O P H E L I A ' S   P O V

My eyes twitched a little, ready to open up. Due to the extremely soft feeling of my bed and my pillow, they refused to open up just as I snuggled more into the comfy feeling.

My eyes snapped open as I sat up swiftly.

I don't have a pillow.

My hands smoothed over the white sheets on the bed.

I instantly regretted getting up so fast as a pain shot through my arm and a little stinging on my feet.

Little scars and scrapes marked my skin, although it looked to be healing already.

My eyes followed my surroundings, my heart drumming loudly against my rib cage as my eyes zoomed in on the 60-inch television across the room and the grey colour which coated the walls. A large fluffy carpet covered the floor, which complimented the room greatly because of its slightly darker shade from the walls.

There was a single painting above the bed that looked way too complicated to describe, especially with all of the colours splattered all over the canvas.

All in all, this single room was larger than my whole house put together. At least— what used to be my house.

The events of yesterday weighed down on my head once again, causing a massive headache to form. The last thing I recalled was when the guardsman of Mr. Morterez's house threw me in the ground where I remember falling asleep.

That still doesn't explain how I got where I am.

This couldn't be — Levi's house, could it?

Just the thought made me quickly jump off of the bed, frantically dusting off the sheets in the process.

I realised that I was still in my work outfit and lying on the ground outside for about an hour, would surely mean that it was dirty.

I hurriedly picked up the pillow, fluffing it lightly as I constantly pushed back my hair that continued to fall in front of my face, reminding me why I always have it up in a bun.

I frowned, noticing a small dirt stain on the bed.

I placed back the pillows gently, folding the comforters neatly on the bed. I was so distracted that I didn't realise that someone else was in the room.

"Ophelia?" A deep, husky voice spoke from behind me, their voice raspy as if they now woke up.

I squeaked and turned around swiftly, the back of my feet hitting the side of the bed as I craned my neck up to look at the source of the voice.

There stood Levi towering over, only about a foot's distance between us. He was wearing a dress shirt which outlined the ridges of his muscles, along with the very prominent six pack beneath said shirt.

Light bags were situated beneath his eyes, implying that he either had no sleep, or he only just fell asleep. His hair managed to look slightly dishevelled, looking as if he ran his hand through it countless times, frustrated.

My eyes then travel to the tattoos running up both of his arms, since his sleeves were pushed up to his elbow, creating an even edgier look, all making him look ten times more attractive.

My eyes snapped to the rugged floor, feet slightly shaking under his penetrating gaze. Just then, my eyes widened as I looked at the dirt stain behind me on the bed that had been transferred by dress.

My head became dizzy as a few memories came tumbling down on me.

I tried to ignore the confused look that Levi gave me, along with the way my eyes began to sting with unshed tears as I turned around using the heel of my palms to try to remove the mark quickly, hearing my name being called just in the back of my mind.

I let out a whimper when I realised that I've just made the mark larger, scrubbing the stain more frantically just before I felt hands on my waist spinning me around.

Sobs still continued to break from my mouth as I looked at the palm of my hand which was slowly turning red from being irritated from rubbing the sheet so much.

"Look what you did, you bitch!" He raised his hand to hit the 12 year old girl.

My sobs grew louder, breathing no longer becoming a priority anymore as my breath hitched in the back of my throat, recalling that horrid memory.

"Ophelia!" I heard someone shout my name. I looked up through my teary eyes, to see Levi with his hands firmly on my waist, looking down at me with a worried expression on his face.

"Please, I'm sorry, I-I can clean it." I cried, my voice cracking.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, it's not your fault, it's just a dirt stain." He whispered down to me. "Relax, take deep breaths." He told me and I slowly breathed in and out.

Once my heart rate regulated back to normal, I quickly took a step back from his hold, his arm dropping limply to his sides.

"T-Thank you." I whispered.

"It's not a problem," He cleared his throat. "Come downstairs when you're ready, okay?" He said and I nodded meekly.

He left the room, the door quietly closing with a click.

I gave my cheeks a light slap, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

As if I'm not pathetic enough, Levi saw me bawl my eyes out for what looked to be no apparent reason to him.

My mind blossomed with numerous questions as I opened the door, and ended up in a long hallway, a frown making its way on my face as I contemplated which way to go.

"Uh, um, excuse me?" I asked a lady that just passed me.

She was wearing a black and white maid outfit, hers reaching to about her mid-thigh. She had light brown hair which was in a neat up-do. Red matte lipstick coated her plump lips, along with light mascara and a little highlighter along her jaw and nose. She stood at about 5'10 with the long, black 5-inch stiletto heels that graced her slender legs.

She raised an eyebrow in my direction, "Yes?" She looked me up and down.

"Could you show me where Levi might be?" I asked politely as I smiled at her.

She squinted her eyes at me, "It's Mr. Morterez." She snapped. I jumped back a little at her tone.

"I-I'm sorry— Mr. Morterez." I mumbled as I corrected my mistake.

She stuck out a nicely done nail at me as she motioned for me to follow her through the large mansion.

We walked for what felt like hours before she stopped in front of a large door, "Here you go. Knock three times." She informed me before she walked off without another word.

I gulped as I raised my hand.

L E V I ' S P O V

My eyes slowly opened and soon after, snapped shut from the impact of the bright light shining straight through my cornea.

I looked at my suit jacket that I placed over myself last night to keep warm as I slept.

The chair that I slept in next to the bed that Ophelia lied in was slightly uncomfortable, but I didn't want to leave Ophelia alone in this room.

I heard ruffling sounds and leaned forward with a soft groan, running my hand down my face.

Ophelia's body was turned away from me as she frantically fixed the bed where she lied. My eyebrows furrowed at the gesture.

Leave it to Ophelia to wake up in an unusual bedroom and yet still think about tidying up the bed. It made you wonder if there was anything not perfect about this woman. I have yet to find a flaw on my list about her.

"Ophelia?" I spoke. swallowing at how raspy my voice sounded.

Her figure snapped to face me, nearly making her fall back on the bed.

I looked down at her. I didn't have to look down much because she was not very short. I was at 6'4 while she stood below me at 5'7.

I studied how her curls fell past her shoulders and ended right below the curve of her breast. Her face looked paler than her usual rosy cheeks but still, she managed to look deliciously edible.

She averted her gaze away from me to the carpeted floor, rocking slightly on her heels. My eyes zoomed in on the bruise on her upper arm, a result of when my guard had grabbed her.

My jaw ticked for a short while before returning back to normal. I could practically feel the wheels turning in her head, just before her eyes snapped to the bed in panic which left me utterly confused.

Due to our close distance, she turned around swiftly, brushing against me slightly as a small gasp left her lips before she bent over and began to hurriedly rub the white sheets.

I rubbed the slight stubble on my chin, the sound of my heart thudding against my rib cage filled my ears as I looked down at Ophelia bent over in front of me.

If I didn't know any better, I would've concluded that it was Ophelia's mission to get a reaction out of me, in which she continued to succeed in.

I snapped out of my desire-filled thoughts as I heard sniffling from in front of me. Ophelia continued to rub her hands roughly over a spot over the bed, much to my confusion.

"Ophelia?" I said. As if she doesn't hear me, she lets out a whimper before scrubbing even harder, surely leaving a red mark on the palm of her hands.

She continued to sob loudly, alerting me and resulting in me grabbing onto her waist and swiftly spinning her around.

Tears clouded her beautiful eyes. It took a while to calm her down and when I did, I left the room with multiple questions swirling in my head. The main one being,

What has this woman been through that a simple dirt stain caused such a reaction out of her?

—

I sat back in my chair. Ophelia should be down here any minute.

As if on cue, a hard knock sounded on the door.

"Enter," I mumbled, slightly distracted with the work in front of me.

I looked up to see Richard, one of my employees, handling a file in his grip. He dropped it on my desk before speaking, "That's the file you asked for on the girl, sir." He informed me.

"She has a name." I snapped. If he was aware of her name, which he was, at least be respectful and address her by it, whether in their presence or not.

"I'm sorry, sir." He apologised. I glared at him before shooing him out with a flick of my wrist.

I looked down at the file that was at the corner of my desk before picking it up. I knew I shouldn't invade Ophelia's privacy, but this was necessary.

Name: Ophelia Collins

Age: 20

Birthday: November 13th

It continued to list the birth certificate information, along with the names of her parents.

Parents: Deceased

Siblings: NIL

Current Address: NIL

My eyebrows furrowed at the last line. This can't be right. After all, I had given her a ride to her house already, seen it with my own two eyes.

Although, it did answer some unanswered questions about why she was suddenly at my house last night uninvited.

I hurriedly picked up the telephone before dialling Richard's number swiftly.

I didn't give him time to greet me before I spoke, "Are you sure this file is updated?" I questioned.

"Yes, sir. Updated 5 hours ago, to be precise." He said, emitting a frown to form on my face. "If you're asking because of the current address, I think it's important for you to know that that was altered merely 12 hours ago." He continued. "In fact, before she was homeless, she lived in Archway's Point." He informed me.

"Are you completely sure?" I asked once again.

"Affirmative." He said.

I didn't say anything, I just slouched back in my chair and placed the phone back on the retriever.

I massaged my chin thoughtfully. I didn't get to dwell on the topic much longer because I heard three soft knocks on the door.

I quickly placed the file in my drawer before clearing my throat and saying firmly, "Come in."

There wasn't much movement behind the door, before the knob slowly turned and Ophelia walked in hesitantly, her eyes immediately landing on me.

"Please have a seat, Ophelia." My voice came out gentle, a tone that I've come too familiar with when addressing Ophelia.

She flattened out her dress before taking a seat.

I leaned forward over the table that separated us, "Do you mind telling me about what happened?" I whispered, afraid that I may scare her if I raised my voice too much.

She played with her fingers before replying nervously, "I-I just got lost." She said unconvincingly.

I sighed at her obvious lie. "What about the truth, Ophelia?" I ran my hand through my hair.

Her feet shook and her palms became sweaty— noting from how she continued to wipe them in her dress.

Her voice cracked as she spoke, "They took everything." The tremble in her voice pulled something in my heart. I waited for her to continue.

"M-My house, my furniture. E-Everything." She cried. "I-I don't know what to do." She wiped her eyes.

I grabbed a strip of tissue and handed it to her in which she took gratefully. "C-Can you call Kace, please?" I could tell by the hesitation in her voice that she didn't like the idea of having to depend on anyone but she had no choice.

It was easy for me to resolve this issue pertaining to her house. All I had to do was to make a few calls. The only problem was that she lived in Archway's Point. It was extremely dangerous out there with a killing almost every night.

I was going to call Kace, believe me I was, but not for the reason she wanted me to. She was here already, she stumbled upon my house, and she was going to stay here.

I just kept reminding myself that this was only for her benefit.

And not for mine.