"I know, I've heard that to let your feelings show...

...is the only way to make friendships grow."

"But I'm too afraid now."

You know how damn special you are, Evelyn David.

That phrase never dared leave my brain. I wasn't convinced that I was special at any point. How would I be? And to whom? Why? Why were I too special for them to keep searching for me for more than six years?! How did they even know who I was?!

The fact that Mikhail insisted on faking my name and ID was definitely because he knew something about me, he knew that his boss was searching for me so he warned me about staying at his place because it was too dangerous. That's also why he told them I was Marcus's step sister, because it would have been less suspicious as they only knew me by my name and not my features.

It all made sense, but what didn't was the fact that Mikhail held too many secrets I knew nothing about. Which made me doubt trusting him again.

Why would he not be honest with me?

It was 9 am in the morning and I couldn't sleep from how much I kept overthinking everything.

I got up, took a shower and put on black leather pants, a white pullover with short black boots.

Getting out of my bedroom, I found Mikhail and Marcus sitting on the couch having breakfast.

I sat on the couch opposite them, glancing at the cup of coffee and the plate of pancakes that Mikhail had prepared for me. "Morning."

Marcus waved at me and Mikhail pursed his lips together, they both seemed frustratingly exhausted. I wasn't sure if they were mad at me because I didn't listen to what they said or if they were mad at themselves because they never would have saw it coming.

I was pretty sure I regretted not listening to them, but I was in a such confusing state that I didn't know I'd get easily fooled by someone like Adriano who seemed an angel but was in fact an actual devil. I never would have thought that in a million years.

We all were silent, sipping on our coffee.

I found Mikhail grabbing a white box and giving it to me. "I bought you a new phone, since you dropped the other one last night."

"Oh, thank you-.." I murmured, taking the box as I stared at it for a moment then looked back at him. "You actually didn't have to, I was going to buy a new phone myself."

"It wasn't your fault it got broken and then lost." he said, scratching the back of his neck. "It was all my fault, I should have not let you go with him in the first place."

I looked down at the box with a chuckle. "Well, I should have listened to you guys when you warned me about him." I said, glancing up at both of Marcus and Mikhail. "I'm sorry I didn't."

Marcus let out a chuckle as he threw up his hand. "It's fine, we all make mistakes." he said, shaking his head. "Just know I give good advice in relationships. So next time, make sure you listen to them."

I pressed my lips together with a nod.

Mikhail took a sip of his coffee then placed it down the table. "Here's what's gonna happen. Since Don's gonna be searching for us to get us killed, we're staying here until I make sure we're going to be safe if we went back to the mansion. No one knows about this apartment except us, Rafael and the three body guards who I ordered to guard the whole building. They're gonna make sure we're all safe, in case anything happened."

"Alright, I better get going then." Marcus said, getting up from the couch.

"Where you going?!" Mikhail asked, raising his eyebrow with confusion.

"Me and the body guard are gonna head to the mansion to bring all of our important stuff." he said, glancing at me. "I left my PS5 back there and I won't be able to live another day without it." he said, rushing to the door as he got out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Mikhail then looked back at me and chuckled, shaking his head.

I chuckled back and proceeded to sit on the couch next to him as I rested my head backwards.

"I have a lot of questions to ask you." I said, and I felt Mikhail's jaw clenching. "Why did Adriano say that they kept searching for me for more than six years and that I was special?!"

"He told you that?" he asked with a cold voice as he looked down at his cup of coffee.

"He did. And then Don showed me a picture of Liam's father. He expected that I'd recognize him and that we actually knew each other. How was that possible?!" I questioned, knitting my brows as I stared at Mikhail with confusion.

He then coldly took a sip of his coffee, not daring to look me in the eyes. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Well," I twitched my mouth, sighting the floor with the corner of my eyes. "I assumed you knew something.."

"I don't." he said, with an empty expression.

"If you didn't, then why did you fake my identity by telling Don I was Marcus's step sister?!" I questioned with suspicious.

"I only told him that because I wanted him to treat you as though you were one of us and not just a stranger." he said, looking at me. "Telling him anything other than that would have just seemed too suspicious to them."

I pursed my lips, nodding. "Then why do you think he was searching for me?!"

"I assume he's targeting Liam's father, since he has a very important reputation and dozen of money." he said, "He knew you was his son's girlfriend, so he wanted to get some information from you."

"Why couldn't he just kidnap Liam or his sister?" I knitted my brows, not buying what he said. "And I also wasn't his girlfriend six years ago when they were searching for me. So how could it be?!"

"But you were neighbors," he mentioned, titling his head at me. "Close ones."

I slowly nodded, still convinced he was hiding something from me but I just knew that it would be hard to get anything out of a stubborn guy like him.

"I'm just worried that I be in real danger." I nervously said with a pout. "They almost killed me back there."

"You know I'd never let anyone touch you or hurt you." he stated, tilting his head as his warm eyes gazed me with reassurance. "Not ever again."

I felt my stomach being tickled from the inside because of the way I was too close to him. Suddenly, I felt frightened from the thought of losing him.

"But Mikhail-..." I worriedly said, glancing down then up at him. "Don now wants to kill you.."

"Don't worry about me." he said, taking another sip of his coffee. "He once taught me how to murder people, now I'm gonna use that against him."

I cleared my throat, hoping that he'd be able to get rid of Don before he could do Mikhail any harm.

"Though, how did you manage to know I was at Don's mansion last night?!" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him with confusion. "I'm pretty sure I wasn't able to send you my location at the right time."

"You might have not sent me your location," he said, looking at me with a smirk. "But I always make sure to track it whenever you're away from me."

I let out a chuckle, still narrowing my eyes at him. "I knew you were a stalker." I said, resting my head on the couch while crossing my arms.

"I'm always worried when you're not with me, so this is just my way of protection." he said, smiling a bit. "And it was useful in the end."

"You're not wrong." I raised my eyebrows, pressing my lips together.

"That's why you had to listen to me when I warned you." he said, raising his eyebrows. "You shouldn't have even thought of being his date to the party in the first place."

I rolled my eyes, running my fingers through my hair as I looked away from him.

"I thought you was going to ask me to go with you," I disappointedly said, pursing my lips. "When I realized you wasn't going to, I got frustrated and decided to go with him."

I found him staring at me with surprise. "Evelyn, I was going to ask you. But I didn't the moment I knew you were going with Adriano." he said, exhaling his breath. "It frustrated me as well."

I narrowed my eyes, remembering that Adriano told me Mikhail found his date even before asking me to go with him. "He said you were already going with Isabelle.."

For a moment, Mikhail gave me a 'give me a break' type of look as he tilted his head at me.

"Why would I go with her when I had you?" he questioned, making me unable to hide the smile that was unintentionally shown on my face. "Isabelle and I are not a thing, she was just a second choice for me whenever I wasn't able to get closer to you. And I realized I shouldn't have let her be, she deserves to be someone's first choice, but not mine."

I half shrugged at him, stuttering. "Well, I'm glad you realized that."

He chuckled a bit, ruffling my hair. "Next time you want me to ask you out, just wait a little bit longer and I will."

"Okay you arrogant dork." I said, rolling my eyes as I got up but then I felt his hand gently grabbing my arms.

"You heading to work that early?!" He asked, raising an eyebrow with confusion.

"I'm not going to work anymore." I said, looking down with desperation. "I'll quit my job."

"Is it because of what happened with Liam?!" he questioned and I nodded with frustration.

"I just don't wanna encounter him anymore." I said, "Even if I'll have to lock myself in a basement for the rest of my life."

Mikhail took another sip of the coffee and then harshly placed it on the table with his jaw clenched. "Wait until I teach that fucker what he deserves." he gritted his teeth, and I felt his grip on the cup tightens.

"Hey," I softly hissed, grabbing his chin to my direction. "I don't want you to get in any trouble. You're already being targeted by a dangerous mafia boss, so will you please not be involved with Liam or his family?!"

For a moment, he nervously gazed at me as though he was stuttering to answer. Then he closed his eyes and gave me a reassuring smile. "I won't."

...

I went to the bakery shop to send them my resignation letter. Once I got out to head back home, I found Olivia and Emma chilling at the coffee shop.

As I proceeded to go and sit with them, I waved my hand to the bodyguard who Mikhail ordered to keep eyes on me and gestured him to stand few steps away so that no one notices I had a bodyguard following me.

"What's up, guys?" I said, pursing my lips as I took a seat next to them.

"Hey girl!" Olivia waved with a grin. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah." I grinned, glancing down the table. "Aren't you guys supposed to be at school?!"

"I don't know..." Olivia sighed, crossing her legs on one another. "We're thinking about skipping it."

"Yeah, school is really boring without you." Emma said, as she pouted while eating her cheese cake.

"But exams are on doors." I said, "Pretty sure you shouldn't skip school this week."

"Why don't you go with us then?!" Emma suggested, raising up her eyebrows while Olivia nodded.

"What?" I questioned, stuttering.

"Yeah, Evelyn. Why don't you come with us?" Olivia asked, tilting her head at me. "Skip work and let us spend sometime together!"

"Uh, actually..I quitted my job. So.." I disappointedly said, pursing my lips.

"Really? Why?!" Olivia questioned with curiosity.

"It's just not fun anymore..." I said, nervously rubbing my arms.

"We should go to school then!" Olivia said, and I twitched my mouth at her.

"Come on, Evelyn!" Emma grinned, "It's gonna be fun together!"

I stuttered a bit as I rolled my eyes and sighed at them. "Fine, just one day."

"Perfect!" Emma clapped with a grin as Olivia giggled with excitement.

...

We arrived at school, the bodyguard was still following me but secretly without anyone noticing.

Me, Olivia and Emma were in a mathematics class, solving too complicated exercises that caused our head to ache.

Thankfully, Liam and Mia didn't attend school, so I wasn't bothered of being afraid to encounter them.

Suddenly, the school's supervisor entered the classroom, interrupting the teacher. "Evelyn David?"

I nervously cleared my throat, glancing at Olivia and Emma who made no eye contact with me. "Yes?"

"The principal wants you at her office." she said with a cold voice as everyone else stared at me.

I slowly got up and followed her to the principal's office, not knowing what trouble I caused this time, but I hoped it wasn't major.

As I entered the office, I found my mom sitting in front of the principal's office, the moment she turned her head to me a frown was shown on her face.

"Evelyn, please come in." the principal said with a warm reassuring smile as mom glared at me.

Clenching my fists in rage, I forced myself to enter the office, unable to meet my mom's gaze from the fear of her speaking to me.

"Your mother told us you've ran away for more than two weeks now." she said, glancing at mom then back at me. "You're intelligent, Evelyn. A girl like you shouldn't underestimate the knowledge she has. A girl like you shouldn't be skipping school and having physical fights with her friends." she argued, raising her voice at me.

I was both furious and unbotherd with the situation I was in. I knew that it would have happened at some point, but I never knew that my friends would be the ones who lure me into that trap.

Silently, I looked down, not having the energy to explain anything to them.

The principal shook her head with a sigh as she got up from her desk. "I'm gonna leave you alone with your mother. I don't know what issues you both have, but you better fix it." she stated, looking at my mother. "For the sake of Evelyn's future."

My Ass.

The heck is future anyway? That had nothing to do with my future.

Once the principal closed the door behind her, I folded my arms at my mom, trying as hard as I could not to curl my lips. "Olivia told you I was here, didn't she?!"

"She did." mom said, glaring at me with disappointment. "Olivia and Emma care about you as much as I do."

I sarcastically nodded, looking away. "That's for sure."

Mom closed her eyes shut, sighing. "Look Evelyn, I'm not gonna be mad at you, I'm not gonna scold you for what you did even though you know it's wrong." she said, then opened her eyes and looked at me with pity. "I just want you to come back home. If Liam is the reason for you to run away and make me feel tortured from worrying about you, then I'm not gonna force you to get back with him. Just please, come home dear."

As much as I got emotional from her speech, I never trusted a word she said. I knew I was gonna get scolded at some point, I knew the battle between me and Liam wasn't over yet.

"Do you even know how much pain he has caused me, mom?" I questioned with disgust, and her attention was suddenly on me. "Do you know how much secrets I had to hide just for the sake of my safety?!"

"What do you mean, Evelyn?!" she asked, knitting her brows with confusion.

I let out a sigh as I took few steps closer to her and showed her the bruise Liam caused on my wrist.

"He did this to me." I said, and her eyes were wide opened. "He abuses me, Mom. And you had no idea about it."

For a moment, it was too quiet. My mom was stunned that she didn't know the right words to say.

"He even caused a bump on my head just because I confronted him for doing drugs." I chuckled, looking away. "He hit me, he even threatened to kill me if I told anyone."

I then leaned closer as I kneeled in front of the chair she sat on. "This is what your daughter has been going through, and you had no damn clue about." I said with a nod, raising my chin at her. "And you thought you knew how to protect me..., no you don't, Mom." I narrowed my eyes, as I shook my head at her.

Her eyes were still widened as I got up and glared at her. "You never knew how to protect me, that's why I always felt insecure and afraid of everything. You just locked me up like I was some fricking Rupanzel in your story." I said, and I slowly headed to reach the door's knob. "And I'm not letting you control my life again. Now that I know I'm truly protected, I'm not letting Liam force me to hide these secrets anymore."

The moment I got out of the principal's office, I found Olivia and Emma nervously rushing to me.

"Did you talk with your mother?!" Olivia said, and I let out a scornful chuckle.

"That trap you got me into was really brilliant and well planned." I grinned, nodding with sarcasm. "Now I'll make sure not to trust a word you say anymore." I frowned and then proceeded to exit school.

...

When I arrived at Mikhail's apartment, I found no one there.

I took a shower, studied for sometime and then I ordered pizza and rested on the couch to watch a movie.

I called Mikhail and Marcus to check on them, but they never answered me.

Suddenly, someone harshly knocked on the door and I realized it was Marcus outside yelling for me to open.

I quickly rushed and opened the door, finding Marcus carrying Mikhail from the side, he was blacked out and covered in blood while his clothes were burnt and shredded to pieces.

"What's- what's happening?!" I questioned with terror, as I took a horrified glance at Marcus.

"He was injured from an explosion." Marcus nervously said, while my heart skipped a beat. "I think he's losing oxygen, help me rest his body on the floor."

My heart was pounding too fast that I couldn't function any of the words he said. My head felt a little dizzy and my eyes blurred a bit, I could feel my breath being taken away everytime I thought of losing Mikhail.

Only to realize that it could have almost happened...

And it freaked the hell out of me.

_______

[Metanoia] (n.) : the journey of changing one's mind, heart, self or way of life.

....

We all can tell now that Evelyn's starting to become stronger by showing her mom the way Liam abuses her and confronting him for it.

Who do you think is gonna defend Evelyn from Liam now?!

Do you think her mom's gonna believe what she said?!

Don't forget to vote and comment!

xoxo <3