Ella stumbled down the wooden steps of the bedroom, her eyes red and puffy as she got to the door and pulled it open, she was not surprised to see Bryan as he had made it abundantly clear last night that he wasn't happy about her being here all alone."Good morning." He said."Good morning. Why are you here? I'm so embarrassed that you have to see me like this." Ella mumbled."I brought breakfast." Bryan announced ignoring her remark. "I figured since you hadn't had anything to eat last night you must be very hungry." Her stomach let out a monstrous growl at the mention of food and Ella realised how hungry she was, if Bryan heard the growl he didn't make any comment as he pushed past her and proceeded to set the table then he wheeled her forcefully onto the chair and placed a serving of rice in front of her and shoved the spoon into her hand."You must eat or i'll be forced to tell your parents how you've been hiding out here.""Do you gu

 Ella pulled away from Lani and smiled. "Come in.""Are you alright my friend?"She shrugged, "I will be." and pulled out a chair at the dining table and sat on it. Lani did the same."Your parents are worried sick about you." Lani told her. "Why didn't you go home you had me worried too?""How did they find out I was back?" Ella didn't want them to find out just yet, she wanted a few days to herself, to be alone with her feelings and then what? Go back home and pretend everything was fine, that she and Dylan were okay? The tiny voice at the back of her mind mocked. It had a point though, she would never be able to hide what happened from her parents, they would find out one way or another."Dylan went to your house yesterday and he created such a scene. Your mom demanded I tell her what happened but I told her it wasn't my story to tell." Lani explained.Ella sighed, it seemed like it was going to be sooner rather than later.La

  Ella was glad to get her old job back, it felt refreshing to get back into a familiar routine. Mr Chen was sceptical at first because he was reluctant to let go of the new girl Miranda who had taken over after Ella's wedding but in the end he decided to let all three of them stay.Ella was determined to not let anything get in the way of her moving on but she kept making mistakes and mixing up orders; it's a good thing Mr Chen was hardly ever seen at the coffee shop or he'd have lost his faith in her. Lani had to send her out for some fresh air."Maybe you should stay back for a while Ella." Lani suggested."I can't Lani, I need to move on, I need to work so I don't go crazy." Ella admitted."See, that's the whole point, you can't keep working yourself to oblivion and pretend like nothing happened you'll end up getting sick.""Don't argue with me Lani i'm not in the mood." Ella snapped suddenly."Fine suit yourself." La

 "How are you feeling Idad?" Ella asked as she got into the room and sat at the edge of the bed and took hold of Idad’s frail hand."I'm fine my dear there's no need for you to do all these." Idad complained referring to the pottage Ella brought."What do you mean there's no need? I want to take care of you just like you took care of me in Putrajaya when I got a fever remember?""I remember all that, but you're forgetting one thing though.""What’s that?""Dylan was the one who took care of you dear, he was up all night just to make sure you were okay. I've never seen such devotion."Ella looked away, no matter how hard she tried to not think about him or talk about him she finds herself surrounded by things and people who reminded her of him and who wouldn't stop talking about him.Idad placed her bony hand on Ella’s soft ones forcing her to look at the older woman."I know how much he's hurt you dear but

Ella heard a low whistle behind her then someone saying, "look what we have here. Hey Dino i've got a pretty one here!" her heart jammed in her throat as she realised it was so late and no one might be able to save her. She hiked her bag up all the way to her shoulder and tried to look unaffected by their jeering she began to walk briskly only to find one of them blocking her exit, she reared back in fright and felt fear like she had the day she was kidnapped by those loan sharks, if Dylan hadn't been there to save her...oh Dylan, Ella thought miserably, was there any chance that he would be able to come to her rescue tonight? She shivered in disgust as one of the guys ran a cold finger down the side of her face and they laughed in amusement. She shut her eyes, whispering a silent prayer."Get away from her." A stern voice she didn't recognise ordered and Ella cracked her eyes open and was stunned to find none other than Ethan Villamor standing there his expression as har