Hi, Amores! This update was supposed to be uploaded tomorrow but I decided to upload it now because I will be going to Italy tomorrow. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Enjoy!

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SABINA's POV

The next Monday after that, I was surprised when I learned that Akira was absent because she was sick. She looked okay last Saturday when we were together and I didn't notice any indication that she wasn't feeling well.

I tried contacting her number but it was unattended. I sent her a message, asking is she was okay, before beginning my work for the day.

"Hey, Sabina. You're friends with Ms. Smith, right?" One of the colleagues of Akira approached me when I just stepped out of the elevator, heading toward the exit. It was already past 4 pm. I finished my worked earlier than expected so I had the privilege to go home a little bit earlier than usual.

"Yes. Why?"

"Hmm, she actually forgot her phone on her desk. Can you please give it to her? She mentioned something about resigning and not coming back to CXM any longer. Her phone has been ringing nonstop the whole day and I'm worried that it might be important. I tried to answer it but the line went dead." I confusedly gazed at the device. As far as I could recall, Akira had her phone with her last Saturday and the shocking part was, she was planning on resigning.

"What? I thought she was sick that's why she's absent?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure about it either. She called me this morning and that was what she told me. I was about to drop by her place to give her her phone but an unforeseen emergency happened at home."

I reluctantly took the device but deep inside, I was already worried. I felt like something bad had happened. During my time with her last Saturday, we had a serious talk about life and other stuff and for a short while, she showed me another side of her; vulnerable and weak as if she was lost.

"Thank you for doing this. You're a lifesaver. I need to go." I smiled as I watched her exiting the building in a hurry. I released a breath.

"You're early today." I heard a voice and when I looked who it was, the smiling face of Mark met my eyes. I smiled back.

"Yeah, but looks like I have to drop by Akira's place because of this." I showed him the device in my hand. His eyebrows creased.

"Akira's phone?"

"Yes. Apparently, she forgot on her table. She's absent today because she's sick. There's a lot of missed calls already. These calls might be important."

"How nice of you. I knew you're a kind person when I first laid my eyes on you." I chuckled.

"You're pulling my leg. Anyway, I need to go. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Sabina. Take care." While I was outside, I called Xzavier to inform about me dropping by Akira's place. He said that he would be having a meeting so we wouldn't be able to go home together.

"Hi, my Ina. Are you done for today?"

"Yes. What about you? What time are you going to finish?"

"In an hour, I think. You can wait for me if you want to."

"It's okay. I need to drop by somewhere anyway."

"Where? I already instructed Dan to take you home for today. He's already in front of the building, waiting for you." Upon saying that, a black car suddenly pulled up in front of me and then the driver came out to open the door for me. It was indeed Dan.

"Yes. He's already here. Anyway, I'll be dripping by Akira's place before heading home. I have to give her her phone. It's not far from your place anyway."

"Why do you have her phone?"

"I'll explain everything later. Anyway, see you at home. Take care, okay?"

"Okay, my Ina. See you later. Anyway, your bodyguards will be tailing you for protection." I huffed.

"Dan is already with me. I think, that's enough."

"Ina, please. Don't argue with me because I won't let you go there without your bodyguards with you."

"Okay. Whatever you say."

"Thank you for understanding. I love you."

"I love you too." After I ended the call, I got into the car and we drove to Akira's place. I saw my bodyguards' car tailing us from a safe distance. Upon arriving there, I rang the doorbell of that two-story house.

"Sabina? Is that you?" I almost jumped when I heard Akira's voice from the intercom. She sounded surprised and worried for some reason.

"Ahm, yeah. Sorry for dropping by unannounced. I have your phone, by the way. I just wanted to give it you. Your colleague gave it to me. Apparently, you forgot it on your table." She went silent for a moment before she responded.

"Come on in." Then, the gates opened. The front yard was plain without any flowering plants. It was as if the person living there wasn't interested on adorning the place any kind of beauty.

Even the ornamental grass seemed to be dying because of lack of care. There were dry leaves scattered everywhere too.

When I reached the front door, Akira opened it and I was shocked of what I saw.

"What happened to you?!" She looked down, avoiding my gaze. There were bruises all over her body but what made me horrified the most was the obvious bruise around her neck as if someone strangled her or something with their bare hands.

She looked nothing like the Akira I know. Her long hair was messy, lips were chapped and bloodshot eyes. I could tell that she hadn't sleep that much.

She cleared her throat. "Thank you for bringing my phone all the way here, Sabina." Her voice was faint and broken and I could tell that she could barely stand up as she held tightly onto the door handle as if it were her lifeline.

"Forget about the phone. Who did this to you? My God, Akira! Look at you! You're full of bruises!" She lifted her eyes and our gazes met. The raw sadness in her bloodshot eyes almost gave me cold chills down my spine. My eyes watered.

"I think it's best for you to go home, Sabina. You can't be seen here." She winced as if she felt pain somewhere her body.

"Be seen by whom?" She stayed quiet for a couple of seconds as if she was weighing what to utter in front of me. Then, her eyes watered.

"Sabina, I-I'm sorry." Her apology made me confused.

"Sorry for what?"

She took a deep breath and then exhaled. "For everything. I think, this will be our last time seeing each other. I'll be leaving this place first thing in the morning tomorrow and won't be coming back here ever again." A pained and sad smiled curved her roughened lips. "Even though we've only known each other for a couple of months, I honestly enjoyed being with you. You don't deserve to get hurt because you're a good person."

"What are you talking about? Anyway, we can talk about this some other time. I think, it's better if I'd take you to the hospital first. You can barely stand on your own." Tears welled my eyes seeing her like that. Whoever did this to her was a monster.

She was wearing a white over size t-shirt and printed cotton shorts that was why, the bruises on her arms and legs were visible.

She shook her head. "Don't worry about me, Sabina. I deserve this anyway." I gaped at her, confused.

"What are you talking about? No one deserves this kind of treatment! Whoever did this to you should be held accountable! Did you already report this to the police?" She shook her head in response.

"Then, call them now. Do you want me to do it for you?"

"I don't have any plans on reporting about this to the police."

"But—"

"—Go home, Sabina. You shouldn't be here." Her tremulous voice held unspeakable loneliness and pain and my heart tightened even more.

"What's happening with you, Akira? I'm your friend. You can tell me so that I know what to do in order to help you."

"I said, go home! Now!" I was surprised when her voice came out loud and harsh as her eyes turned into slits. But surprisingly, I didn't get scared nor get intimidated because there was no indication of a tiny bit of anger in her eyes. In fact, they were telling me a different story.

My face hardened and was about to answer when I felt a dreading presence behind me.

"Good job, Akira. You really brought her to me." I felt like my whole body turn arctic frozen upon hearing that atrocious voice. I slowly turned around and when I saw his face, the first thing that came to my mind was to run away but he was quick to catch me by the arm, gripping me tightly, uncaring if he was hurting me.

"Let me go!" I tried to pull back my arm roughly from his tight grip but to no avail. I was beyond stunned seeing him again after all this time.

I thought, I was just imagining things when I caught a glimpse of him standing outside Sophialina but it appeared that he was indeed here, probably long enough to watch everything that I've been doing these past few months.

"Shut up!" He snapped at me and shoved me towards Akira. The latter caught me and helped me regain my balance. Thankfully, she didn't fall down considering that she could barely stand on her own.

"What is the meaning of this? Why are you here?" I asked with a quivery voice and he sniggered.

"Isn't it obvious? Why don't you ask Akira?" He responded and then laughed like the devil itself. I shifted my gaze to Akira and she was beggingly asking for my forgiveness with her eyes.

Fear was written all over her face and her body was slightly shaking. She couldn't even move nor speak. But the anger that surged within me dominated my senses.

I shook my head in disbelief. "I can't believe this. You're working for him..." It wasn't a question. My chest clenched; throat constricted as the pain of her betrayal dawned on me.

"Why?" Was all I could utter full of resentment. During one of our serious conversations, I told Akira about my past and so did she. But now, it seemed like everything that came out of her mouth was nothing but lies. I was the only one who was honest and true to our friendship.

She'd been pretending to get what she wanted. Everything crashing down on me. Looked like they were the ones responsible for those 'incidents' that happened to Xzavier and I lately. They wanted to harm us.

"Forgive me, Sabina. I didn't mean for this to happen. I thought..."

"That's enough drama, Akira. You were the one who voluntarily came here to do the job so don't act so innocent now. You knew what would happen the moment you arrive here in Lyon so cut the crap and fix yourself. You know that I hate seeing any weakness in you.

"Your whole being is already sickening enough so the least thing you could do is to fix yourself and be presentable enough. I want everything to be perfect when I present the two of you to dad." He looked at me. "Sabina as my wife." Before shifting his gaze to Akira. "And you as my daughter." I felt like someone hit me in the gut upon hearing what he said.

"You're his daughter?"

Father Nicolas scoffed. "Unfortunately, yes. I accidentally knocked up her whore of a mother when I was just 18 years old. I told that wench to get rid of it and yet, she went into hiding and gave birth to Akira. When dad learned about her existence, he was only too glad and eager to accept her as his granddaughter.

"Now that I've finally found you, Sabina, dad will be surely pleased because our family is finally complete. You're the only one we've been waiting for, my wife." I instantly felt sick upon hearing him pronounce that word for the second time.

"I'm not your wife." I said through gritted teeth. I couldn't believe that after everything, the ghost of my past would come after me like this.

He laughed sardonically. "We both know that we're married, Sabina. Yes, they succeeded on taking you away from me but that didn't change the fact that you're married to me. I've waited long enough. Now, it's time for you to fulfill your duty as my wife." Before I could say anything, he began dragging me somewhere.

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Did you expect this turn of events?

Did you expect Akira to be a villain in this story let alone daughter of Father Nicolas?

What do you think of Father Nicolas' come back?

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