⚠️Trigger warning: mentions of rape, abuse and suicide⚠️

Leonora's P.O.V.

"My sister was a wonderful person. She was kind and sweet and caring and loving to me and she'd protect me from my mother, as she was always an abusive person," I closed my eyes at the onslaught of emotions and memories, all of which I had buried deep down in hopes of never having to remember them, or feel them, again. But it was too late now, and I had to finish telling Emilie everything, as she deserved to know. After calling Shania, she had calmed me down, promising me that Shania and Hiroki would arrive soon, and that we'd be together, all four of us, and that they'd protect me from whatever was going on. If only they could....

"Then, one day, when I was 14, she came back with her boyfriend and his best friend. I was with my friend in my room, watching some film, I don't remember which one, when they barged in and took us to the living room. Mother was out for the evening and my sister decided that she'd had enough of being my protector, she said so herself. And she left us with the two guys, who.... who...." I closed my eyes, trying hard not to cry. The memory of what had happened that day was too much to bear and I didn't know how to tell Emilie. However she gently squeezed my hand, letting me know that she understood what had happened, and that I didn't have to speak those two words if I didn't want to. I sighed, relieved, and continued speaking after a while.

"This.... treatment continued for a while and, needless to say, mother found out. I half hoped that she'd put an end to it, but she just encouraged it. But you know what hurt the most?" I paused and looked at Emilie; she had unshed tears in her eyes and they also held all the love in the world. It was at that moment that I somehow realized that, no matter what I told her about my past, she'd always be there for me, because she loved me more than anything. She squeezed my hand reassuringly and silently waited for me to continue. I somehow managed to squeeze out a smile and to continue talking.

"What hurt the most was that I couldn't even protect my friend. I told her to leave me, to protect herself, to make sure she didn't get hurt any more. But she refused, insisting on staying because, according to her, I'd only get hurt more if she left me alone. I don't know whether it would've been true or not, and it's too late now to know. And we couldn't get help because we were both too scared: who knew what they'd be capable of doing if we had tried to get outside help? We weren't ready to risk it. Anyway, the situation continued like this for a couple of months, until a neighbor noticed that something was wrong and they called the police. They arrested the two guys and my sister. At the trial, however, she.... she got away. When our paternal grandparents had died, they had passed on all their money and property to us, but she had taken it all, being the older sister, leaving me with nothing. Because of the money she had, she got out of any form of justice and.... and," I stopped, starting to cry, unable to continue.

Emilie took me in her arms and rocked me gently, whispering reassuring things in my ear and stroking my hair. I had never felt so grateful to have her and I hugged her tight, wanting to show her how much she meant to me. After a while like this, I looked at her sadly.

"My friend committed suicide three days after the trial."

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Hi there!

Phew this last few chapters were super emotional, I'm actually crying, why does this have to happen?😭 and yes, I know, I'm the author and i choose what happens, but still, I'm getting too emotional for my own good.

Anyway, how'd you like these chapters? I didn't put any notes at the end, as I didn't want to interrupt the flow but now I want to know what you think! Was it what you expected? Did you think that the 'she' would be Leonora's sister? Do you think Emilie knew about this sister? And if yes, what do you think that she knew? Please let me know!

Also, like I'm supposed to be sleeping right now, and I'll probably get in trouble if I'm busted, but I'm a brat, so who cares? Also, it's only like 11pm? So it's still eaaaaaarly *big innocent puppy eyes*😇😇

Oh and wattpad has been acting super weird lately and I get notifications for comments/votes/book updates between half an hour and an hour later than when they were actually made, so if I take time to respond to anything it's because of that, not because I'm ignoring you. So yeah, sorry about that. Hopefully it'll get sorted out soon😒

Don't forget about the cover contest!!

Have a good day/night/evening!💖