At 3.30am, the limo pulls in front of the motel I've been staying at for the last week. I look around the building and see a homeless guy sleeping under the stairs in a box. Kids hide in the dark alley as packages and money exchange hands.

A black limo pulls over and talks to the kids. A guy points at Landon and me.

Landon wraps his arms around me. "Stop looking. They might do something if you're not careful."

I roll my eyes. "It's not the first time I've seen them."

He whispers in my ear. "It's different now that you're with me. My limo makes everything different."

Landon and I walk into my motel room and pack my clothes. He takes the suitcase to the limo.

I walk to the reception desk, and the old guy behind the desk looks at me. "Hello, love. What can I do for you today?" He smiles, and I can see gaps where teeth used to be.

Why do I have to deal with this creepy guy alone?

I smile. "I would like to return the keys." I pull the key out of my pocket and place it on the table.

He takes the key from me and puts it back on the shelf. "I hope to see you soon, love."

Unlikely.

I hurry out of the office.

Landon is leaning against a wall, his arms propped on the wall. He is talking to a girl in a short skirt and a tight top. She's wearing heaps of makeup.

The girl looks at me.

She runs her hands all over Landon as she sees me approach them. "When you get sick of that girl. Call me, and I'll show you a good time, sugar." She kisses him, and he returns it.

I cough. "Sorry to disturb the make-out session." I poke him with my index finger. "If that happens again, I'll show you where you can shove everything. Do you understand me?"

His mouth hangs open. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Yeah, the arse that broke my heart at the beginning of the year and the one that needs my help this year." I elbow him on the way to the limo.

Before I climb into the limo, I see him slip a couple of bills to her. I slide in and sit next to the window. I look outside as Landon climbs in.

He closes the door and puts his seatbelt on.

The limo pulls away from the motel and drives towards the Hollywood Hills. I put in earphones and looked out the window as the car drove us to his place in The Hills. Before I knew it, the limo stopped in front of an iron gate with security.

When did he get them? They weren't here when he kicked me out in January.

The security opens the gate after they speak with Landon. The limo drives up the path and stops in front of a beautiful brick three-story mansion. The garden I planted last year is still going strong.

At least someone takes care of those.

I pull the earphones out of my ear. "I'm glad someone has taken care of the garden."

Landon shrugs. "I paid the gardener to rip them out. But he liked the garden and decided to take care of it for you. He thought you would come back one day."

I won't be staying long.

I step out of the car and look at the gold-plated statue of a naked woman. She has water pouring out of her mouth and nipples.

He loves that fountain.

The double doors to the mansion open, and a little girl runs to Landon. "Uncle Landon." She looks at me. "Aunt Kay?"

I smile. "Hey, princess. Go back inside. I'll see you soon."

She runs into the house screaming. "Aunt Mikayla's back."

Landon looks at the ground and kicks a stone with his foot. "If that's how you get welcomed by the helps child, I can't wait to see how the rest will react."

I smile. "The people here like me. I bet they were disgusted with your behaviour after you dumped me."

He walks up the stairs to the house. "It's a shame I can't do it again."

Whatever!

I follow him inside.

A group of girls are standing by the door, and they hug me as I enter the mansion.

Rose runs to me and throws her arms around me. "I'm glad you're back. This place sucked without you. You should have seen the skinny rude bitches that used to come through those doors. Not one of them could hold a candle to you. That's why Landon was miserable the entire time he was with other girls. He stopped smiling and turned to alcohol and meaningless sex."

"I've seen all the pictures through the magazines since we broke up in January last year. I hope he can hide his behaviour while I'm back."

"Are you staying long?"

I shrug and then look over at Landon. "That depends on Landon."

Landon walks into the hall. "Enough talking. Everyone get back to work." He turns to me. "You should go to your room and unpack your stuff. Everything is in the guest room."

I walk up the stairs and enter the guest room, which overlooks the ocean. I put my stuff in the drawers and cupboards.

After everything is unpacked, I make my way downstairs to the kitchen. There, I jump onto the bench and swing my legs. I look around the clean kitchen.

Rose walks into the kitchen. "Do you want something to eat?"

I shake my head. " No, I'm okay for now. Do you have red food colouring?"

She frowns. "What do you need that for?"

I smirk. "You'll see."

Rose goes through the cupboard. "How much do you need?"

"All the bottles."

She takes them out and places them on the table next to me.

Counting fifteen bottles, I take them from the counter and place them in my pocket. I exit the house and make my way to the beach. I open the private gate to the beach and walk away from the house. My feet touch the cool sand. I put my feet in the cold water as I watched the sunrise over the beach. I put on my sunglasses as the sun brightened the sky. The sky was blue, red, yellow, pink, and purple, and no cloud was in it.

Birds are chirping, and the waves break as they approach shore.

A guy stops next to me. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Landon asks.

I nod. "It is. How did you know I was down here?"

He runs a hand through his hair. "I remember this was your favourite place to go in the mornings. I also saw you coming down here from my room."

I watch a surfer catch his first wave. I turn to Landon. "Do you still surf?"

He shakes his head. "I gave that up when you left. I didn't feel like doing everything that made you love me."

I step away from him. "I don't want to talk about our past. Let's deal with the things we have going on now, please."

He kisses my cheek. "I'm going to bed. Don't be out here too much longer. The Security will change soon, and they won't let you in if they don't know who you are."

I continue to watch the sun. "I'll be there soon." I hear him walk away.

A couple of minutes later, I make my way back up to the mansion. I open the gate, and a security guy walks over to me. "Mikayla Harrison?"

I nod.

He smiles. "I was wondering if you would ever go back to Landon. Looks like I win fifteen thousand."

I laugh. "You bet on whether I would return to Landon?"

He nods. "Yep, I'm Charlie. It's nice to meet you."

I shake his hand. "It's nice to meet you, too, Charlie. I'll see you around." I walk toward the house and make my way to the bedroom. I put the food colouring under the bed in my bedroom. Then I changed into shorts and a T-shirt. I walk over to the window and look at the beach before pulling the blinds across and climbing into the bed.

***

At three, there's a loud crash outside my bedroom door. I jump out of bed and open the door. I find the housekeeper's daughter lying on top of some boxes. I help her up. "Are you alright?"

She nods. "Can you help me take these into your room? Landon told me you need these things."

I carry a box into the bedroom and place it on the bed. I rip open the box and pull the contents out. There are photos of Landon and me when we were together.

The girl pulled out some photos and showed me one. "Who's the little girl with Landon and you?"

I take the picture from her and turn it over. The girl's name is at the back: "This was you when you were younger."

What the hell is he playing at?

There's a picture of us from when we went to Vegas a couple of years ago and walked to his room with it in my hand. I open the door to find him still in bed. I slam the bedroom door shut.

"I said no interruptions." He yells.

I cross my arms. "Does that include me, Mr Parker?"

Landon sits up in his king-sized bed and looks at me. "What do you want?"

I threw the picture at the wall, and the frame smashed and fell to the ground.

He looks at the picture on the floor. "Why did you do that? That was my favourite picture." He climbs out of bed and picks it up.

I walk toward him. "I don't want your stuff or our memories in our room. Even when we get married, I won't make things easier for you. I will fake everything when we attend meetings, parties, and business dinners. Keep the rest of the things in the basement where they belong."

I turn away from him and exit the bedroom. As I shut the door, I heard him say. "Mikayla, I'm sorry." His head falls back.

Shutting the door, I moved toward my room. There, I picked up the food colouring bottles and shoved them into my pocket. I head toward the fountain and sit on the ledge. I pour the red food dye into the water. I move to another spot and do the same.

The water in the fountain is red. I watch the colouring as it touches the gold statue. The water coming out of the statue's mouth is red.

I smile, and then I throw the colouring into the bin. Picking up a book, I hide in the bush until someone comes across what I did to the fountain.

After half an hour, no one has come out. I close the book and lie my head on the tree branch. I put earphones in my ears and turn the music down as I fall asleep.

A scream wakes me from my sleep, and I see a woman standing close to the fountain. She falls to the ground.

I hope the woman is alright.

I watch from the bush as everyone exits the mansion and gathers around the fountain.

Landon runs out of the house and looks at his treasured statue. "WHO DID THIS?" He turns to the crowd, waiting for someone to admit they did this to his treasured statue.

I did it.

No one says anything.

I step away from the bush and make my way toward the fountain. I look at the damage I caused. I shake my head. "Oh, boy. Looks like your statue has that time month, Landon."

***

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