No Filter

Chapter LX (60)

I feel someone nudging my shoulder as I continue to rub my arms and slowly open my eyes. I cringe at the bright light. First time since yesterday when Cindy, the girl I knew the name of now, came and brought me dinner. But I refused to eat. I refuse to eat anything as long as I am here.

I see someone bending in front of me. I shiver, bringing my knees close to my chest. My lips were a little dry. My mouth felt dry. My stomach growled from time to time, but I held it in. My skin was losing its color as the day went by. A day already went by. I stopped crying hours ago, but my eyes felt tired from the tears still.

My vision clears, and I saw the man Liam was fighting with the other day. His name was Victor as I recalled. His malicious grin frightened. He touches my hair and slowly brushes it. "Sorry to wake you, but you are just too cute for me not to." I move my head, trying to move his hand away from touching me.

I swallow hard and breathe out. "What...did I...ever did to you?" I manage to ask.

"Oh, it's not you," he whispers. "It's that boss of yours. He owes money. And I, one hundred percent, guarantee that he will give me what I want to save you."

"He will never trade me for money," I said. My voice was soft and gentle and weak. "Liam would never do it."

He chuckles. "You would think. You just don't know Liam as well as I do."

I slowly shake my head. "Actually...you don't know Liam as well as I do. What I meant was..." I take a moment to catch my breath and lean my head against the brick wall, "...Liam wouldn't trade me for money because I am not an item to him. I am human. Just like him. Just like you. So why are you doing this to me?"

He examines my physical feature, and by the cringe on his face, I can tell he knew what I meant.

"I never ask you to starve yourself," he said. "So it's not my fault if you die from starvation."

"How can you be so cruel?" I question.

"I am not cruel," He rebuttals, spitting at me. "I get what I deserve, and your boss owes me it. If you're blaming me for your misery, you should know that it is him who caused it. He refused to hand over his debt. And not only that, he also sent people to go kill your father."

"No," I croaked. "He would never. Say whatever you want, but I am not going to believe you. Liam would never harm my father."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" He asks.

"Because we are friends," I said. "Childhood friends. He knows how important my father is to me."

"Friends?" Victor questions, holding my hair. He yanks it a little, and I yelp. I look at him, pleading, and he stare into my eyes as his smile grew wider. "Oh, I see now," he says. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

I turn my head away, staring at the dust on the floor. "No," I answer. "I am not in love with him."

"Well, you must feel something towards him," he says. "Why else would you have that admiration and yearning look in your eyes when I mentioned him."

I shake my head. "I don't see him like that."

"Fine," he says. "Believe whatever you want to believe."