Dania's father grinned and greeted his daughter before taking a seat on the little sofa in the middle of the room as Darren took hold of Dania's shaky and icy hands and brought her inside.
"Why are you late, baby? You also left your cell phone at home." Even though Darren was aware that Dania was perspiring and trembling, he nevertheless made a sound while maintaining his grip on her fingers.
"You looked flimsy and uninspired after saying that you missed your father, right? So I asked for your dad to come."
Dania shook till her face grew pale because she was confused by what Darren was saying. Dania's lips began to slightly open; she wanted to scream and tell everyone what had happened to her during this period, but she decided against it after seeing her father's soft face, which was nearly completely covered with wrinkles, and his bleached hair. Dania was warned by Darren, who was also holding her hand, that she was not permitted to act in that manner.
"Dany, what's wrong with your face?" Although the damage to Dania's lips was fairly superficial and had been concealed by makeup artists, her father could still clearly see the wound from where he was holding the corners of his daughter's lips.
Dania decided that her only option was to tell her father a falsehood, claiming that she was just beaten and nothing more serious.
"Dany, are you certain everything is okay?" Dania's father investigated again, this time with concern. The old man took a tissue off the table and gently rubbed his daughter's temples and sweat-covered forehead. Dania was moved by her father's tenderness and wanted to desperately hug him for support, but doing so would put her father in danger as well.
"Dania must be worn out, Dad. Don't be concerned."
The girl inhaled deeply and made an effort to smile at her father, although she had to firmly bite her lower lip in order to do so. "Dad you shouldn't come,"
Her father gave her a loving smile. If Dania continued to behave in this manner while witnessing her father's grin being taken from him, she would truly be insane.
"Although you're getting older, but you're my tiny girl in my eyes."
Dania's neck veins tightened as Darren's palm brushed through her long, wavy hair. The man had a great understanding of how to control Dania. It involves Dania's one and only shortcoming—her inability to fight. Dania can still plan a way to get away from Darren, even if it means dying or living in misery, but she must stop Darren if something bad happens to her father.
"I just spoke with Darren, and I feel he's taken wonderful care of you,"
Dania had to use all of his strength to defend his father, whose smile never faded, as though he was adding salt to the wounds Dania purposefully inflicted. Her father knew nothing.
"You can stay here, Dad."
The elderly man complied with Dania's request despite having to go back to Cooperstown tomorrow. Dania told her father. He merely wished to confirm the wellbeing of his daughter.
"It's so cramped here, you can sleep in my house."
Dania turned her head to look at Darren after he said something she didn't like, stating that she didn't want to be cowardly in front of her father.
Dania's eyes were wide open as she stared at Darren; her breathing was jerky. "No. Dad's going to sleep here!"
Dania stared at Darren with a smile, but Darren didn't feel the least bit scared by the way Dania was acting. Darren understood that he had command of the current circumstances.
"I will only spend one night with Dania."
When Darren ultimately complied with Dania's father request, it at least temporarily relieved Dania's tension.
Dania's father asked, "Your parents haven't arrived in Manhattan yet, right?"
Darren's parents had, in fact, been too busy to care for him since he was a young child. As a result, they have always left him alone. So they don't worry when Darren goes to Japan by himself to study.
"They seem to have lost their memory of how to return home."
Although Darren seemed to be taking his remarks seriously, he afterwards laughed because he thought they were a joke.
Dania's father gave permission to use the restroom and clean up after a long day of bus travel, giving Darren the chance to talk to the girl who had run away from him the day before.
"Baby...,"
Dania's hair was pulled back behind her ears as Darren turned to face the girl. "How did you spend the last night? I told you not to worry me. Isn't that true?"
Darren's hand moved to cup Dania's cheeks as soon as it reached the sweat-covered flesh caused by her fear. Dania knew that Darren liked it when she acted weak around him, so she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could.
"Baby, you don't want to see me?" His other hand moved and brushed on Dania's eyelids, forcing her to open her eyes and look directly into Darren's face.
Dania turned her head aside, not wanting to look at the man's face. Dania's neck hurt as she stiffened up to keep back her emotions, but she was able to do so because she didn't want to let Darren win and lose focus on her goals.
"Is your clothing new? I don't remember ever buying anything like."
Dania was already scared of Darren, but the incident from last night made her more fearful. Dania shuddered even more in fear as Darren grasped the button of her top blouse. She's scared.
When he didn't receive a response from the girl, Darren hugged Dania. His face was pressed against the curve of her neck, his hot breath touching her sweaty skin, and as he gently pecked it, Dania's body began to shake even more violently. Dania's mentality had been broken, and the man moved to hug her even tighter. When Darren placed her lips on another part of Dania's body, the girl trembled even more, and her heart began to beat louder and louder until Darren could hear Dania's heartbeat. Dania's ears appeared to be humming, and she had goosebumps all over her body. Dania found herself disgusted when Darren touched her in this way, and she didn't enjoy any of what Darren did to her. However, Dania was so terrified that her heart appeared to stop beating entirely.
"Baby, you know that you can't get away from me, right?"
The bruise on the girl's lip corner from the pain Darren inflicted on her the day before was rubbed by Darren's palm when it contacted Dania's lips.
Dania remained silent, her mouth hanging open, and she was terrified until Darren could feel her neck getting even more tense. Derren then relished his moment of victory.
"Run one more time, sweetheart ... you know I can catch your father first and you'll be able to get home on your own."
"Such as today." Darren enjoyed how Dania hated him, and his laughter and obscene grin made her stare at him with loathing.
When Darren realized he had instilled dread in Dania that she wouldn't run away from him again, as Dania's father did shut off the water supply and quickly exited the restroom with damp hair, he stopped. He was unaware that his daughter was also sobbing when he saw her.
"Dad, how about we eat out tonight?" Darren said.
Dania's expressionless face drew her father's attention. Dania didn't want to make her dad feel uncomfortable because she knew she most likely had a cold.
"Baby, dad hasn't visited us recently. What if we treat Dad to a meal? Of course, you might discover it there."
The lovely Darren, who was always smiling, even touched Dania's hair with the palm of his hand. Her father, Dania, was very grateful for it.
Dania cooperated with his requirements, even though they ultimately went to a restaurant that Darren had plainly planned out and for which he had already made a reservation.
"I frequently brought Dania out to dinner, and she liked it." Darren smiled as they walked inside a well-known eatery in the middle of Manhattan, but Dania had never been there; Darren had been lying.
"Good Evening, Mr. Darren and Miss Dania." The doorwoman greets them there with a smile. "We've prepared your spot, as usual."
Dania was amazed at how carefully Darren had thought out everything, even going so far as to include another person in his untruths. He is a sneaky and evil man, in fact.
Since claiming that Dania owns numerous expensive clothes and asking her to wear the one he purchased for her the previous week, Darren has even engaged in boasting. However, when Dania opened her closet, the girl discovered a lot of brand-new clothing hanging there; although none of these were Dania's, the items' fit and fashion sense were remarkably similar to the girl. Every time he asks Dania to go out, Darren always offers her new outfits, but not this much. He was a really creepy man. In just one night, he must have finished all the preparations.
Dania's father, who had known Darren's parents for a very long time, was effusive in his praise for the man and what he had done. He is unsure of what act of generosity Dania's father carried out for them to make Dania his daughter-in-law. Indeed, her daughter deserves all of this happiness.
At dinner, Darren and Dania's father spoke incessantly, which might have appeared enjoyable to someone else, but was oppressive to Dania and made it difficult for her to breathe normally. Dania is concerned that Darren will continue involving her father in the evil game he is engaged in. Dania was saddened even more when she noticed her father's smile, which was directed at the man who had been torturing her daughter so cruelly.
"Dad, I need to use the restroom for a little bit."
After giving her father a little pat on the shoulder while her dad laughed with Darren, the girl did as she stated and walked to the bathroom.
Dania simply sat on the closet seat, which she had closed and remained silent. Dania appears to be doing it more frequently lately; she feels as though the restroom stall is the only place where she can be authentically herself.
Dania looked in the mirror at her reflection. She was wearing a stunning black dress with exposed shoulders, and her long hair was styled with just a single small hairpin on top of her head. She also had thin bangs. When she removed the makeup from the corners of her lips, people would notice that there was a wound there. Alternatively, she would have to remove the concealer under her eyes to tell her father that Dania was having a bad day, and her father would undoubtedly be upset for having chosen the wrong path for her daughter. Dania is so pathetic. If Darren doesn't pass away, she will be powerless.
Dania's steps came to a stop as she saw Darren waiting for her at the restroom door. The man was leaning against the wall grinning when he saw Dania come in, and as she blocked the door for someone else, he pulled Dania closer. Darren could have touched Dania's skin with his breath because they were too close together.
When Darren said, "Why is it taking so long, Honey?" he was speaking directly to Dania's face. He could smell the scent of the man's body, which made her tremble in fear every time. Dania's body can instinctively signal danger simply from the scent Darren wears. Darren tightened his hold on Dania's arm as the woman tried to draw her body back, but he resisted.
"You want to escape me once more, Baby?" Darren's shrewd eyes turned to Dania, and the devil's smile reappeared.
"I need to go, Darren! We're in a public place."
Dania struggled to free herself from Darren's hold on her arm, but the more she struggled, the tighter Darren held onto her. Dania could even see Darren's palm turning white under the force of the man's grip.
"Are you frightened even in public spaces?" Sarcastically, Darren said. He was always able to predict with accuracy the feelings that Dania displayed, and it was not in her best interests.
"Darren, my dad, my dad is waiting for us!"
Dania tried to control the man gently, even though she was aware that Darren would be difficult to manage. She also knew that Darren would likely give up, at least in front of Dania's father.
Darren smiled softly, a different smile from the one the man had just shown. "Your dad must be waiting for us, I suppose."
When Dania did not follow him, Darren turned his head as he started to walk. Darren wanted to make sure that Dania obeyed his instructions rather than be concerned that she would run away once more because he knew she wouldn't do it now.
"Dad, let's go home now!"
Darren followed them as Dania assisted her father in getting to his feet and moved in their direction.
Dania saw the man she recognized walking in the opposite direction; a man who had never bothered Dania despite being the topic of many women's conversations and a man who had only ever passed through her life. Her steps became more deliberate, and the sound of her shoes almost came to an abrupt halt. However, the man was now coming closer. With his broad shoulders and a stern expression, he gave Dania the impression that she was protected, and his blue eyes made it simple to identify him.
"Chris?"
Chris has always appreciated the way Dania refers to the guy by his first name alone, and she can now do so without using the titles "Sir" or "Mister." The man smiled, thin as it was, at Dania, because someone was standing behind her and watching for Chris's expression.
Dania's father whispered, "You know him?"
Dania was as silent as a stone, but she could articulately explain that she knew Chris.
Chris gave Dania's father his hand first, something the guy had never done before because the other person would have gently extended his hand to Chris and then waited for the man to respond.
"I'm Dania's Boss," he declared.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry I didn't say hello to you sooner." The help offered to Dania's father was gladly appreciated, despite his terrible feelings.
"My daughter doesn't share a lot of information with me, so I am uninformed about her friends and place of employment."
"Dania is among the top clerks." Another thin smile was offered by Chris.
"It makes me proud, in my opinion." It's safe to say that Dania's father was pleased to hear that she had earned acclaim.
"Would it be okay if we had coffee and talked about this? in a friendly gesture." Chris took action.
Chris' suggestion of civility seemed to be on the verge of being rejected by Darren, but Dania's dad took a different stance.
"Yeahh, of course."