Chapter 3

"I guess I got dumped, too, huh?" Alexis had returned, sitting on the window ledge, watching her. He felt sorry for her. To try and make amends, he walked into the room and stopped right beside her. He crouched down and reached his arm out to wipe away the blood flowing down her forehead, but she flinched and slapped his hand away.

"Stop resisting," he demanded, and she had no choice but to sit there, unmoving, as he pressed his thumb against the cut. His touch was very warm - too warm for the normal human body's temperature. If there was one way that Merryl could describe that feeling, it was akin to having a warm ray of sunlight shine down on you after it was raining heavily outside; like lighting a lamp in the middle of a cold winter's air. The pain from the cut disappeared the moment he touched her, though the blood remained.

"So, this is what Honey was screaming about?"

Caught by surprise, both Merryl and Alexis turned to the door to see Diana standing there. She was breathing heavily from the fury. Alexis inwardly cursed himself for letting his guard down and forgetting about his surroundings. He was so enamored by the concept of helping Merryl that he completely forgot where they were.

"Stealing your sister's boyfriend? Not that I approved of that relationship… shut it!" She spat, shutting Merryl up before she could say anything, "I did not raise you to become some dog who would go so far as to snatch from her own sister's plate!"

What could Merryl say? The misunderstanding could never be cleared up. The first time when she was caught by Honey, and now when Diana walked in. Those moments were undoubtedly incriminating. There was no convincing them that nothing had happened between her and Alexis.

Diana clutched the bridge of her nose, her voice giving away the heartbreak she felt, "Why must you always disappoint me?" She then looked down at Alexis, then at Merryl's face, "You've disappointed me too many times. You're an adult now, and it seems I have no further use for you-"

"Mom, please don't do this-"

"Get out! I'll have your personal belongings sent to you… wherever you will be!" Diana shouted. Merryl tried to sit up, and her knees gave out beneath her. But she tried again, and when she succeeded, she ran up to her mother, only to fall back to the floor when Diana backhanded her across the face.

"I will not be touched by the likes of you! No daughter of mine will be a slut!" Those words stung more than the slap did. Merryl didn't even feel that slap. The pain in her heart immediately washed it away. Diana hurriedly left the room, leaving Merryl down on her knees with yet another cut on her lip from the slap.

Merryl was distraught. She failed to notice Alexis approaching her until he was also down on his knees. He leaned in and kissed her lips. The kiss stung, yet it felt warm as his thumb did against her forehead. He licked away the blood on her lips, savoring both its taste and the taste of her lips against his. There was something about his demeanor that Merryl hated. It came off as though he were enjoying that too much.

"You… You're happy now, aren't you?" Merryl whispered, her face only an inch away from his.

He smiled, "Of course, I am. They were holding you back… your family. Felix. Believe me, you're better off with me instead. I'll take care of-"

She roughly pushed him away, then abruptly stood up. It had not yet occurred to her that her wounds were healed by him. She was too upset to care about a few cuts. What she cared for now were the security guards that appeared at the door. These men had protected her and her family for as long as she could remember, and they were now here to throw her out of her home. Who ordered them to do so? Was it her mother, Honey or her father?

She turned back to Alexis, but he had disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. And she was escorted out of the estate without another word. Soon, she found herself standing outside the large iron gates and staring back at the mansion that had been her home all of her life. She had nothing on her besides her phone - not even a bag of clothes. She was empty-handed with no idea of where she could go.

To add to Merryl's misfortune, half of the sky was blanketed by a dark cloud that threatened to drop heavy rain down on her. It was already late in the afternoon, and since she could not stand around, exposed, she took a random path and walked down the sidewalk. Diana hadn't given her a chance to wash her face. She walked with a somber expression that was accompanied by the dry tears on her face.

Her family was wealthy and well known around the neighborhood. Naturally, people noticed her, the sour expression and the drops of blood staining the top of her long dress. However, what they cared about most was the fact that she was walking alone. A member of a family of such stature walking about on her own gave any criminal that wanted a quick way at getting money a chance.

"Was she crying? I think she was crying," she heard a woman indiscreetly say to her friend after they walked past her. Across the street, a group of elderly women were talking among themselves while their eyes trained on her. Her phone vibrated as a message came through. She brought the phone up in time for a drop of water to fall on the screen. She cursed and looked up at the sky. The cloud cover had made its way above her head, and it had already begun to rain heavily. The people around her hurried to reach their destinations. She had no destination. She did not know where to go. Her friends were as kind to her as Honey had been, meaning that they had all come to hate her because their boyfriends and crushes were obviously more interested in her.

She hurried to find shelter under the veranda of a flower store that was still open and pulled out her phone to read the message. It was actually an email and not a message; an invitation to attend a party in celebration of the engagement between Honey and Felix that was starting in about an hour. Merryl's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach. They were moving too fast. Not only that, but the email was also obviously sent to her by mistake from Felix. He must not have cared enough to remove her email from the cc as he sent it to all his contacts.

It was obviously a mistake, right? Merryl knew that, but she was infuriated. The realization of the reality she was in finally caught up with her. She was treated unfairly, and she wanted answers. Money matters were obviously not a good enough excuse from Felix. They were so in love with each other and the topic of marriage had popped up once or twice between them, though they had known each other for only two months. He couldn't have been lying to her about that. She felt his love and compassion towards her.

The venue of the party was Felix's penthouse apartment in the city. She had been there a few times. Determined, she decided to make one final visit to it. It was only a thirty-minute walk away from the suburbs where her home was, but she did not care.

When she arrived in the lobby of the apartment, she was drenched. The staff and the receptionist looked at her weirdly. They had seen her before and hadn't anticipated the sight. Merryl said nothing to them and waited for the elevator, getting on it. She impatiently tapped her fingers against the wall of the elevator as it went up. Her moment of weakness was gone. Merryl's spirit was very strong but the betrayal from the love of her life and her family took that away from her for a moment. If Honey thought she could treat her that way and get away with it, then she was obviously dumber than what her grades led everyone to believe.