I Kidnapped My Mommy (ON HIATUS)

6 - Little Kitten

After Aric and Rien secretly snuck her back in her hotel room, Mia had another dream. A young her, around 16 years old, sat on a marble bench alone in a huge garden. There were neatly-trimmed trees and bushes, beautiful flowers of different colors, a man-made waterfall on one side that flowed into a pond filled with water lilies and koi fishes where the moonlight reflected. 

She wore an elegant custom-made champagne-colored ball gown with a modest neckline, long-sleeves and a bodice that hugged her young and slender body. It was made of the finest silk and chiffon fabric and decorated with diamonds and precious jewels that shimmered like the stars in the sky. On her ears was a pair of diamond-drop earrings which featured the rarest pearls in the world. On her feet were one-of-a-kind Stuart Weitzman golden stilettos adorned with yellow sapphires and diamonds. On her head was an exquisite tiara of the purest gold and diamonds. Opulence covered her gentle figure and she looked like a real life princess. In a way, she was, as she looked up at the grand mansion of the empty manor, Mia thought she should not have been there. It was impossible for her and her parents to live such a lavish life but somehow it didn't feel strange. The palace-like mansion felt like her home. 

As she got up and walked towards the wooden doors of the mansion, she felt a hollow feeling in her heart and her beautiful brown eyes started brimming with tears. When she walked inside, a grand foyer that led to an intricate double staircase welcomed her. Every inch of the place from the customized mother of pearl and onyx mosaic marble floors and the gold-encrusted stair banister to the tiniest decoration gave her a deep feeling of emptiness and melancholy as her tears flowed down her lovely face. She held onto the closest chair to her and clutched her chest. The pain in her heart was becoming unbearable as she opened her mouth to call someone. She wanted to call a name. It wasn't her mother's or her father's. It was the name of that man. The man in her dreams. But… She couldn't say his name. She couldn't remember. Mia sobbed and opened her mouth again but she still couldn't call out his name. She needed him but like her every dream. He never came. 

Just as she was desperate, Mia heard footsteps behind her. She turned slowly and saw the figure of a tall man standing under the open doorway. The moonlight could only show a glimpse of his handsome face in the shadows. She saw his eyes. It was the same dark and enticing eyes as the man who kissed her in another dream. Or was it a dream? Why was that man in this dream again? Why does she keep dreaming about him? Who is he? 

"I knew you'd be here." He told her in the same gentle and sexy voice that sent a titillating shock to her nerve endings.

At that point, Mia's lucid dream turned to a memory that she watched. She was no longer the young her in the dream but a witness to the scene. 

"You're here." Her young self sobbed and ran into the arms of the man. His strong arms welcomed her and held her tight. "Don't let them take me away. Please. I don't want to leave you." The young her hugged the man tightly and cried harder.

The man sighed and closed his eyes as he gently stroked her hair and squeezed her tighter as if rubbing her against his body will ease the heartbreak he felt for the tears she shed. "Don't cry, ma minouche." He spoke to her so gently then he kissed her forehead. 

Although Mia didn't remember, "Ma minouche" was an endearing name that Rien gave Milena (Mia's real self who she still didn't have a memory of) which meant "my little kitten" in French. It started a few months after she started living with the Fernandez family when the tragedy that claimed her parents' lives happened. She was 8 years old and he was 11. 

Back then, the differences in their personalities were big. Young Rien had already accepted his responsibilities as the heir to his father's legacy. His stringent education and training as the future seigneur made him colder, more mature, more aloof and more serious than other boys his age. He was also taller, more handsome and elegant than most which made him stand out.