Chapter 8-The Silent Friend

        Savannah sat on the small motel bed.  

Her whole body shook from crying.  

Her face was pale, her lips dry, her eyes red.  

She pressed her hands against her belly and whispered,  

“I will keep you safe. Even if I have nothing, I will keep you safe.”  

The room was tiny, with broken curtains, old wallpaper peeling from the wall, and a bed that smelled of dust.  

It was all she could afford after running out of the mansion.  

She had left with nothing.  

No car.  

No jewels.  

No money in her purse.  

Not even a single photograph of herself.  

Nathaniel had thrown her away like trash.  

And the worst part—he didn’t even care if she lived or died.  

Tears filled her eyes again, and she curled up on the bed, holding her knees to her chest.  

The weight of loneliness pressed down on her.  

Her phone lit up on the old wooden table.  

She dragged herself over and picked it up.  

The name on the screen: **Vanessa.**  

Her throat tightened.  

Vanessa was her best friend, the only one who laughed with her when things were hard, the only one who hugged her when Nathaniel’s words cut too deep.  

Maybe Vanessa would comfort her now. Maybe she wasn’t completely alone.  

She wiped her cheeks and pressed the answer button.  

“Hello?” Her voice cracked.  

“Savannah? Thank God you picked up,” Vanessa’s voice was soft, warm, almost too sweet.  

“I’ve been worried. Where are you? Are you safe?”  

Savannah’s heart squeezed. The sound of care made her want to cry harder.  

“I’m fine,” she whispered. Her lips trembled.  

“I just… I just need some time alone.”  

“Alone?” Vanessa’s tone sharpened, but then she covered it quickly with another sweet laugh.  

“Don’t be silly. You shouldn’t be alone now. Tell me where you are. I’ll come. I’ll help you.”  

Savannah bit her lip until it almost bled.  

She looked around the room again. The old chair in the corner was broken. The bathroom sink dripped nonstop. A cockroach crawled across the floor.  

She couldn’t let Vanessa see her here. She couldn’t let anyone see how low she had fallen.  

“I can’t say,” Savannah muttered. Her voice shook.  

“I need to… I just need to breathe. Please, Vanessa. Don’t ask me. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”  

Silence filled the line for a few seconds. Then Vanessa sighed, sounding almost hurt.  

“Alright. If that’s what you want. But promise me you’ll call me if you need anything. I’m your friend, Savannah. Always.”  

Savannah’s eyes blurred with tears again.  

“Thank you,” she whispered.  

“Goodnight.”  

She hung up quickly before her tears choked her voice.  

The phone slipped from her fingers, falling on the bed.  

Her body shook as another sob tore from her throat.  

---

But miles away, Vanessa wasn’t crying.  

She sat in a golden chair inside a luxury café, a glass of red wine in her hand.  

Her nails were polished sharp, her lips red, her eyes filled with hidden fire.  

Across from her sat Cassandra, the woman Nathaniel had chosen over Savannah.  

Cassandra leaned back, her body wrapped in silk, her laughter soft but poisonous.  

“So she ran?” Cassandra asked, her lips curving.  

“She left him and refused to sign the papers?”  

“Yes,” Vanessa said, twirling her wine glass.  

“She’s hiding somewhere. She’s weak now. Broken. She thinks I’m her friend. She thinks she can trust me.”  

Cassandra’s eyes glittered like knives.  

“Perfect. That’s what I wanted. Let her crawl into the shadows. Let her starve. When she finally cries for help, she’ll come to you. And then we’ll know everything.”  

Vanessa smirked.  

“She doesn’t know I’m working with you. She doesn’t know I want Nathaniel destroyed as much as you do.”  

Cassandra leaned closer.  

“I don’t just want him destroyed. I want his company. His money. His name. Everything he built. And with your help, I’ll get it.”  

Vanessa raised her glass.  

“And Savannah? What about her?”  

Cassandra’s lips curled in a cruel smile.  

“She’ll disappear. She’s already nothing. She’ll vanish and no one will remember she existed.”  

The two women clinked their glasses together, the sound sharp in the air.  

---

Back in the motel, Savannah lay on her side, staring at the cracked ceiling.  

Her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten all day.  

Her head pounded. Her body felt weak.  

She thought of calling Vanessa again, but something inside her whispered no.  

A small, strange voice told her to stay quiet. To keep her secret.  

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand.  

“I can’t break. Not now,” she whispered.  

“For my baby, I can’t break.”  

She closed her eyes, forcing herself to breathe.  

But sleep did not come.  

Her heart kept racing. Her tears kept flowing.  

---

The next morning, she woke up to the sound of her phone buzzing again.  

It was a message.  

From Vanessa.  

**Vanessa:** *Good morning, my love. Have you eaten? Tell me where you are. Please. I just want to see you.*  

Savannah stared at the words.  

Her heart wanted to believe them. Her mind wanted to believe she still had someone on her side.  

But her gut twisted. Something felt wrong.  

She dropped the phone face down on the bed and covered her ears with the pillow.  

She didn’t know that at that very moment, Cassandra was sitting beside Vanessa, watching her type.  

“Keep pushing,” Cassandra whispered.  

“Soon she’ll come to you. And when she does, we’ll end her story.”  

Vanessa smiled coldly as she hit send again.  

---

Savannah curled up again, whispering to herself,  

“I have to survive. I have to. Even if I’m alone. Even if no one cares.”  

But deep down, a part of her still wanted to believe her friend was real.  

A part of her still wanted to trust.  

Her tears soaked the pillow as she fell into restless sleep, never knowing that the person she trusted most had already sold her soul to her enemy.  

The storm was only beginning.