"What?! You're not going to help us?" I asked in disbelief.

We were at Samuel's office, discussing the 'pressing matters' he said earlier. Tony and I were still wearing our formal clothes. They didn't even have the decency to make us change our clothes first.

"I'm sorry, Haidee," Samuel apologised, "my dad found out that I was harbouring the two of you. He'll get rid of my company if I don't get rid of the two of you. I'm really sorry. I don't want my company to be destroyed."

My hands formed fists as my eyes glistened with forming tears, "Sorry if I seem ungrateful, but couldn't you at least extend our stay until tomorrow? We need a place to crash."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry. Even Gabriel has eyes on this company now. I can't risk it."

Tony held my hand and rubbed circles in it for comfort, "Please, just one night. That's all we ask."

Samuel hung his head low, "I'm sorry, you've asked enough. Guards, please escort them out."

My tears fell for real now and I probably looked pitiful as we were held on the arms and carried outside the building. Tony didn't have the energy to fight back. Neither did I. The staff only looked at us in pity as we passed them. Some even took pictures. No doubt to post it on the internet or send it to Gabriel.

The guards threw us to a street far away from the building and left us there with no mercy. I didn't even know where we were.

"Now what?" I asked, not knowing what to do. How would we get food now? We didn't even have money. Maybe we could sell our clothes? But I doubted they'd accept stained clothes.

Tony took a deep breath, "First, let's remove the anklets. I think they're tracking devices." He took off his anklet which was surprisingly easy to remove.

I nodded and removed mine. I thought these were made to only be removed by the palace, but I guess they were at such a haste that they gave us ordinary tracking devices, "Good call."

"Next, let's try to find anyone we know that'd be willing to help," he said and offered his hand to me after he stood.

I accepted his hand and dusted my dress—which was a waste of effort. The dress was stained really badly so why even bother dusting a little dust when it's full of it? "Let's try going to Laurence."

He nodded, "Sound like a plan."

The only problem was that, I kind of forgot how to get to our neighborhood from the company. I wasn't really paying attention when Julianne took me here. Such a bad timing. This place was a little far from where our houses were so I wasn't familiar with it.

"Tony?" I asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah?" He asked as he came up from behind me.

"Do you, by chance, know how to get back to our neighborhood?" I asked sheepishly.

He looked at me with an annoyed expression that looked like a teacher teaching a student who doesn't get addition, "You forgot, didn't you?" I gave him a smile that was full of guilt and nodded. He sighed and ruffled his hair, "Well, we're doomed. I don't get out of the palace much."

"What if we walk around and ask people who are willing to harbour two criminals?" I asked and shrugged, "who knows? Someone might still have a compassionate heart."

He nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

And just like that, we started our scavenger hunt until night. We knocked on every door and introduced ourselves—which was a horrible mistake. Just by hearing our names, they slammed the door on our faces, screamed and told us to leave, blame us for the deaths of their loved ones, and throw food at us. Being thrown food at wasn't the least bit of heaven we felt. They threw rotten food at us. Where they got it was a mystery but we couldn't do anything but leave. Some even threatened to call the palace on us, and some called them—in which case we ran for our lives making my feet ache from being barefoot.

We tried looking for shelter which led us to a park. There were also homeless people there which made me think twice of the project Tony made.

"I thought you gave houses to the homeless near Angeles?" I asked him.

He frowned, "I thought so too."

I pointed to one side of the park where there was a disassembled box laid out. It was the only thing that looked comfortable there. The carpet of grass would have been more comfortable but there was a sign there that specifically said, 'No homeless/beggars allowed'.

"I guess we're spending the night here," he said.

We didn't get any food. We tolerated it and figured that we were well-fed compared to the others who looked made of only skin and bones. We can't complain. If these people handled it for years, how can we not when we're more blessed than them?

Tony dusted the box and tried hard to remove the dirt, but we ourselves were dirty, why even bother?

I expected him to complain. Years of spending life's luxuries should've made him like that.

He patted the seat next to him, inviting me over to sit down. But before I could even get to lower myself, a scream erupted from behind us. Out of surprise, Tony and I inched away from the box, to see an old man. His face was wrinkly with age and his clothes were tattered. He didn't smell pleasant. If anything, I think he smelled worse than us. He had a large mole in his face that had a tiny piece of hair that sprouted off of it.

"Ah!" He yelled and waved a piece of wood where I didn't know came from, "get out pf my bed you stinky young brats!" He exclaimed, "go find your own place!"

"Um, sir," Tony said, "would you mind if we also sleep here? We have nowhere to go."

The man made a mocking face and raised his wood in a position that told me he'd hit us with no guilt, "Why should I care?!" He scoffed, "you brats bring no good to the society. Now get outta my place before I bust your heads in."

"B-But sir—" Tony began but I tugged his arm and bowed to the man.

"W-We're sorry, sir. We didn't know it was yours. We'll leave right away," I said and pulled him away.

"You better. If I see you anywhere near here again," he raised his wood and pointed it at our retreating figures, "you'll regret it."

When we were relatively far from there, Tony whispered, "Where will we go now?"

I was gradually losing hope but kept myself strong. I told myself that this was only a challenge. With a deep breath and a determined resolve, I said, "We sleep on the street."

He looked at me in shock, "What? But it's dangerous there!"

I looked at him seriously, "Everywhere is dangerous if you think about it."

He pursed his lips and nodded. He didn't say anything afterward. I looked around at unfamiliar surroundings. Should we sleep in a dark alley so there's a less chance we'll be caught? Or should we sleep where there are more people so we could blend in with the crowd?

I discussed it with Tony and we agreed on the latter. We found ourselves walking into a tunnel that reeked of rotten rats and garbage. The street littered with homeless people, all clad in dirty clothes. Some even didn't have clothes. Some gave us greedy stares and some just flashed us looks of annoyance.

I pulled him to one side of the place and sat down on the cold, dirty ground. It was uncomfortable, but we didn't have much of a choice.

"Are we just going to sleep here?" I asked him softly.

He leaned his head on the wall and covered his eyes with his hand, "I'm sorry, Dee." His voice broke at the end.

I looked at him in concern and said, "What are you sorry for?"

He took deep breaths and still didn't meet my eyes, "Everything. All I wanted was for us to have a future together. Is that too much to ask?"

I pursed my lips and forced the tears not to fall, "It's okay," I assured him and went closer. I slowly wrapped my arms around him and buried my face on his neck.

He slid his arm around me and pulled me closer, "I'm really sorry."

I closed my eyes and just melted into his embrace. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I was disappointed. After everything we've been through, we'll just end up on the streets?

I jolted away from Tony when we heard the sound of a gun. He himself looked alert and shocked.

"What was that?!" I exclaimed.

One guy near us scoffed and tolled his eyes, "First time on the streets, huh? Been a couple o'days since guns started firin'. Heard that bast*rd king been sending out guards to kill people who're not loyal to him."

"What?!" Tony asked in shock, "he kills them?"

The guy nodded, "Yup. We're lucky we're out here. They pay us no attention."

I remembered what my ex-teammates told me about this. They supposedly knocked on their doors and killed them in they were proven to be loyal to Tony. I glanced at Tony, wondering how bad he felt. These people died because of him. What would I do if I were him?

Tony his fingers through his hair in frustration, "Lucky? I'm nowhere near lucky."

Another gunshot was heard, and another frustrated grunt escaped from him.

"Do you sleep through the noise?" I asked.

The man nodded, "Yup. It's not like we can go and tell them to stop."

I could tell that Tony wanted to storm there and do just that but he knew he can't do anything.

I hugged him once more and whispered, "We'll save them, right?"

He took a shaky breath and kissed my forehead, "I'll make sure of it."

And just like that, we slept through the screams of people and the shots of guns.