Mikhail looked quite serious, as he stood outside Athena's door, preparing his fretful mind. As he raised his hand to knock on the door, the door opened, revealing Athena. Both froze, staring at each other, dumbfounded. Athena snapped out of it quickly, slammed the door shut, while Mikhail stood there stunned. He rapidly regained his usual composure upon hearing the door slam.

Mikhail, open mouthed with disbelief that Athena had slammed the door on him. He was silent for a minute. No one had ever shut the door in his face before. His many firsts were with Athena; she was the first one who remained alive after telling him to leave, the first woman he allowed inside his mansion, the first woman who ignored him and his first love. He, with a hint of embarrassment, knocked on the door, uttered, "My wife, let me in, I want to see you.... "

Athena was utterly shocked realizing that she had shut the door on Mikhail. She didn't know what to do; as she paced back and forth wearing an anxious face. One part of her wanted to open the door and let him in to ask what he needed, but another part of her was afraid he would kill her, after all, he was an infamous psycho. She remembered Mikhail's cold face while deciding Sophia's tragic fate. Athena was really scared this time; she gulped many times. The more she heard Mikhail, calling out to her, the more her heart became restless. Finally, gathering her courage, she opened the door, quickly knelt, squeezing her eyes tightly as she stated in a rush, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to slam —"

Her voice, disturbed by Mikhail's sudden action. Mikhail, carefully lifted Athena up, her body in his arms. She opened her eyes knowing what's going on. Their gazes met, Mikhail looked away the moment, desperately trying to hide his blush. His face turned into a blushing mess at the sight of her, his heart raced; he wondered if Athena could hear his heart beat. His earlobes, flushed as he felt a rush of dopamine inside him.

Athena, thunderstruck as she processed the information. She finally came to a conclusion that, he hated her very much so that he turned his head away. But she didn't get the answer for why was he carrying her or calling her 'my wife'. Her intuition warned her, he'll never fall for her.  While, her inner voice yelled, he was in love with her. Athena, being optimistically pessimistic, was sure he would never fall for her. She hated him and feared him, yet sometimes, in the corner of her heart, she felt something different from the usual fear or hate she felt for him. It was a new feeling for her, who only had book boyfriends. Little did she know that what she felt for him, was exactly what he hoped she would feel for him.

"We're going somewhere."

Mikhail spoke gently, without gazing at Athena. Athena's face, screaming, 'I don't want to' in every language as she sighed. Seeing Athena sigh, Mikhail spoke, "Don't worry, what happened last time won't happen again today. I promise you." She nodded in agreement, murmuring, "hmm". It wasn't because she trusted him, but she doesn't want to recall those memories again. Her mind had played with her multiple times, replaying her haunting memories, just like binging on Netflix.

Athena was uncomfortable being held by someone, especially Mikhail. No one had ever held Athena in her life, so she was very uncomfortable. She thought Mikhail would do this to any woman living with him. It was her way of making sure that she didn't get ahead of herself. She whispered to Mikhail, hiding her suspicion, "Can you put me down?"

"If that's what you want.", Mikhail mumbled, his voice etched with disappointment. He slowly put her down and gestured Athena to settle into the leather seat of his high-end car as he elegantly opened the door for her.

Athena looked at Mikhail with a face that seemed to be asking, is he sick? Why are we at a hospital? what's going on? Why did he bring me with him? Mikhail swung open the door. He swept over the hospital, his azure eyes gleaming with a hint of hope. Athena had no idea how to open the door from the inside as she whispered with a heavy heart, "how?" Mikhail spotted Athena's puzzled expression through the window and a genuine smile bloomed on his lips. He opened the door from outside, while covering his mouth to hide the smile from Athena. Athena's face reddened as she was embarrassed. Mikhail leaned in, "It's alright, I've got you." He helped Athena out of the car. Athena recalled her painful past as she gazed over the world-class hospital. She couldn't afford this hospital when her mom was on the death bed. The fate indeed had different plans for her. She have never thought that she'd be back at exactly the same hospital, which shunned her away, refusing to treat her mom due to their financial struggle.