trying to be a better person."

Not.

Desperate for a change in topic, my eyes glance around the room frantically. I get up and stare at the first picture, to my left. "You were a cute kid." In the photo, Remi is staring wide eyed at the camera, a fist in his mouth and a chocolate cone in the other hand.

He laughs. "Yeah. I did modelling as a child."

"Woah! Was it fun?" My eyes light up. I've always wanted to try being a model, even though I'm sure I'm not pretty or slim enough.

Remi frowns at me. "I mean, I was a baby, so I obviously remember it."

Rolling my eyes, I move on to the next photo, to my right. It shows Remi, slightly older, perhaps about eight or nine, his arm around a chubby little girl with bright red curls and blue eyes.

"Who is this?" I ask him, my heart pounding faster and faster. "How do you know her?"

All these years, did Remi know her?

The girl in the photo smiles merrily at me, her eyes crinkling and her curls falling everywhere around her shoulders. The wind is blowing her hair and she looks beautiful. This girl looks like her, on the day she left me.

Remi stands up abruptly. "Don't talk about her."

"Remi, who is she?" I press, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

He sinks back into his chair, burying his face in his hands. "Stop asking, stop it," he mutters. The cloud of sorrow above his head grows dangerously dark.

"Is her name..." I hesitate. I can't even say her name, because even saying it brings up fresh, painful memories, like an old scar on your leg that tears everytime you try to walk.

We lock eyes, finally, and as if we were both possessed, we say the name we knew her by at the same time-

"Louise Tryston."

and-

"Evangeline."

Shock spikes through me, hot and electric. "It can't be. She was called Evangeline. I'd...I'd know those eyes anywhere..."