로그인Iris POV
A car screeched to a halt in front of me. The door swung open, and there he was my savior, David. Without any hesitation, I ran inside. The moment I shut the door, he floored the accelerator. The car shot forward, cutting the air like smooth butter. David is the best in it.
He pulled into an underground parking area of a tall building, no one can suspect we were hiding here. David turned off the engine and stepped out, as I did a wide smile on his face as he came around to me.
He opened his arms for a hug, but I instinctively stepped back. He stopped patting the back of his head awkwardly.
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I forgot you don’t like physical touch.”
I shook my head gently. “It’s okay.”
He nodded, then led me inside. The elevator hummed softly as it carried us upward. We stopped on one of the higher floors, where David pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door of a neat apartment. He puts the key into my hand.
“This is yours for now,” he said, “But don’t you dare make a mess in here.”
I raised my hand on my head in a mock salute. “Okay, sir.”
He laughed. “There’s food in the kitchen, groceries stocked, and everything you’ll need. If you run out of anything, just call me.”
Then, lowering he added, “For you, I’m taking a big risk. My butt still hurts from the last time. Your father’s Hulk, like a bodyguard handprint, is still there. My girlfriend thought I was either cheating or secretly gay. She left me.”
I burst out laughing, “you ungrateful” he said as he pointed his figures towards me. “Stop laughing or I will throw you out of the window”.
“I am not laughing, look.” I said pointing towards myself I try to close my lips by force.
He rolled his eyes looking at my acting. “Bye I am going.” As he turned to go I called him.
“David."
He stops and moves towards me. “What.” He asked with irritation and love to irritate him. But for now I am really grateful to him for saving me, like always he does.
“Thank you so much, David. Really.”
I said from the bottom of my heart. He is my best friend. We have known each other since childhood. He has been there for me, always helping me.
His expression changed to a warm one as he smiled warmly. “There is no need for it, just find me a hot girlfriend.” He winked. I can't stop the smile formed on my face.
He headed for the door, and I yawned, exhaustion finally catching up to me
“Bye. Drive safe, and don’t drive like a maniac this time.
“As you wish, beautiful,” he teased before disappearing down the hall.
I stood in the quiet apartment, staring at everything but particularly at nothing. My eyes landed on the fridge and my stomach growled.
I shoved the thought aside, opening the fridge and grabbed something quick, and ate like I hadn’t had a meal in years.
My father and Xavier Bestreet probably thought I had fled the state or maybe even the country. But I knew they both wouldn’t bother searching here, in their own territory. The first and last rule of hiding is never try to hide. Try to manipulate.
After sometime that asshole will get over me, because I know those Bastart, they never stop at one.
I didn’t remember when my body collapsed onto the mattress. Sleep swallowed me whole.
In the morning I jolted awake with an unpleasant discovery. My clothes were stained with blood. My period had started overnight. And there is no pad . I look everywhere in the apartment.
I couldn’t ask David for help, he was probably still asleep. And besides, the thought of telling him made me feel… awkward.
I put my hair into a clutcher grabbing a hoodie and changing into, and slipped out of the apartment. The streets here were quiet, and to my dismay, there wasn’t a single shop nearby.
I stopped a girl walking past and asked where I could find one. She told me the nearest shop was a little far so I'd need to take a bus. So I waited at the bus stop…. A girl came here maybe ten-years old but the way she has a caring attitude she can shame any model.
She came and sat beside me. I tried to step out of my usual quiet personality, telling myself I should at least try to be a little extroverted with a child.
I held out my hand toward her. “Hey, cutie.”
She turned her head, eyes sharp for her age. “Hi. But don’t call me cutie,” she said, rolling her eyes.
I quickly pulled my hand back. Why do I have to embarrass myself like this? Staring down at my lap, I suddenly noticed a tiny fist appear in front of my eyes. Slowly, her fingers uncurled inside a piece of chocolate.
I blinked and looked up at her, surprised. “Is this for me?” I asked, needing to be sure.
“Do you see anyone else here?” she shot back.
She is something. I smiled at her while taking it. It’s usually old people who give chocolate to kids, but I am not that old. I can take the chocolate. I smiled looking at it.
“You’re so childish,” she said suddenly, breaking through my thoughts.
Childish? Me? Hell no. A child was actually calling me a child.
“I am not, and listen child, you are the one here who is a child.” She fixed her already fixed hair as she said, “Age doesn’t decide maturity. Personality does. And from what I see…….” She pushes, running her eyes up and down giving me my answer. Oh my God, this girl.
I know I was looking like a beggar in my clothes. My hair was a mess. Compared to her neat little dress, shining shoes, and look like a beggar beside royalty.
Even a little child is making fun of me. I tried to change the topic. “Where are your parents? You should be with your parents.”
“I am okay without your concern. I just came for a walk.” Saying that, she got up, put her glasses back on, and walked away.
I just looked at her back in shock. From where does she learn these things? She walked a little farther away from my gaze.
I looked at her back as she walked like a model on a runway. Her shoulder-length hair flapped as she moved, with elegance in every step speaking confidence. I turned my gaze toward the chocolate in my hand, and an unknown smile formed on my lips.
Again, when my attention turned toward the direction she had gone, as soon as I lifted my eyes, they got stuck. No… no… My legs ran on their own. My heartbeat was racing. Please, no.
My hands trembled as I ran as fast as I could, but that masked man put a cloth on her mouth and nose, grabbing her from behind. A smirk formed on his lips as his eyes caught me running towards them. She was trying hard to get out of his hold, her body shaking in that man’s grip.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, desperation burning in my chest. My foot tangled on the rough road and I crashed hard against the ground. Pain came from the scrape, sharp and immediate, but I couldn’t stop now. I pushed myself up, forcing my body forward.
I had to save her. I couldn’t let this happen.
I pushed harder, closing the distance,I was almost close enough to reach them when they shoved her into the car. A truck roared past, blocking my view for a heartbeat and by the time it cleared, the car was gone.
Author's POV Iris’s hand trembled as she stared at her son, the shock and betrayal evident in her wet eyes.“How could you?” she whispered, her voice cracking with a mixture of grief and fury. Arlo’s jaw clenched, his dark eyes flashing with a sudden, dangerous spike of anger as he touched his stinging cheek. His father stood up slowly, his towering presence filling the room with an oppressive chill. “Is it true, Arlo?” his voice boomed, dangerously low. “Did you lay your hands on her?”Arlo caught Emily standing far away in the hallway, looking at him with a cold gaze.Arlo didn't answer instantly His gaze remained locked on Emily, realization dawning with a sickening twist she hadn't broken. Instead, she had turned his own games against him.“You disgust me!” Iris screamed, her voice breaking through the room. “You’re fucking not even a human being. I’m ashamed of you, Arlo!” Her chest rose and fell heavily as she stared at her son.The past she had spent years trying to protect
Author's POV The door opened, and Iris’s eyes fell on Emily sitting on the bed, her face buried against her knees as she stared blankly out the window. Her face was red, her eyes swollen from crying.“I’m sorry for your loss,” Iris whispered, trying to comfort her, but she didn’t know what words could possibly help the girl whose world had just come crashing down around her.Emily slowly looked up…. Something in Iris’s voice reached her, but instead of easing the pain, it only made it burn deeper inside her.She was hurting.Burning from the inside with a pain so fierce that it was slowly turning into something else, something dangerous. Something that would burn down everything standing in its way.Iris sat beside her and gently pulled Emily closer, letting her lean against her. She looked into Emily’s swollen eyes for a moment before speaking.“I know what happened to you isn’t something you can just forget,” she said softly. “And I know there’s probably nothing I can say that will
Author's POV After everything he had done to her, how could she possibly believe that?“Then answer me! Where do I come into all of this?” Her voice shook with anger now.“I don’t know you. I don’t know your girlfriend. I don’t know what happened between my brother and your girlfriend. I don’t know anything!” She took a breath, her chest rising heavily.“Then how the hell am I involved in this?” Her eyes burned with tears, but she refused to look away.“And you know what?” Her voice broke into a bitter laugh. “You’re fucking psychopath.”“It was Ana who be-” Before Emily could finish, his hand closed around her neck and pulled her toward him.“I dare you to say her name.”His voice was low, but the warning in it made her blood run cold.Tears burned at the corners of her eyes as she stared at him, struggling to understand the rage behind his words.“You’re in this because your brother betrayed me,” Arlo said, his grip tightening. “He’s the one who did it.” Emily shook her head, trying
Author's POV Emily lay alone in the quiet darkness, her body sinking heavily into the soft mattress as she stared blankly at the floor. Closing her eyes, she shifted to find a comfortable position to rest, but her hand brushed against something hidden beneath the covers. When she pulled it out, she realized it was the same folded piece of paper Lucas had given her.Sitting straight up, an instinctive urge compelled her to read it right then. Unfolding the note, her eyes scanned the handwritten words left by Lucas:As she opened it, her eyes scanned the words, every line forcing a tear from her eyes as her hands trembled while looking at the page.The words blurred before her eyes. Every line on the paper felt like it was tearing her apart. Anger, agony, betrayal, every emotion seemed to burn through her from the inside.The paper slipped from her hand, landing beside her on the bed.Emily simply stared ahead into the darkness, looking at everything and nothing at the same time. Then
Emily’s POV I stood in the stunning pista-colored dress, looking at a reflection that resembled a dead person. I pushed the thought back; there was no reason to dwell on it, as it wouldn't change anything, and I knew it.The white heels lay inside their expensive box as my gaze drifted down to my feet, which still had a bandage wrapped around them. He was finding new ways to torture me. I pulled them out of the box.Every strap felt painful as I put them on after a struggle so much so that a tear rolled down my cheek. What was I doing? Why was I here? Every question raced through my mind. The old Emily was crying in a corner, my heart telling me to fight, not to let this happen. But it felt like having your hands tied tightly behind your back while someone hands you a knife and tells you to free yourself.The animal shelter was everything, the only legacy I had left, the only haven for creatures who had nowhere else to go. He knew it, and he was using it to break me piece by piece.S
Emily's POVMy body felt impossibly heavy. I slowly opened my eyes, but everything around me was blurred, shapes and lights melting into one another. A dull ache pulsed through my head, and my skin prickled with an uncomfortable, crawling sensation.I tried to remember where I was; nothing came to mind.I pushed myself upright, desperate to move.“Ma’am, slowly.” Someone caught me by the arms before I could fall and carefully guided me back onto the bed.I blinked repeatedly, trying to clear my vision.The room slowly began to come into focus: the ceiling above me, the unfamiliar walls, and the worried face of the woman beside me.My breathing hitched.Where was I?“Calm down. You’re in a hospital VIP room.”I looked at her, still trying to understand what was happening. My gaze fell to the badge pinned to her uniform, confirming that she was a nurse.“What happened to me?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.“You had a panic attack. You fainted,” the nurse explained gently. The







