Chapter 2

'Please no!' She was screaming but she heard no voice coming from her mouth. 'Am I dead?' She's now seeing herself hugging her grandma from a distance. They're both crying. Then she saw herself leaving her grandma

'No!!!!!!' but still no voice coming from her. She felt her heart being clenched

After few moments, she saw few gang members rushing towards her grandmother and starting to interrogate her.

She's arguing with them, she saw them starting to walk away but her grandma pulled one gang members ankle to stop him, in response, he saw the guy pulled his gun and triggered it directly to her grandma's head.

"No!!!!!!" She cried dreadfully "No. no, no, no" her tears flowed nonstop

"Shhhhhh, it's alright dear" she heard unfamiliar voice and arms wrapping around her tightly, giving her warmth she now needed the most.

She felt one arm slowly loosen and a palm on her cheeks drying her tears.

"It's alright dear, you're safe now."

She slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was a pair of worried brown eyes, she thought she saw the same eyes form someone else but they carry different vibes and emotions.

She roamed her eyes inside the unfamiliar room she's now in, scanning it slowly and trying to recall what exactly happened.

This room is spacious but so simple with less furnitures and stuffs.

"It's my son's room. He saved you" she heard her speak again "By the way, I'm Alicia" the woman said while still caressing her back, her sobs gradually subsides

She wanted to say something but doesn't know where to start, she doesn't know what to say. She just came from a horrible nightmare, in fact she's still currently in terrible reality.

Alicia sensed the meaning of her silence. "I know you're still in shock but don't worry dear, we'll try our best to help you. You can stay here as long as you want while you're recovering from this dilemma"

She felt her eyes watery again. Yes, her reality might be tragic but she's still lucky that she was found by these kind and warm human beings.

"Tha…thank you" she said awkwardly while stuttering, this time she took the initiative to hug Alicia.

Their moment was interrupted when the door opened.

"Hey Thygo! You're girlfriend is now awake!" A good looking young man yelled

"Shut you're filthy mouth Lucas!" Another man entered the room. His eyes were fiercely glaring at the man he called Lucas but it seems the latter was not bothered at all.

'So this guy, named Thygo is the one who saved me, he doesn't looks like a knight in shinning armor type but rather like a ruthless prince who could instantly kill anyone who disobeys him with just a stare.' She thought

Instead of shutting his mouth Lucas rushed towards her and Alicia, and land a soft kiss on the back of her hand and introduced himself

"I'm Lucas Godriel Woodsen, the coolest, riches, most handsome and the most sought after showbiz personality in the country" he finished it with a wink

"Uhmmm" It was so sudden that she wasn't able to react right away. Unconsciously she raised her head and look into the man behind Lucas.

His eyes were still the same. Cold. But she felt the same feeling the first time their eyes met too. It screams comfort.

Lucas followed her glaze and ends up looking to the man behind him too.

By looking at Thygo's stare, she felt scared in Lucas behalf.

But in return to his murderous daze, Lucas laughed out loud "Jealous are we?"

"Lucas, behave yourself honey, stop teasing your brother" Alicia scolded Lucas but a sudden mischievous smile plastered on her lips "not in front of her girlfriend"

'What a troublesome mother and son tandem' herself within smiled watching these two, somehow, they've lessen her sorrow

She heard a deep sigh coming from the man whose now getting more serious and grumpier.

"Mom" he glared at his mom

His mom raised both of her hands as a sign of surrendering.

He walked towards her and now intently looking at her "How are you feeling?" He ask monotonously

"I'm…I'm fine now" she stuttered

He handed her a box. She opened it and saw the diary of her mom together with the necklace and the letter.

"The detectives found these on the site where I found you" he handed her another small box, it contains two rings.

Her hands were shaking with anger and sorrow while holding both rings on her hand. There were her grandparents wedding rings.

" I'm sorry for your loss but your grandparents were shot dead" he added

"Thygo!" Alicia scolded her son

He was indeed ruthless and straight forward but he's not totally apathetic, in fact she should thank him for saving her.

"Don't worry ma'am. I'm aware."

"Don't worry, you can marry this ogre and we can be a happy family!" Lucas suggested with a grinning face that earned him another murderous stare from Thygo

"Out!!!" Thygo sternly yelled

Alicia started to drag Lucas arms "Come honey, your brother wants to have an intimate talk with her girlfriend." She started talking to Lucas after being far enough from Thygo "What's your name again dear?" Alicia asked

"Adrielle"

"Ysabelle"

They looked into each other with a questioning face. The door shut; they heard Lucas and Alicia's laughter outside.

She broke the silence first

"It's my moms"

"I don't have your identification so I opened your diary. I didn't mean to intrude" he's voice is now gentler than earlier.

"It was also my mom's"

His brows met for few seconds

"I apologize" he said while slightly pinching his nose bridge. She can sense the overbearingness to his voice gradually faded

"I'm Adrielle" she introduced herself "Don't feel sorry, as a matter of fact I should be the one who needs to apologize for troubling you" she added

He was silent for few seconds, as if he was weighing his thoughts

"No" he firmly responded "Not a trouble at all, it was just a conscious act. I don't wanna witness a helpless lady get killed right in front of my eyes. That would be a very unpleasurable sight" he added

She doesn't know how to react but her lips seems like to have a life of its own. She smiled unconsciously.

She thought she saw him smiled too but on a second glance he wears his usual fierce face

"The authorities have caught the culprits, I've filed cases against them already on your behalf, the leader of the gang had slipped away, they're still searching for him, don't worry we have a tight security, you'll be safest here!"

She was stunned by what she had heard. How long did she slept to missed so many things already. She can believe he've done all of this

"This is too much trouble, one more good deed from you and I would no longer know how to repay you"

"Don't need to worry about it, for now, all you need to do is rest. I have a meeting in an hour so I'll leave you to my mom's care. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything. My mom's been dying to have a daughter so she'll exceptionally treat you well and would love to make you feel at home."

She helplessly nods

He started walking towards the door but suddenly stopped to face her

"By the way, you're uncle is also in jail…" he doesn't want to add more salt to her wound but he felt it's necessary for her to know

She cuts him off "Serves him right" it's her way to say that she's not bothered at all and that he doesn't need to do anything for him, he's the least that he wanted to see right now. In fact she doesn't know if she ever wanted to see him again.

Her anger was aggravated the moment she heard her uncle.

Thygo easily understood her reaction. He knows that her uncle's greed and deviousness led to her grandparent's death.

"Don't think too much. Focus on recovering. I'll bring you to your grandparent's wake." He said

Her anger soften "Thank you" she mumbled

When she was left alone in the room. She got ample time to think. Her eyes landed on the box that Thygo gave her. She start sobbing again but she hurriedly wiped the liquid flowing on her cheeks. She eagerly wants to know the truth, she grasping the thin thread of courage left in her heart and opened the box

She was raised to be brave and independent and thought that she can withstand any struggles but losing the two most important persons in her life is a total different thing. And what made her feel worst is, she was there but was helpless. She wasn't able to do anything to save them, to spare them from death.

Everything was so sudden, few months ago, Adrielle and her grandparents were living harmoniously with simple and happy life

Nothing's luxurious but nothing's lacking either. Aside from not knowing her parents and her problematic uncle, her life seems to be perfect with her grandparents.

Her grandma told her that her mom died while delivering her. Her parents separated before her mom becomes aware of her presence inside her tummy.

She didn't know much about his uncle since he kept on leaving the house, she heard her grandfather scolding his uncle about joining the a certain gang, the next thing she knew her uncle moved out.

He would randomly visit them probably twice in a quarter, sometimes, not even once. She always sense sadness from her grandmother's voice whenever she talks about him.

A week ago, she was surprised when she got home. Everything was scattered on the floor and she heard her grandmother screaming upstairs.

"Take it! Take it all" her grandmother cried

Adrielle rushed to her grandparents room. She was mortified when she saw her uncle. Her grandparents savings was on his hands. He was about to leave but when he saw her, he stood and gave her a devilish smirk. His mocking, murderous eyes studied her from head to toe.

A sudden sound of car engine outside brought him back to his senses. Without glancing back he rushed downstairs and escaped.

Her on the other side, she hurriedly walked to her grandma's side. She's almost out of breath from crying. She look devastated. She hugged her tightly. Few moments minutes later, she saw her grandfather standing next to them with indescribable look. He gather them in his arms and hug them both.

"Adi, can you get water for your grandma first" her grandpa asked her

She knew what her grandfather meant. He wants her to give him and grandma time to talk.

Adrielle was about to go up when she saw both of her grandparents coming down.

"Adi, come with us" her grandfather said

They went to the authorities and filed a complain against her uncle. It seems that her grandparents have thought this through. After all, he's their son too. Maybe he's been harassing them since she don't know exactly when. Her grandparents were happy person and they've might been hiding this from her for quite a while.

"Ma, Pa. Let's leave this place. I have enough savings, we can rent somewhere else" she pleaded

"Yes, let's do that honey" her grandpa agreed right away. She was surprised to hear his response, she was expecting them to refuse her suggestion.

They've lived on the outskirt, in a small two story house with a vegetable garden and behind it was a forest that serves as their backyard.

Both of her grandparents love to grow vegetables and fond of the nature's serenity, it makes their place suitable for their liking. However, after what happened, she no longer felt safe, bothered with her grandparents security.

"Give us a month to prepare honey, then we can settle down to wherever you want" her grandma said with pampering voice and reached her hand and squeeze it a little

She nods in response, if only she could decide for them she'd want them to move right away but she understood that it'll be hard for them to leave their over 50 yrs of good memories in that place. She wanted them to have enough time to adjust.

But a week after, a bunch of men masked in black deliberately intrude their home. Though they were outnumbered, she and her grandfather tried to fight back, run and ask for help however the next house in their neighborhood was a quarter mile away.

They were eventually caught and was taken to an old warehouse.

They we're blindfolded but the impenitent scumbags talk soundly disclosing the reason of their captivity.

She learned that her uncle run off with 1 million dollars from their gang leader. So he ordered his men to capture her and her grandparents

The gang was able to capture her uncle too but instead of returning the money her shameless evil uncle offer her to his boss as a payment.

"There, you can have her! She's smart, young and fresh! Spare me boss. You can have her. Vent all of your lust to her all of your life." Her obnoxious uncle suggested

Her blood suddenly rages to her veins the moment she heard what her uncle said. 'Evil!'

But her thoughts was suddenly disturbed by footsteps walking towards her. She can't believe that her uncle is selling her off.

She gritted as a strong hand grab her chin and raised it. It was as if the guy is scanning her souls. After awhile, the man finally spoke

"Interesting"

She tried to get away from his grip by kicking him but the guy was fast enough to defend himself

"Feisty! I like that" he said with a lustful voice