4. Nerve-shattering

Aurora was sceptical, but she obediently sat on one of the couches in the parlour. Why did he ignore the question? She could only hope that nothing bad had happened to her mother.

Derek took his phone out of his pocket and passed it to her. Aurora looked at the phone questioningly and trailed her eyes to his handsome face, as if asking him what it was for. But she couldn't bring herself to ask. She wordlessly stretched her hand and took the phone, being extra careful not to touch him.

"Call her." Came his next command, and Aurora whipped her head to his direction, to be sure she heard right. He had a blank expression as he took a seat opposite hers and watched her.

Aurora regained her senses quickly. She was supposed to call her mom. She had to do so as soon as possible before he changed his mind.

She dialed her mother's number and thankfully, the call went through. After two rings, it got connected. Without waiting for any sound from the other end, Aurora cried in a low tone.

"Mom!?"

"Rory!!" Charlotte's worried voice came in. "My baby! Are you okay?"

"Mom!! Where are you?" She went straight to her worry, not bothering to answer her question.

"I'm fine, my dear. I'm at home." Charlotte replied. She sounded like she was holding herself from crying. "Is..is everything alright with you there? Are they mistreating you?" She asked.

"I miss you, mom!!" Aurora said, after some few seconds, ignoring her question. Mr. Dangerous Man was seated right in front of her. How was she supposed to say that she was being mistreated?

Hell yes, she was!

She had bruises all over her body now and her cheek was swollen. She badly wanted to shout on top of her voice that her mother should come and get her. But she knew she couldn't.

This dangerous man had a gun. He might shoot her if she shouted.

Charlotte got the hint that someone might be there. Maybe the boss. That was preventing Aurora from saying whatever she wanted to say.

"Is he there?" She asked simply and Aurora nodded nervously. Realizing it was a phone call, she muttered a small yes and peeked from under her long, watery lashes to look at the man seated in front of her. His eyes had never left her since he gave her the phone, causing her nervousness to skyrocket.

"Is the phone on loud speaker?"

"No."

"Okay, listen to me Rory. I'll come and get you, okay? I promise. You don't have to worry. He has given me time to work and pay for the money. I'll come and get you after I pay the money, okay? That's the condition he gave me. To pay for the money before I will be able to see you again." Charlotte's voice broke as she said the last sentence.

Aurora couldn't believe her ears. She wouldn't be able to see her mother till the debt was fully paid?? How wicked could this man be?

She peeked through her lashes again and this time, he was not looking at her. He had another phone in his hand and seemed to be engrossed with it.

She bit her lower lip and blinked rapidly to prevent her from breaking down. She felt so dejected. She may probably not see her mother again. Because that amount was too much.

15 million dollars!!

Too much for a grocery shop attendant who earned as low as 200 dollars a month to be able to pay any time soon. A lone tear tricked down her cheek and she wiped it off quickly.

"I'll wait for you, mom." She whispered. "Please take care of yourself. And don't overwork. I'll be fine here. I'm sure." She knew that was a lie. There was no way in hell she was going to be fine in the devil's nest. But she needed to reassure her mother, else she would die of so much distress.

"I'm so sorry sunshine! I couldn't protect you! I'm such a bad mother!" Charlotte broke down completely, and Aurora's tears rushed down as well, no matter how much she tried to cleaned them, fresh ones replaced the previous ones.

She couldn't explain how she was feeling right now. The pain she felt, that pang she was feeling right now, she couldn't describe it.

It was nerve-shattering.

It was unbearable.

But she had nothing to do to stop it. She had no option than to endure this nerve-shattering pain. She brought the phone down and ended the call.

There was nothing else to talk about, right? They would only weep more if they continued to talk. Her head stayed low for some few minutes. She made sure to wipe her face clean before she raised her head, so that Mr. Dangerous Man would not see her tears.

But had he not?

Derek's eyes were keenly fixed on the girl in front of him. He never missed a single action of hers. He would just steal his gaze when she turned to look at him, and pretend to be on phone, but the truth was, he was observing her.

He had seen so many people cry in front of him. In fact, some had begged for their lives, which he took without batting an eye.

He was known as a ruthless, unforgiving, soulless being, who felt close to no emotions. He did not know happiness, neither did he know sadness. All he was known for was one that inflicts pain. But right now... right now, he felt... Was that, sadness?

He felt like he could see through this girl. And he could see the kind of pain she was going through. He felt like he shouldn't be seeing her right now. Because it was messing with his brain cells. He didn't understand what he was feeling.

Was it sadness?

He was clearly not happy seeing all those tears on her face, so what was that supposed to mean? That he was sad?

He clenched his jaw and shut his eyes tight. What was happening to him? He was supposed to be happy. What happened to his brain cells this morning? Did he hit his head somewhere last night?

His hand subconsciously raised to his head to feel for any unusual pain or maybe a bump. But he didn't feel any.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he returned his gaze to the girl. He didn't even know what to say to her. He thought hard, before finally speaking.

"I hope you know you will be staying here from now." He asked.

"Yes, sir." Aurora nodded without raising her head.

There was silence. He didn't know what else to say or ask. He had never struggled for words, like ever, in his life, like he was doing right now.

"Leave." He frustratedly said after some few seconds. Yes, he was frustrated with himself and what he was turning into. Those emotions were so foreign they were messing with him. He just needed a moment to himself to clear his mind.

Aurora raised her eyes to his face. She should leave? She thought they were going to talk about some rules and conditions or something about she being in that place. And wait...

"Sir... um...please, what...what about school?" She asked, stammering nervously. She was a fresh university student, she couldn't possibly stop schooling now, could she?

"LEAVE!!" Derek barked and Aurora flinched in fear. She got up slowly and limped her way to the door. Her vision was blurred from tears she didn't even realise she was shedding.

She broke down completely when she got outside. So that was it. Her education had ended. All her dreams, all her aspirations, to become one of the world's best software developer... Everything was going down the drain just like that, like it never happened.

She cried the more. She felt so empty. How could life turn around all of a sudden, without warning?

She had her life well planned out just days ago, and now she had nothing to look up to...

She descended the stairs in pain, her tears running down incessantly. She was not even conscious of her surroundings. She wished she never existed. She didn't know life could be so cruel.

How could her dad do this to them? He was dead and they were the ones suffering for what he did?

She made her way slowly but painfully into the room she was. Her whole body ached. She had a splitting headache, she felt weak. But who was she to complain? She was going to be imprisoned, and as far as she could remember, prisoners had no choice.

The temperature in the room was still very low, making her pain accelerate. She limped her way around, looking for the remote of the a.c. Luckily, she found it and increased the temperature a bit. She coiled herself back in bed to sleep her pain away.

Few minutes later she heard a gentle knock. She was startled by the knock and sprung up to a sitting position in fright. Her tongue seemed glued to her mouth, because she couldn't bring herself to respond.

She just sat there, eyes wide open and keenly locked to the door. The knock came again, this time, a little harder. She still didn't respond. She couldn't do so, because she was scared.

She decided to get back on the bed and pretend to be asleep, and that was when the door creaked open.