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Jerking upright, Shane snapped, "You said what?" Bringing the phone closer to his ear, he furrowed his brows as he listened intently awaiting a response.

"I said, 'You're on the news'!" the voice on the other end exclaimed. "You need to see this!"

For a man like Shane Degavon, who enjoyed solitude and being in the shadows, this revelation shook him greatly, prompting him to quickly get off his bed.

Leaving his room and walking towards the spacious living room that he owned, with the phone still pressed to his ear, he warned, "I swear if you're lying, I'll feed you to the wolves."

"See for yourself," the other person replied, internally grateful that he wasn't actually lying while still concealing his amusement.

Grabbing the remote on the table, Shane switched on the television and opted for the news channel. His dark eyes stared at the large screen as the frown on his face deepened.

Pinching his brows in exasperation, he muttered a curse, ending the call abruptly. 

Raising his head to stare at the ceiling, he drew in a breath as he tried to collect his thoughts.

His eyebrows arched in amusement when he heard something from the television in front of him.

"I swear I didn't do anything, and she showed up and spilled water all over me! And all because I went on a date with Mr. Degavon!"

Running his hands through his dark messy locks, Shane watched the woman on the screen, looking every bit pitiful.

Clicking his tongue, he tilted his head sideways in deep contemplation, muttering, "I only poured a bottle of water over her head, and she did this. Does this woman want to drown?"

The longer he stared at the screen, the faster his annoyance rose. Turning it off since he couldn't bear Amelia's yapping any longer, he strode casually to his room.

Although he maintained a calm exterior, his mind worked quickly to come up with a solution to this stupid problem.

It should have been easy, but that was only if the mastermind behind it wasn't who it was. This, Shane was very aware of.

***

It was night by the time Laleen woke up from sleep with a slight fever. The first thing she noticed was the odd quietness of the house. 

Rising from her bed with slightly shaky knees, she made for the door and opened it.

Sleeping next to the door of her room was Elizabeth with her hands hugging her knees as she rested her head on the wall.

Laleen sighed as she stared at her wondering why she didn't go home. 

Heading back to her room and returning with her blanket, she carefully draped it over her friend's small body. It would have been better to wake her and lead her to her bedroom but Laleen would rather be alone and not speak to anyone at that moment.

Taking slow steps, she walked towards the living room. Just a few hours ago, she had almost had a panic attack right there,a few minutes after that she had been filled with disappointment as reality stomped on her expectations. All this in a span of a few hours.

As she looked around her, she couldn't help but sigh tiredly. It seemed like it happened a year ago when it was just a few hours back.

Opening the front door, she quietly stepped out of the house. Walking down the stairs of the apartment that they lived in, Laleen left to find solace in the busy street.

The evening wind hit her face immediately pulling her hair backwards. 

As dark as it was, she walked silently, watching the scenery before her. She came to a stop when she noticed some children arguing in the street. A smile crept up her face as she relished the looks on their adorable faces, every of her worries temporarily forgotten.

But to her greatest surprise, one of them happened to notice her staring and pointed, "Look. It's the news lady!"

Just like that various heads tilted to the direction he pointed and gazed at Laleen.

They formed a small growing circle around her while whispering as she took several steps backwards, her heartbeat rising. The news had reached here too?

Suddenly one of the people gathered yelled, "She's a whore!"

And just like that, a collective scream tore from the lips of the onlookers and they started to throw stuffs at her.

Laleen flinched as she took various steps backward in a bid to protect herself. The road was close to the marketplace so some of the people in the crowd who were just coming back from buying foodstuffs and other items started to throw their purchase at her.

"Get away from here, you slut!" Another woman screamed, throwing a vegetable at Laleen's direction to which she dodged.

"We cannot breathe the same air as a dirty whore!" Said another enraged man as he flung a bottle at her.

Laleen stared in horror as the bottle crashed to the floor right beside her. If she had dodged any second later than she did, it would have crashed right at her foot.

With trembling lips and a pounding heartbeat, she didn't need to be told twice. She turned around and took to her heels; at that moment not even realizing that various shards of glass from the broken bottle had pierced her foot which had began to bleed.

Taking a sharp turn towards an alley, Laleen ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Her mind was so disoriented that she didn't even remember the way home.

Pausing for a moment to catch her breath after taking different corners, she rested her head on cold wall. 

The situation made her realize she may have underestimated the situation. It made more sense to her now as to why her mother was so angry.

And all this because... because of Amelia.

"Shane Degavon, she muttered to herself as she took in more deep breaths.

He was the only key to clearing her name now. It was crazy how she was the only one facing the downside of this. So far, she's not heard anyone call out Mr. Degavon himself.

It was just her.

She bit her lip hard as bitterness filled her heart. Both her past life and her present--Society still judged women the same.

Hearing angry voices coming from behind, her eyes widened slightly.

"No way. Are they...are they still after me?!"

In disbelief, Laleen peeked from behind the wall and what she saw was an angry mob of men and women with vegetables and the likes in their hands.

Letting out a frustrated cry, she took to her heels now regretting why she had even stepped out of the house in the first place.

Outside was hell. 

It was only then that her injured foot began to hurt and as she gazed down to look at it amidst her running, she was met with a foot stained with blood.

With horror filled eyes, she turned to a corner but probably some of the angry crowd had taken a short cut to reach her as they stood right there waiting and immediately started throwing their things at the sight of her.

She stopped immediately as she felt distress build up in her stomach. Behind her were a group of angry men and women possibly wanting to beat her to death.

Looking at the opposite direction was another group hurrying towards her side.

Her breathing quickened as she gripped her clothes tightly. It felt like they were closing in on her and desperation filled her lungs. 

She didn't do anything wrong. It was all a lie. Why wouldn't anyone hear her out? Why didn't they believe her?

With shaky hands and a hardened heart, she made to run again though she knew it was a dead end and she'd most definitely be caught when suddenly a black car came to a stop right in front of her.

She stared in shock, her chest heaving as the tinted window rolled down and a man's gorgeous face came to view.

The soft moonlight hit his pale skin in an instant as his dark eyes seemed to sparkle.

With a frown, Shane stared at the tattered looking girl in front of him. 

The angry crowd coming from all directions slowed down as they finally caught up to the scene in front of them.

One look from the mysterious man had them scampering away. 

Returning his gaze to the clearly shaken girl in front of him, his dark expression lessened considerably.

"Get in" he murmured.