2. Suppression of Lucia

In an infirmary, where Henry was currently lying, a middle-aged woman walked up to the sleeping man. The woman looked at Henry with a lopsided smile on her lips. Megan Magnolia was laughing at the condition of the husband she had just divorced.

"Megan, I knew you'd come." Henry awoke to the scent of her signature perfume. A smile spread across his pale face. He hoped Megan would deliver good news and cancel the divorce proceedings between the two of them.

Megan didn't respond at all to Henry's words; she unzipped her luxurious Hermes leather bag and pulled out a large envelope from there.

"Accept it," Megan said, handing the envelope to a weakened Henry. Henry's smile instantly changed, replaced by a series of questions that showed on his pale face.

"What's this?" Henry took a quick look at the envelope before looking back at Megan with a questioning gaze.

"Divorce certificate. Make it a reminder for you to stop wishing for me." Megan said sarcastically, then walked away, leaving Henry in tears.

She walked hurriedly through the hospital corridors. Megan was relieved that, with her widowed status, she was now free to approach the wealthy man she had her eye on.

"Mom," a voice called out, halting Megan's continued stomping on her high heels. A girl ran up to her with a smile.

"Thank goodness, I'm so glad you finally came to see Dad." Lucia grasped Megan's hand as she continued to smile. Countless times Lucia had sent messages to let her mother know how Henry was doing, but they never got a reply. Phone calls were often deliberately turned off.

"Let go." Megan swatted Lucia's hand away, making the girl flinch.

"You'd better go inside and take care of your dying father," Megan screeched with the intention of scaring Lucia out of her sight.

"Ah, is it true that Father is not well inside? Where are you going?" Lucia looked at the room where Henry was being treated with teary eyes.

"I have a lot to do. And please, stop contacting me from now on." Megan said it in a low voice, but it was full of emphasis. It made Lucia's solar plexus feel pinched, leaving a feeling of pain that spread to her chest.

The woman then resumed her paused steps without looking back.

All at once, Lucia's bones felt soft; there was no grip around the girl, and she collapsed onto the floor.

"Mommy!" cried Lucia, which did not make Megan turn around. Lucia couldn't believe that Megan, the woman who gave birth to her, would let Lucia bear the weight alone.

The few heads around turned, looking pityingly at the teary-eyed and fragile-looking girl sitting on the floor.

Lucia burst into tears before her consciousness finally returned. There was Henry, and she needed to see his condition immediately.

"Father," Lucia murmured as she got up and walked a thousand steps towards Henry's treatment room.

Lucia opened the door to Henry's room with a flash of light and ran over to her father to get a closer look at him.

"Dad!" cried Lucia with a panicked look on her face as she saw her father in tears. She thought Megan Magnolia's tongue was too cruel when she said Henry was dying.

"Why are you crying?" Lucia's attention was drawn to an envelope on Henry's stomach. Lucia quickly unsealed the envelope and read the document inside.

"Deed of divorce?" Now Lucia knew what Henry was crying about. The pain and tightness in her chest seemed to be competing for Lucia's heart.

"Dad..." she whispered as she hugged Henry, who was still sobbing.

"Your mother chose to leave me," Henry said between tears that made the man's breath catch.

"You're not alone; I'm here with you."

Lucia continues to hug Henry and reassures him that he's not alone in the world; there's Lucia, who's willing to accompany him in all circumstances. But Lucia's tears grew heavier on her father's shoulder as she recalled the heartlessness of Megan and Lisa, the only siblings she had, choosing to leave them when Henry was sick.

...............

What would you do if you were in Lucia's shoes? Would ending her life be the right way to end her suffering? But what about Henry? The man needs Lucia so much that he almost depends on her. If you were to ask Lucia what her reason for surviving was, she would loudly reply, "My father!"

The houstesses gave Lucia a cynical glance when she came to Queen Fortune—a look that was quite annoying, but Lucia was used to it. Every now and then, she would make small talk to greet her coworkers, even though the answers she heard would add more weight to her heart.

Just as Lucia was standing among the hostesses, a group of Lucia's schoolmates arrived and passed them by.

Two of the girls stared enviously at the hostesses, who were more attractive than they were. Their eyes rounded at the sight of a familiar figure standing among the hostesses.

"Let's see who's here!" exclaimed Donna, who was the leader of the girls' gang.

"Really?" asked Rully, who stared in disbelief, but immediately the wide-mouthed girl smiled after her eyes confirmed that her sense of sight was not wrong.

Lucia instantly looked down in embarrassment, but she realized that even looking down wouldn't cover her embarrassment.

"So, Miss Dilbert went into prostitution after quitting school?" joked Donna, eliciting laughter from her two friends.

"I heard that your father's company went bankrupt. Did your father ask you to prostitute yourself in this place?" Donna continued, leering contemptuously at Lucia in the direction of Rully and Audry.

Lucia's hands were clenched at her sides, her face bright red with tears already streaming down her face.

"Stop talking bad about my dad!" screeched Lucia as she threw a slap at Donna's face, which instantly displeased the two girls with her.

Rully and Audry vented their frustration at Lucia by pulling her hair from all directions. Donna also responded by beating Lucia's cowering back as she tried to get her hair out of Audry and Rully's grasp.

"Bitch! I knew from the start that you were just a cheap girl trying to sell out, Lucia."

"Bitches like you always get rid of us expensive girls!"

As the heart-wrenching words continued to force their way into Lucia's ears, there was nothing Lucia could do but cry and accept the girls' attacks as they tore and shook her body with brutal strikes. Lucia counterattacked whatever parts of the girls' bodies she could reach, but still, she was no stronger than those who attacked her simultaneously.

So, what did her fellow hostesses do?

They just laughed at Lucia's bullying. According to them, it was an interesting show that was not to be missed.

The attack on Lucia only stopped when a man removed the women from around Lucia.

"Stop, what are you doing?" screamed Eryk as he pulled and kicked the girls to let Lucia go.

The attack stopped, and the attacking girls left, leaving Lucia sitting on the floor in an indescribable state.

"Are you okay?" asked Eryk, who immediately took off the denim jacket he was wearing to cover Lucia's sensitive body parts that were exposed because the clothes the girl was wearing were torn.

No answer came from the girl's lips, so Eryk led her out of the bar.

"Ah, she's so lucky," murmured Sofia as she watched Eryk carry Lucia.

Sofia's words get a nod from the hostesses, and at the same time, they stare enviously at Lucia.

Lucia's tears began to flow. The stinging of the scratch marks began to bother her, but she did little more than grimace and hug her body with both hands.

"You're safe with me," Eryk whispered right in Lucia's ear. The man grinned, and one door to taming the girl had opened.

Lucia staggered to her feet; it seemed that Donna's blow to Lucia's back was so hard that the pain in her back added to the weight of her body as she fell to the floor.

Eryk swiftly restrained Lucia's body and carried her between his arms. Lucia's hand slowly moved to grasp the collar of the suit Eryk was wearing. That made Eryk grin twice. He was confident that his attempt this time would not fail.