Hannah's sobs echoed through the silence of her bedroom, a symphony of fear and exhaustion. For hours and hours, tears never stopped falling from her eyes. The only difference now is that she's finally in bed.
As she lay there, her tears staining her cheeks, Hannah couldn't help but feel a twinge of shame for her vulnerability.
She couldn't remember the last time that she cried, but it was as if she had saved all of those unshed tears just to pour them all out that night because of how long and hard she had been crying.
Her body shook with each sob, the rawness of her emotions threatening to consume her entirely. It felt as though the weight of the world was pressing down on her, crushing her spirit.
"I'm scared," she cried to herself in a low voice.
Her sheltered upbringing had shielded her from the harsh realities of the world, leaving her unprepared for the dangers and darkness that now surrounded her, so how could she, who had grown up like a little princess, endure the trauma that she faced today?
As the night wore on, Hannah's sobs gradually subsided, leaving her in a state of emotional emptiness. Exhaustion washed over her like a tidal wave, stealing away the last remnants of her energy.
Drained and depleted, she lay motionless on her bed, her body and mind seeking solace in the oblivion of sleep.
Unbeknownst to her, Arthur, the old butler who agreed to give her space earlier, has been standing outside of her door for the past two hours now, listening to her cry.
Arthur felt numerous emotions swirl in his chest as he listened to her sobs. He had watched Hannah grow up, nurturing her like his own granddaughter, and the thought of her in pain tore at his soul.
That's why, despite his respect for her wish for privacy, he couldn't ignore the instinctual need to protect her and offer comfort in her darkest moments.
He knows that he needs to give the eldest young lady of the Salvador clan her personal space, but how could he not worry when the little girl he raised came home looking disheveled?
The girl who hasn't cried when her parents died, who didn't whine when she fell and got wounded, or when her brothers forgot to fulfill their promises to her, has been crying alone in her room for so long.
She was all alone on the other side of the door, and he couldn't do anything to help her. He couldn't do anything else but wait and silently offer his support from afar.
"Oh, señorita. What could have made you so sad?" Arthur quietly asked outside of her door when the sleeping Hannah finally stopped crying, restoring the quietness of the night, except for her occasional hiccups.
★★★★★
When morning finally arrived, Hannah woke up around two in the afternoon.
As she looked at the clock, the thought of missing a class gnawed at the back of her mind, but she could not bring herself to be worried about it.
The weight of her new problem seemed to outweigh the matter of her missing a class.
Instead, as soon as Hannah opened her eyes, she remained motionless like a corpse and didn't move an inch. The weight of the previous night's distress clung to her, and she soon found herself lost in her own thoughts.
"What should I do now?" Hannah whispered softly to herself, not knowing how she should deal with Ivan.
Ever since she was young, everything that she ever wanted was given to her, which made her proud and a bit arrogant when she grew up, but that's all that she was.
Hannah isn't mentally, physically, or emotionally tough, and she knows it too. In layman's terms, she's someone who's all bark and no bite.
"I don't have any evidence, how can I report him? Besides, could the police even be trusted?" she asked herself again.
Sure, reporting the man to the police seemed like the logical choice, but what if Ivan really had control over them?
What if Ivan had connections that reached far and wide, extending even into law enforcement? Then Hannah would surely be dead if she were to report him.
The thought of putting her and her siblings' lives in even more danger just to gamble her chances of sending him to prison is terrifying.
'Can my brothers...' Before she could finish her thoughts, she immediately wiped them away.
"What could a CEO of a pharmaceutical company and a CEO of a technology company do against such a dangerous man?" she reasoned, throwing her plans to seek her brothers' help away.
She was aware that her eldest brother was a significant figure in the technology industry and that her second brother was a successful businessman in his own right as the CEO of a pharmaceutical company.
However, Ivan's criminal empire seemed far too formidable for them to directly challenge. The guns she had seen during their first meeting were a stark reminder of the dangerous world Ivan worked in, and she had no plans to entangle her siblings' in her mess.
With a heavy sigh, Hannah realized that exposing her family to the dangerous world that she accidentally stumbled upon would only endanger them, and she couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to them because of her own actions.
Realizing that she wouldn't solve anything that way, Hannah mustered up all of her strength to stand up from her bed and decided to take a bath.
Her anxious mind was temporarily relieved by the warm water streaming down her body. She let her thoughts wander as she lathered herself in soap, letting the process of just washing her anxieties away provide a sense of serenity.
"So what? I'll die anyway when I grow older. I'd rather die young and beautiful," she convinced herself, hoping that the new negative thoughts would drive away her other negative thoughts.
After all, the rule in integers states that negative times negative is equal to positive, isn't it?
Hannah's words hung in the air, a bittersweet acceptance of the dangerous path she had already chosen.
"That's why I'd do as I want, no matter what!" she promised herself while washing off the soap on her silky skin, convincing herself that it was better to live a short, intense life than to grow old and wither away in the shadows.
It was a morbid realization, yet it brought her an odd sense of peace.
When she's done showering, Hannah grabs a towel near her, feeling that she's gotten calmer compared to her agitated state last night.
Her shower made her mood feel lighter since it felt like not only the physical dirt but also the weight of her anxieties were washed away.
With her towel wrapped around her body, Hannah stepped out of her bathroom, her damp hair cascading down her shoulders with a newfound sense of courage.
She knew that facing Ivan would not be easy, but she was ready to confront him, ready to face whatever challenges awaited her.
***🦋***
Author's Note
Whew! It turned out that Hannah is a crybaby who's all bark and no bite. Well, she grew up pampered, so it's eventually bound to be that way.
However, she's also a crazy soul at the same time, isn't she? Like, who would convince themselves to die young and pretty as long as they could do what she wants?
Anyway, are you guys curious about what's going to happen next? Then, you know the drill. Go on and slide to the next page to keep reading the stories. Love ya!