"How do you feel?"
When Mia regained consciousness, Victor's gentle face was the first thing that greeted her. Victor's hand gently rubbed Mia's head, sending a warm vibration that was able to make Mia feel better amidst the discomfort her body was feeling.
"I feel very weak. I also find it difficult to breathe. My body hurts so much, and my hands can't stop shaking right now."
Victor's eyebrows immediately furrowed when he heard Mia's answer. His hand stopped rubbing Mia's head when his eyes caught the restless movements that looked like the girl was trying to hold back once she regained consciousness.
"Please hold it all in, Mia. This is the side effect that you will feel if you consume drugs excessively. Slowly, we have to remove the residue of the drugs. The doctor has given me a strict schedule for your rehabilitation process. It may be difficult at first, but you have to do it to get better."
Mia's eyes stared directly into Victor's eyes as the man explained this to her. With a heavy heart, Mia gave Victor a nod as both of her hands clenched because her body was shaking more and more over time.
Victor also continued to pay attention to Mia's body reaction after that. His gaze was so deep when his hand held Mia's hand so that the girl would not hurt her body on purpose.
"Enzo is in my office right now. Do you want to meet him?"
Mia, who had just wanted to speak again, closed her mouth when Victor continued his words. With great difficulty, Mia immediately tried to get up when she heard her cousin following and waiting for her. Mia wanted to apologize to her cousin for behaving before this.
"Be careful. You will most likely have difficulty walking for a while."
When Mia almost fell because of her weak body, Victor immediately held the girl's body before the man finally carried Mia with both his hands. This time, Mia did not protest much to the man's actions. For Mia, Enzo also enjoyed carrying her since she was little. With Victor carrying her, she could meet her cousin without any trouble.
"Mia!"
When Mia had just come out of the room, she was immediately greeted by Enzo's voice, which sounded a little shaky. The adult man half ran to approach her. His eyes continued to stare worriedly at Mia as the girl slowly got down from Victor's arms.
"Mia..."
"I'm sorry, Enzo. I... I was naughty today. I've had a hard time controlling my emotions. Please don't hate me for what happened earlier."
Enzo took a deep breath as Mia suddenly bent down with her head down. However, Enzo had not had time to reply to the girl's words when Mia's body suddenly swayed forward.
"Be careful, Mia. I'm not mad at you. On the contrary, all of this incident was purely my fault. Come on, sit down. You're sweating a lot, Mia..."
Enzo had a pained expression as if he could feel the pain Mia was suffering. Enzo had heard Victor's explanation of Mia's condition. But seeing Mia's condition made Enzo couldn't control his emotions again. The man hugged Mia carefully. His lips trembled as he remembered all of Mia's suffering might have happened because of his selfishness.
"I'm sorry, Mia. This time, I will listen to whatever you want. Do you want to be with Victor? You can be with him from now on..."
Victor and Lily were surprised when Enzo said that sentence. Everyone knew Enzo was not the type of person who would hand Mia over to someone else. He even got rid of many people who tried to approach Mia with his own hands. But with a trembling voice, Enzo suddenly gave his permission to Mia.
"Enzo..."
"I've thought about it earlier, Mia. As long as you are happy, I don't mind if you want to be with Victor. I will extend your leave. You can rest as much as possible with Victor to get rid of the effects of the drugs, Mia."
Enzo's heart felt like it was being squeezed when Mia touched his hand. On Mia's pale face, there was a worried expression directed at Enzo. The girl looked at him. Her young face wrinkled like a dog abandoned by its owner.
"Is... is that really okay?" Mia asked worriedly. Hearing that question, Enzo tried to put on a small smile before stroking Mia's cheek.
"Of course. In your current condition, you better have many people who can motivate you not to use opium anymore. The process will be difficult. As much as possible, I also want to follow whatever you want right now."
Hearing Enzo's words, Mia finally realized that not using the drug anymore might be a difficult path for her. Mia's expression began to look doubtful but was wiped clean again by Enzo when the man stroked her cheek.
"Hey, we will support you, okay? We'll get through this together. We'll always be by your side, Mia."
Mia's cold hand rose to hold Enzo's warm hand. The girl closed her eyes as her cheeks warmed because Enzo transmitted the heat from his hand to her cold cheeks.
"Enzo, let's visit Uncle and Auntie after everything is over. I have never thanked them properly, right? Thank them for everything they have given me. Thank them for making me meet a cousin as good as you."
Enzo's eyes turned red as Mia said those words. Since her parents' death, Mia had always spent her time blaming herself for the accident that had killed them. Mia felt it was inappropriate to visit Enzo's parents' graves. Mia was even happier to think that both of them were still alive than to accept the cruel reality. Enzo never forced the girl to remember the sad event. He even ordered all his subordinates to never talk about her parents again in front of Mia after that to protect the girl's feelings.
But today, with her own will, Mia hoped she could visit Enzo's parents' grave. Enzo tried to smile as he nodded slowly.
"Yes, we will visit them, Mia. Later, I will show them how mature and great Mia that I have been taking care of all this time."
Mia smiled as Enzo kissed both of her hands softly. The man tried to be strong as his hands stroked Mia's head again.
"You haven't eaten yet, right? Tell Lily what you want to eat now, Mia. I will talk to Victor first."
Although Mia was a little worried, the girl still nodded obediently as she sat beside Lily and began to look at the food menu from the take-out list on one of Lily's applications. Her eyes occasionally peeked at Enzo and Victor, who began to walk into Victor's office as the man wanted. Mia could only take a deep breath in the end, hoping that the two of them would not fight again because of her.
***
"So, do you want to tell me about what you meant by your previous words, Enzo?" Victor asked as they both sat. Enzo initially only took a deep breath before the man finally opened his mouth.
"Try to open the news, Victor," Enzo said mysteriously. Although curious about the meaning of Enzo's strange words, Victor finally opened his cell phone as Enzo asked. Victor's eyebrows furrowed when he saw the number one trending news on social media.
[Young Singer Scandal, Mia Caroline
The talented young singer, Mia Caroline, who was stated to be taking a break from her busy schedule, was seen arguing with a security guard from a large company. In the video provided by our source, Mia was seen trying to break into the company building. Her face was panicked and did not look good when she was finally able to meet the owner of the company, Mr. V, who happened to have just left the company. Her pale face that was caught on camera is now worrying her fans all over the world. What happened to the young singer? What relationship does she have with Mr. V? And until now, the agency has not commented on the news about one of its artists.]
They also had a video that showed how Mia tried to enter Victor's company and instead ended up arguing with the security guard who was on duty. From the distance of the camera, the video was likely taken by an outsider who happened to see Mia. The video quality is not very good, but it clearly shows Mia's pale face, who has lost weight.
In the comments column of the news, hundreds of people have left their comments regarding that incident. Some stated that they were worried about Mia's condition, some questioned what the relationship between Mia and Victor was, while some cruelly said that Mia could be successful all this time by sucking up to rich people. The last comment was left by those who didn't like Mia. But whatever the content of the comment, Victor's hands were shaking as he wanted to destroy whoever posted that news at an inappropriate time.
"You may have been too focused on Mia earlier. But I saw the news while waiting for Mia to wake up. Mia's agency called me and asked for my help to sort this out. Under normal circumstances, I would usually take down this kind of news if it was reporters and paparazzi who made it. But Mia's video has spread so fast that it's no longer possible for me to deny it. Under these circumstances, I can't bring Mia back since reporters have most likely gathered in our apartment building. So please take care of Mia during this time. I'll pay you if you find my request troublesome."
"Do I look like someone short of money, Enzo?"
Victor asked back when Enzo brought up the subject of money. The man ended up sighing like Enzo as his fingers pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Listen, I would have taken care of Mia even if you hadn't asked me to. I also know that there must be another reason that made you make this decision, right?"
Enzo stared at Victor sharply. The man only relaxed his brows when he realized Victor might have guessed what had happened to his organization.
"There is a traitor in my group. I can't bring Mia back for the time being if I want to wipe them all out. I don't know much about your group, but I'm sure leaving Mia with you is much safer than bringing her back with me for now."
Victor finally nodded in satisfaction when the man finished listening to Enzo's explanations. His hand patted Enzo's shoulder lightly, which was returned with a surprised look from Enzo.
"I will take care of her, Enzo," Victor finally said.