THE ROOM was silent. All eyes were settled on the newcomer holding a gun at Knight's father and his companion—SM's father.

While looking at him, SM's tears fell. For more than a year, she had been engraving in her mind that her father was dead. That he would no longer come back. That she wouldn't be able to hug him again. Even though he sent a message before, it still didn't sink in that he was alive.

But seeing him now in front of her, fighting for her...

She wanted to close the distance between them and hug his father, but Knight's father still aimed a gun at them. One wrong move and she would be in danger.

"Dad..." she whispered.

His father looked at her and then smiled. The next thing that followed took them all by surprise.

Orlando, Knight's father's Ultor, moved to grab the gun from SM's father. But her father was too quick. He used the base of the gun to hit Orlando's face. Knight's father took this as an opening to attack her father, but another man walked in and pointed the gun at Orlando to back him off.

She knew that man. It was Don Ambrose.

"Don't even think about it," Don Ambrose warned Knight's father.

"Come on, Stevan," Knight's father said, his eyes on SM's father. "You know you're not allowed to kill me."

"Unfortunately. But you still have no right to talk back to me, so shut the fuck up. I'm here for my daughter."

Knight's father glared at SM with sharp eyes. "So, she's your daughter. No wonder she has a sharp tongue that needs to be cut."

"Try and die," said Stevan, SM's father. "I may not be allowed to kill you as per the law of the Orgánosi, but if you hurt mi princesa, I will cut you open and dance on your entrails, you motherfucker."

Knight's father chuckled. "Go then. Take her. I don't want her to be with my son either. You're doing me a favor, Stevan."

Stevan looked at his daughter. "Come on, sweetie. Come to Daddy. I miss you so much."

SM was hesitant. She and Knight had talked about this, and she believed him when he told her he'd follow her everywhere she'd go. But with what was happening, she couldn't decide if they could still stick with their original plan.

He would be punished. Severely. And she couldn't do anything about it. But she promised she wouldn't leave his side.

I promised!

"Sweetie, come on," her father pleaded. "Let's go home. You and me. Come on, mi princesa."

Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the gun Knight's father was still holding and pointing at them.

Stevan pressed the gun's barrel harder on the head of Knight's father. "Gun down, Kelleon. Now."

When Kelleon put the gun down to the floor, Knight quickly reached for it. Now Stevan was pointing his gun at Knight.

"Dad!" SM screamed in terror.

"Put that gun down!" Stevan told Knight, but he didn't listen.

Instead, Knight looked at her, kissed her on the forehead, and tightly embraced her. "Go. Go with your father so you won't get hurt here. I'm sending you away because I love you—"

"You don't have to explain," she whispered back. "I know, Knight." Then, she returned his embrace, tighter than his. "I will wait for you."

Knight gave her a smile. He wanted her to remember his happy face. "I love you so much, Sweet Monday. I love you so much, baby."

"I love you too."

Knight kissed her forehead again. "Go. Be safe."

SM knew that she needed to go, but whenever she would remember his condition when they first met and then think about Knight getting punished after this, she felt weak. She couldn't step a foot forward.

"But I promise not to leave you..." she whispered.

"Break it then," Knight said. "Break it for me, Sweet Monday, please?"

She shook her head. "I never break my promises."

Knight smiled. "There's always a first time for everything."

"Knight—"

"If you don't want to break it, change it. Promise me that you will wait for me."

SM knew that Knight was manipulating her for her to leave. She clenched her fists. "I promise to wait for you, however long I have to wait. Please, please be safe."

"That's my baby." He then released SM from his embrace, tightly gripped the gun, and pointed at his father.

"One wrong move to hurt her, Father, I'll shoot you," he warned.

SM quickly moved. She headed to Eli and Jacques and held their hands, asking her to come with her. Dimitri, Cloud, and Midnight approached them and said in unison, "Go."

Her tears fell. "Please be safe."

The three nodded.

She pulled Jacques at Eli to the door. As she was leaving, she looked back at her boyfriend. Knight...

He mouthed, Te amo, mi reina.

She mouthed back, I love you too, my lord.

But before she could bask in Knight's warm smile for her, her father held her wrist and pulled her out of the house.

While walking away, SM pulled herself together. She shouldn't be crying. Their separation would only be temporary. She would see him again.

Don't cry. Be strong, SM thought. For Knight and for the people around me.

She wiped away the tears on her cheeks and erased any emotion that showed vulnerability. I have to be strong for Knight.

Once they were outside the mansion, she froze upon seeing three men, likely around her father's age, leaning against the hood of a white van. Her father glared at the three. "I told you to use the black van for backup."

The long-haired guy smirked and opened the door of the van. "White because we're the good guys."

"You mean the lesser of two evils?" said Don Ambrose.

"Oh, come on, Ambrose," argued the man who just went down from sitting on the hood of the van. "Don't be a bitch."

Don Ambrose pointed his gun to the man who called him a bitch. "Who are you calling a bitch, mongrel?"

The man just laughed and replied, "Arf! Arf!"

Stevan just sighed before urging SM to enter the van, together with Eli and Jacques. The three other men followed, while Don Ambrose was assigned to drive.

"Why the fuck am I driving?" Don Ambrose irritably asked.

"Because you're the messenger. That makes you the designated driver," said the man who called Don Ambrose a bitch, who was in the passenger seat. "Like Hermes. Just think of this car as your winged shoes—less the shoes and the wings, of course."

"Fuck you, Keegan."

Seated at the back was the man who opened the van. The first thing in his mind was grilled chicken intestines. "Can we stop over somewhere to buy isaw?"

One of the three guys hissed, "For fuck's sake, Queen! Leash that glutton stomach of yours! We're here to ensure the safety of the princess."

But Stevan agreed. "I like some isaw too. It's been a long time."

The guy who just disagreed approved of SM's father suggestion. "Then we should stop over to buy you isaw, my lord."

Stevan smiled. "Thank you, Raphael."

"Someone's sucking up," Keegan remarked.

"I'm my lord's butler," Raphael grunted. "It's my duty and responsibility to make him happy."

"I'm so sorry, sweetie," Stevan whispered to his daughter. "They're noisy but they're dependable."

She looked her father directly in the eyes. "You have a lot of explaining to do. I thought you were dead, and here you are—alive! You know I don't ask questions, Dad, but if you don't explain to me what's happening, you will lose your sweetie."

Her father smiled, unfazed by her threat. He knew she was trying to manipulate him. "Sweetie, if you want your father to fold, you have to try harder than that."

SM gave her father a smile. "Then I won't disappoint you next time, Mufasa."

Her father smiled back. "Good. I'm looking forward to it, mi princesa."

SM quickly looked outside when the van stopped. They were already outside Eli's condo.

Stevan turned to Eli, who had been silent since they left the mansion. "This is your stop, Eli. Don't worry, I sent a guard to keep an eye on you so you won't get harmed."

"Thank you, Uncle," Eli replied before going out of the van. She looked at SM with worry. "Take care. I don't know what's happening, but I have an idea, so please be vigilant. I don't want to lose my best friend."

SM nodded and stepped out of the van to hug her. "Take care too. Call me if something happens, okay?"

Eli nodded. "I will." She chuckled. "You're my stress absorber after all."

SM laughed before saying goodbye and going back to the van. They only left once Eli was inside the condominium building.

SM took a deep breath and spoke to the men inside the van. "Everyone, my name is Sweet Monday Canja Lopez, and this is my butler"—she gestured to Jacques, who had not spoken since the incident—"Marquess Jacques Sotelo."

"We know," they said in unison.

"I know, but for formality's sake, say it's nice to meet us and tell us your names."

"So authoritative," Keegan said.

"Like father, like daughter," Don Ambrose murmured. "You two already know me, so I'll pass."

"Oh yeah," Keegan said. "Mufasa sent you to Hong Kong."

"Yeah," Don Ambrose grumbled, "while you went to Mong Kok to shop, you useless piece of shit."

"Hey! Even shits have purpose! Fertilizers! And it was cheap," Keegan answered before turning to her, slightly bowing. "I'm Duke Keegan Mejia, the sixteenth, and the head of the noble house of Mejia. But you can call me 'Kee,' Princesa. Cut the 'duke.' I don't like titles that much."

SM raised a brow. The sixteenth? Holy shit.

"I'm Raphael Sanchéz, the fifteenth, from the noble house of Sanchéz in Zaragoza, Spain," his father's butler introduced, smiling. "I am his highness's butler."

His highness? My dad?

"And I'm Lord Quenton Cáceres, the nineteenth, Princesa. It's nice to finally meet you."

Keegan chuckled. "We call him Queen, because why not? Look at his hair—long, silky, and smooth."

SM looked at each of them one by one. "Nice to meet you, Uncle Ambrose, Uncle Keen, Uncle Raphael and Uncle Queen."

"Uncle..." Kee whispered. "I like it."

The other three agreed.

"Nice to meet you," Jacques greeted.

The van went silent until SM's father asked, "Are you mad?"

She shook her head. "I know that you have a reason why you left me more than a year ago and made me believe that you're dead—that you and Mommy are dead."

Stevan was quiet for a few seconds before he gathered the strength to speak. "It's just me, sweetie. Your mommy is now gone. She died that night. We both lost her that night, sweetie."

SM bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying, but the tears still started to well in her eyes. "Mommy..."

Stevan embraced his daughter, caressed his back, and then kissed her on the forehead. "It's okay, sweetie. Daddy's here. I won't let anything happen to you. I promised your mom I will keep you safe no matter what. I promised her that no one could harm you... No one."

When her family made a promise, they would always keep it.

She sobbed while her father wrapped his arms around her—her father whom she had missed for over a year.

"Daddy... I miss you so much," SM said in between her sobs.

All the hardship she endured for more than a year, all the longing and the tears she cried thinking about what happened to her parents—they were painful. But now she had her father. She would give everything to see her mother again, but she was relieved that she still had her father with her.

Mommy... Please guide us. Please take care of us.

"It's okay, sweetie. Daddy's here. I'm here." Stevan tightened his embrace. He didn't let go until SM gradually settled down.

She sniffled and then pulled away from her father's embrace. "Thank you, Daddy. I know I owe you, and you know I love you, but... I want to clear something up. Remember what you asked me through text before? I'm telling you now. I'm not gonna do it."

Her father blew a loud breath. "Sweetie, of all the men in the world, why him?"

She smiled while thinking of Knight. "He's a good man, Dad."

"He's not a good man," Stevan insisted. "He killed... He—" But he wasn't able to continue. He just stared at her face. "You really love that man?"

"I do."

Stevan wiped his palms across his face before letting out a deep sigh. "You can't love him, Sweet Monday. You just can't."

"Tell me why?" she demanded, her fists clenched.

"Do you know what kind of a father he has?!"

"Don't define Knight by his father, Dad!" Her voice rose. "He's different! Knight is a good man! He's selfless, loving, and caring! Don't judge him because you don't know him, Dad!"

"SM!" Her father snapped at her.

But she held her ground. She looked defyingly at her father. "I can do whatever you want me to do, follow whatever you wish, except not to love Knight. I won't ever do that. I love him, and I will fight for him because I know he's fighting for me too. And I promise to never leave his side and wait for him. You've raised me to always keep my promise, and you know me, Dad—I don't break my promises.

"Even though we're apart, even though we're not together, in my heart, he's with me. And I'll make sure I will fulfill that promise and I'll wait for him and I won't leave him."

Her father glared at her. "Don't be stubborn, SM!"

"Your death caused me to be this way!" she snapped back. "I nearly lost it when I learned that you and Mommy passed away. I must be stubborn, so I could fight my fear and my anxiety! I locked myself in the house for six months! Even when I started tying my life together, it didn't mean anything. But I kept on stubbornly living because I promised that what happened wouldn't break me. Even if it was so hard, even if my life was bleak, I stubbornly fought to survive every day until I met Knight.

"He gave color to my life, Dad. He made me happy. He gave me a sense of purpose—to make him happy just like what he made me feel. Little did he know, he helped me get through each day until living became easy for me. So, don't tell me not to love him because he saved me, Dad. He doesn't know it, but he was my light... He was my knight!"

Stevan didn't know how to get her to listen to him anymore. He looked hopeless and scared and worried.

"He will hurt you," his father said.

She smiled. "He loves me."

"As long as his father is alive, Knight will, and he can hurt you."

"He loves me, and I trust my man, Dad."

"He will be the death of you, Sweet Monday."

"I'm sure Knight won't let me die," she replied with a smile. "That man can't live without me as I can't live without him."

"You trust him too much." Her father's voice was full of disdain.

"Of course, he's my boyfriend. You told me that trust is what keeps relationships strong, and as long as we trust each other, no one can keep us apart. I promise you that, Dad."

Stevan widened his eyes at her daughter. "Stop making promises!"

SM chuckled. "Why? Scared because you know I'll keep it?"

Her dad blew a frustrated breath. "Keegan, can you tell my daughter that it's bad going against her father?"

Kee laughed. "Let her be, Mufasa. It's not like she's still a child. She's old enough to decide for herself." And to SM, he said, "If your father keeps on bothering you, tell him to fuck off."

"Hey!" Stevan complained. "I'm your king!"

Kee just laughed. "Don't care. The king can kiss my ass."

Ambrose clicked his tongue. "You can only say that because you're the best friend."

"The perks."

"He's not my best friend," Stevan disagreed. "It's just self-proclaimed."

Kee blew a flying kiss to her dad, teasing him more, making Mufasa's expression darken even more. This was the first time she had seen her dad like this. Maybe because her mom was always calm and understanding that she never heard them argue.

So, seeing his father irritated made her laugh.

Stevan glared at his daughter. "What's so funny?"

"You."

"Give me a fist bump, Princesa," Kee said, laughing along with her at her dad.

She immediately brought her fist to Kee, but Stevan quickly pulled them apart and called Queen. "Queen, they're ganging up on me."

Queen grunted, "I'm sleepy, Your Highness."

"Raphael—" But Stevan stopped as soon as he heard his own butler snoring.

"My lord," Ambrose commented, "stop being a baby and be a man. Look at your daughter and say 'Don't defy me!'"

Stevan followed Ambrose's suggestion and immediately looked at her. She met his gaze right away and neither blinked nor back away.

Her father opened his mouth to say, "Sweetie, don't defy me—"

"You let me suffer in loneliness for more than a year, Dad, remember?"

Her dad immediately fell silent and slumped in his seat. "Ambrose, I can't do it. She's guilt-tripping me."

Ambrose laughed. "Like mother, like daughter."

For the second time, Kee showed her his fist as if encouraging her. "Make your high-and-mighty father fold. I'll back you up. I'm Team Swight, after all."

"Swight?" she asked, confused.

"Yes. Sweet and Knight. Swight," Kee said as if he'd just come up with the most brilliant idea.

Queen grumbled, "So dumb."

Kee was about to respond when the vehicle stopped in front of a private plane. She didn't even realize that they were in the airport.

She unconsciously touched her ring. I'll wait for you, Knight. She wouldn't take it off. He would come for her, and she had to assist him by keeping the ring safely.

She trusted her boyfriend, but she still felt anxious. What happened earlier wouldn't leave her mind. Behind her smile, her mind didn't feel at ease.

Is he being punished? Lashed? Is he gonna be okay? Will his wounds heal fast? Or will he endure the pain alone again? Will Cloud and Dimitri be punished as well? How about Midnight? Is he unharmed? Knight will surely go crazy with worry if Midnight gets punished.

"Sweetie, let's go." Her dad's voice broke through her thoughts.

She took a deep breath before getting out of the van and looking at the private plane in front of her, where Jacques was already boarding.

"Where are you taking us, Mufasa?" she asked her father.

"Spain," he replied.

"Can we please not leave just yet?" she pleaded to her father. "Please... I wanna know what happened to Knight. Please, Dad?"

Her father looked at her. "You can find that out while you're in Spain."

"Dad—"

"Now that I'm back to power, trust me, okay? You'll know."

Her lips thinned. "What can I do for him if I'm in Spain?"

"Sweet Monday, maybe I'm not being clear enough. I'm here to take you," Stevan reminded her, his face emotionless. Whether you like it or not, you're coming with me."

SM took a deep breath. "Yes, Dad."

There was no point in arguing with her father. She knew he wouldn't let her go back to Knight, and if she did, Stevan would surely worry about her, and he could use this to hurt Knight.

All she could do was wait for him. He will come. He promised.

Taking a deep breath, SM walked toward the stairs of the private plane and boarded. She quietly sat by the window and looked outside. She didn't say a word, even when her dad sat next to her.

She left everything in Knight's house—her clothes, all her things, and her phone.

Is there another way to contact him? she thought, then an idea came to mind. Jacques!

She stood up from her seat and sat beside Jacques. She looked at him, giving him a hint of what she needed. Jacques then took out his phone from his pocket and showed her a text message from Midnight: Father took Kuya. I don't know where. He was mad. Keep SM safe, Marquess. I know that the only thing keeping Kuya sane right now is the thought that SM is safe with her father.

Her fists clenched as she stared out of the plane as she felt it rise into the air, leaving the country she grew up in.

SM tightly shut her eyes as Knight's face entered her mind. The way he smiled as he looked at her, the way he hugged and kissed her, the way he made her feel loved... she would miss those moments with him.

A tear rolled down her cheek as the plane ascended, leaving the man she loved behind.

I'll wait for you, my lord.