No intention of backing off, yet...

After an hour or so, Airi heard footsteps coming down from the stairs. She looked back to see Clara climbing down the stairs, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Miss, you are awake!" Airi went to her side to help her walk. "Miss, careful, you must be feeling dizzy." Airi slowly made her sit on the sofa. "How are you feeling right now? Any discomfort anywhere? Do you need anything? Something to eat or drink?"

Clara slightly shook her head sideways, "Just a bit aching, that's all." She looked around her surroundings once before saying, "Your home?"

"Yes. It is." Airi went inside the kitchen, while responding to her. 

"So Samuel brought us here, huh?" Clara mumbled to herself.

Airi brought a glass of juice and handed it to her, "Yeah, Sam ended up calling me, and I found you two just a few houses ahead."

"I see…" Clara nodded, and gently took a sip of the juice. "Where is he?" 

"He is resting in another room, don't worry." Airi politely smiled back at her.

"Okay…" Clara took her time to drink up the content in the glass. After finishing it, she handed the glass back to Airi. "Your parents aren't at home?"

"Ah! They were. Maa has gone to the convenience store, and Paa is outside, checking up on the storage house. It sure poured really long. I hope nothing ruined there, haha."

"Yeah, sure it did," Clara replied in a daze.

"Celestine! You are awake!'' Both of them turned around to see Samuel coming out of the room. "When did you… ouwh!"

"Sam, wait. Let me help you," Airi hurriedly went to Samuel and gave him a hand to walk. After letting him sit down, she handed another glass of juice to Samuel, and he almost immediately drank up.

"Miss Celestine woke up just a while ago, Sam. Nothing to get panicked about. Calm down."

Just then, both Mr. and Mrs. Arne returned home. Seeing Samuel and Clara awake, they seemed to let out a sigh in relief. "Thank God you're awake. Sara, make something for them." Max hurriedly told Sara.

"No, please Mr. Arne. It's completely fine. You don't need to…" Clara wanted to refuse, but Max cut her off in the middle. "We were about to have some light snacks too, so why not join us, Miss Clara?"

Clara had no choice but to agree. "We will be imposing on you, then."

"You won't, Miss Celestine. You two take a lot of care of me. So this much is normal by now. I hope there isn't anything formal between us anymore, right? So don't be formal with us now," Airi flashed a warm smile at Clara, and Clara nodded back to her, returning a peaceful smile back.

Soon, Sara came back with some snacks, and put those on the table. And then, she also took a seat with all of them. A while later, Clara sat straight, facing both Max and Sara. "I am sorry for causing such trouble out of nowhere. It's just…"

"That's completely fine. As Airi said, you don't need to be this much humble. We can see how friendly and close you two are with our daughter, so please, don't make us feel embarrassed by being sorry." Max immediately added, handing the tray of cookies to Samuel. "But, if it is okay with you, then can we know what happened to you?"

Clara seemed to hesitate a little bit before talking. "Of course. You have all rights to ask about it. But… it's just that…" she looked at Airi from the corner of her eyes, and that didn't miss Airi's. 

"Maa, Paa, you keep talking. I have some homework to do. So I will be upstairs. Call me if anything is needed," Airi was about to turn back towards her room, when suddenly a hand grabbed hers, stopping her in her tracks. 

"You may stay, Airi," Samuel said, looking back at Airi. he turned back to Clara, clasping her hands in his. "Celestine, Airi is the one who saved us. It might be inappropriate to talk about something like that in front of her, but it's alright to let her know." 

Clara nodded in agreement and signaled Airi to sit beside her. After Airi took a seat, Clara started talking. 

"After I met with Mr. Arne, I went to Mr. Sinclair's office. He let me in, and after that, we talked about Maria's report. He saw it, and asked me why there were red marks on the assessment part. So I explained to him how her daughter ignored all the assignments I gave her. All of a sudden, his expression completely changed into something else. He asked me when everyone gave her satisfactory marks on their assessments, then why I didn't. There was no way I could. So I said that out loud and clear. I was angry at him, so I threw her report on his table and said that if he thinks his donations could buy his daughter's graduation, then he was wrong." 

Saying this, Clara felt like her throat drying up. So she took a glass of water and gulped it down. After calming down a bit, she continued where she left off. "When I was about to leave the office, suddenly some men barged in, and tried to… tie me up…" 

Clara's words got choked up again as tears filled in her eyes. She started sobbing lightly, but her hands clutching onto the sofa expressed how angry she was feeling. Somehow, she composed herself to go on. "I was always good with my reflexes, so I started fighting back with them. When they couldn't keep up avoiding me, they resorted to violence. And to protect myself, a huge fight started. Even at one point, Mr. Sinclair hit me with something heavy, and I lost consciousness. But before that, I somehow managed to call Samuel with an emergency number I use for dangerous situations. I was lucky that Samuel was there in the office while all these were happening. Otherwise, I don't know…"

Blood drained out from Max's face hearing about his boss from Clara. He knew that his boss was influential and for that reason, he was known to be ill-tempered. But he never thought he would be someone devoid of morals. For a second, he felt a shiver ran down his spine, thinking about the meeting Airi had with him. What if something like this also happened to Airi? He couldn't think anymore.

Samuel picked up from where Clara stopped. "When I got the call, I was so scared. Just before it, the receptionist told me that she was there. So getting the call from the emergency number, I ran ahead towards the room. Reaching there, I saw her lying unconscious, her head bleeding a lot due to injury, where the guards were dragging her to a corner. Seeing this huge mess before my eyes, I just couldn't control myself, and engaged in a fight with them. On the contrary to Celestine, I was never good with fights and all. So it was bound that I would lose sooner than anyone. So, I just randomly threw anything my hands got a hold of towards them. And when we got a chance to escape, I just picked her up and ran away. Fighting with them caused me quite injuries too. Yet, I tried my best to run away. Somehow, they didn't follow us. But not taking a risk, we ran along the way. It had already started raining, and so there were no taxis or anything. Soon, my body started giving in, and I had no choice but to call Airi, as she was the nearest we knew. And the rest you know probably."

Both Max and Sara were shocked as well as mortified. But only Airi was the one who was boiling with rage instead of getting scared. "I knew it! It was definitely something to do with that garbage! Miss Celestine, I have told you to be careful. It would have been better if you never went there…"

"But, I also told you I will be fine. See, I am not that much injured, right?" Clara tried to sound reassuring.

"But don't tell me, you are going to stay quiet after all this?" Airi questioned Clara, looking at her.

"No, I won't. If I do, I will myself give the opportunity in his hands, to do whatever he wishes. He needs to be put under action for the way he conducts. I will report it to the police right away." Airi was relieved to know that Clara had no intention of backing off. 

And she was determined to help her with anything she could.

But little did she know, the world being such a cruel place, there isn't any justice anywhere. People do worship the strong, the powerful. And the weak ones always get trampled under their feet. This was the fact Airi strongly knew, believed, followed, but this was also the fact which made her life turn upside down.