THE FATHER

I hate you, I love you,
I hate that I want you.

***

CHAPTER VII

*****

THE SUN HAD disappeared from the sky, leaving room for the moon to take over. Even through the deep darkness, the sky had been illuminated, not by the millions of stars that I knew were there, twinkling away, but by the bright, saturated orange of the street lights and the millions of other homes that had all their lights switched on.

The car horns from a million storeys beneath us still reached our ears, making me roll my eyes at how busy New York remained, even late at night.

“One day, I'm going to show you the stars.”

“Hmm?” Mateo hummed loudly, turning away from the millions of bright lights, just like fireflies and looking to me instead.

I didn't know what it was about his eyes that always had my heart beating slower. All I knew was that I would do anything to keep him safe.

I softly took his hand in mine, prying his thumb out of his mouth and smiled. “Mama's been saving,” I said slowly even though I knew he didn't get what I was saying. “And once I create a name for myself, hopefully I'll have more money to save. And then I'll buy a house away from all this bullshit.” I poked his cheek and he giggled, making the smile on my face grow wider.

Children were so easy to please.

“Just for you and me,” I sighed, before turning us to look at the scene in front of us again. “And then you'll be able to see the stars and the moon and the planets. I'll get you a telescope that you can use whenever you want...” I faltered and let a deep sigh roll past my lips before speaking again. “And then you'll have unrestricted access to the sky.”

Unrestricted access to life.

I didn't always let Teo onto the balcony. It was too high and too dangerous for a dumb two-year-old. This night had felt different though. I was high on life for some reason, because I had found the beauty through the pain and I wanted him to experience it with me. Not the pain but life.

I didn't set him down and he didn't fight to be let out of my arms. It was almost as if he knew more than he let on. I bet he did.

I held him tight in one arm and raised the other to check the time before cursing. It was past twelve, but I had to have left by half eleven. Both Derek and Morgan said it would be safer if I travelled at night because it would be harder for someone to track me so Teo and I spent the whole day packing whatever we deemed necessary.

I didn't know how long we would be gone, but that wasn't something I wanted to think about yet.

I turned around and slipped back into the small apartment, finding that the chilly night air had found its way into the home and practically turned the place into a freezer.

Instead of complaining about it like I usually did whenever I left the window open, I instead set Teo down on the sofa and got down on my hands and knees. I peeled back the cream rug on the floor, exposing the dark oak floorboards beneath it.

I was too lazy to clean under rugs, but I found myself having to do it the first time I stored my first wad of dollar bills under the floorboards.

Old habits die hard.

I slotted the old, loose floorboard out of place and pulled out the two plastic bags that sat beneath it, acting as the cushioning I had torn out.

I had saved up just over one-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Enough to place a deposit on a home but I didn't want to mortgage. I wanted to buy upfront and have it over and done with. My line of work was heavily dependent on the amount of clients I got and while I was doing relatively well, they were still some dry weeks where I only received one or two orders.

I emptied out the contents of my large, red handbag and stuffed the white plastic bags into it, making sure to cover it with my items before stuffing the rest of the money into my suitcases.

I was too anxious to have a bank account. Obviously, I was aware of the risk of keeping such a large amount of money on me, but I was also aware of how Daniel could trace me if my name was out on any kind of system.

I sighed, looking around the dark sitting room before turning to Teo who had stopped watching me long ago and instead took to playing with his toy alien on the floor.

“Teo?” he snapped his head up to look at me. “Come on, babe. We're going now.”

He wiggled off the sofa, of course, not dropping his alien and ran towards me with his arms raised. As soon as he reached me, I swooped him up into my arms, took the handle of our bags and left the apartment.

The ride down to the car park was silent which wasn't usually a concern in a place like this, but there was something off about it. There was something off about the way the hairs on the back of my neck grew stiff; about the way Teo seemed to have clung onto me tighter without even noticing; about the way the temperature seemed to have dropped by a couple degrees.

Something wasn't right but I wasn't planning to stick around and find out what it was.

As soon as the elevator door pinged open in the basement floor, I ushered Teo out towards the car and followed close behind him with our luggage. The same eerie silence from the elevator followed us through the parking lot, bringing light to how still everything seemed to be at the dead of night.

Maybe this was how it usually was. I couldn't say that I was commonly out of my house at twelve o'clock so maybe this was the norm.

The realisation calmed me a bit, making my trip towards my white Cadillac with Mateo easier than I was expecting it to be. Soon we were standing right in front of the car and while Teo got into the back seat as per request, I walked around to the boot to put in our luggage.

It was only after I closed the trunk of the car did I notice something that caught my attention in the far distance. It looked like a shadow in the dark, but could you even see shadows in the dark? I had a knack of conjuring up things that didn't exist when I was tired, so I only rubbed my eyes and walked to my car.

Even if it really was someone watching me in the dark, what would I be able to do about it? I wasn't going start exploring so I may as well run away.

With my heart beating fast in my chest, I walked around to the driver's side of the car, ready to open the door and get in when a rough hand grabbed my arm and yanked me away from it.

I knew better than to scream. The last thing I needed was Mateo coming out to check what was wrong and getting his dumbass captured too. For all I know, the captor may not even know he existed and I wanted to keep it that way.

I glanced into the car, checking to see if he was okay. Once I set eyes on his still form, drifting to sleep I let out a relieved sigh even through my unfortunate situation.

That was when my brain began working again and I started struggling in my assailants grasp.

“Let me go, you fucking asshole,” I growled, trying to land a blow into his stomach as he dragged me further and further away from my car.

Further and further away from the gun in the glove box.

Fuck.

“You're not screaming like you want to be let go,” he chuckled, only making the anger coursing through my blood towards the man worse.

“Let go of me before I kill you.”

He let out a loud, roaring laugh that made me jump. “And how do you plan on doing that?”

He wrapped his arm around my waist, locking my arms into his tight grip before hoisting me up off my feet and walking me away from the car. The hopelessness of the situation finally settled in me and that was when I started screaming and thrashing for my life.

“Let go of me! Just let me go!”

“You're the most entitled kidnappee I've ever encountered,” the man laughed as if this was a joke. As if I wasn't scared for my life right now. “Couldn't even throw in a please or anything.”

“Please,” I begged, my voice cracking. “Please, just let me go.”

He didn't say anything after that, but it was obvious that letting me go was the last thing on his mind.

The underground parking lot was lit up in sections, the lights only going on when we entered one section. If we stayed there long enough, the lights would go off and wouldn't come on again even if you moved until something entered it.

I wondered how long this guy had been waiting in the dark for me. Honestly seemed like fan behaviour but I wasn't going to say that to his face.

He walked us out of one section, away from my baby who was drifting off in the car to another one that lit up once we entered.

“This is the one you were asking for, right boss?” the man asked, but I didn't see anyone around to answer. I started wondering if I had fallen into the clutch of a madman. I wouldn't put it past my luck if I was being honest.

One day I just wanted to wake up to a pot of gold. Was that too much to ask for?

“Yes, she's the one,” a deeper, much more sinister voice said from behind us, making my heart speed up and my body stiffen against my assailant.

Because I knew his voice all too well.

“She's quite the fighter, boss,” the man laughed happily as if they were talking about strong dog breeds over a warm cup of coffee. “It seems like she remembers you too.”

I wanted to slap him. Did he have to give me out like that? Honest to God, if I could keep up my cold and strong facade as long as the encounter lasted, I would have but as soon as I turned around and set eyes on him, something in me snapped.

Because one of three things was going to happen tonight: I was going to die, I was going to lose my son or both. The tears trailed down my cheeks before I could even tell them to dry themselves and I found myself falling onto my knees, getting ready to do what I always did with him because I couldn't fight him.

So I had to placate him.

I looked up and met his dark eyes that seemed to burn with ice and almost died. My lips parted and I willed myself to say something sensible, but the only thing I could utter was,

“Daniel, please. Not now. Not yet.”

He held me with his eyes for a couple seconds, not doing or saying anything as he just stared at me. I returned the look, letting my eyes run over his entire figure as I took him in.

He looked the same - exactly like the Daniel that I had known before I left, but at the same time he looked so different. I didn't think it was possible for him to get any hotter than he already was, but I guess aging did him good.

He must have been twenty-four now even though I couldn't pinpoint a specific difference that made him look older. Maybe it was in the way his dark eyes seemed to have been darker, or the his curly hair was shorter than I remembered it being. Maybe he had a new outlook on life that explained why he seemed to look at me different.

Or maybe I was just extremely desperate, reaching and grasping for the slightest bit of hope for him. Maybe a part of me was still hoping that I could find the good in him so I could go on to believe that I would make it out of here alive.

After a while, he slowly over to his henchman and glared.

“Did I say you should hurt her?” he asked, his voice coming out cooler than ice water.

I felt a chill run through my body, so I looked away from his cold form and instead focused my gaze on the ground beneath me. I suddenly remembered that we were still in the underground parking lot, and Mateo had been left alone in the car. I needed to get back to him as fast as possible, but I wasn't even sure if that was possible anymore.

“No, boss, but she was being difficult,” the man defended, using his hand to gesture down to me. “I'm sure she isn't that hurt anyway. She's probably just shaken up a little, that's all.”

Almost as if to drive his point home, he kicked my back with the sole of his shoe, making me let out a pained cry and fall onto my elbows.

Daniel whipped out his gun faster than I could close my eyes to protect myself from the image. He pulled the trigger, but since I wasn't facing my assailant, the only thing I heard was the sound of the gunshot reverberating around the empty walls of the parking lot.

There was a silencer attached to it from what I could tell, but it didn't stop me from letting out a small scream at the sound.

The man that had been shot let out a low groan, making a weird feeling of relief fill me once I realised that he wasn't dead. Daniel must have shot his leg or something.

“Leave before I shoot you again,” he said, his voice low but still menacing. “And get me Guillermo.”

“Yes... boss,” my assailant wheeze before stumbling away from us.

It was just him and I and I felt my body shake at the prospect of it but not for good reasons. I couldn't look up at him. Couldn't see him even though I knew that's what he wanted me to do.

He was extremely angry at me and I was extremely scared of him.

“You've changed,” he suddenly said, but I still couldn't look up. “You cut your hair,” he pointed out, making the weirdest feeling of guilt come over me.

I promised him I wouldn't and I did.

He crouched down in front of me, making me whimper pathetically in fear. He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him, letting his eyes run over my face and the rivers that were flowing down my cheeks.

He suddenly smirked and ran his eyes along my body. “And did your hips get bigger?”

I let out a sob, hating him and myself in the moment. Why couldn't I do something cool to save my life and get out of here? Why was I crying like an idiot?

Why did he still have an affect on me?

“Don't cry,” he mocked, frowning slightly even though I could see the humour glistening in his eyes. “Why are you crying?”

Because I'm afraid of you. Because I don't want you to take my son away. Because I think you're going to kill me and hurt Teo. Because I never realised how much I missed you until now.

I kept the countless answers that ran through my head to myself and instead glared harshly at the floor beneath me as I cried harder. He raised my head again, making me feel vulnerable as I was forced to stare him right in the eye as he used his thumb to wipe away my tears.

I willed myself to be strong. I willed myself to push him and run far far away with Mateo, but I couldn't find it in me. I was too tired, too lethargic and it was like the longer I stared into his eyes, the stronger the invisible hold he had on me grew.

“You already know why I'm here,” he said, his deep voice coming out softer than what I would've expected from him. “You're not stupid.”

“I don't.” I cleared my throat and stared right at him, almost as if seeing through him as he rolled his eyes at my stubbornness. “I don't know what you're here for.”

I didn't know who I expected to fool with my lie, but Daniel very clearly wasn't one of them. He stared right into my eyes, hand gripping my chin tightly as I held back the urge to wince and held his gaze.

“Bring him to me,” he said in a menacing voice, showing me that he wasn't playing around anymore. Hell, I don't think he ever was.

“He's not here,” I said with a shaky voice, not missing the way he smirked at my slip up.

“Is he not?”

“He's not even your son!” I exclaimed, but he kept his composure and stared coolly at me as I continued to fight the ball lodged in my throat.

“So you do know why I'm here.”

“God what do you want from me?” I screamed, prying his hand away from my chin as I scooted back against the dirty parking lot floor. My back hit the side of a red car and I looked back up at him with wide, manic eyes. “Just leave me alone, Daniel! Go away! Go away!”

“That would be a waste of a plane ride,” he said calmly, standing up straight and dusting off his jacket before walking over to me.

I let out a loud sob and buried my face in my hands, trying to think of something to do to get myself out of the situation, but then the harsh reality dawned on me.

There was nothing I could do.

Daniel said and did nothing. I strained my ears just to hear what he was doing, but it was like he wasn't even there. I knew he was though, because I wouldn't still be shivering the way I was if he had left.

“You can't take him from me,” I whimpered, my voice sounding wobbly against the silent night air in the parking lot. “Not now at least.”

There was silence, but I knew he was still there listening to what I was saying. Or maybe that's what I hoped was happening.

“Please, don't take him from me. He's the only thing with meaning in my life and if I lose him, I've lost everything.” I slumped into myself and pressed my hands into my face as if that was going to keep the tears at bay. “He's the only thing that keeps me sane. If I lost him, I'd die.”

There was silence again as I thought about how true my statement was. It wasn't an over-exaggeration. I knew that if I lost Mateo, I would have no reason to live again.

“I would kill myself.”

The silence was becoming unbearable. It was almost as if he wasn't there with me anymore and if I hadn't have known better, I would've taken a peek at my surroundings to confirm. But even when the air was still and the silence was heavy, I knew he was still there because I could feel him.

I could feel the heat of his glare on my body and I could feel the way I was responding to it. With immense fear and a little anger that I was too scared to act on.

“I'm going to ask this once,” he finally spoke up, making my breath hitch in my throat as I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded. “Is he my son?”

He and I both knew that that was a stupid question. I knew he was already aware of the true answer; they shared a name for God's sake. Of course they were father and son, but a part of me didn't know whether it was a test or not. Maybe if I said no he would believe me leave me alone. Maybe he would skin me alive for 'cheating' on him.

Maybe he was just playing a mind game.

I nodded my head before shaking it and then changing my mind and nodding again.

He chuckled at my indecisiveness and stepped so close to me that I could see his shoe right in front of me. He crouched down and grabbed a handful of my hair before yanking my head up so I was forced to look nowhere else but at him.

“I always know when you're lying,” he said, peering straight into my brown eyes. “Remember?”

“Then why do you keep asking if you already know?” I asked, feeling frustrated as I struggled to pull myself out of his grasp.

His grip on my curls tightened and he yanked down on it worse, making me cry out from his threat of violence but not actually feeling any pain from his actions. He let go of my hair and brought his down to my chin, caressing my skin softly before grabbing my chin roughly and forcing me to look straight ahead.

He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, his own lips raising slightly into a smirk. “It seems your ability to cause trouble hasn't changed much.”

A small, barely audible whimper escaped my lips as I tried tp pull myself out of his hold, but he only held my chin tighter and forced me to continue looking at him.

“Please, don't—”

“Go and get him,” he cut me off, making my eyes swell with tears. I stared up at him, hoping to find any kind of weakness to go off, but his eyes remained cold and his face completely emotionless as he glared at me. “Bring him to me.”

The silence lasted for another couple seconds before I cast my eyes away from him and looked past him instead. With a small nod, I finally gave in. I didn't know how he was feeling. He refused to give anything away, but he let go of me finally and allowed me room to get up and bring him his son.

Staring up at him as he towered over me, looking down at me as if I was below him, I couldn't help but feel like I was. Why couldn't I just be stronger? Why couldn't I defend myself and Mateo from him? Why did he always get away with intimidating me? Why couldn't I, for once in my life, be the stronger person in the Araceli-Daniel dynamic?

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing the tears back. I balled my hands into fist's and pressed my nails into my palms as I slowly got up and willed all the frustration I felt to go away.

There was no point in beating myself up because whether I liked it or not, I was going to lose my son by the end of the night.

Teo was completely asleep by the time I had walked across the whole length of the car park and reached him. He was never a deep sleeper, but he hadn't even made a move to stir once I opened the car door to the backseat, letting me know that he was probably extremely exhausted.

It made me feel bad for waking him up because, like his father, he didn't sleep very well either. Wanting him to get as much sleep as he could, I made sure to pick him up gently so the move didn't startle him awake.

I held him to my chest and closed the door behind me before slowly making my way over to where I knew Daniel was waiting for me. Even though it was dark and I couldn't see anyone else around me, I knew I was being watched. I could feel it by the way my skin crawled and my heart raced.

I walked extra slow, letting my eyes run over the whole place to see if there was a way for us to escape. I knew there wasn't, but I just needed something to take my mind off what was about to happen. I needed something to take my mind off the fact that I was about to have my son taken from me.

At that thought, a sob escaped my lips and the tears began trailing down my cheeks again as I clutched his sleeping form closer to my body. Never did I ever think that it would happen. I knew it was a very real threat, but I refused to let myself believe that Daniel would come here and steal my son from me.

Or at least not so soon anyway.

I stepped into the area of the parking lot that I came from, squinting when the lights suddenly came on again. Daniel wasn't in sight, but two extremely familiar people were leaning against a white, expensive looking car that I wasn't sure belonged to them.

“It's been too long, Ara.” I narrowed my eyes and glared at Celeste as she smiled at me as if we were the best of friends. “What?” she pouted. “You're not going to give your good friend a hug?”

“Where's Daniel?” I demanded, but my tone didn't seem to faze her at all as she only smirked and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Who?” she asked innocently. “You mean my husband?”

It was like something in me had broken upon hearing that. He got rid of me and got married to her. I felt used. I felt deceived. I felt like an idiot for feeling this way.

And if it were back then, I maybe would've cried. I would've yelled and cussed the hell out of them because I was hurt. But now things had changed. I wasn't as upset as I ought to have been finding out because amidst all the changes that had taken place in two years, I could still see that everything was the same.

Because she may have been his wife but here he was still coming after me and enlisting her help like an employee.

“Celeste,” Guillermo growled lowly, speaking for the first time I had arrived.

The redhead rolled her eyes. “I was just getting back at her,” she said, making me raise a brow at her. “Jesus. You know I'm not with him so don't be so insecure about it.”

“I'll show you insecure,” he said lowly in an almost threatening voice before turning back to me who was watching the spectacle curiously. Were they together now? “Give him to me and then we can go.”

He took a step towards me, but I took three steps back and held my son tighter to my chest. With a firm voice I asked again. “Where is Daniel?”

I wasn't just going to hand him to Celeste and Guillermo. For one, Celeste and I were on bad terms and secondly, as much as I liked Guillermo, I didn't trust him.

“Boo,” someone said from behind me. Their breath fanned against my skin as my heart stopped beating and all the blood drained from my face. “You were looking for me?”

I leaped away from Daniel, finally regaining the ability to breathe after realising that it was just him. His eyes twinkled with humour, but he said nothing and instead just watched me quietly as I tried to regain my composure.

I felt every pair of eyes in that car park on me, but I only stood up straighter and looked Daniel right in the eye, making him raise a brow at me.

“Here's your child,” I said sarcastically, making the humoured look appear on his face again. Neither of us made any move to walk closer to each other and for a while we were engulfed in a tense silence until he finally spoke again.

“He's asleep.”

“And if you know anything you'll keep him that way because he inherited his apparent insomnia from his father.”

Daniel didn't respond to anything I had said which I chose to believe was for my own good. Instead, he stared at my face, running his eyes over each and every feature of mine as if trying to memorise me.

He then looked down at Teo who was clinging onto me as he slept.

He looked up again, but looked past me this time to the people I knew were still standing behind me. “You can go,” he said, his voice coming out softer than I was used to.

There was more silence until the sound of footsteps walking away filled my ears. They got quieter and quieter the farther away they walked until I couldn't hear them anymore and it was just Daniel and me again.

He took a step towards me, but instinctively, I took one back. He took another step towards me but I took another back again. His eyes narrowed at me as he glared and with a firm voice, he said, “stop.”

I halted immediately, feeling my heart beat harder in my chest the closer Daniel got to me. To be honest, I felt more bad for Mateo who had to listen to the random frantic beat of a rampant heart. What could he have been dreaming about?

Before I knew it, Daniel was right in front of me with his dark eyes focused on his son. And the moment finally started to register in my head.

Daniel was meeting his first and only child for the first time in his life. He may have kept a calm exterior, but I knew he cared because he wouldn't have come all the way here if he didn't. He probably had no idea what to do. He was probably in awe looking at the life that he had helped create.

Like I was when I first lay eyes after a traumatic birth. In the hospital, he was tiny and pale with all these unknown wires hooked up to his frail body and there was an annoying beep every two seconds, but the only thing I could focus on was the fact that he was alive and he was breathing.

I could remember the first time I held his hand. He wrapped his tiny little hand around my finger and kicked his leg out as if he was happy that I was with him.

I could remember his first laugh, his first word, his first step. I had all of those memories with him. But Daniel didn't.

The tears started trailing from my eyes again as the guilt ate at me from the inside. The worst part was I still didn't want to give Teo up. I couldn't. He was my entire life and I couldn't lose him and I knew that was being selfish but I couldn't help it.

I no longer had a choice in the matter though. It had to be done.

I took a step closer to Daniel, making him look at me with surprise as I had made a move towards him even though I was so obviously scared of him. With tears trailing down my cheeks, I carefully pried Teo away from my body, making his cute face scrunch up with the onset of tears. I placed him on Daniel's chest before he could properly start crying and Daniel, thankfully, wrapped his arms around him so he wouldn't fall.

Unfortunately, Teo knew me better than I thought he did and pried his eyes open when he realised he wasn't on me anymore.

“Momma,” he cried, looking around the car park for me in a haste.

“Shh, I'm right here, baby,” I muttered softly, placing my hand in his hair and gently ruffling it.

He turned around, as if to make sure it was really me before relaxing against Daniel. Quietly, he looked up at the person who was carrying him, meeting the eye of his father who was also looking down at him.

The silence that ensued was almost magical. No one said anything and nobody did anything. It was just the two of them, in their own little world meeting each other for the first time.

Father and son.

Teo smiled, obviously recognising the man that I had spoken to him many times about. The man that I always showed him pictures of. His dad.

And Daniel continued staring, obviously taken aback by Mateo's dubious character. Unaffected by this, Teo rested his head on Daniels chest again and reached out for me to give him my hand which I did.

After wrapping his tiny hand around three of my fingers, his eyes began drooping again and soon he was back to sleep on Daniel's chest.

I caressed his cheek with my thumb, smoothing his hair back out of his face. The moment was short but it was wonderful and I caught myself wishing for more moments like these to come.

But that was impossible because I couldn't forgive Daniel for what he had done to me. If it wasn't for the fact that I was absolutely terrified of him, I would have pulled out a gun and shot him in the balls.

I had no idea what I was going to do now. If Daniel was to take Mateo away from me, how was he going to do that? How could I tell my son goodbye if he was sleeping? How could I tell my son goodbye at all?

“Always talk about me to him.” I snapped my eyes up at Daniel's words, feeling confusion fall on me. “I'll visit occasionally. Like maybe on his birthdays and on Christmas.”

“Daniel, what are you talking about?”

“Don't let him get away with shit I wouldn't let him get away with. And...” he closed his eyes, struggling with the words I wad hoping he would say. “And I'll come back when he's eighteen.”

I felt like the happiest woman on earth in that moment. I couldn't believe it. Daniel slowly handed Mateo back to me, being cautious as to not hurt him or cause him distress in his sleep.

I wanted to jump up and down in joy and scream my lungs off but instead settled for clutching Teo as close to me as I could.

“I'll call you later and put my number in your phone and you'll send me your bank account. Alright?”

I nodded my head profusely, staring intently as he spoke because I couldn't miss a single detail. He began walking away and I walked after him, following him in silent happiness as we drew closer and closer to my car.

Even though he remained passive, I could tell that he wasn't happy. I mean, who would be in his situation? But I was overjoyed and I couldn't hide it and that probably made me a bad person but I didn't care because I had my son.

“Do you have a gun?” he asked, drawing my attention back to him. I nodded in response to his question. “Where?”

“In the car.”

“So you don't have a gun,” he said, rolling his eyes. He hooked a finger into the waistband of my jeans and pulled me closer to him. With fast movements, he pulled a gun from the back of his jeans and placed it in mine before stepping away so I could finally breathe again. “You need to have one on you at all times.”

I nodded, understanding what he was telling me but he grabbed a hold of my chin and forced me to look at him. “I'm not joking. If something happens to the child, I'm coming for you.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, using my hand to slap his away. Turning away from him to get our suitcases out of the back since there was clearly no need to travel anymore, I spoke. “I have your gun, Daniel. Don't get so cocky.”

“You haven't changed at all.”

And then he laughed.

*****

This was not easy to scroll down, I'm telling you. Too goddamn long. But anyways, what did yall think?

Were you yelling for her to just get up and kick him in the gut and then run away?? Or was that just me?

Anyway, the glow up you expect from Araceli will be seen soon. To some it might even be the next chapter depending on how well you know her.

I'll try to have that chapter posted later today but these things are hard to edit so just bear with me.