The Gangster Princess

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Tangled Truths

Aisha Fancy Lee

When I woke up, I realized Alex was already gone. She must not have noticed Anna was still sleeping, covered in the blanket.

"Good morning, little princess," I said softly, smiling as I saw Anna stir.

"Good morning, Ate. You look like my kuya. He calls me princess or angel," Anna said, her voice sweet and innocent.

"That's true, you're a princess and an angel," I replied, my voice full of affection.

"Ate, I’m hungry," she said, looking up at me with those wide eyes.

"I’ll buy you some food," I said, as I handed her the mask I always kept around, just in case. I didn’t want her to be recognized. If Reid found out I had his sister with me, and that she was unprotected, he'd come after me, thinking I was plotting to kill her. It’d be bad if he saw his sister as a "corpse" in my care. I wasn’t ready to deal with the consequences.

“Wear it,” I told Anna, and she nodded obediently.

We went out, and people stared. It’s probably because I had a little girl with me, and they might’ve thought she was my daughter. Honestly, I didn’t care.

“Little princess, pick whatever you want,” I told her.

“I want this!” she exclaimed, pointing at the pancakes, and I couldn't help but laugh at how cute she was. I bought her pancakes, water, and chocolate. Seriously, who eats chocolate for breakfast? But she’s a kid. Let her have her fun, I thought.

I wasn’t planning on going back to school today. Anna needed my attention. We spent the day together.

We went back to the dorm, and as I settled Anna on the couch, she looked at me with big eyes, her curiosity endless.

“Ate, can you pony my hair?” she asked.

“Okay,” I said, tying her hair up into a neat ponytail.

"I miss kuya Reid, but you saved me, Ate. I don’t miss him anymore because I have a pretty Ate Aisha," Anna said, and my heart melted. She was so innocent, so sweet. I couldn’t help but feel protective of her, even though I knew she was caught in the middle of a mess that wasn’t hers to deal with.

She kept talking about her kuya Reid, saying he was a good guy—well, at least to her. I knew better. But I didn’t say anything. She was too young to understand the kind of world we lived in.

"Ate Aisha, I want to watch a movie," Anna said suddenly.

“Sure,” I said, grabbing my laptop. We settled in to watch a movie, and for the first time in a while, I allowed myself to just relax and be with Anna. I needed this.

The dull ache in my side pulled me out of sleep before the sunlight could. I tried to shift, but a sharp pain shot through my torso. My hand instinctively went to my ribs—and that’s when I felt it. Bandages. Tight, clean, fresh.

I blinked, squinting against the hospital white lights. The clinic. I was in the damn school clinic.

How did I get here?

Flashes came back like broken glass—Anna holding my hand, panic in her voice, the stabbing pain, the sticky warmth of blood, my bat connecting with a figure in the dark, the way my legs gave out the moment I reached the school gates.

I let out a groan.

“Finally, you’re awake.”

That voice—soft, small, and broken.