➳➳➳❤Ⓒ❤Ⓢ❤➳➳➳

SABINA's POV

I was happy but sad and hurt at the same time because this wasn't what I pictured in my mind to happen the moment we would finally be free.

I thought, mom and I would be with Xzavier leaving Safe Haven but everything didn't happen according to our plan. All our memories together; those special moments we spent together, came back to me while looking at the solemnly beautiful yet hell mountainous area.

Before, whenever I thought about Xzavier and our moments together, it always made me giddy with total happiness. But it was different this time because it brought nothing but pain and sadness as if my heart was being stabbed a thousand times.

Then, my heart jumped when I suddenly saw that familiar house from a far. Xzavier's house. There was a sudden urge for me to go to his house and talk to him but I knew that I couldn't do that anymore. We're finally on our way to freedom and safety...but without him.

I felt the need to cry my heart out because my chest felt so heavy. But strangely, not a single tear fell.

I was pulled out of my deep thoughts when I felt my mother squeeze my hand gently. I looked at her and she gave me a smile, as if telling me that everything would be alright.

I forced a smile even though it was so hard for me to appear fine.

"Are you okay, Sabina?" I was surprised when I heard a voice through the headphone that I was wearing. It was the pilot. He was one of the people who saved us.

"How did you know my name?" He looked at me.

"Someone told me."

"Who?"

He smiled. "I'm sorry, Sabina, but I can't tell you right now. I know that you're tired from all the things that you've been through so it's better for you to sleep and rest." He then focused on piloting the helicopter. I didn't answer and closed my eyes. He was right. I was physically and mentally tired.

"That's right. Sleep so that you wouldn't think about him even just for a moment." I heard him mutter but it didn't register on my mind because shortly after that, sleep finally consumed me.

When we arrived in the city of Paris, I was totally mesmerized by everything around us. It was so amazingly beautiful and I was at a loss for words.

"I can't believe this is what a city looks like, mom." I voiced out while looking around us. I felt like a kid at the moment.

"Yes, my dear. Your dad and I grew up in the city and it was wonderful. Even though our life back then wasn't a bed of roses, it was still amazing." My mom said with a smile.

My dream finally came true. I finally set my feet on the city and I wasn't disappointed. Everything my eyes see were new to me and I was hungry to see more of it.

"For now, you will stay here until you want to. You don't have to worry about anything. Everything has been taken care of for your arrival." The man whom we were with said when we arrived on top of what they call a tall building which was located in the heart of the city according to him. He then opened the door and my jaw dropped when I saw what was inside.

"Wow. This is such a beautiful house. I can't believe that a house would be located on this high building." I uttered in awe.

"You're right, my dear. Such a luxury. Whoever owns this is surely rich." My mother agreed while looking around like me. The man who was with us chuckled.

"This is my best friend's penthouse here in Paris. He specifically instructed me to take you here and let you stay as long as you want to."

"Best friend? Can you tell me his name? I want to thank him for letting us stay here even though we're strangers to him."

"I'm sorry, Sabina, but I can't tell you his name." I got disappointed but I understood.

"What about you? May we know your name? You were one of the people who saved us but until now, you haven't told us your name yet." It was my mom.

He smiled. "Just call me Ez, ma'am." After that, he showed us around. I couldn't believe how grandiose this penthouse was. The owner must be so rich to own something like this.

"Thank you for helping us, Ez. Tell your best friend that we're thankful for letting us stay here." My mom said after that. We were now in the living room.

"I'll make sure to tell him that. Anyway, two doctors will come later to checkup both of you. For now, I will leave you two hear so that you could rest. If you want something to eat, drink or need anything, just press the number 1 on the telephone. The people downstairs will cater your every need. Do you want me to show you how?"

My mother smiled. "It's okay, Ez. I can still remember how to use a telephone so I think, we're going to be okay." Ez smiled.

"Okay, I'm going then. I'll be back tomorrow." After he left, we decided to freshen up and shortly after that, we fell asleep in one of the rooms. When I woke up, there were already food on the table at the terrace.

"C'mon, my dear. Let's eat. I'm already starving."

"Who gave all these foods, mom?" I asked curiously while eyeing everything on the table. Everything seemed so delicious and my tummy growled in hunger.

"Well, I ordered through the telephone just like Ez had instructed. After that, the chef personally came to deliver everything."

"Everything looks expensive, mom. Do we have money to pay for it?"

She laughed. "According to Ez, don't worry about anything because everything is free. Courtesy of his best friend." Even though, I was still hesitant, that made me feel a lot better. Later on, we began eating.

"I can't believe we're finally here in the city, mom." I looked at the picturesque view before us. "This is such a beautiful place. It's my first time seeing all these and they're very mesmerizing. Even though I already saw this view earlier, it still pleasing to the eyes no matter how long I stare at it."

"Are you happy?" I looked at my mother and saw her looking at me weirdly.

"O-of course, mom."

She nodded her head. "I'm glad you are. That's all what I want to hear." After eating, the doctors that Ez mentioned came.

According to them, they're a psychologist and a family medicine doctor. The family medicine doctor said that we seemed to be physically fine but the psychologist said that looked like I needed a couple of sessions with her because of everything that I've been through.

"I think I'm fine, doctor. There's no need to visit me again."

"Sabina, it's easy to say you're fine but I know that everything you've been through took a toll on you. Your mental health is every important same as your physical health. You shouldn't ignore it and pretend like everything is normal when you know that it's not." Doctor Blanc, the psychologist, said and I bit my lower lip.

I didn't think that she would actually see right through me even though I've been trying my best to hide my pain. Then, I realize that I needed it to totally move on with my life. I shouldn't stay like this.

"Okay, Doctor Blanc."

She smiled. "Very good, Sabina. Don't worry because I'll be the one to come to your place for our sessions. For the fees, someone had already taken care of it."

I wanted to ask who it was but just like Ez, I knew that she would never tell me any answer. Then, the night came. I stayed at the terrace, admiring the view to my heart's content, especially that tower called Eiffel tower, as it changes its colors.

But while watching it, I hugged myself as it suddenly became chilly. Sadness was eating my insides. For some reason, the face of Xzavier suddenly popped up in my mind, silently wishing for him to be here with me, but I knew that it was impossible for that to happen.

"Why, Xzav? I can't believe you could hurt me like this." Before I knew it, tears ran down my cheeks. I thought, all my tears dried up already but now, looked like there were another batch of tears that were ready to fall again.

That incomparable pain attacked my chest and it hurt like hell. Even though, I didn't want to, I just needed to release my emotions before my chest explodes.

Then, when my tears finally stopped, I promised myself not to cry over him again. I would achieve my goals in life and be the person I've been wanting to become. I would show him that I would make it even without him. He made a lot of promises but those promises were meant to be broken.

The next day, the biggest surprise of our lives came when Ez arrived with someone we never expected to see once again.

"Sabina..." He uttered full of emotion upon seeing me before he shifted his gaze on my mother. "Honey..."

Tears automatically fell from my mother's eyes while staring in disbelief at my father. Even I felt like I got rooted on the floor. Even though I've seen his face in pictures before, he looked totally different because he already aged.

"I-Is that you, Steve?" My father nodded his head as tears fell from his eyes. That was her cue. She rushed to him for a tight embrace.

"Oh, God! I knew you would come back to us! I knew you would!" She sobbed but I could tell that she was floating in the clouds because of so much happiness. I couldn't hold back my tears of joy from falling. Even after all the bad things that we've been through, something wonderful happened.

"I've never given up hope, honey. I knew that one day, our family would be complete again and it finally happened. I missed you so much, honey. If this was a dream, I don't want to wake up anymore."

"I'm the same, honey. I can't believe you're finally here." My mom answered full of emotions. They continued on hugging like that, emotions were flooding, until my father finally looked at me and smiled as he held out his other hand for me.

"Come, sweetie." I did as I was told and let myself get enveloped into his warm embrace. The three of us hugged tightly and I felt nothing but happiness. It was my first time hugging my father and I could tell right away that he's the best dad.

Just the way he was staring at mom and I full of longingness and happiness, his warm and tight hug and his soothing voice while telling us how much he missed us. It was a perfect reunion and I couldn't be any happier.

"I love you both. You two are my life. I'm sorry it took this long for us to be reunited again." Dad said.

"You don't have to say sorry, dad. The important thing is we're finally together. Our family is finally complete." I answered and my mother agreed.

Later on, after that emotional moment, we thanked Ez who was there the whole time, quietly watching us. According to him, he didn't do it alone but when we asked who were the others who helped him, he told us that they didn't want to reveal who their identities. We respected their decision and didn't ask about it again.

"I'm sorry that we don't have a place to stay at now that we're finally together. I've saved up money and worked for years just to get a small apartment for us but we can't stay there anymore."

"Why? What happened?" My mother asked with furrowed eyebrows. We're in the living room.

"Last week, a group of men forced their way inside the apartment and attempted to kidnap me. Thankfully, Ez and his colleagues came and rescued me. If it wasn't because of them, I might not be here today."

"Who were those people, dad? Do you have any idea?" I caught him throw a glance at Ez before he sighed.

"I think, it's just a random attempted burglary. It's better for us not to talk about it. I want us to start fresh in life without any negativity. A lot of time had been wasted already so we should focus on our family this time."

"But—" My mother was about to keep on asking questions but Ez spoke.

"—Don't worry, Mrs. Martins. We already reported what happened to the police and they're conducting investigation as we speak. For now, it's better for you to stay here." She nodded her head and didn't ask anymore questions.

Even I wanted to know the details because I could tell that something was off but decided to just keep quiet about it.

Because we couldn't stay in my father's place, we stayed in that penthouse for around 2 months and during those times, my mother and I underwent sessions with the psychologist. The presence of my father with us helped us a lot too.

"There's good news. Ez called me just now and he said that he found a place where we could stay for good. Apparently, we will be safe there, plus, your mother and I got hired for a job there." My father excitedly informed me when I woke up one morning.

My forehead crinkled. "And where is this place?"

"In Lyon, my dear." Even though I was kinda hesitant to move to an unfamiliar place again, I just supported my parents with their decision. When we arrived in Claudette ranch in Lyon, we met Mr. Jean-Claude Novell and his wife, Mdme. Claudette Novell.

"I'm glad you made it here to Claudette ranch, Steve, Sarah, Sabina. Welcome." Mr. Novell said with a smile. He introduced us to everyone there and we were welcomed warmly.

We were surprised when we learned that we would be having our own place that we could call our home and our family was so grateful to them.

Days passed and we quickly adjusted to our new life. We already have friends and I started reviewing for my college entrance exams. Then, the days became months. It felt like everything was a dream. I got to do everything that I thought I wouldn't have the chance to do while we were still in Safe Haven.

During those times, my parents and I agreed to not talk about the past and just concentrate on our new life. We wanted to forget everything and move on.

Then, one day, during my freshman in college, we finally received our grades for that term and I was so happy with the result of my hard work.

My parents were so proud of me that they even mentioned about my high grades to Mr. and Mrs. Novell and because of that, they granted me a scholarship. I was so gratefully happy that I became emotional. My dreams are slowly coming true.

Then, the months became years and during those times, a new Sabina was born, totally adjusted to the city life that I've been dreaming for ever since I was younger.

I graduated college with flying colors not to mention finished my course in advance because of my outstanding grades and performance.

Everything seemed so perfect not but there were nights that I still felt cold and lonely for some reason while staring at the dark starry sky. After everything that I've achieved, I could feel that there was a missing piece in my heart but I didn't want to think deeper what it was because I didn't want to feel the pain again...

➳➳➳❤Ⓒ❤Ⓢ❤➳➳➳

What do you think of this chapter, Amores?

Do you think Xzavier and Sabina are going to get back together?

Any idea of what happened to them before Sabina and her mom left Safe Haven?

COMMENT, VOTE, SHARE & FOLLOW