On the way to Luna Café I kept looking behind my shoulder. I knew that Jay was following me, and discreetly watching from somewhere, but my anxieties only grew. For some reason my heart began to beat faster, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
I went inside the Luna Café, Simon was already there, he even ordered the chocolate cheesecake that I loved. I greeted him smiling, forcing myself to chase away my irrational fears.
“Would you mind if I order champagne?” Simon asked, “It's more proper to celebrate than raising a toast with coffee,” he chuckled.
“I don't mind drinking a glass,” I laughed.
He called for a waiter and we were already raising our glasses a minute later.
“To Ana's first book published! It will surely be a best-seller,” Simon declared.
“I would love to have your confidence, but I will drink to that…” I gri
My tears kept falling uncontrollably from my eyes. I never prayed to be saved by someone as strong as in that moment. I prayed that Hiro would, once again, show up himself like that time I was kidnapped… but no one was coming. I kept holding to my faith because Jay said he called for backup.“They will trace us, and will find us here, won't they?” I kept hoping in my mind.Seeing Jay that helpless had only increased my suffering. I couldn't even reach out to him, touch his hand, say that it would be all right… even though I had only hope that it would. There was guilt in his eyes, he probably blamed himself that he couldn't protect me well… How I wanted to tell him, that he did the best he could, how I wished that he could hear my thoughts… All I could do was to mumble incomprehensibly, like an animal with a human brain.“Mr. Chen… it's time to make a decision,” Deol came closer to me, gazing lustfully m
I had no strength to cry left. I lied on the bed helpless and absolutely defenseless, but I couldn't give up on my life, not yet. I had to keep on living, I had to do anything I could to avenge Jay. I had to be strong, ignore the suffering and keep stalling, hoping to find a way to escape in the meantime. Yet…“This is pathetic, Ana… You are thinking about avenging Jay?! You might die here any moment! You cannot even take care of yourself… Stop fooling yourself!” every piece of my brain was clearly convinced about my chances to succeed.I closed my eyes and lied on the bed motionless. I felt like every ounce of my lifeforce had left my body, and now I simply waited to die any second.“Ana…” I heard a faint voice, “Ana… wake up… Wake up, Sis…”I opened my eyes and saw Jay! I abruptly got up with a newly found energy. I looked around and I was back in my apartment, sleeping
The name of man, who was “responsible” for my “well-being” was Song Bo, he finally introduced himself when he brought me dinner. He also genuinely treated my wounds and patched them. He was chosen as my own “prison guard”, because he spoke fluent English. As much as I wanted to kill him for humiliating me before, now he seemed to be my only light in this dark and frightening situation…It was also dark because of something else… There were no windows in this room and no clock. I couldn't even tell what time it was, or if it was day or night. Yet, Bo generously told me one thing… I was in Hong Kong, and Mr. Chen, Chen Longwei was the leader of the Ghost Dragons gang.I kept wondering if they were somehow connected to Zhao Kang, or directly to Tsuchida Holdings. Nonetheless, I didn't think that knowing the truth about it would make my position any better. There was one thought that I kept holding onto, they brought
I opened my eyes slowly, faintly hearing the drops falling in the intravenous drip. There was an oxygen mask on my mouth. My whole body hurt, but something kept telling me that I should be grateful for that pain – it was of sign of being alive. Once again I woke up in a hospital bed… This happened few too many times since I met Hiro, but somehow I felt I should get used to it. The same goes to losing consciousness… My inner, sarcastic sense of humor still worked, but I couldn't even force myself to smile. Furthermore, I felt to weak to even move my head. Could it be that the drugs that those bastards gave me were still that effective?“Ana… Ana! Can you hear me?” I heard a familiar female voice.Then I saw Melisa leaning over me. I tried smiling, but I guessed, it might have been hard for her to notice, especially when I was wearing an oxygen mask.“Do you hear me?” she repeated her question.I closed my
I sat on my hospital bed with a laptop on my knees. My heart was pounding erratically. My hands were shaking, and I could hardly catching my breath. It took me some time before I gathered my courage, closed my eyes shut and pressed “enter” opening the footage of my first day of imprisonment.I saw myself, and Song Bo from that day he had ordered me to strip in front of him… It was all there. The details were more vivid that I could ever imagine. I felt horribly ashamed.“Has Hiro blamed me for what I did there?” I wondered frantically.I truly hoped that he knew that I had no other choice, but to give up my dignity. I did it in order to survive, but… would he understand it? Did he really know what was it like to be weak and defenseless?I watched further, reaching the point when I saw the scene when I had got dizzy and then had lied down in my prison room. Only now I could observe that my falling asleep there had neve
Three days past after I woke up from coma. Samuel decided that his observation is no longer needed, and that I could go “home”, whatever that word meant. From the moment I saw the footage Hiro didn't visit me even once. Thankfully, Melisa kept me company preventing me from going insane or falling into depression.According to Samuel, my physical state was getting better. As for my mental state… I woke up screaming in the middle of the night couple of times, but I hoped I was on the way to learn how to cope with all that happened. I wished I could have Hiro by my side, but I suppose he didn't know how to help me so he decided to “give me some time”…In the evening Melisa delivered some clothes for me, and brought me to Hiro's apartment in the center of Hong Kong. It was the first time I could actually see some glimpse of this huge city full of lights, I was mesmerized.“You will admire the view from Hiro's apartment, it
The man in a dark grey suit grabbed my hand and swiftly hid my head under the side of his jacket. He led me inside the men's toilet, chasing everyone from there shouting something in Chinese. Whatever it was that he said to them… it worked. Few seconds later I managed to shut myself in a cubicle to throw up.After I finally finished vomiting, I felt much better. I cautiously glimpsed outside the cubicle, trying to get out of there unnoticed. It turned out the man who led me inside waited for me leaning on the wall, right beside the row of bathroom sinks.“The coast is clear,” he chuckled when he saw me.I nodded my head and smiled awkwardly. Then I left the cubicle to wash myself. He stood there observing me.“Thank you for saving me… That was really embarrassing…” I admitted, and nervously bowed to him.“What is your name?” he asked.“Anastasia…”“Nice
“Ana…? Ana, are you all right?” Kaisei asked, “You suddenly look… pale…”I kept staring at him motionless. There were tons of thoughts crowding inside my head, raising the level of panic in my body mercilessly.“Have I, by chance, just encountered the son of Hiro's greatest enemy?!” my mind was about to explode, but I had to do everything to calm down.I desperately tried to find the way to deal with this situation. Should I inform Hiro right away? But, how could I do it without raising any suspicions? I could only picture myself trying to act “normally”, which in case would DEFINITELY backfire right away. I decided to play it “cool” for some time at least…“So… you are Kaisei… Tsuchida?” I voiced out forcing myself to smile.“Yes. Oh… I just realized that I don't know your full name,” he laughed, scratching his foreh