On the night of October 23rd, her life shatters.
A seven-year-old girl wakes in silence, her body broken and her spirit trembling.
With nothing but pain and moon to guide her, she escapes into the darkness, bleeding, barefoot, and alone.
Under a pal...
It was half past one post meridiem. She was sitting on the wooden floor, counting the lines and small dots on it. She had been doing this for the past four hours. She had found comfort in arithmomania since childhood. Counting things was one of her favorite ways to cope when anxiety tried to eat her brain cells alive, when her skull felt like it was about to explode, and her body temperature started rising. At times like that, her breath would almost stop, and then suddenly her lungs would inhale sharply, making her head spin. So she found distractions to distance her mind from all of it.
"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Mini said.
There was no reply from the other side. She tried again.
"Go and sleep," a voice came from a very sore throat.
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She understood it was not the right time to say anything further, so she quietly walked to her room.
After a while, a notification popped up on her mobile. She blinked at the screen but ignored it. Then a call came from the same person.
"Why aren't you picking up my calls, Svet Moikh Ochey?" an unknown voice asked.
"I'm just thinking about something," Flora said, her emotions overwhelmed.
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"If you don't want to finalize the deal, just tell me. I'll handle the rest for you," said a very mellifluous voice.
"No. Take control of the Sabini family and move half of the deals to them. They weren't able to reject any of our offers."
In that moment, Flora carefully lifted her gaze to the small mirror in the upper right corner of her cherry-red wall. The paint was slightly worn around the edges, shining softly in the early morning light filtering through her window. The vibrant wall now seemed too loud for her dejected state. She searched her reflection for something hidden beneath the surface, the silence of the room covering her thoughts like an unspoken question.
The call ended.
She began checking some important files. There was something crucial she was missing, and she was trying to figure out what it was. At the same time, she kept wondering how it would affect her if her suspicions were true.
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Meanwhile, there was a knock on her door. A girl stood on the other side.
"May I come in?" she asked.
"Yes, you may."
"Boss, I think you shouldn't watch this. It may startle you." Her face looked gloomy.
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Flora replied calmly. "Put it on the table and leave."
"It's the first time she has spoken to me in such a polite tone," the girl muttered to herself before leaving the room with the words, "Good night, boss."
The file remained on the table for the next two hours. It was 6:00 a.m. now, and she was still staring at it. Her hands were trembling, yet she forced herself to open it. On the very first page was the death certificate of a very old man.
"No, no, no. It can't be true. This must be fake. There must be some mistake in the information. I have to assign this to someone else. Everyone must be searching incorrectly. Maybe I should do it myself. Yes, that's the right choice. They are all useless. How dare they give me wrong information?"
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Tears started flowing, yet her lips were still smiling, and her mind rejected the truth with firm confidence.
