Missing Pieces, Book One (The Darker Realms Series) Prologue

The look on her face was priceless as he got down on one knee in front of her. She sat on their reserved spot outside the restaurant in the patio, where it has the most amazing view during the summer nights. He smiled with his most brilliant smile that he knew she couldn’t resist but his heart was still racing against the post clock on the street lamp across from them. She looked amazing in her white dress and her hair tied up, showcasing her beautiful cheekbones and healthy pink lips. It took his breath away and he knew she will always be the one to take it away from him. Inhaling to try to calm himself down, he finally exhaled and pulled out the small black box from his pocket, opening the box to reveal the sparkling diamond at its center.

She covered her mouth with her hands and surprised tinkled throughout her body. She stared at the man that she loved, stunned to the point she could hear her own breathing. She had been waiting for this moment for years and here they were in a beautiful restaurant and a beautiful backdrop knelt on one knee the love of her life, who’s about to pop the very question she’s dying to hear. She rested her hands down and smiled, showing her perfect white teeth and waited for him to say those magic words that she knew she would fall in immediately.

He cleared his throat, eyes interlocking with hers. He prayed that that moment will stay for eternity. She was beautiful as an angel. Again, he cleared his throat for the second time, as he knew that there were many eyes on him at that moment, a moment that can change his and her life forever. He looked deep into her eyes and finally managed to speak those special words that he intended to all these years since he first laid eyes on her. Third grade outside their classroom, he was the new student, lost but found by the most beautiful girl in his class. “Charlotte Wu, would you marry me and be my one and only true love?”

The silence filled the air that night as everyone stopped what they were doing and anticipated her answer. Charlotte Wu was beautiful, charismatic, and confident that she had finally found the perfect man from her dreams, she didn’t even hesitate for a second. She smiled with joy that her man finally popped the question. She nodded, “Yes, a million yeses!”

The entire room stood and cheered for the exciting, loving couple while they could hear the band that Kyle hired playing their music as he happily took his future wife’s hand and slipped the ring on her finger. He pulled her out of her chair and swung her around with overjoy. Fireworks exploded in the air and soon their initials were written in the sky.

And finally, they kissed under the white full moon above them…

And so it also had ended, unfortunately. That was three years ago…before they erased her memories of the world of demons and magic and replaced them with fake ones, where only human exist after he had awakened as the Chief Guardian and took over the leadership of the other guardians. The Syndicates, aka the Gods of the Seven Heavens, needed to erase her memories and said it was necessary. She wasn’t ready for what’s about to come. But he was.

Kyle Kai Sung stared out his own balcony of the restaurant that his family owned and after his father had been arrested for organized crimes, it automatically transferred it to him. Standing there staring at the moon and watching the view from above reminded him that very night that he had proposed to her. The life of the restaurant continued to thrive below his balcony. Illuminated lights took the guests’ experience to the next level as it glamoured the beautiful scenery of the skyscrapers from Downtown L.A. Laughter and chatter filled the air of this summer night that he went outside to admire the joy of his customers as he leaned closer to the edge on the railing. But he held on tightly to their wedding bands so they wouldn’t slip out from his hands and fall into the deep blue ocean beneath him. He doesn’t want them to slip away just like she did from his life and might ever be found.

He missed her so much that he wished she was here with him, cuddling each other while admiring the City of Los Angeles.

***

Charlotte Wu got off from the airport with her carry on and headed to the Luggage Area. The moving baggage carousel had about a hundred of their individual bags and suitcases waiting for them to be picked up. She waited near a couple. They were lovey-dovey, holding hands and pecking at each others neck. She didn’t want to look.

It broke her heart just to see them. It reminded her of Kyle and how they were engaged to each other, about to have their own baby. When out of the blue, a car accident took the baby away, leaving her womb empty with despair. It took her months at the hospital to heal, but she couldn’t get rid of the agony of losing a child. She touched her womb that was now empty and watched a baby in a stroller with her mother.

She never could blame Kyle for this, not in her entire life. She wouldn’t blame him after all that he had done for her and saved her when nobody cared.

But the way the police raided their house for drugs every week ever since the Chinese Triads leaked information about his family, it became too much for her to handle and from that day forth, everything had changed for them, especially the pain of losing their baby just like their home that they once cared about. Their lovely home became a house that needed desperate remodeling. The touches of their love and care gone and shattered by the raids. Everything was just a mess.

His family affairs with mafias and the drug trafficking were to be blamed, especially the drugs that had caused her own family to sell her away like a product. She wanted no part of her life with drugs or anything related to the mafias. But she couldn’t avoid it. She was already deeply in love with Kyle, the Mob Boss’s son. However, not enough to put another unborn in danger.

Though, he never took any part of the organized crimes that his father or his brother had. He was cleared and innocent from the law until one of his father’s enemies got the best of him by murdering his unborn baby. It forced him to take action and they both knew that there’s no turning back after that. He will be taking over his father’s business. Charlotte’s unborn baby was just an example to what they could do if he doesn’t.

She didn’t want another part in this or even end this relationship she had with him. There was a special bond since the first day that they met outside their third-grade classroom. She had felt something familiar about him and became his friend. As heartbreaking as Kyle was, she had to cancel the engagement and moved out of their home that she had lived in for years before she was engaged to him. There was no way that she would let another life to be at harm and flew back the next day to Hong Kong to find her mother. So, she can forget about him and the unborn child’s death — to start a new life with her biological mother, Helena Huang.

A blue suitcase with four wheels at the bottom came to her view. It has her name on it with a rainbow ribbon tied so that she could distinguish hers from the others.

She grabbed her suitcase and rolled it along with her carry-on bag on top. As she maneuvered to the exit, someone accidentally bumped into her, which made her spun around, making her lose the grip to her suitcase. At that moment, she felt a sudden sting on her neck and, within seconds, everything went black.

***

The lady with black hair that goes all the way to her hip froze time with a blink of an eye and stood in front of the unconscious Charlotte that laid on the floor. They were at the airport of Hong Kong and nobody moved as everyone took effect to her spell.

She bent down and examined her beauty, curvature, and smooth skin. With a lift of her finger, she transported them both back to her home, where she resided with her husband Mason Wu, the Justice of Hong Kong’s Court.

She immediately stood over Charlotte and reached down to kiss her forehead, which immediately wiped out all her memories, including the love for that human, Kyle Sung that she’s so attached to. She wanted to spare her the pain.

Charlotte woke up in a room filled with books and a small desk. She doesn’t recall anything as she pulled herself up. Her mind was blank as she observed her environment but found nothing familiar or anything to that she can recollect from her past. She got up from the bed that she sat on and walked over to the picture frame on the small desk. She picked it up and stared at the picture of her and an unfamiliar woman with Asian brown eyes and jet black hair that’s pulled to her back. As eerie as it sounded, she doesn’t recognize the woman, even though she seemed happy and carefree being around her in the photo. They had their arms wrapped around each other, head to head, and smiling, even their eyes were smiling, but she doesn’t remember anything about it, where they were, who they were, and when they took it.

“Thank god, you’re awake,” a woman’s voice startled her and she nearly dropped the picture frame. They both caught it in time and stared at each other. The woman smiled at her.

Charlotte gave an awkward smile and returned her focus on the picture. “That’s you,” Charlotte said, confused and scared. “Who are you?”