"I'm getting you a therapist," June declared, her hands folded across her chest.

Carla sat on the baby pink sofa in her room, her eyes shadowing a mixture of anger and guilt.

"There's nothing you can tell me," June continued. " You're seeing a therapist this time." She pointed her finger downward as like to pin her point in the ground.

"Girl, you're taking this too far," Carla murmured, her hands on her laps.

"Huh? Too far?" June's eyes widened. "Am I the one who took a gun to dinner with hopes TO USE ITTT?!" June exclaimed, tuning down the volume of her voice.

"I...I..." Carla sighed. "I could have just-"

"-Just what, girl? Shot someone? And become a criminal?" June said, her eyes softening. She gave up her stern face and sat beside Carla in surrender.

"Carla Johansson, were you thinking at all yesterday? What if the gun had been found on you? Did you think of the consequences? I didn't know you were this bitter about this." June held her friend's shoulders tenderly, tears welling up in her own eyes.

Carla, looking up to see June's teary eyes, had no energy to hold on to her own anger anymore. She rested her forehead on her left palm. June was right, she truly had not thought about her actions thoroughly.

"It could have gone worse than that had I not taken it out of your purse."

"When did you take it, how come I didn't notice?"

"I wanted to make use of your lip-gloss, so I opened your bag."

"I'm sorry," her eyes rested on the floor. "I- I was lost in anger." She should have come up with a better plan.

"When Jilo told me that he had finally found a lead on the murderer," tears welled up in her eyes. "I was crazy with anger. Finally, after five years of investigation! All the memories from my childhood flooded back. Dad's hugs, Mum's strawberry cakes, and... and that night, when they were..." Tears rolled down her eyes with no restriction.

"All the goodness and happiness that was taken from me, how unfair it was for such good people to die. The thing is, I didn't want to think about the consequences. This was the first time I would get my long-desired opportunity to make that evil murderer pay for what he did." She broke down into tears and June immediately took her into a hug.

"Oh, my love..." June murmured, sniffing her own tears back.

"We'll get justice, Carla, I promise you. But not this way. I'll support you through this." She rubbed Carla's back gently.

* * * * * * *

The room was terribly silent, and all eyes were on Sebastian, the family's lawyer.

"And finally, to the last person on my list," Sebastian read from the document in front of him.

"Last?" Aspen asked before he could stop himself. His breath quickened shallow and uneven. "There are two people who have not been addressed in this room: my Uncle and I." Aspen looked at Marcus, who though looked calm, had his fingers tapping ain't his thigh reflexively.

"No, there's no mistake, Mr. Aspen. This is the last paragraph in his will."

Aspen's shoulder slumped as if carrying invisible weight. He knew his father was extremely hard to please, but he hadn't thought that he would go as far as denying him any share of his wealth. He placed a foot forward and made to stand up when Marcus's hand touched his hand. With a little nod from Marcus, he reclined back into the chair.

"I give the rest of all my assets owned at home and overseas, along with the full ownership and control of the Goulding Corp to..."

Aspen closed his eyes and got ready to swallow the bitter pill he had been anticipating all these months since his father had died.

"...to Aspen, my son." Sebastian said.

Aspen's eyes flung open. He wasn't sure he heard well, but when he turned to see Austin, Aunt Marie, and Marcus's eyes on him, he knew he had heard right. His lips were locked together. He felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from off his chest and until now did he realize he had not been breathing properly since the meeting started.

"However, the transfer of ownership of the company comes with a clause. Which will be read by Sebastian from another document."

"A clause?" Marie repeated, leaning forward.

Sebastian took out another paper.

"Aspen Cory Goulding is required to fulfill an obligation to the Goulding family made between the Goulding family and the Johansson family in 1970; a marriage agreement to take place between the years 2010 and 2027. This is to say that Aspen Cory Goulding has been bethroted to a daughter of the Johansson family. If there is no daughter at the time of the reading of the will, the obligation shall be passed on to the next generation."

"Are you saying Aspen has been bethroted to someone?" Marie asked.

"Precisely."

This was pure comedy. Aspen got up from his seat and walked out the door. Earlier, he had felt only anger, but now, he felt a mix of emotions. Was this his father's attempt to make his life more miserable or a show of his concern for him?

* * * * * *

The living room smelt of strawberry and butter scotch. Jane lifted her nose in the air, inhaling the aroma that filled the house.

"Is the cake not ready yet?" Jane pouted, making Carla laugh as she brought the tray out of the oven.

"You've eaten this so many times, why are you still so excited when I make this recipe?" She chuckled.

"Because your hands are magic! I had a hard time explaining to our customers that there would be no strawberry cakes for the week. One old lady almost swallowed me with her eyes on Wednesday." June laughed.

"I'm sorry I made you go through all of that. I really needed to take that rest and stay off from work."

"Yes, I totally understand, that's why I decided to take up all the work for you for the week. The bakery is doing pretty well. We just miss you already." June stretched her hand to take one of the pink cupcakes on the kitchen table.

"I'll be back next week, don't worry. I'm well able to juggle my secretary work with the bakery now."

June nodded, unable to speak because her mouth was now filled with cake.

"By the way," she swallowed, "I've been meaning to ask you, where were you the other night at the dinner during the dance?"

Carla looked at her from the side of her eye and ignored the question.

"Now that you gave me that look, I'm more interested in your answer." June grabbed a stool, pulled it toward Carla and sat on it. Carla avoided looking at June's face.

"Nothing really, I was just..."

"Just what?!" June asked, beaming at her.

"Dancing with a stranger."

June's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"What?! Carla!"

"What?" She suppressed a laughter as soft pink color appeared on her cheeks.

"He just pulled me to the dance floor and, I couldn't say no when the music started. Plus, I was startled. I mean, who does that?" She rolled her eyes.

"Haha!" June clapped her hands. "Did you get to know his name?"

"No."

June covered her face in her hands and immediately grabbed her phone like an idea had popped into her head.

"Pictures from the event were uploaded to a site. I'll go through it and fish him out." June stuck her tongue out sideways between her lips. Carla shook her head as she started scooping another round of batter into the tiny cupcake paper.

"If only you didn't live under a rock every day, you would have known people in your company."

"Girl, I know no one in my company except the head of my branch and my boss, and I'm leaving it that way."

"Is this him?" She pulled Carla towards herself and showed her the phone.

"No."

"This?"

"No?"

"What about this one?" June showed her another picture.

"No."

"This?"

Carla rolled her eyes and gave the same response without looking at the screen. With a nudge from June, she looked at the screen and her eyebrows pointed up.

"...yeah...that's him." Carla said, looking at the picture of the stranger who had made her forget her mission with his charm.

"Okayyy," June said. "I'll picture-search for him."

In almost the same breath, she grabbed Carla's arm and whispered, showing her the screen. "It's Aspen Goulding!"

Carla looked into the phone and her hands suddenly grew too weak to lift the batter bowl anymore.

She looked at the family picture on the screen. Her breath increased at the thought that she had danced with the heir to Goulding Corp. Her eyes flickered to a man standing beside Aspen in the picture and her chest immediately felt too tight, like she couldn’t breathe enough air. She zoomed in, scrolled down the page, and dropped the phone immediately.

"What?" June asked, looking at her in confusion as she tried to save her phone.

"Aspen Goulding's uncle is the killer," Carla whispered, staring into the air motionless like she had temporarily lost the ability to move.