The Sins Of The Past

      Two days later. It’s about two or three o’clock in the daylight. A big, three-floor cottage that is located in a quiet, deserted place in the city. The walls are painted in a white shade, and all the windows are high and perfectly clean. There is a wide balcony, on which anyone could stand and breathe in some fresh air. There is bright green grass, a few flowerbeds, and little trees on the territory of the large landscape, which is fenced with a high brick fence. It’s impossible to get on the territory so easily because the house is under the protection of trustworthy people, by who even a fly would not fly.       Right now, an expensive black car is coming to the one and gets on the territory without problems. As if the security that is watching everything knows someone to drive it very well because they ask no questions and silently open the wide gate that automatically moves on different sides. Then the automobile passes some distance before it gets close to the gorgeous house and stops at a special place for the one.       A few seconds later, the backdoor opens, and two tough, almost six-tall men, who are wearing black clothes, leave the car. And then one of them opens the door of the driver, and a woman leaves the salon. At first sight, she is about forty or forty-five. Thin, with a middle height, with wavy dark brown middle-length hair gathered in a ponytail. The owner of wide, expensive green eyes and dark, thick eyebrows, which make her look a little rude. The woman definitely has excellent taste in choosing clothes and accessories because she is dressed up in a very stylish and expensive way. A silver necklace on her neck costs very much, and the small brilliant earrings in her ears shine from far away even in the cloudy, cold weather.       The woman leaves the salon with her head proudly raised and looks at the house, in which she is currently living, with a slight smile on her face. Somehow it belongs to her late father, but after his death, she became an owner of it and started to run the network of shops, which the man opened when he was alive. The shops were named after the surname of the family, which became well known throughout England. Woodham. Somehow, many years ago, literally everyone knew and respected this family. Gilbert Woodham did very much to make it one of the richest and most respected families in the country. Yes, maybe, there is a new generation that does not know who he was, and who Eleanor Woodham, who is the owner of this gorgeous house, is. But a few years ago, this surname and these names were known to everyone.       Although it’s been sixteen years since Gilbert Woodham’s unexpected death, his daughter Eleanor still cannot take it. She cannot accept the sentence that the judge announced for the killer of her father. Who, to everyone’s shock, found the woman, who is the reason why she has been crying and grieving on the grave of her close person for many years, non-guilty. Because it happened, the owner of the successful business of Gilbert decided to take revenge and sentence the killer of the man, who was loved and respected by everyone. And she almost reached what she wanted. She needs to do just a few little things before the revenge comes true. And Eleanor Woodham does not doubt she would deal with the one to kill her father at the nearest time. Even if she did it accidentally.       Eleanor thinks of something for a few seconds. And then she locks her expensive car with a key and tells her men to follow her with a gesture of her hand. They obey her immediately and go after the woman, who comes confidently to the hall door with her head proudly raised. When she gets up on a high staircase, she opens the door and enters, ending up in the spacious living room, in which there would be enough space for many, many people.       The design is made of beige and brown shades. High ceilings, a big soft sofa, a massive chandelier hanging in the middle of the room, a plasma TV with large diagonal, high windows, through which much daylight gets in here, and which are slightly covered with transparent curtains, a coffee table, soft armchairs, and a few tables with some stuff. Pictures of unknown authors hanging on the walls, vases with beautiful flowers and trees standing in some corners…       Eleanor quickly looks around, noticing that the servants are cleaning the living room and doing their best to keep it in order and clean, wiping off dust, shaking little pillows lying on the sofa, and fixing the curtains and expensive mats that are placed on the dark brown parquet. However, when they see the owner of the house, they distract from their business to welcome her.       “Oh, hello, Ms. Woodham,” one of the servants pronounces gently, holding a duster.       “Hello, madam,” some servants welcome at the same time.       “Hello, my sweeties,” Eleanor replies amicably.       “Do we cook something for you?” one of the servants asks. “Or do we give you something to drink?”       “No, thanks, I don’t need anything. Better prepare a hot bath for me somewhere in one hour.”       “As you wish, madam,” the servant confidently nods.       “I hope the guys watch our guest closely?”       “It goes without saying, Ms.!” another servant exclaims. “They did not even dare to unlock the door while you were not here. As you told them.”       “Great,” Eleanor smiles slyly. “I shall go to check her and the guys.”       Eleanor turns on the men, who were accompanying her on a trip for her business.       “You can be free, guys,” Eleanor says confidently. “Go to the kitchen and have good lunch.”       “As you wish, madam Woodham,” one of the men pronounces with his head proudly raised.       “Anyway, we are always ready to accompany you,” the second man adds.       “No, today, I will go nowhere,” Eleanor replies quietly. “Have a rest. I will do my own business.”       “As you wish, Madam,” the two men pronounce with a confident nod.       The men turn around and go to the side of the kitchen, starting to talk about something on the way.       “So, I will go to check our guest,” Eleanor says confidently and looks quickly at all the servants. “Keep doing your work. And do not forget about my bath.”       All the servants incline slightly their heads and keep doing their work after Eleanor comes to the wide, slightly bent stairs with a slight smile and, holding a little cold railing, gets up to the second floor. After this, the woman takes some distance down the wide halls, in which there are many doors that could bring her to one or another room, turning on the left or the right a couple of times.       On the way, she meets two more tough, tall men at a young age, who are talking about something and laughing at something truly. But when they see Eleanor in front of them, the two fall into silence and incline their heads slightly toward her.       “Madam Woodham,” one of the men pronounces confidently in a rude, low voice.       “Hello, Madam,” the second man greets.       “Hello,” Eleanor pronounces amicably. “So what? How is that bitch doing there?”       “Sitting in the room, madam. We do not let her go anywhere, despite that woman’s says.”       “Excellent!” Eleanor smiles slyly. “Is she still whining? Or did she calm down already?”       “She calmed down a little. But she whines that she wants to eat and drink.”       “Alright. Keep feeding her with what I allowed her to eat. No delicious food. She must be happy with what she gets.”       “As you wish, madam,” the other man nods confidently.       “Do not stop watching her,” Eleanor says. “Especially, when you take her to a bathroom.”       “Be sure, Ms. Woodham, that woman will not run away from us,” the second man says with his head proudly raised. “If she goes somewhere, she goes only with us.”       “Very good,” Eleanor nods confidently. “Watch her! If that bitch gets to run away from her, I will fire you to the fuck. Not just you. But also those, who are working here.”       “Do not worry, madam Woodham,” the other man pronounces. “We will not make the mistakes, which those, who worked at this house in the past, made.”       “I hope.” Eleanor glances aside. “Alright, I want to talk to that bitch a little. Give me the keys from that room.”       One of the men obediently takes a key and gives it to Eleanor.       “And yeah, while I am there, be near and go nowhere,” Eleanor says, raising her index finger. “In case that scumbag decides to run away.”       “As you wish, madam Woodham,” one of the men proudly raises his head up.       “Wait here. You will leave when I leave the room and lock it with a key.”       Eleanor passes some distance down the hall before she comes to the door that is literally located in the furthest place of the house. She quickly unlocks the door with the key and slightly pulls it. The woman confidently enters it without hesitance and quickly looks around.       This is a small room where there is only a harsh, one-side bed, a very old writing table, and a shabby closet for clothes. Thanks to a small window, enough light gets into this room, and when it’s an evening or night, it’s lighted by a little chandelier with two lamps hanging on the floor. Unlike the other rooms of the house, this place looks much worse and poorer. It’s definitely forgotten by those, who are living and working at this large house.       Eleanor sees a woman of almost the same age as she is, who is sitting on the bed, looking through the window, and thinking about something. Her hair is strongly disheveled, her skin seems white enough, and her eyes are sad, red, and slightly puffy from the many tears she has shed. It’s not excluded that she barely eats because the woman looks a little skinny. It’s barely possible to recognize this woman as Alicia Middleton, who Eleanor Woodham has had her locked in this small room, in which people sometimes come because she is here, and has been holding her here for two days.       However, when the owner of the famous surname comes to the exhausted woman, Alicia moves her eyes to her, breathing heavily enough, telling her fears to go to hell and making herself pretend that she is not afraid of this person.       “You!” Alicia pronounces with contempt in her eyes.       “So, what, dear Alicia, how are you doing here?” Eleanor asks with an evil sneer, looking at Alicia with her head proudly raised. “Getting ready for what’s waiting for you soon?”       “How long are you going to hold me here?” Alicia resents.       “Until I make my revenge come true.”       “I want to go home! Want to sleep! Want to take a bath!”       “No, sweetie, I shall not let you go.”       “And I want to eat! I want to eat normal food! Not what you give me like a dog!”       “Thank me for being fed up somehow,” Eleanor smirks evilly. “I could give the guys an order not to give you anything. So, you die of starvation and are not able to fight with me and my people.”       “And what would it give you? You would kill me! So, what’s next?”       “What? I would restore justify!”       “Would you be happy after you decided to kill me?”       “Very happy. I will be very happy when I know you are rotting somewhere under the ground. And burning in the hell for what you did.”       “Let me go right now, you, nasty snake!” Alicia demands rudely with evil in her eyes. “Why have you held me here for two days?”       “I will hold you here as much as I want.”       “I am sick of being stuck here!” Alicia jumps off the bed sharply and comes closer to Eleanor. “I’m sick of taking your big men, who treat me like a rot. Who beat me every time I do or say something wrong.”       “Ugh, do you want them to treat you like a princess?” Eleanor wonders. “A queen?”       “I want to live in a normal condition!”       “Did you think I would bring you to my house and settle in one of the gorgeous rooms?” Eleanor smirks evilly. “No! Only over my dead body! I will not let the dirty bitch go where only chosen people are allowed to go. Not some shit like you.”       “Do you still think you will do your bad tricks forever with the thought that you will stay unpunished?” Alicia wonders.       “Of course, I will stay! I am Eleanor Woodham! The daughter of the all-favorite Gilbert Woodham, who was deeply respected by everyone.”       “You will pay for your bad tricks, early or late. Someday, no money and good contacts of your family will help you.”       “You can keep dreaming about it, my dear Alicia.” Eleanor makes Alicia sit on the bed again. “Dream as much as you want. But alas, your wishes will not come true.”       “You can’t pretend to be an angel for everyone forever,” Alicia says confidently. “As well as your whole family.”       “What are you talking about?”       “Early or late, everyone will realize you’re a poisonous viper, who has done lots of crimes for your benefit. For getting as much money as possible.”       “Watch your mouth, Alicia. Or you will regret it very much.”       “What would you do to me?”       “I can do much.” Eleanor leans down to Alicia and grabs her by the chin, moving her cold gaze into her scared and tired eyes. “Do not forget who you have to deal with. Do not forget who is standing in front of you. The daughter of the powerful man is standing in front of you.”       “The powerful man is already dead,” Alicia recalls. “He would not shut everyone up and protect his beloved daughter.”       “Do you want to be punished for your dirty, long tongue?” Eleanor strongly squeezes Alicia’s chin. “I remind you, I can easily tell my people to stop feeding you and letting you drink. I can let you die by yourself.”       “Yeah, everybody at this house dances attendance upon you,” Alicia throws gloomily. “Ready to kiss your legs and bow at you as if you are God.”       “Better shut up, bitch. Or you will regret it very much. I swear, Alicia, I will take measures if you keep being sassy and insulting the woman named Eleanor Woodham. The woman, who is much more important than you thanks to the status.”       “Why are you better than me?” Alicia sharply turns her head aside, moving Eleanor’s hand off her chin. “Just because you were born into a family that has much money and many contacts? It’s not a reason! Besides, sometimes you can't get money in an honest way. There are people, who cheat somehow just to get as much as possible.”       “What are you, scumbag, hinting at?” Eleanor resents.       “You know the answer, Eleanor. You know how your daddy got so much money. You know you keep following his checked strategy and pretending to be a lord that everyone must be afraid of.”       Eleanor says nothing for two seconds and then strongly slaps Alicia in the face, and then the woman instantly grabs the cheek.       “Better keep your mouth shut and do not open your mouth when you are not asked,” Eleanor throws rudely, arrogantly looking at Alicia. “And do not dare to insult my family. You are not worth the nail of one of the members of the Woodham family. The members of the respectful family.”       “Who is known just by fewer people now,” Alicia smirks evilly.       “Do I say it unclearly? Keep your mouth SHUT!”       “Quiet, Eleanor, quiet.”       “You will ask for trouble, bitch. If you show off, I will tell my people to do something terrible to you.”       “Why don’t you want to do it? Huh, Eleanor? Why do you make your brainless big guys, who obey you, do dirty work?”       “Shut the fuck up,” Eleanor hisses through her teeth.       “Or are you by far not innocent? Have you done enough tricks in the past few years? Huh?”       “You will ask for trouble, snake. You will make me do something to you and your beloved niece.”       “What?” Alicia resents.       “By the way, the gal is already aware of what happened to you. She knows what I am going to do at the nearest time.”       “Do not dare to try to touch her even with a finger,” Alicia hisses through her teeth. “Or you will regret much about it.”       “She is probably thinking about how to rescue her beloved auntie. Not knowing everything would be worthless.” Eleanor smiles slyly. “Not knowing she is going to be a victim of mine very soon.”       “I said do not dare to hurt my niece,” Alicia hisses with evil in her eyes. “Or you will have to deal with me.”       “You can do nothing, Alicia.”       “I swear, if something happens to Raquelle, I will not care what you and your big men would love to do to me.”       “That’s why I told my people to bring you here. So, you are able to do nothing to protect your niece.”       “I shall tear you apart if I know my girl suffered because of you and those brainless cads.”       “Calm down, my darling. Raquelle will suffer anyway,” Eleanor says with her head proudly raised. “Suffer very much. And she cannot avoid it.”       “Don’t dare, Eleanor… Don’t dare to hurt her! Hear me!”       “When I deal with you, I will deal with her.”       “Scumbag!” Alicia throws rudely. “I will never forgive you if you hurt her! Never!”       “When I deal with her, you will be rotting in the ground and burn in hell.”       “Curse you, witch! I wish you paid for everything you have done! For everything you are doing now!”       “Believe me, I am not regretting anything I have ever done.”       “You’ve gone too far with revenging,” Alicia notices confidently. “It’s okay you want to deal with you, but why do you the hell get the innocent girl involved in it?”       “Well, if she decided to come here and put her curious nose in her auntie’s business, why not.”       “She is not the one to blame for getting out of your mind.”       “Right, I’m out of my mind,” Eleanor nods confidently, crossing her arms over her chest. “Because of YOU! Because of your tricks that made me hate you with all my heart. Made me dream of your death. Made me curse the day it was officially announced that you avoided a sentence for what you did in your youth.”       “Did you want me to get a sentence?”       “Yes! I wanted you to die where you should have already spent sixteen years. Instead of WALKING IN THE CITY AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED!”       “The judge chose my fate, not you and your family. And that one decided that I should have stayed free and dropped all the charges.”       “I hope that the woman has already died and is now burning in hell,” Eleanor throws rudely. “I wish that scumbag, who dared to go against the Woodham family and excuse the KILLER, was cursed. THE KILLER THAT BROUGHT THE INNOCENT MAN TO ANOTHER WORLD!”       “How evil and heartless you are…” Alicia shakes her head. “How could you be so cruel and hate people?”       “I became the one because of you. Because you came into our life and TURNED EVERYTHING UPSIDE DOWN!”       “As if I wanted it!”       “Of course, you wanted! In the opposite case, you would have stayed far from my family and lived your fucking life.”       “You have spent sixteen years of your life to revenge me…” Alicia exhales sharply. “My God… I can’t believe it… To spend your life on revenging someone…”       “If I had to, I would spend even much more. But I will surely get what I want and make you pay for what you did. For the pain, which you gave all my close people. Who still cannot come to themselves and take the loss.”       “What you are doing is wrong. The judge already chose my fate and decided which punishment I should have gotten.”       “I am not pleased with it. NOT PLEASED!”       “Listen, Eleanor…”       “And I want to repeat, I have never regretted anything I have done in the past years to live well. To take revenge on the one that ruined my whole life.”       “Do you think you are doing the right thing?”       “Yes, I am doing everything right!”       “But you at least don’t hurt my niece,” Alicia says quietly. “Raquelle is guilty of nothing for you and should not pay for my sins of the past.”       “No, my dear…” Eleanor starts walking into the room with her head proudly raised, crossing her arm over her chest. “I shall not leave your niece alone. Never.”       “She shouldn't know what I did!” Alicia exclaims.       “Wonderful then! Your niece will find out what her beloved auntie, whom she has always considered a holy and innocent woman for her whole life, did. And then she will go to another world after her. So, she doesn’t suffer much.”       “You will not do it…” Alicia shakes her head confidently. “You will not do…”       “Oh, I shall do!”       “Raquelle will never know that I accidentally killed the man.”       “She will know, Alicia. She will. She will know everything about your wild past. Know about how you met my father. I mean, where you met him.”       “No!” Alicia shouts, rounding her eyes. “Never!”       “Say what you want. I do not care about your opinion. Your tears. Your prays and begs. Your wish to save that gal.”       “Please, Eleanor, I’m begging you…”       “Besides, she will not have time to realize everything because I will tell my people to destroy her after she finds out the truth about her auntie.”       “For God’s sake, Don’t kill my girl…”       Alicia sniffs quietly.       “I don’t want her to die,” Alicia adds in a shaking voice with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want… Please, don’t kill her… Let Raquelle live…”       “Oh, c’mon, Alicia!” Eleanor waves her hand with a sly smile. “Who needs that girl? You and her grandfather! She has got no man or child! So, why would she keep living?”       “No, Eleanor, don’t do this…”       “I don’t want the girl to suffer from loneliness. You will die soon, and her grandfather will be dying soon from grief all alone.”       “How do you know who her relatives are?”       “Did you forget my family has very good contacts?” Eleanor proudly raises her head up and puts her hands on her hips. “It’s easy for me to know any information about anyone. And because your niece is famous, it’s getting much easier. Because her whole life is literally public. So, it wasn’t hard for me to find out everything about the girl named Raquelle Cameron.”       “Yeah, you should also learn how to get into someone’s mind and read it,” Alicia throws gloomily, moving her eyes to the window.       “Anyway, I found out many interesting things. For example, I know that the girl, who is called one of the sexiest ones on the planet, is inexperienced in love things. Because she has no real man that would teach her everything about sex.”       “Why do you care about her men?” Alicia sharply moves her eyes to Eleanor. “You should not care how many of them she has had, or how she can please them!”       “Right, because your niece is an innocent girl yet,” Eleanor replies confidently. “The girl, who has been touched by no man. Or she is pretending to be a virgin. Supporting the image that her managers created for her.”       “As if you have had many men!”       “I have no time to date someone. I give very much time to the network of shops and plan my revenge on the killer of my beloved daddy.”       “Sorry that you missed your time. You could’ve been happy with a husband and children.”       “Honestly, I don’t need it all. I am happy without a husband and children. Yes, I do not exclude that someday I will have one. But for me, it’s not my number one goal. I can be happy without what all the people used to call the real happiness of a woman.”       “Maybe, if you had a family, you would be much nicer.”       “Do not make me do what you find right. Better say it to your niece, who does not hurry to get married and is too busy with her career. She is obsessed with a wish to hear compliments from everyone.” Eleanor smirks evilly. “But sadly, all the fans of your niece are mad at her. They consider her a selfish scumbag that loves nobody but her.”       “M-m-m, that’s how!” Alicia pronounces surprisingly.       “Yes, yes! I know this story very well. I know everything that happened to her. And I still keep watching the news about this case.” Eleanor smirks evilly, glancing aside. “A brave persona gave an interview to a magazine and told many bad facts about that beauty, who made all the men in the world lose their minds. They revealed what she was doing on every single shoot.”       “And everything they said is an insolent lie!” Alicia says confidently.       “What are you talking about?”       “Raquelle would never do what was said by a coward, who does not want to reveal themselves. She has never had the mental issues that everyone is talking about.”       “Who knows, honey…” Eleanor smiles slyly. “Any theory has got at least a little bit of the truth.”       Eleanor says nothing for two seconds.       “Or maybe, the anonymous will introduce someone to confirm everything they said in the interview,” Eleanor assumes. “Confirm what destroyed the career of your beloved girl, Raquelle.”       “I’m saying again, it’s a LIE!” Alicia gets wild. “That person just wanted to get famous thanks to my niece and make her bad for everyone.”       “Aw, poor girl…” Eleanor stops sharply, turns on Alicia, and puts her hand on her thoracic cage. “I am so sorry about her! The career of that girl is about to be ruined because of the anonym… I mean it’s already ruined. And Raquelle is no longer able to be back in the modeling business. And she is actually not expected in the show business after what everyone found out about her.”       “There are celebrities that behave much worse,” Alicia notices confidently. “But they keep building their careers. And they don’t care about what someone says about them.”       “But your niece could not do that. The poor girl got so upset because someone dared to say such terrible things about her. Someone dared not to tell her many compliments and say she is stunning and freaking sexy.” Eleanor smirks evilly. “But I personally see nothing sexual about her. Just a common girl, who is well dressed and has a good hairstyle and makeup. Besides, she is as flat as a board. She has big breasts only in photos. Because they just paint it.”       Alicia says nothing and growls quietly and irritably with rolled eyes.       “So, our kind and sweet Alicia accepted her niece, who decided to move to her auntie to calm down,” Eleanor says thoughtfully. “Who wanted to make people think she was missing. And people really think so. Everyone’s looking for her. Looking for her in the United States. Not knowing that she actually managed to run away to London. And nobody even noticed it.”       “Do you think I should’ve turned my back on her as well as those people?” Alicia wonders. “Who were too stupid and naive and believed that liar that must be sued for slander!”       “No, Alicia, not people are naive but your niece.” Eleanor smirks evilly. “She thinks everyone would forget her if she disappeared somewhere. Ha! All newspapers and magazines keep writing about her and still slinging dirt on her. Well, Raquelle’s grandfather and friends, who refuse to talk to the media so hard, probably know that she went to visit her auntie. She went to London to run away from shame.”       “It does not have to do with you, witch!” Alicia throws rudely.       “By running away, she got much more attention. She got the opposite effect.”       “Early or late, Raquelle will make that freaking stinker pay for slandering and prove she is not as terrible as someone called her.”       “No, Alicia, she will do nothing.” Eleanor shakes her head confidently. “Because she will die by this moment. Die, staying an egoistic bitch that thinks only of herself and forgets who she owes for her success.”       “You will not dare to hurt my niece, Eleanor,” Alicia says coldly.       “Still hoping to do something?”       “I would prefer dying than seeing how you try to do something with her.”       “Believe me, nobody will regret her death. And when that girl is buried, nobody will remember there was such a model like Raquelle Cameron. Just like it happens to almost all artists. Even the greatest ones.”       “I swear, Eleanor, I do not know what I am going to do with you if my niece suffers because of you or one of your pals.”       “I know you love her. But alas, I’ve told you millions of times that you would not save her from me.”       “She is almost like a daughter to me! I did almost raise that girl and love her with all my heart.”       “Yeah, you’re giving all your love to your niece. You did not become a mother. Because you had no man.”       “It’s my business!”       “Yeah… It’s clear your wild youth scared all the men,” Eleanor assumes. “Nobody wanted to make you a lover and especially marry you.”       “Don’t talk about what you have to do with,” Alicia demands coldly. “You have no children or husband.”       “I have already said I do not care about it. I live a good life without a husband and children, and I do not suffer from it.”       “Sorry… Maybe, you use your energy in the right way. Not waste sixteen years for revenge and an attempt to destroy me. You would take care of your husband and educate your own children.”       “I say again, if I have to, I shall pay sixteen more years. I am ready to spend as much time as I have to.” Eleanor sets her contemptuous look on Alicia. “Just to know you, snake, have died and been burning in hell. To know that you have paid for everything you have done.”       “You will not get better,” Alicia says.       “I shall do! Be sure.”       “What are you going to do after you take revenge?”       “Keep living and enjoying my life.”       “Come on?”       “Yes, yes, enjoy!” Eleanor tucks a strand of hair behind her ear with her head proudly raised. “I will be working on the shops. And finally open the first shop of the Woodham family somewhere abroad. For example, in America. And our shops will be open around the whole world.”       “Yeah?” Alicia wonders. “Who is going to rule everything after your death? You have no children, who you would give your business to?”       “But I have other relatives. For example, my cousin Stephan. Or my great-aunt Yasmin. They’re young guys. They would be able to control it.”       “So, would you teach them to do bad tricks to get much more money?”       “It’s none of your business, my darling! You will not see all of that. As well as Raquelle. Because I shall deal with you two very soon.”       “I said if you hurt my niece, you would really regret it,” Alicia recalls rudely, clenching her hands into fists.       “I understand you’re defending her like a lion and letting nobody hurt your sweetheart.”       “I would tear anyone for her. And I shall defend her, despite nothing.”       “Yes, yes, you are defending the girl, the parents of who got divorced and died in a car accident. You did not want to leave her and helped her grandfather raise Raquelle when he took his granddaughter with him to educate her.”       “And we think we completed our mission. Thanks to us, Raquelle has become a very good girl.”       “Ah, how touching that is!” Eleanor grabs her heart theatrically. “I am about to cry now! You also say the poor Raquelle has taken so much that counting everything would take a lot of time.”       “And it’s true,” Alicia says with her head proudly raised. “If you care about it.”       “And I must admit that she masterly speculated in that. She refused to talk about her bad life too much but did not miss a chance to remind everyone that she was a poor and unhappy orphan girl that has only her auntie and grandpa.”       “It’s not speculation, Eleanor. Not speculation.”       “I think it helped her well. Thanks to the speculation, Raquelle eventually became an allegedly famous model. Who had so many fans among girls. And I cannot even count how many men were ready to lie in front of her and get the attention of that Snow Queen, who rejected all of them.” Eleanor glances aside. “But I prefer thinking that her fame was one hundred percent paid by her sugar daddy.”       “Nobody paid for Raquelle’s fame,” Alicia resents. “She got everything by herself! By working hard!”       “Yeah, I shall believe it,” Eleanor smirks evilly.       “You don’t know how many tears my niece cried because she could do nothing. How much she was worried because nobody paid enough attention to her success, and other models did not want to get on well with her. But Raquelle got through it! And she has reached very much.”       “But it’s all worthless because her career was ruined to the hell. Nobody wants to suggest that star to have a shooting in underwear and walk on a runway on high heels.”       “You will never get it,” Alicia throws coldly, setting her cold look full of contempt on Eleanor. “Because you got everything without a long, hard work. A long time ago, your daddy rose up from his knees and provided for you with everything. But Raquelle had to get everything on her own. She had no contacts and tried to reach something by herself. With her manager’s help. With the support of her family and close friends.”       “Alright, think what you want,” Eleanor waves her hand. “Arguing with you is worthless. But I shall be absolutely sure that girl was in the bed of a powerful man and instantly got famous. Even the anonymous talked much about it in their interviews.”       “Journalists and reporters are professionals at thinking up false stories that sometimes might be the truth. And I’m very sorry that everyone believes it and blames innocent people for what they did not do. Very sorry.”       “Keep protecting your beloved Raquelle, keep. I completely get it. But remember that people know everything much better and see what someone doesn’t see. What they don’t want to see…”       “Early or late, everyone will wake up and realize someone had them wrapped around a finger. That person will not lie to everyone forever and think they will get off it.”       “Still believe in tales? You are no longer a young girl, but are you sure that kindness wins over evil?”       “Nothing lasts forever, sweetheart. Nothing stays the same. Everything has an end. It just sometimes comes early, and sometimes it comes late.”       “Alright, alright, let’s not argue,” Eleanor raises her hands in front of herself. “Let’s not talk about it! And I do not want to, honestly. I should think of how to make my revenge come true and destroy you and your niece.”       “Oh, I wish your plans were ruined to hell!” Alicia wishes. “I wish you went to prison for many years and paid for all your sins.”       “Calm down, darling, the police will not reach me,” Eleanor says confidently with her head proudly raised. “Nobody would dare to catch the daughter of the all-respected Gilbert Woodham.”       “Nobody knows about him now.”       “Not true! My dad is still loved and appreciated by everyone.”       “What are you talking about?”       “So, even if your beloved Raquelle wants to report to the police, she will instantly be turned upon after they find out she is blaming me for everything.”       “Now there is a new generation that does not care who you are. Which does not know about you and your daddy.”       “If someone from the police dares to go against my family. I shall make them remember some things well. I shall quickly shut them up and do my best for them not to even dare to look at me.”       “You are too self-confident. And don’t always count on your surname. Because someday it would not help you one beautiful day.”       “It has betrayed me only once, when that fucking judge found you non-guilty for the murder of my father.”       “You see! After Gilbert’s death, many people stopped bowing at you and being afraid of the anger of that man.”       “I already let Raquelle know that if she dared to ask the police for help, you would die. Yes, you will die soon anyway. But still…”       “She will surely think up something to save me. My girl will not let you deal with me.”       “Even if that gal does not listen to me and does report to the police, I will not give up to the police. They will get only my dead body.”       “You’ll make it much worse.”       “If the police want to catch me, they should kill me. But I doubt that they would do it. Because first, I belong to the famous Woodham family. And second, policemen do catch criminals, not kill them.”       “Please, Eleanor, change your mind…” Alicia begs with pity and sniffs quietly. “Why do you need it? Why do you make your life worse?”       “I do not make it worse. But you made my life worse many years ago.”       “For God’s sake, let’s forget everything and live our lives. I would not bother you, you would not bother me.”       “Ugh, are you an idiot?” Eleanor simpers loudly, putting her hands on her hips. “Do you think I'm an idiot, who would easily refuse what I have been dreaming about for so many years? What I have been getting ready for sixteen years.”       “No…”       “Forget that, Thompson! My revenge will come true, no matter if you like it or not.”       “Eleanor…”       “No, do not even beg me!” Eleanor raises her index finger up. “I shall not change my mind. I will not do.”       “It’s not too late to change everything,” Alicia pronounces, looking at Eleanor with pity in her eyes.       “I will surely do my best to do what I have been dreaming about in the past years. I will do what you deserve.”       “It’s not worth it.”       “Listen, you, stupid chicken, stop moaning!” Eleanor sharply turns on Alicia and comes closer to her. “You have annoyed me! You should have thought about it when you were too young before doing something. Who is the one to blame that you had no brains and have not gotten them yet?”       “Eleanor, please…”       “I shall destroy you, Alicia. And nothing will stop me. Especially you and your fucking niece.” Eleanor leans down to Alicia and looks into her eyes with evil. “I shall take revenge on you for my father's death. Revenge you for killing him.”       “It happened accidentally,” Alicia says with pity in her eyes.       “Since you, bitch, did not go to prison sixteen years ago, I’m ready to send you to another world at the nearest time.”       “You do know I didn’t want to kill him.”       “Oh, yeah, did not wait.”       “I never wanted to kill anyone.”       “Oh, shit, it’s been so many years, but you have been pretending to be an innocent lamb. You do not want to admit that you killed Dad to get everything he had.”       “It’s not the truth!” Alicia protests loudly. “I never wanted anything from your father.”       “You needed his money. His wealth. You wanted to get it and make my family go bankrupt.”       “I’ve never hidden that I did not want to kill Gilbert. I did it accidentally.”       “I will never believe it! Never!”       “Believe me, if I could come back to the past, I would undoubtedly fix that terrible mistake. I would not do what was the reason why he died.”       “But you CAN NOT BE BACK!” Eleanor shouts, tightly clenching her hands into fists. “CANNOT, THE FUCK!” Eleanor starts breathing heavily enough. “YOU DID KILL THAT MAN! HE IS DEAD! HE DIED SIXTEEN YEARS AGO! AND I HAVE NOT TAKEN THAT YET!”       “Quiet, quiet, Eleanor, don’t shout,” Alicia says quietly. “Please…”       “DON’T SHOUT? DON’T SHOUT?”       “Eleanor, please…”       “DO YOU THINK I SHOULD BE HAPPY? BE HAPPY I WAS DEPRIVED OF SUCH A CLOSE PERSON OF MINE?”       “Yeah, no reason to be happy…”       “You are the one to blame for everything, snake! YOU! BECAUSE OF YOU, I LOST MY DAD! ONCE AND FOREVER!”       “I am really very sorry it happened.”       “WHY DO I NEED YOUR FUCKING SYMPATHY? WHY? DAD IS NOT HERE! HE IS WITH ME ONLY IN PHOTOS OF US! VIEWING WHICH MAKES ME CRY BITTERLY. AND I AM MISSING THAT MAN, WHO WAS MY BEST FRIEND!”       “I completely get your pain.”       “You get nothing, bitch! NOTHING!” Eleanor sharply goes aside and turns on Alicia again. “My family still cannot come to themselves after his death, which happened because of you. We are still cursing the judge, who found you non-guilty and decided that my father was harassing you and forced you to protect yourself and kill him accidentally.”       “But he was really harassing me,” Alicia protests with wet from tears eyes. “Your father tried to rape me!”       “Do not dare to say it about my father. DO NOT DARE!”       “You do know I was taking not the best behavior of your father for a long time. I was ready to tell him everything and even stop communicating with all my friends and relatives. But I couldn’t take the fact that he beat me after I claimed I would leave him.”       “It’s a lie. My father NEVER beat you!”       “He did, my dear. Many times. Sadly, he didn’t know that raising his hand on a woman was an unforgivable thing.”       “My father was not a rapist,” Eleanor screams at the top of her lungs, as her nostrils inflate from anger. “Hear me, HE WAS NOT! IT WAS THE MOST REAL ANGEL AND THE BEST LOVING FATHER, BROTHER, AND FRIEND!”       “You didn’t know your father, Eleanor. You didn’t know what he could do. What a cruel man Gilbert was.”       “And you, stupid chicken, did want to live on his account and not to owe him.”       “I never needed his money.”       “We both know from where my father brought you up to give you a gorgeous life so easily. And he could easily push you into the same hole again.”       “But it all happened at his wish.”       “That man was doing anything for you, Alicia. He was ready to move a mountain for you. He wasted a lot of money on you and made all your wishes come true. He fell in love like a little boy! He was ready to golden you and make you a queen of him! But you were a thankless bitch, who didn’t appreciate all of that. Who used the opportunity to take the money from my dad and feel like a rich lady. But who forgot that you have to pay for everything in this life. Nobody would give you jewelry and money for nothing. You should work for it somehow. In case, you worked your ass.”       Eleanor shakes her head.       “Because of you, my father left my mother,” Eleanor adds with evil in her eyes. “Because of you, he got cold to her. Because of you, she was crying bitterly after he told her about his wish to get divorced. Because of you, I was crying in my room for a whole day. Because my life sharply changed. You ruined our life after you came into it.”       “Your father would have gotten divorced from your mother even if he had not met me.”       “You did push him to that decision much more. You made my father lose his mind. He wanted to marry you! He wanted you to give birth to his baby! He even made me call you a mother of mine. He said you would live in our house soon. I did not agree with it. I did not agree to call a homewrecker my mother.”       “Yes, I was an idiot!” Alicia exclaims. “I was an idiot when I agreed to date Gilbert. I was an idiot because I decided to get in touch with that man for money for my studies because he could help me. And now I understand that it was my great mistake.”       “Father never loved my mother as much as he loved you. He never looked at her with admiration. He never said something good to her. As if he ignored her by overloading himself with work and silently giving her money that she spent at shops where she spent her whole time.”       “In this case, you shouldn't blame me for breaking the marriage of your parents. They were already ready to get divorced. And they did not do this just for you.”       “No, Alicia, you are the one to blame for everything. You are guilty of ruining my life and my family. Slaying my father to the bottom of his heart. And disappointing him in the same way.”       “I repeat, Gilbert was running after me, giving me expensive gifts, and wanted to get attention. I never loved that man.”       “But you dated him!” Eleanor recalls confidently. “Dated him because you needed his money and status. Besides, you were madly afraid of coming back to the brothel where you were working when you were a little girl.”       “Stop reminding me of what I wanna forget,” Alicia says in a much lower voice, getting quite tense.       “Alas, sweetheart, it’s impossible. Your past will be chasing you until the end of your worthless life. You will never forget it and step away from it, pretending to be an alleged innocent lamb that regularly goes to a crunch, prays to everyone, and goes on fasts.”       “Please, Eleanor…” Alicia slowly stands up from the bed, shaking her head and looking at Eleanor with pity in her half-wet eyes. “I completely get it… Yes, I really killed your father. But I did it not on purpose, trust me. I was just trying to defend myself. Gilbert tried to rape me, but I just wanted to knock him senseless for some time to run away from him. I did not want to kill him!”       “Oh, yeah, did not want,” Eleanor hums with rolled eyes. “If you had not wanted, you would have given up to the police immediately. Not hidden nobody the fuck knows where. Being afraid that you would be put to prison.”       “I explained everything during a hearing of the case. It was all a clean truth that I am not going to hide.”       “It’s not the truth, Alicia, it’s an attempt to whitewash you. For me. For my family. For your niece. For your late parents, sister, and brother-in-law.”       “Believe me, I am very sorry about killing Gilbert and depriving you of a father,” Alicia says with pity in her eyes, understanding tears are coming to her tears and starting to shake strongly. “That event hasn’t let me live quietly for sixteen years. Every night, I see him in my nightmares… See the way I kill him with the case… How your family is cursing me… Gilbert telling me how much he hates me…”       “It’s not enough for me. Not enough! I want you to die. Die with tortures. Dad to know the killer of him got what she deserved. If the judge did not put you to prison, I have to do nothing but commit the murder. That I will never regret.”       “I have suffered enough… And I still keep suffering. And I’m afraid I would never forget that.”       “Oh, yeah, I see you’re obsessed with remorse…” Eleanor crosses her arms over her chest. “And it’s amazing, honestly.”       “You may not believe it, but it’s the truth,” Alicia says quietly. “I never told anyone about what I did. But hiding it is madly hard… And I can’t tell you everything. Because I would die of shame. For Raquelle. For her grandfather. I would never find the courage to tell them about that terrible thing that would make them turn their back on me.”       “Raquelle would know that anyway one beautiful day,” Eleanor notices confidently. “Either she will read articles on the Internet that you can still find on some sites, or I shall tell her everything.”       “No, Eleanor, you will say nothing to her.”       “And if that girl already knows about me – and she one hundred percent knows about my wish to destroy you – and is aware of at least a part of our business, your niece is supposed to wish to try to find out everything. All the truth about her beloved auntie hurting that woman.”       “I really hope she will know nothing.”       “And I’m sure Cameron would get what she wants. Because she is a very headstrong girl. She always reaches her goals, but does it without stepping on others.”       “You noticed it right.”       “I’m supposed to take a favorable view of this fact. But I shall not. Because when you want something, you should feel sorry for nobody. If you are sorry for everyone and always give in, it will give you nothing good.”       “That’s why I doubt that you will stop after you deal with me,” Alicia says confidently. “You will keep stealing something and killing anyone not to please you. You will continue to do what your father was doing.”       “You should not care what I am going to do.”       “After your father’s death, you broke free. When he was alive, you contained yourself somehow, but then you gave a damn about everything and everyone.”       “I became the one because of you!” Eleanor says confidently. “If you hadn’t come into my life and the lives of my family, everything would have been fine. Dad wouldn’t have left Mother for a teenage queen like you, and would not have died because of you.”       “The one you should blame is your father.”       “Yes, I’m supposed to blame him for getting in touch with you. But I do not do it. Because I know you hang on to him. You had the pleasure of accepting his expensive gifts, shaking your ass and always being in his bed. On the bed, on which he slept with Mother.”       “Not true, I never hung on Gilbert!” Alicia protests. “He brought me to your home while you and Caroline were left.”       “It’s not a secret to me.”       “Gilbert told me many times that he was thinking of leaving your mother. Because she irritated him and wasn’t attractive to him.”       “Stop saying bullshit, bitch!” Eleanor throws rudely.       “It’s true, Eleanor. It was what your father said.”       “Even if he said these things, he did it just because you, bitch, seduced him and made him become a stupid boy in love.”       “Your parents would’ve gotten divorced anyway. Early or late. Because of another woman or not, their marriage was doomed. They no longer had feelings for each other. As I said, they lived together just for you.”       “Mother never heard anything like that from him. And Dad started to treat her coldly after you came into his life.”       “If you heard what he said about her, your hair would stand.”       “Whatever you say, I will not believe you. Because my parents got divorced because of you.”       “It’s amazing Caroline was protecting your father so hard even after she got divorced from him.”       “Even if Dad left her for you, Mother doesn’t blame him for the broken family and keeps treating him with respect.”       “Because he did not refuse to provide for her and started to pay her some money every month?”       “No, bitch! Because my dad wasn’t guilty of the fact that the nasty bitch stood in his way, made him lose his mind, and almost robbed him to the fuck.”       “I never needed his money, Eleanor.”       “You had the pleasure of accepting his expensive gifts and big amounts of money.”       “He gave them to me! I never asked anything from him!”       “Oh, yeah, and you did not lie in his bed.”       “I did it just for money. I found it to be my work that Gilbert paid very much for.”       “INSOLENT LIAR!” Eleanor shouts and strongly slaps Alicia in the face. “Confess the truth, at last! Stop pretending to be a victim, thinking it would save you from a punishment!”       “I am telling the truth.”       “You’re the only one to blame for the breakup of my family! And nobody else. And you will pay me for that. I will not calm down until you die.”       “Listen, Eleanor, I completely understand that you still feel hurt from losing your father,” Alicia says confidently with pity in her wet eyes, sometimes sniffing quietly. “But understand, revenging will not help you get Gilbert back from the dead. It doesn’t make sense!”       “But it would help me punish the killer that did not go to prison sixteen years ago.”       “For God’s sake, Eleanor, stop. Stop before it’s too late.”       “Not. For. Anything.” Eleanor sharply steps aside and starts walking in circles in a small room. “I shall not give up on my plan of revenge. I will not refuse the revenge I have planned for so many years.”       “Aren’t you ashamed of what you’re doing?” Alicia wonders.       “No, I am not!”       “I mean not only your wish to kill me. But also the way you are deceiving your workers and do not pay them the money you promised. You make them work hard all day, all night. You want to get what doesn’t belong to you by evading paying taxes and stealing someone’s money.”       “Yeah, right…” Eleanor smirks evilly. “I cannot miss a chance to get a little bit more money than I would always need.”       “You have much of it!”       “And what! You never know what might happen tomorrow. I would have some saved money in my safe. Not just that. But also some expensive things that I can sell to someone for a lot of money at any time.       “People are right when they say you can’t give someone too much money. Because it would quickly make people crazy.”       “Holding a lot of banknotes in your hands is as interesting as planning revenge on the killer of my father.”       “Why were you waiting for so many years? You could revenge me after the end of the trial!”       “I would have killed you a long time ago. But the situation was hard because you disappeared after the announcement of the sentence, and I could not find you for a few years.”       “Yeah, I decided to work on my life. For example, I found a job and bought a small apartment after selling the apartment of my late parents.”       “Right. Besides, Alicia Thompson suddenly became Alicia Middleton. It made the task much harder since your real surname was not featured in anything. However, some time later, I caught my luck.”       “That’s how?”       “One familiar of mine, who was working in the police, told me about the case that happened before my dad died. He told me about how the girl named Alicia Thompson hit my close friend Ines, who was eleven at that moment, with a car. Before the eyes of tens of people. Right on the pedestrian crossing. She was quietly crossing the road on the green light, but one nasty bitch, not even thinking about stopping, carried her on the windshield two meters and stopped so sharply that the poor girl hit her head strongly against the asphalt and got a lot of fractures and other traumas.”       “It happened accidentally! I didn’t manage to stop because I distracted myself for a while.”       “Yes, you, asshole, ruined the lives of my surroundings and me a long time before the situation with Dad. You almost sent my friend, whom I had known since the early ages, to another world.”       “I’m really ashamed of what happened. And I swear, if I had a chance, I would surely find Ines and give her my apology.”       “Put your apology in your ass! She doesn’t need it! You’ve ruined the life of the poor girl and made her half-disabled.”       “I didn't want it!”       “You thought you would avoid the punishment. You thought nothing would happen if you ran away from the crime scene and forgot what happened. But you were not lucky! Because Ines was my friend. And the number of your car was easily memorized by the witnesses to that event. They betrayed you to the police immediately. And they easily found out that the car belonged to a certain Alicia Thompson, a twenty-year-old baby, who recently received a driver’s license and could not drive at all. Though, I didn’t know it. I didn’t know that you almost killed the little, innocent girl.”       “Yes, I did a stupid thing! I hoped for luck. And I forgot about that case little by little. Though, I prayed that Ines stayed alive.”       “I quickly understood that it was the Alicia, who killed my dad shamelessly and managed to get away from it so easily. And I was madly happy that the one, who was guilty of what happened to my friend was found. I rushed to tell her family about everything. But those people surprised me truly by saying they didn’t want to think of the past and would do nothing to the one, who almost killed my friend. I tried to change their mind, but I didn’t do it. However, I thought and decided that it was a wonderful reason to take revenge on you for the death of my dad and make you pay the full amount that Ines’ family got for the expensive therapy. They weren’t allowed to pay for it, and Daddy generously agreed to help them. Because… How could we turn our backs on my close friend at such a hard moment?”       Eleanor hums quietly, crossing her arms over her chest.       “And I was mad that you had committed much more sins than I thought,” Eleanor adds thoughtfully, putting a finger on her lip. “At the thought that I could’ve gotten a stepmother, whom my dad found among the same nasty sluts like you. At the thought that I could’ve lost one more close person because of you. My close friend, who has always been like a sister to me.”       “What are you talking about?” Alicia throws coldly.       “When my familiar policeman called your name, I thought that it was just a coincidence. There are many women with the name Alicia in the world. But then I called you and told you to meet me. You agreed and came where I asked you to come. I started to look at you closely and thought that your face was very similar to mine. As well as your voice…” Eleanor glances aside. “But on the same day, I wanted to view some photos that I still have at the former office of my father. After thinking a little, I realized that the girl in the photos and the woman I met were the same person. It was Alicia. Alicia Thompson, who killed my father.”       Eleanor laughs evilly.       “I was madly happy because of that. Because I finally got a chance to take revenge. To do what I had been dreaming about for a few years. And I started to plan my revenge.”       “And I quickly recognized you and realized that you were Eleanor Woodham, the daughter of the late Gilbert,” Alicia confesses confidently.       “You should have done it!” Eleanor smirks evilly. “I am Eleanor Woodham! The daughter of the all-favorite Gilbert Woodham.”       “Who goes everywhere only with her bodyguards. Who were even at that meeting and literally killing me with their close looks.”       “I give very much attention to my safety. Because I don’t want someone to kill me as well as you killed my dad. So, I hired the best and toughest guys that know martial arts and would lie anyone down.”       “Anyway, you went to the meeting for nothing because I was not going to give you anything. Not because of who you were. Because I did not, I do not, and I will not have so much money.”       “But that meeting finally brought me to you. And I am madly grateful to my good friend for letting you and me meet.”       “Thank God, you didn’t agree to accept my suggestion of selling you something from my souvenirs or jewelry. I would’ve gotten no pounds sterling from you.”       “I have tears in my eyes when I think about how much money my dad spent on the nasty whore, who thought it should’ve happened.”       “So, I was right when I said that when your father was alive, you were good and did not become such a bitch that you are now.”       “Oh, am I a bitch?” Eleanor laughs contemptuously. “No, Alicia… There is only one bitch. It’s you, Alicia. An insolent, false bitch that ruined my whole life.”       “Come on!” Alicia smirks evilly.       “And I wear on Dad’s grave that I shall destroy you. I swear, Alicia Thompson, you will pay me for everything! I will make the slut, whom Father took under his wing for his love for her, realize that you got in touch with those, who would not forgive you for everything. Would not forget everything.”       “Do you know you don’t have to do with the business of Gilbert and me?” Alicia crosses her arms over her chest. “That was our relationship! And you had no right to meddle in it.”       “By the way, when Dad finally woke up, he realized he was stupid when deciding to get in touch with you. He later thanked me many times for helping him open his eyes and realize you were a nasty bitch.”       “Yeah, you dinged into his ears about me allegedly being mad.”       “Ha, I bite you through quickly when my father decided to introduce you to me. I realized you were a fucking hunter for rich men and their money. And then I said it to my father millions of times, who refused to hear me for the time being. I was a kind of little girl and understood nothing. I would understand everything after growing up.”       “Since that woman woke up, why did he not leave me alone and find another lady? Why did he catch me at the airport and bring me to his house by force?”       “Father never forgot you for the years you were hiding from him. But he thought not of love, but a wish to revenge you. Revenge you for using him. For rejecting the love that he suggested to you, and thanks to which your life would’ve gotten much better.”       “I’ve never hidden that I never loved him.”       “You started to show off some time later. And at the beginning, you were happy to answer his attention.”       “I was pretending that I liked it. Because I didn’t want to lose a chance to earn such good money.”       “Right, you did not. And as my father did not finish what he started, I will end it with pleasure. And revenge you for the murder.”       “I didn’t want to kill him.”       “Stop lying! A whore that does not want to use a chance to charm a rich man, get married to him, and then kill him to get his money… It just cannot be the truth!”       “Yes, I was a young, stupid idiot that worked where good girls would never come. But I’m still really regretting it. Regretting listening to a familiar of mine and accepting her suggestion of going to work at that fucking club.”       “If you had wanted, you would have refused!”       “I needed money for studies, which my parents weren’t able to pay for.”       “Do you think they did not suspect how the one, who was a student yesterday, could earn so much money?”       “I never told them about me working at the café!”       “Sorry! Your daddy should have beaten you well with a belt. And your mommy should have taught you to behave like a decent woman.”       “I say again, I still regret going there,” Alicia says confidently. “I am sorry for ruining my life. Which had been much better before I met your father. I had loving parents and a younger sister. We got on so well. Yes, we weren’t rich, but we always had love and peace. But when I got into Gilbert’s cage, I could only dream about it.”       Alicia shakes her head, sniffing quietly.       “And then my sister got married to a wonderful man,” Alicia adds thoughtfully. “She gave birth to the gorgeous daughter, whom we were surrounded by love and care.”       

***

      June 27th, 1991.       “I want to tell you the good news, Mr. Cameron,” the woman, who is working in the hospital and helped Elizabeth give birth, says with a slight smile. “A few minutes ago, your wife, Elizabeth Cameron, gave birth to the baby.”       “Gave birth?” Alicia asks happily, who is being in the hospital, as well as Jackson, her parents, and his father. “Did my sister give birth?”       “Yes, she did. Accept my congratulations.”       Everybody starts immediately whooping, and Jackson literally fades away in his wide smile and exhales with great relief because he was terribly nervous and could not calm down while Elizabeth’s labor was lasting, even if his family supported him and said everything would be alright.       “And who was born: girl or boy?” Jackson asks excitedly.       “A wonderful girl,” the doctor smiles widely. “Absolutely healthy and full-term.”       “Girl?”       “Gosh, if only you knew how beautiful she is! Just a beauty! When doctors saw her, they all literally fell in love with her.”       “Jesus Christ… Girl! I got a daughter!”       Jackson’s relatives start whooping quietly almost at the same time, and hug the man tightly to congratulate him on the birth of a little daughter. While the father is nicely shocked and looks around with widely open eyes full of a gloss, a true smile, and a closed mouth, trying to accept the fact that he just became a father.       “I’m a father!” Jackson exclaims happily. “I am a father!”       “Gosh, my granddaughter has been born!” Tiffany, the mother of Elizabeth and Alicia, exclaims happily, as she is tightly hugging her older daughter and not hiding tears of happiness.       “You and I are now grandfathers, Mr. Cameron,” Timothy, the father of Elizabeth and Alicia, says cheerfully, shakes Jackson’s father strongly by the hand, and hugs him amicably. “We have a granddaughter!”       “Gosh, did this day really come?” Frederick, the father of Jackson, cannot believe in his happiness, shaking his head slightly with a wide smile. “Can I really take my granddaughter in my arms?”       “Yes, Dad, I’ve got a daughter now!” Jackson exclaims happily.       “Jackson, sonny…”       Frederick takes Jackson in a tight hug and claps him on the shoulder, while the women talk about something to each other with tears in their eyes.       “Yeah, what about my wife?” Jackson addresses the doctor anxiously. “Is Elizabeth fine?”       “Mrs. Cameron is absolutely fine,” the doctor replies confidently. “Now she is having a rest after the labor and will be moved to a common room soon.”       “She quickly gave birth?”       “Oh, yeah, your wife is very good! She gave birth quite quickly, without problems, and did everything the doctors told her. Never argued and never complained…”       “She’s our patient girl,” Alicia says confidently.       “And when can I look at my daughter and visit my wife?” Jackson asks.       “The girl is being examined by doctors now,” the doctor replies quietly.       “Something is not right?”       “No, no, do not worry, it’s a necessary thing. To check her health. But I can already say your daughter is absolutely healthy.”       “I got you.”       “She will also be carried to her mother’s room soon, so they can be together. So, the baby can feel the pretense of a mother. So, the mother can get used to her daughter.”       “When can I see Elizabeth?”       “You will be allowed to see your wife in a few minutes. I will tell you when she is brought to a regular room and tell you how to go there.”       “Thank you so much, doctor. Thanks a lot!” Jackson tightly shakes the doctor by the hand. “You cannot imagine how happy I am now.”       “Congratulations, father,” the doctor says confidently. “You’ve got a daughter now.”       “And I have got a little niece!” Alicia smiles widely. “I have become an aunt!”       “And we have finally gotten a long-awaited granddaughter!” Tiffany adds happily. “We were waiting for it for so long. And our Elizabeth became a mother.”       “Congratulations on the birth of the gorgeous girl with all my heart,” the doctor smiles shyly. “I think now it’s time to pick up a name for her.”       “Sure, we will surely talk about it,” Timothy replies confidently.       “I think the young people do know how they would like to name their daughter,” Frederick smiles slightly, hugging his son Jackson around the shoulders with his head proudly raised.       “Pick up the best one,” the doctor says amicably. “Such a good girl needs to be named in the most beautiful way.”       “It goes without saying, doctor,” Jackson smiles widely. “My wife and I have a couple of ideas…”       “Wonderful then.”       “Thank you so much again for helping my daughter be born in this world.”       “Thank you for the good words. But now, excuse me, I must check the health of the new mother and her baby.”       “Good… I got you.”       “When they are in a room, I will immediately come to you and let you know.”       “Thanks.”       The doctor turns upon them with a slight smile and leaves to do his business, while the terribly happy Jackson starts accepting congratulations and warm words from his happy relatives, who are nicely excited by the birth of the little girl that should bring light and happiness to the lives of every one of them.       

***

      June 27th, 1991.       “Gosh, she’s so pretty!” Alicia gets tender feelings, sitting on the bed of Elizabeth, who is lying on it with her little daughter in her arms, who is wrapped in a white sheet. “My niece is so charming. This beauty took all the best from her mother and father.”       “I fell in love with her at first sight,” Elizabeth confesses. “And I don’t wanna let her go off me.”       “It’s impossible not to love this charming baby.” Alicia tenderly caresses the newborn baby’s head. “I am sure she will grow up to be a very beautiful girl.”       “All the doctors that helped me give birth confessed they literally fell in love with her,” Elizabeth says shyly.       “Not surprised!”       It’s easy to say Elizabeth looks tired and needs a little rest after the labor. But her eyes are full of true happiness and a bright gloss. The young mother does not care that she does not almost have energy and does not hide her wide smile. And what kind of tender love she has when looking at her little daughter, who is wrapped in a white sheet and is in her mother’s arms! It seems like if someone from the doctors came here and took the baby away, the girl would refuse to give it because she cannot stop admiring her.       It’s hard to say who the newborn baby is similar to so far, but she is really very cute and makes them feel only tender feelings. None of Elizabeth’s relatives can hold down their emotions when looking at this little girl, who was born literally a few hours ago. And the proud and happy father, Jackson, does not leave his wife and child not for a second, looking at the two with tenderness in the eyes and either giving them a cute kiss on the top of their heads or caressing their heads.       “I think she is more similar to her mother,” Timothy assumes thoughtfully, sitting at the table next to his wife and looking at his granddaughter in the arms of his daughter with tenderness in his eyes.       “I think so,” Tiffany smiles widely, holding her husband’s hand and fixing the sheet the little girl is wrapped in. “When I was giving birth to Elizabeth, she was a cute doll, as well. I still remember how I was lying in the room with her and pressing her to my chest.”       “She’s so warm…” Elizabeth smiles shyly, looking at Tiffany with her half-wet eyes and almost crying from happiness. “And… Smells so good…”       “Because she’s your daughter. Your flesh and blood.”       “She’s so beautiful, Mom. So cute. I can’t literally believe I gave birth to such a beauty.”       “Believe me, when my granddaughter is an adult, she will be more beautiful. Break the hearts of many guys.”       “My family has only the most beautiful girls,” Timothy says with his head proudly raised. “My daughters are beauties, and my granddaughter is going to be more gorgeous.”       “I think she has her father’s nose,” Frederick assumes thoughtfully, looking at his granddaughter better and tenderly caressing her head. “And his cheeks looked like hers. Jackson was also a cheeky boy when he was born.”       “Oh, yeah, Father is right,” Jackson smiles shyly, letting the little girl take his finger she is barely gripping with her little finger. “We’ve got many photos at home, in which I was a too little baby. My cheeks were big, of course, but later they faded away somehow.”       “It’s just a baby fat, don’t worry,” Alicia waves her hand. “You should’ve seen how chubby I was when I was about eight or ten. But closer to teenage age, I grew up, lost weight, and changed.”       “Don’t say stupid things, Alicia,” Elizabeth protests, softly pressing the little girl to her chest and caressing her hand tenderly. “You’ve never been chubby! Neither Mother, you and me!”       “Exactly!” Tiffany agrees. “Don’t say bad things about yourself, my dear. Elizabeth and you have always been slender beauties. And your father and I have always told you that.”       “Yes, we had the two beautiful and clever girls, but now we’ve gotten one more,” Timothy says with his head proudly raised, caressing his wife and his daughters. “I’ve got no doubts my daughter would become clever, beautiful, and obedient, and her mother and father would do everything for that.”       “It goes without saying, Mr. Thompson,” Frederick replies confidently. “We will all give the baby only the best.”       “And help the young people make her a good, shy girl,” Alicia adds.       “Sure,” Tiffany pronounces confidently.       “Yeah, but there’s one little question!”       “Which?”       “How do we call this baby? The young parents should give a name to this girl.”       “Yes, Jackson, Elizabeth, have you decided how to name your daughter?” Alicia asks with interest.       “We’ve done,” Elizabeth pronounces with a shy smile. “Jackson and I want to name our daughter Raquelle.”       “Raquelle?” Tiffany asks. “So… I personally like this name!”       “Yes, me too,” Frederick nods confidently. “It’s a rare but very beautiful name. At least, nobody from my familiars has this name and names their daughters like this.”       “Alright, what about the second name?” Timothy asks.       “Her second name is going to be Allison,” Jackson says with a slight smile.       “Allison? So, do you want to name your daughter Raquelle Allison Cameron?”       “Yes, Mr. Thompson, our daughter will be named like this.”       “So, excellent choice!” Alicia smiles widely.       “We decided it before the birth of the daughter,” Jackson confesses. “Besides, Elizabeth and I had an agreement that she would pick up the first name for our child, and I would pick up a second one.”       “That’s how!” Frederick exclaims.       “And as we didn’t know the gender of the child, we picked up two names for a boy and a girl. Choosing a name for a girl, Lizzy liked the name Raquelle, and I liked the name, Allison.”       “Do you not mind that your daughter would be named like this?” Timothy specifies. “What if one of you wants to name the baby differently?”       “No, no, Dad, don’t worry, Jackson, and we've already discussed everything and agreed with these names,” Elizabeth replies confidently. “So, our daughter’s name is Raquelle Allison Cameron.”       “So…” Alicia smiles widely. “In this case, welcome to this world, our dear Raquelle.”       Alicia caresses tenderly her niece, Raquelle’s head.       “You’ve brought light and happiness to our family,” Tiffany adds softly, also caressing the baby Raquelle on the head.       “Our long-awaited girl…” Frederick pronounces quietly, smiling shyly, when Raquelle takes his finger with her little fingers. “You were born some time ago, but I already love you with all my heart.”       “Beautiful…” Timothy smiles shyly. “My beloved granddaughter…”       “Raquelle, my happiness…” Elizabeth pronounces with sadness in her eyes and kisses Raquelle softly on the forehead. “I will be the best mother to you.”       “Listen, Elizabeth, let us hold the baby in our arms just a little,” Frederick says softly. “We understand you don’t want to break up with her, but we want to hold her, too.”       “Yes, daughter, let us admire the baby,” Tiffany says confidently. “We haven't taken her in our arms yet.”       “Sorry…” Elizabeth pronounces shyly. “I just don’t wanna break up with her… I love her so much.”       “Let the proud father hold her first,” Timothy says confidently.       “C’mon, sonny, take your daughter,” Frederick adds with his head proudly raised, clapping Jackson slightly on the shoulder.       “But please, be careful…” Elizabeth says softly. “Careful…”       Elizabeth gives the baby Raquelle wrapped in a sheet to her husband Jackson, who presses the girl to himself and looks at her with tenderness in the eyes, not hiding his wide smile. The others surround him from all sides to look at the newborn baby better, who has already given them so much happiness.       After admiring her a little, the man carefully gives his daughter to his happy relatives: first, grandfathers and a grandmother, and then the aunt, who looks so happy as if she became the mother of this charming girl. Every one of them barely holds tears down, looking at this gorgeous baby, who instantly stole their hearts and literally made them fall in love with her from the first seconds.       Because nobody is going to kick Elizabeth’s relatives out of the room, they all have much pleasure spending time with her and cannot stop watching the newborn Raquelle, who is going to take a special place in their hearts from now on. And watching the happy faces of her family, the young mother does not hide her wide smile and accepts congratulations from those, who were waiting, worried, and got news about the birth of the absolutely healthy girl.       

***

      “Of course, it’s all amazing, but you gave a fuck about your family,” Eleanor says confidently. “Because you started getting so much money that you never saw and could not refuse to work so easily. You were ready to exchange your family for that and forget it.”       “Not true! I never gave a damn about my family. I worked at that place for my studies and for my close people. I wanted to make them happy and give them a chance to buy something.”       “That’s why you did not reject probably the greatest gift that my father did for you.”       “I didn’t care about the fashion business that your father opened for me. And he did know it because I first rejected his too expensive gift. However, Gilbert didn’t listen to me and gave me the documents confirming my right to that by force.”       “Yes, yes, and then you discovered what great money was, got the love for it, and decided to accept my dad’s gift. You pretended to be a super talented designer, the promotion of who was paid by this man. And of course, you paid for that with your body. Your young body, for which Father left Mother. You shook your naked ass in front of him and your naked boobs and did crazy things in the bed.”       “Meddling in that type of thing is very bad,” Alicia says confidently.       “What are you talking about?”       “If you had a husband, you would talk about it with him. But don’t dare to talk about these things when a talk is about your father. The one to be older than you.”       “I’m no longer a child, Alicia,” Eleanor recalls. “Besides, we’ve got no such a great age difference. Just ten years. I’m now thirty-seven, and you’re forty-seven.”       “Who cares? Children have no right to meddle in their parents’ business!”       “Maybe, I was a child when you were charming my father. But I knew well about what you did. About how you ruined a long marriage between my parents and made my father lose his mind.”       “Have you never thought that your father could be running after me? He was sick of your mother! He wanted to shake up and relax a little!”       “And you, cad, decided to help him.”       “Gilbert thought he would hold me near him thanks to such expensive gifts and documents on owning the fashion business. He pronounced himself my boss and decided to control my life, deciding what I could do and what I could not do.”       “I’m sure he just decided to tame you. Because you became too arrogant and started to call yourself a great and favorite one. You forgot where he got you from.” Eleanor smirks evilly. “But Daddy quickly cut your wings when closing the fashion business and depriving you of that. Here’s the result – everybody quickly forgot about you. Who are you now? Nobody! I mean, people remember you only as the woman, who killed Gilbert Woodham. I'm not sure if they’re aware that Raquelle Cameron is your niece.”       “I didn’t try to get crazy fame,” Alicia says confidently. “Your father didn’t even talk to me before he gifted me that fashion business. He needed only my words about studying at the university in the faculty of design and being interested in fashion trends. Gilbert just forced me to face the fact. Well, here are your documents for my own brand of clothes, here is your money, fame, and a whole team of helpers.”       “Yeah, yeah, I know… That man believed he’d break the ice in the heart of Show Queen and make her fall in love with him, making her expensive gift and making any of her caprices come true. He became whipped and was ready to bend under a nasty bitch like you.”       “He knew he had no chances from the beginning. I did not love him and found him just one of my clients.”       “With him, you could make any decision. Father could kick anyone out of the fashion business because one word of his was a law that was out of the discussion.”       “Yes, I don’t deny it was nice for me to get his attention, and I was glad he always gave me such gorgeous presents. But later, I started to get sick of it. Besides, I wanted to get everything on my own, not with help of other people.”       “Alas, sweetheart, you will do nothing.”       “If I had wanted to open a fashion business, I would’ve found a way to do it.”       “To do that, you need very good money and contacts. But you didn't have one and another thing.”       “Now I don’t need it and am very happy that I’m working as a teacher at the university where everybody loves and respects me.”       “Seriously?” Eleanor smirks evilly. “They love the one that killed one of the most respectful people in the country?”       “Yes, I don’t deny that everybody was anxious at first because I was in prison. But I got a chance to show myself because I had tears when begging them to let me prove that they could trust me. It was a hard time, but now all my colleagues deeply respect me, and students listen to my lectures with interest and often stay after lessons and ask some questions.”       “Are you trying to make me sure you’re happy to live and get a little salary as a teacher?” Eleanor simpers with contempt.       “Yes, I’m very happy. Happy to live and depend on nobody. Getting this money is enough for me to live a good life. I can buy some things and also have a vacation for a week once per year. Well, somehow, I spent a wonderful time in Egypt, from which I brought a couple of very beautiful exhibits.”       “Oh, I don’t care about where you went or what you brought here. Now I have only one goal – to destroy you and take revenge for the murder of my close person. For the fact that Ines also suffered because of you.”       “I didn’t want to kill your father! And I didn’t want to hurt Ines! Whoever she was!”       “By the way, I told my people to go to your home not only to steal as much money from you as they could find in all your secret places but also to remind you of your sins, which you must pay for.”       “Anyway, they would’ve given you millions because I didn’t have so much money.”       “I got it because my helpers came to me with nothing.”       “I’m imagining how mad you were because they did not do what you told them.”       “Right, I was mad. But not so much. Because they reached their main goal – to terrify you and let you know that you would not get off me. As well as your niece.”       “I almost gave my soul to God because of you!”       “Oh, yeah, I’m imagining how shocked you were when my people crossed the doorstep of your apartment. You could not probably come to yourself for a long time. I am imagining how much time your neighbor spent with you, who takes care of you like a helpless old woman.”       “Yeah, you used all the possible methods to terrify me.”       “You just relaxed too much since we met the last time.” Eleanor throws a gloomy look aside for a second. “You forgot the sins of your past and decided to pretend that nothing happened. You did not deprive my close person of life.”       “You have lived sixteen years for nothing,” Alicia shakes her head. “You have been only obsessed with a wish to revenge me.”       “I did say I would not calm down until I knew you would be rotting somewhere in the ground.”       “And you will not calm down until you earn all the money in the world.”       “You cannot earn all the money. But you can always get a little bit more than you should get. You just should know how to do it.”       “And have no shame, fear, or conscience.”       “That’s what doesn’t let a person live and doesn’t let them become rich.”       “You are crazy, Eleanor. Just crazy.”       “Anyway, I do not care about the business of the shops now. I completely trust with my helpers and know they will not betray me. Now my main goal is to take revenge on you. Make you pay for the murder of my dad, who became a victim of you.”       “I doubt your father would have approved what you are doing now.”       “I am sure that he would be proud of me and my success. And would be very happy to know I would take revenge on the one that killed him and made his whole family cry much and suffer.”       “When Gilbert was alive, you were different. Maybe, not perfect, but your father kept you under control somehow. It seems like you were waiting for the moment you would finally stop being under his control and get a chance to do anything you want.”       “Yes, my father was harsh to me sometimes and punished me for something many times. But I loved him with all my heart and considered him my close person. My best friend that completely got me and comforted me when I felt bad.”       “Stop at least for him, Eleanor, please, I’m begging you,” Alicia begs with pity in her eyes. “Let’s forget what happened and start living in peace. I would forgive you everything, and you would not reproach me for what still makes me see nightmares at nights.”       “Yeah, Thompson, you are an idiot…” Eleanor exhales sharply. “Stupid and naive idiot that still believes any story has a good ending. I am making more and more sure about it.”       “Why do you need this revenge? Why? Nobody would get better from it! Your father would not like the fact that you’ve become so awful and hungry for revenge after his death.”       “That’s what you think!”       “Could you not let it go and forget it, even for Gilbert? He is probably turning in his grave because of what you are doing now. Any parent would be ashamed to have got a daughter or a son that behaves like this and mercy nobody to reach some goals.”       “Alright, stop!” Eleanor sharply raises her hand with the palm turned on Alicia. “I have got no time to talk to you! I have spent too much fucking time on you! I will better go to think about how to make your niece meet me.”       “What?” Alicia rounds her eyes.       “Yes, yes, I am going to invite Raquelle to a meeting, at which she will die. And she does not know it yet. She does not know what’s waiting for you.”       “No, Eleanor, don’t dare! Don’t dare!”       “Besides, I thought a little and decided that it would be great to take a little bit more money from that girl. So, I will tell her to give me a little amount of money as an excuse. As a ransom for her beloved auntie and moral damage for the time I would spend on her. And I can also notice it as a part of the amount that you could not pay me. If you did not do it, your niece can help you a little.”       “No, Eleanor, don’t dare to do anything!” Alicia screams with despair. “Don’t hurt Raquelle! Hear me!”       “I think she will easily find the amount because she has probably earned enough money by shaking her ass in front of a camera.” Eleanor smirks evilly. “Just like her auntie did somehow. An apple doesn’t fall far from a tree.”       “Close your mouth, bitch,” Alicia hisses through her teeth. “Shut up!”       “Ah, my dear…” Eleanor laughs quietly, wrapping a strand of her hair around her finger with her head proudly raised. “I cannot wait to get over with you and you once and forever… And keep doing my business… With the thought that you have finally gotten what you deserved.”       “I will not let you hurt my niece,” Alicia hisses through her teeth. “I will not! Hear me!”       “Sorry, I’ve gotta go. I have too much to do…”       Eleanor turns around slowly with her head proudly raised and wants to leave. But at the last moment, she turns on Alicia breathing heavily and looking at her with widely open eyes and full of horror.       “But now, stay here,” Eleanor says confidently. “Live your last days… And then the relatives of you and Raquelle will have to spend money on the funerals of you two. I mean, the grandfather of your beloved niece will have to spend money.”       “Scumbag…” Alicia pronounces with evil in her eyes. “I curse you.”       “You get ready for your death, and I will decide where to meet your niece and how much money I can get from her.”       “I hate you…”       “And remember that if you try to run away from here and are sassy to my people, you will have to regret it much.”       “You would better work on your personal life instead of planning your revenge. It would be much better for everyone.”       “Bye, bye, my would-be stepmother…” Eleanor waves her hand. “Maybe, I will check on you a little later again.”       Eleanor comes proudly to the exit from the room where Alicia is being, who sharply gets up from the bed.       “You will not get what you want anyway, snake!” Alicia screams with both hands clenched into fists and a hard enough breath. “You would pay for all your sins, early or late! Don’t try to hurt Raquelle a little! I swear, I shall skin you alive! Hear me! Don’t dare to think about it! I would cut your throat for her! HEAR ME! CUT!”       But Eleanor does not already hear all these words because she leaves with a smug smile and locks the door with a key. Alicia stays in this room all alone. Sadly, the woman has been pretty weak in the past two days and would hardly be able to fight with her enemy and her helpers. And she would hardly do something not to let the daughter of the late Gilbert Woodham hurt Raquelle. She understands she is in a hopeless situation and can do nothing. The only thing Alicia can do is pray that her niece does not suffer or does something to save herself.       “If only she did nothing to my Raquelle,” Alicia begs in a shaking voice, sitting on the bed, and sniffs quietly. “If only nothing happened to her.”       Alicia makes two quiet sobs.       “God, please, protect my girl…” Alicia says quietly. “I shall never forgive myself if something happens to her. If Eleanor hurts Raquelle, I shall skin Woodham alive. Even if I’m close to death, I’d always find the energy to stand for my sweetie.”       Alicia shakes her head.       “Even now…” Alicia adds in a little shaking voice. “When I feel just terrible… I know I’ve gotta fight… Don’t know… But I must… I’d rather sacrifice myself and pay for what I did than let that snake harm Raquelle. I’m the only one to pay for that… Just me… Not my niece… Not my girl, who has suffered enough in her life.”       Alicia sighs heavily and keeps praying that Raquelle is alright, doubling over a little later, closing her face with both hands, starting to sob quietly, and getting more horrified by her own thoughts. And some time later, the woman calls the memories of something from her past that makes her feel great shame, disgust, and regret… One of the cases that she would strike out of her life with great pleasure…       

***

      The end of the eightieth years of the twentieth century.       “Oh, yeah, babe, keep doing this…”       A dark-haired man with by far not the most attractive look and evil green eyes is proudly sitting in his room on a comfortable leather armchair with a sly smile and his legs slightly spread. He slowly smokes a cigarette and breathes in the smell of smoke, scratching his slight bristle and sometimes drinking cognac from a little glass.       His filthy eyes are totally focused on a young, thin girl at the age of twenty, who is wearing a black sexual pantsuit, underneath which a sexy bustier, strings, and transparent stocking are hidden, and gorgeous lacquered leather shoes with a high heel. Her dark, thick hair is a little wavy, reaches her scapula, and blows beautifully, while she moves smoothly. While she turns around, while she shakes her head…       All the movements of this beauty dancing for this man, who is living in a very rich house and surrounded by servants and many bodyguards, who are always ready to come at once, are so charming. They make him look only at the stunning young body of a twenty-year-old girl, who is moving so graciously and beautifully along with energetic music and bending backward as strongly as possible, showing all of her dignity.       The man madly likes how flexibly this young girl is moving, who has just gorgeous, tough buttocks and gorgeous big breasts. A magnificently beautiful bustier is tied so that it raises them so that they get much bigger and so that her slim waist seems much smaller. Her bright makeup made of black shades expresses the beauty of her gray eyes, which drive the man crazy and make him dream of getting obsessed with her.       First, she is wearing a black sexual pantsuit, but during a private dance, she slowly takes off something, dances in front of the owner of this awesome house for some time, and takes something off again. And some time later, she eventually wears only a gorgeous bustier with transparent inserts on the back and the front and strings that barely hide her intimate places. Thanks to this, the young beauty drives the man much crazier and makes him look at her with hungry eyes and lose his head from all the smooth, seductive movements that blow up his mind.       “Aw, my baby, you’re so sexy…” the man smiles widely, drinking cognac from a glass with pleasure and leaning back on the leather armchair. “Keep doing this! Oh, yeah, babe!”       The eyes of this man closely watch the girl, who does not stand in the same place and does move from one side to another, showing her best dignity along with quiet music that is playing in the large bedroom, the windows at which are covered with tight curtains, and in which the light is subdued.       “Show me your breasts again,” the man says with a sly smile. “Come on, dolly, show me your big babies!”       The young girl performing a sexual dance proudly shows the man her gorgeous breasts.       “Yeah, babe…” the man pronounces in a lower voice. “Very good…”       At some moment, the girl comes closer to the man and rubs her buttocks against his hand, which he brings closer to her. But when he wants to touch one of her breasts that look so attractive and literally asks for a caress, she does not let him touch her, shaking her head with a playful smile and clattering quietly.       “Not everything at once, Mr. Woodham,” the girl pronounces in a low, seductive voice. “Watching is allowed. Touching is not allowed.”       The dancer keeps performing her dance, wrapping around herself and moving her thighs very much, but continues to do sexual movements at some moment when lying on the floor. The man’s smile gets much wider while he is watching her bending backward, wrapping and showing up such parts of her body as her big breasts, attracting curves of her waist, a thin, gracious neck, tough buttocks, seductive thighs, and slim, long legs that this man can look at forever. And how she flirts with him when she sometimes blinks at him. And how playfully she smiles at him at times…       “Yes, beautiful, keep doing…” the man says confidently, smoking a cigarette and breathing in the smoke. “Keep doing…”       Every new second, the dancer gets the man much more excited when she caresses her whole body and plays with her stocking, slightly pulling out rubber on them or either raising them up or lowering one of them to show her naked leg.       “Gosh, dolly, I get crazy from you!” the man confesses with a wild smile and drinks some cognac from his glass. “For such a magnificent dance, you deserve a good tip.”       The man takes a few large bills from an inside pocket of his jacket with his head proudly raised and gives them to the girl, who takes them without minding and puts them between her breasts, continuing to perform her seductive dance that drives the man crazier and crazier and wakes up many filthy fantasies.       “Thank you, Mr. Woodham,” the girl thanks in a low voice and makes a slow turn around herself, shaking her thighs right before the man’s eyes. “I must confess that you are the most generous of all my clients to give a tip.”       “I’m ready to give all my money to such a sexual beauty,” the man replies confidently.       “I’m happy to work for you.”       “No girl has driven me as crazy as you do, Cheryl. I can watch you forever.”       “Any caprices are only for your money, Mr. Woodham.”       The girl comes to the man tightly and confidently grabs him by the chin, making him look into her eyes.       “I shall be anyone for you and be dancing not only a striptease for you but also any other dance you want,” the girl says confidently.       “Don’t worry about money, baby,” the man says confidently. “I’ve got a lot of money. Because I’m a millionaire! Moreover, you know well that I always pay you what you should get. And give you much money if you drive me insane and wake up fire inside me.”       “I know. That’s why I’m ready to make any wish of yours come true.”       The man playfully growls with a sly smile, tenderly caresses the young girl’s buttocks and claps her on them, and manages to hold her breast in her hand before she steps back and continues to wrap in front of him like a cat and seduce him with her smooth movements, playful look and all the ways of flirting with her eyes and hands.       The man watches the dancer for a few seconds, while she does not feel shy about dancing half-naked in front of him, along with quiet music that wakes up the sexuality inside her. But later, the rich man presses a button on an expensive music system placed nearby. The music stops playing in the room, and the girl stops and looks at him questioningly.       “Alright, performing this dance is enough now,” the man says thoughtfully and drinks some cognac from his glass. “Have some rest, my kitty.”       “As you wish, sir,” the girl nods with a shy smile.       The little winded girl comes to a little mirror in the room, quickly gets the earned money out of her breasts, and puts it in her purse. Then the brunette fixes her makeup and hair with cosmetics and hairbrushes that she always has with her to look perfect for the one she is dancing for. Her profession actually requires looking awesome and keeping men’s interest so they pay her a lot of money. However, her youth and eternal beauty are the reason why she is so popular among men and gets such good money for every dance she performs.       All this time, the man smiles slightly while he watches the girl, who looks gorgeous in her seductive bustier. He lets his eyes slide over her sexy young body and admires it again and again as if he saw it for the first time. And at some moment, he gets sick of sitting and just watching. So, the rich man comes to the girl confidently and proudly, while she is sorting out the cosmetics she has in her purse, and hugs her by the waist from behind. She shakes slightly but does not get out.       “M-m-m, my wild cat, you’re just incredible today,” the man says in a low voice, running his fingers slowly over the girl’s shoulder and kissing it tenderly. “Next to you, I really feel very young. A young boy that I was twenty years ago…”       “Thanks for the compliment,” the girl thanks with a slight smile, putting her cosmetics aside. “And for the excellent tip. You’re very generous.”       “Everything for you, babe…” The man softly kisses the girl’s cheek and runs his hands over the curves of her waist. “By the way, I’m suggesting we relax a little and drink some cognac.”       “No, no, come on…” the girl shakes her head sharply. “I can’t drink!”       “C’mon, dolly! What’s wrong with it?”       “I’m working and not allowed to drink…”       “I am your client. And I want you and I to drink some cognac.”       “But…”       “C’mon, baby, don’t be shy.”       The man confidently comes to a small table, fills his glass with some cognac, and adds some of this drink to another one that he gives the young girl.       “Drink with me,” the man says confidently. “You are going to love it. The cognac is very expensive and has an amazing taste. One good friend of mine brought it from abroad and gifted a bottle to me.”       “Oh, actually, I’ve never drunk cognac…” Alicia confesses hesitantly, looking at what’s inside her glass.       “No?”       “I’ve got only to taste champagne…”       “It’s okay, everyone starts with something.”       “I don’t know…”       “You are going to love it, dolly. Drink at least one sip.”       “Erm…”       “I am not going to get you drunk. It’s just a wish to drink with you and help you relax a little.”       “Oh…” the girl sighs quietly, biting her lip slightly. “Well, alright… I agree… But a little bit.”       “Then, for us!” the man smiles widely, raising his glass slightly.       The girl says nothing and clicks her glass hesitantly on the man’s one. Then she takes a little sip of the drink, which she does not know, and which instantly burns up her throat but has a nice taste.       “Nice…” the girl smiles shyly. “It burns up my throat much, but the taste is very nice… It seems like bitter chocolate…”       “Everyone I’ve let taste this cognac liked it,” the man confesses and takes a big sip from his glass. “It’s madly expensive, but it’s really worth it.”       “Yeah, I like it…”       The girl drinks a little bit more from her glass and smiles much wider, realizing that she likes the way this alcohol drink burns up her throat and warms her body, making her relax a little.       “Delicious…” the girl adds shyly.       “Everything for you, my sunshine…” the man smiles slyly and drinks a little bit more drink. “If you want more, I shall give you. I spare nothing for you.”       “Thanks… You are very generous.”       Two seconds later, the girl drinks a little part of the cognac the man gave her, already feeling more relaxed than before. By the way, the man needs it. Because by getting this young girl a little drunk, it would be much easier for him to make her sure to spend some time with him and satisfy all her needs.       And when the girl puts her empty glass on the table next to a half-filled bottle, the man puts aside his glass in the same place, comes to her from behind, hugs her around the waist, and kisses a curve of her neck, making her shake slightly from a surprise.       “Cheryl…” the man pronounces in a low, bedroom voice and kisses the girl’s shoulders several times. “My gorgeous little dolly Cheryl…”       The man breathes in the smell that the thin, long neck of the girl spreads and leaves a couple of kisses on it.       “Hey, babe…” the man pronounces thoughtfully. “You said Cheryl was your nickname to work at the club.”       “Yes, that’s correct,” the girl nods.       “What’s your real name?”       “Alicia. My real name is Alicia.”       “Alicia?” The man frowns slightly and thinks of something for two seconds.       “You can call me by my real name if you want,” the girl says shyly. “I’m Cheryl only for unfamiliar clients. And those, who know me better and are close to me, know me as Alicia.”       “That’s how,” the man smiles shyly.       “Well, as you’re my permanent client, I can reveal my real name to you.”       “Good. But I must confess that the name Cheryl fits such a seducing beauty like you much more.”       “You like it?”       “I love this name. It fits so well. It’s so sassy, sexual…”       “But I wasn’t the one to choose it.”       “But who did this?”       “The owner of the club where I am working. He suggested I get a nickname, Cheryl, and I liked it and agreed.”       “Why didn’t you want to work under your real name?”       “I got a nickname because I don’t want my friends or my close people to know what I am doing.”       “They don’t know?”       “Nope. Nobody knows I am working as a stripper and a prostitute.”       “What are you going to do if someone knows it?”       With these words, the man slowly moves his hands on the thighs of the girl named Alicia and slightly grips her buttocks. However, she does not get confused and even smiles shyly.       “I don’t know…” Alicia shrugs and fixes her hair that got disheveled after her private dance. “If my parents kick me out of home, I shall ask one of my friends from the club to let me live with them. And then I would probably think up something…”       “That’s how!”       “But I’m successfully living a double life. I’m a good girl at daylight that studies for the money she earns, and I’m dancing and pleasing men at the club or some hotel at nighttime.”       “If you are kicked out of home, I shall accept you with pleasure.”       The man starts to tenderly caress the front of the neck of the young Alicia.       “What?” Alicia rounds her eyes. “Your home?”       “My house is large,” the man notices with pride. “There are many rooms here – you can choose any one of them… Besides, all my servants, bodyguards, drivers, and stylists will be at your service. They would do anything you want.”       “Erm, no, no, c’mon, Mr. Woodham! I cannot!”       “C’mon, dolly, I am suggesting this as a friend.”       “You’re not living here alone. Your daughter and wife are living here… If they know you let me live with you, there will be a serious scandal. But I don’t want to be a reason for a conflict with your family.”       “Oh, our family became just a word,” the man throws gloomily.       “What?”       “Honestly, I’ve been thinking of divorcing this old woman for a long time. All this time, I’ve tolerated my wife for my daughter. But since she’s adult now, it’s time to say goodbye to that chicken.”       “Why?”       “I’m sick of her!” The man turns Alicia on himself. “It’s been disgusting for me to see her for twenty years of our marriage. I save myself from her only by working or going to a club alone or with my friends.”       “Did your own wife start to make you irritated so much?”       “It’s madly disgusting for me to see her every single day. She is stupid, annoying, and old.”       “Old?” Alicia rounds her eyes.       “She’s a few years older than me.”       “That’s how!”       “Oh…” the man sighs tiredly. “Honestly, I really regret choosing that woman as my wife.”       “But why did you get a crush on her?”       “Not because of brains, surely. She has never been smart and says something that I am sometimes ashamed of her.”       “She was beautiful?”       “Yes, when my wife was young, she was beautiful and looked much younger. I didn’t even believe it when she called me her age. Her beauty conquered me, and I closed my eyes on her stupidity and inability to talk about something.”       “Wow…”       “But after giving birth to my daughter, that idiot gave a damn about her and started to look at the age she was.” The man smirks evilly. “My grandmother looked much better at the age of ninety than that ugly lady. But before I met Caroline, my wife, she seemed very ugly and dirty.”       “You know better,” Alicia moves her eyes to her hands.       “Since that, I don’t get attracted to her… I’ve got no wonderful sex for almost twenty years. That’s why I start to feel like a decrepit old man. Though, I don’t think I’m old and not going to die because I’m full of energy. I have so many plans that I would need more than twenty years.”       “Sadly, it happens…” Alicia shrugs, glancing aside.       “I try not to say anything bad about my wife when my daughter is near us because she would not like hearing her mother and father fighting. But when she is far, I stop holding myself down and fight with that brainless old lady, who I want to see less and less.”       “Anyway, you said your daughter is adult enough. I think… She will understand everything if you wishes to divorce her mother. Yes, she will be sad and hurt, but… She will accept it somehow.”       “Who knows… Maybe, she would even be happy if I got divorced from her mother, who I have never loved to death.”       “You think?”       “My daughter is more attracted to me than her mother. Yes, she undoubtedly loves her, but that girl considers me a much closer person.”       “I see…”       “In this case, I will do my best for my girl to get through the divorce of her parents as easily as possible. Not to make it a too strong trauma for her.”       “I would be very upset if my mother and father got divorced. As well as my younger sister…”       Alicia moves her eyes aside and sighs heavily, thinking about something. The millionaire says nothing for two seconds and quickly clears his throat.       “Well, alright, let’s not talk about that old woman,” the man suggests cheerfully. “Let’s better talk about us…”       The man runs the back of his hand over Alicia’s cheek.       “About me being ready to let you live with me if you’ve got no place to go,” the man adds.       “Oh, of course, thank you for your suggestion,” Alicia replies hesitantly. “But you don’t need to do it.”       “My house would be all yours.”       “No, thanks. Besides, we are not so close for me to live at your house.”       Alicia wants to go aside and use some black eyeliner for her eyes, but the man does not let her do it, turning around sharply and pressing her tightly to himself.       “Okay, okay, don’t rush to decline it so quickly, babe,” the man says in a low voice, moves Alicia’s hair off her shoulders, and tenderly runs his fingers over a curve of her neck. “Yes, we aren’t close, but we’ve known each other for longer than one day. Because I often go to the club and watch you… My gorgeous dolly, Cheryl, whom I am ready to make gold… And today I brought you to my home for you to show me your sexy body in a more intimate atmosphere.”       “I know, Mr. Woodham, but I don’t really need your help with housing,” Alicia pronounces hesitantly.       “Are you sure?”       “Yes. Anyway, I shall surely come to ask you for help.”       “I’m at your service at any time…”       The man leaves a few tender kisses on a curve of Alicia’s neck, holding her by the waist with both hands or slowly running them over her belly and breathing in her seductive smell.       “Oh, damn, my baby, how attractive you are…” the man pronounces with enjoyment. “Such a body, such a smell… M-m-m… I’m getting madder…”       “Actually, we agreed only for a private dance…” Alicia bites her lip slightly, softly stepping back from the man. “I worked off my money and did everything you wanted…”       “C’mon, babe, don’t be afraid of me.” The man presses the young Alicia to himself again, hugging her by the waist and running his hand over her rebellious hair. “Yes, maybe, I look too severely. Look like I am ready to kill anyone, who stands in my way. But I am actually not the one. As any single person does, I need some love and caress. And if I get it, I answer back with pleasure.”       “Listen, Mr. Woodham, I…”       “I shall pay you two times more if you stay with me for some time.”       Meanwhile, the man’s hands confidently caress Alicia’s naked thighs and tightly grip her tough buttocks, and he slowly runs his lips over the front of her neck. While it gets the unlikable millionaire excited and makes his heart beat much faster, the girl stays indifferent to the caresses of this man and just obeys her client, who is not definitely indifferent to her and probably is in love with her.       “You performed just an incredible dance, and I generously praised you for that,” the man notices cheerfully and tenderly kisses the area behind Alicia’s ear. “And now I want you to perform another one… But it should have much more sex and fire that would wake up what I haven’t felt for about twenty years.”       “Every single dance must be paid by one,” Alicia recalls. “Do you remember?”       “It goes without saying, babe. I remember all your terms very well.”       “No problems then!”       “Yeah, but before you dance for me again and amaze me with your talents, I want you to show me everything you can…”       With these words, the man covers the curve of Alicia’s neck that has not been covered with kisses and grabs one of her legs, which he bends slightly at the knee.       “What?” Alicia frowns slightly.       “I heard you had excellent skills in sex,” the man smiles slyly, tenderly caressing Alicia’s shoulders. “So, I want to check if people tell the truth about you.”       “Erm…”       “If you surprise me and give me unforgettable emotions, I will pay you as much as nobody else has paid you before.”       The man slowly runs his hand over Alicia’s thigh and tenderly caresses her crotch, making her shake slightly in surprise, not from excitement.       “I’m ready to pay one hundred pounds for every hour,” the man says confidently and bites his lip slightly. “Erm… No! Such a sexual dolly must get more. SIX HUNDRED pounds per hour.”       “Six hundred?” Alicia rounds her eyes.       “Yes, babe, you will get six hundred pounds if you do everything I want.”       “Do you want me to have sex with you right here?”       “Yes, I want.”       “But…”       “Why not?”       “What if someone comes here and sees us?”       “Don’t worry, nobody will dare to enter my room until I let them do it. Because everyone knows I have a visitor.”       “What if your daughter comes here? Or… Wife?”       “They will not, my candy.”       The man starts to caress Alicia’s breasts tenderly and massage her nipples with a thumb, not stopping to look into her eyes.       “My daughter is now walking with her friends. And my wifey is checking shops or hair salons and wasting my money that I give her not to bother me and do what she loves – to talk with the same stupid ladies as she is.”       The man sheers evilly.       “That stupid idiot buys clothes and makes herself beautiful with the thought she will get me attracted to her with all of that,” the man adds. “Ha! No hairstyles and cosmetics will help her ugly, old face.”       Alicia swallows up nervously, glancing aside, and the man runs his mouth and then tongue over a curve of her neck. It does not make her feel nice, but she is taking it strongly for the money he promised to pay her.       “So, if you are afraid we would get caught, don’t be,” the man says confidently, moves his hand to Alicia’s crotch, and starts to caress it confidently. “By the time when they’re back, you will take your things and leave.”       “What if someone says something?” Alicia asks with a scare in her eyes.       “Nobody will. Nobody will even open their mouth and tell my wife about you. Everybody here is afraid of me. Everyone knows one word of mine might make everyone’s head cut instantly.”       “Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Woodham…” Alicia says hesitantly. “I’m afraid of someone’s wives…”       “Don’t be, babe…”       “I still remember one case… Somehow, the wife of one of my clients beat me after getting me caught with him. She caught us and got wild. And… If he hadn’t pulled her away from me, that woman would’ve killed me right there.”       “You’re under my protection, Cheryl,” the man says with his head proudly raised. “Nobody will dare to go against me and hurt you. If someone tears at least one hair from your head, I shall tear them apart.”       “But, Mr. Woodham…”       “Sh-h-h…” The man turns Alicia on himself and puts his hand on her mouth, confidently looking into her eyes. “It’s gonna be fine, trust me.”       “Listen, Mr. Woodham…” Alicia pronounces in a little shaking voice.       “And yeah, stop calling me Mr. Woodham.”       “Huh?”       “Remember, babe, I am Gilbert! Call me by my name, as you call all your good familiars. I do call you by your nickname. So, be also pleased to call me Gilbert.”       “U-h-h… Well, alright…” Alicia shrugs. “If you want… I shall call you Gilbert.”       “That’s wonderful!” Gilbert tenderly kisses Alicia’s neck, slightly squeezing one of her breasts. “So, you and I agreed.”       “Yeah…” Alicia pronounces thoughtfully.       “Alright, let’s not distract. Now I want to know everything you can.”       Gilbert caresses Alicia’s ear with his lips.       “C’mon, cutie, let me feel your total slave,” Gilbert says in a much quieter, lower voice. “Get me very, very crazy.”       Quietly moaning from pleasure, Gilbert keeps covering Alicia’s neck with hisses and caressing her body with both hands. The girl still stays indifferent and shows no emotions. She does not dare to step away from the man and reject his suggestion of having sex with him because he really wants it.       “I hope you will pay good money for my services,” Alicia says quietly.       “Hurt, dolly!” Gilbert exclaims. “I did say I would pay you a double cost for unreal pleasure. Six hundred pounds per hour, if you haven’t forgotten!”       “Alright.”       “Just do it, and I will make you wealthy. Do anything you would ask me about.”       Gilbert decides not to waste time and gives the young Alicia a continuous kiss on the lips, letting his hands slide over the curves of her waist and thighs and tightly grip her buttocks. Although the girl is not happy with what’s happening, she does not find the courage to resist and lets him do anything he wants to her. And the beauty also tries to answer him back, working for the money that she is going to get after all of this is over.       The young Alicia has always been sure about her beauty and has been popular among men of any age. It’s one of the reasons why she decided to do this business that decent girls would never do, even for great amounts of money. Unfortunately, due to her too young age, the beauty does not understand how far she went to get great money in one of the easiest ways. That’s why she agrees to please men for money, who may not always be young… Just like Gilbert is, who is about forty years old at first sight… While the girl is a little bit older than twenty.       The man is actually happy to caress and kiss such a gorgeous body of the young creature that is ready to do anything for him and those crazy amounts of money that he pays for any caprices of him. Getting more and more excited, Gilbert does not notice Alicia is absolutely indifferent to his kisses on all the open areas of her body or feels a strong disgust when this man examines her mouth with his tongue or runs it over some parts. His pupils dilate, and his breath is uneven and frequent, and he is enjoying the time he is spending with the young beauty, whose neck he is covering with tender kisses. The breasts of whom he is massaging without any hesitance.       It’s impossible to say Gilbert just uses her to pay for pleasure and kick her out of here. No, vice versa, the man feels quite strong feelings for the young girl, who made him insane almost at once after he saw her for the first time. For her, he is easily ready to leave his wife, with whom he has not had the best relationship for a long time, to be with this young dancer and make her wealth. He does know this beauty does not answer him back and finds him only one of her clients. But Gilbert is sure that Alicia will belong to him very soon and be ready for anything to be with him thanks to his great money and high status in society.       “Damn, babe, you’re so sexy…” Gilbert says in a low voice with a heavy breath. “You smell just delicious…”       Gilbert runs his lips over a curve of Alicia’s neck and the area behind her ear that he slightly bites while his hands confidently slide over her things, belly, and curves of her waist, massage her breasts, or caress her nipples.       “You were given all the best that a girl, who is perfect for any single man, could have,” Gilbert adds.       At this moment, Alicia is standing with her back turned to Gilbert and silently looking into the distance with dead eyes, not listening to his words and not resisting the man while he is caressing her whole young, beautiful body, kissing it and running his tongue or mouth over some parts.       “Probably, such a sexy beauty was supposed to have very many boyfriends,” Gilbert assumes in a low voice, covering another curve of Alicia’s neck with kisses. “Huh, babe? Tell me…”       “I’ve got boyfriends,” Alicia replies quietly. “But unfortunately, I didn’t have a long relationship with them.”       “Why?”       “I was either used or betrayed by them cheating with other girls…”       “Oh, I’m so sorry…” Gilbert runs his hands over Alicia’s belly. “Sorry that they don’t understand what a beauty they lost… I would like to know that those stupid guys are now biting their elbows and regretting such a gorgeous girl would not belong to them.”       “If they regretted it, I wouldn’t agree to come back to the ones, who use and betray me,” Alicia replies quietly.       “That’s how! So, I shall remember…”       Gilbert’s hand confidently slides down to the crotch of Alicia, the back of whom he tenderly caresses with his fingertips, holding her by the throat with a free hand.       “Ah, Cheryl…” Gilbert makes a moan full of pleasure. “You’re so incredible. Yeah…”       Gilbert gets Alicia involved in a continuous kiss on the lips, during which he confidently gets his tongue into her mouth and caresses it. While the girl tries not to pay attention to disgust and a wish to get out of the hands of the millionaire and run away from him, no matter how much he is ready to pay.       But some time later, Gilbert steps back from Alicia a little, noticing the girl is more passive than active and does not almost give him pleasure by giving him incredible caress.       “By the way, why are you not caressing me?” Gilbert wonders.       “Me?” Alicia rounds her eyes.       “Yes. Look at me, cutie!”       Gilbert softly grabs Alicia by the chin and turns her face on him. While the girl silently obeys the man and looks into his eyes, in which there is a wish to get obsessed with this beauty, which is mixed with some tenderness and admiration.       “Do you remember that I pay you money not only for caressing you, but also for getting pleasure from you?” Gilbert asks.       “Erm, actually, I don’t want to give you everything at once,” Alicia excuses herself, trying not to show her indifference and putting on a sly smile.       “That’s how? You don’t want?”       “I don’t think you would be interested in finishing everything very quickly. Because… Making this moment last longer would be more interesting…”       “Yeah, you’re right. But I don’t want you to be indifferent and stand… I am caressing the young beautiful girl that has such sexual energy, not a log…”       With these words, Gilbert runs his hands over Alicia’s flat belly and tenderly squeezes her breasts.       “So, be pleased to give your caress, at least at times,” Gilbert says in a low voice.       “Erm…” Alicia bites her lip slightly.       “Don’t be shy, baby. You can touch me anywhere. You can kiss me. My whole body is all yours.”       “Mr. Woodham, I…” Alicia wants to say something in a quiet, little shaking voice.       “Gilbert, babe. Gilbert.”       Gilbert puts a finger on Alicia’s lips and tenderly runs it over them.       “We did agree that you would be calling me by the name,” Gilbert recalls confidently.       “I’m sorry, Gilbert, I forgot…” Alicia apologizes shyly.       “You can call me Mr. Woodham when one of my friends or familiars is with us. But when we’re alone, I demand that you call me only Gilbert.”       “Alright, Gilbert… As you wish.”       Gilbert caresses Alicia’s whole body for a few seconds and runs her hand over his body, giving special attention to his groin and making her squeeze and caress it for him to feel unreal pleasure, and for her to barely fight back her wish to clean her stomach.       “Oh, how it’s good!” Gilbert moans with enjoyment. “Yes, Cheryl… You’re awesome!”       Gilbert gives Alicia a continuous kiss on the lips, during which he holds her by the back with one hand and confidently massages her big breasts with a second hand.       “You make me feel like a boy…” Gilbert confesses in a low voice. “M-m-m… Oh, yeah…”       At some moment, Gilbert, still tenderly caressing Alicia’s breasts with both hands, glances at his big two-person bed, on which there are very expensive silky bedclothes, and smiles slyly.       “Alright, babe, I see you are a little shy…” Gilbert says thoughtfully, tenderly asking his dry hands over Alicia’s arms.       “Sorry…” Alicia apologizes quietly, moving her eyes down.       “It’s okay, I get it. I asked you about it for the first time.”       “It was… Very unexpected…”       “I’m not mad at you for your shyness… Vice versa, I do even like the way you behave. It’s not interesting to have a deal with someone, who is stuck in the same look and can’t change herself at all.”       “Yeah…” Alicia pronounces in a little shaking voice and swallows up nervously. “You’re right…”       “But you may have no fears! If you say you feel pain or unpleasant somehow, I shall stop doing that.”       “Really?”       “Sure! I don’t want to hurt my little girl, who can get me very excited by her awesome dances.”       “Do whatever you want to me…” Alicia exhales slowly, tensing the muscles of her belly slightly while Gilbert runs his lips over the tender skin on a curve of her neck. “For the money, I shall do anything for you… I just really need money…”       “I get it, baby, I do…”       Gilbert puts his hand on Alicia’s belly, noticing how tense it is, squats down, and leaves a few kisses on its open area.       “But it’s okay, babe,” Gilbert pronounces confidently and gets up on his feet. “If you are so tense, I shall help you relax.”       “How?” Alicia rounds her eyes.       “Maybe, I’m not a young boy. But I can still give pleasure to any girl.”       Gilbert insolently gets his hand underneath Alicia’s strings and caresses her pubis, while the tense girl swallows up nervously as she feels dry fingers on her soft skin.       “Do you know when I was young, all my exes called me a sexy beast?” Gilbert smiles slyly. “None of them was unpleased after having sex with me. Many ladies even came to me to get what many other men could not give them.”       “I believe…” Alicia pronounces in a low, little shaking voice. “Just do it…”       “Alright, babe. Now, just trust me. I shall do everything and help you relax. And then you will probably get ready to caress me and drive me crazy.”       Gilbert turns Alicia on himself and gives her a tender, continuous kiss on the lips, holding the dark-haired beauty by the waist and running his hands over her back. The man tries to be as tender as his character, and the feelings that he has for the dancer from the nightclub lets him do it and not to press her too strongly because she might get scared.       It seems like, despite his severe look and cold look full of some anger, this man seems not so good and horrible and can show his feelings when he really wants to. Or he is just under the spell of the young beauty, who could drive him without problems. With just one look. With a short private dance.       Some time later, this tenderness helps Alicia relax a little and make herself sure that this man will really not hurt her and will not do anything against her wish. Besides, the girl literally signed the agreement when she agreed to make Gilbert her client and take money out of him for private dances and her pastime with him. So, she has no choice… She must do it. Do her work, for which she could get a lot of money.       After leaving a few kisses on Alicia’s neck and making her give moans that do not show real pleasure, Gilbert quite easily takes the fragile girl that is as slight as a piece of fuzz in his arms, proudly carries her to the big bed, carefully places her on it, and raises himself above her.       He scans the thin body of the young lady for two moments, while she does not stop looking into his eyes and tries not to show her slight scare and diffidence. And then Gilbert gives Alicia a continuous kiss on the lips, during which he carefully gets his tongue into her mouth and starts working with it more actively every second. While she just lets him do anything he wants to her, trying not to think that she does not like all of this.       To the happiness of Alicia, she does not have to take this for too long because Gilbert throws a look at the female neck at some moment and starts tenderly covering it with kisses, running his tongue over it, and leaving slight bites on it. A little later, the man slowly runs his hand over her flat belly, reaches her groin, and confidently caresses this area with his fingertips. And he succumbs to the wish to get underneath the female strings and stimulate her clitoris. That’s why the young beauty strongly bends backward and makes a quiet moan with closed eyes.       “Ah, damn…” Alicia pronounces quietly with closed eyes. “Gilbert…”       “I know, Cheryl, I know…” Gilbert smiles slyly, still examining Alicia’s vagina with his fingers. “I know how much you like it.”       “Yeah… Gilbert… Oh, damn… M-m-m… Gilbert…”       “Quiet, quiet, babe, it’s okay.”       Gilbert massages Alicia’s breasts tenderly and caresses her nipples with a thumb.       “Relax…” Gilbert pronounces softly and runs his hand over Alicia’s thighs and her slim legs. “Relax… Or you wouldn't get pleasure.”       Thanks to his slow and very tender actions, Gilbert gets what he wants some time later, makes Alicia relax and stop being so tense and excited because of his wish to make love with her, and even makes her sigh and moan at times. Understanding this, the man smiles slyly and continues to do what he is doing to get a better result and make sure the beauty would not love to break free and show resistance.       “Very good, my candy,” Gilbert pronounces slowly in a low voice, caressing Alicia’s head, stroking her dark silky loose hair, and breathing in the smell of a madly nice shampoo it smells with. “Very good… But now let’s go a little further…”       Gilbert gets Alicia involved in a continuous kiss on the lips, during which she makes quiet moans, which, however, do not show any pleasure.       “Alright…” Gilbert pronounces thoughtfully. “Now let’s go a little further…”       Gilbert carefully turns Alicia onto her back, open areas of which he covers with slight kisses, then runs his hand tenderly on it, and massages her tough, incredibly attractive buttocks. A little later, he starts to massage her whole body, starting from her shoulders and neck, continuing to do this to her back and spine, and finishing doing it with the buttocks and soles of her feet. Moreover, the man gets to take her lacquered leather shoes with high heels and black transparent stocking off the girl. He does this very slowly to make his pleasure last longer and to enjoy every single moment.       It’s amazing, but Alicia really gets delighted and relaxes more and more while the strong, masculine hands confidently caress, massage, and squeeze every single part of her body. She feels so nice that she forgets she is with Gilbert and imagines another man. The one that she wants to meet one beautiful day. These dreams help her make herself enjoy this moment and get ready for giving herself to this man, who promised to pay money for it.       “That’s good…” Gilbert pronounces with enjoyment, confidently massaging Alicia’s back and running his hands up and down over it. “I knew you’d like it… Yeah… If only you know how much I like it… M-m-m…”       Gilbert runs his lips over Alicia’s spine up and down.       “It would be great if such a beauty like you gave me a long massage session after a hard, long day at work,” Gilbert adds dreamily.       “I will surely do, honey,” Alicia suddenly says, being absolutely relaxed and lying on her belly with closed eyes. “Anything for you, Gilbert…”       Gilbert smiles widely when hearing Alicia calling him “honey” and raises his head proudly. Then he massages the back of the girl for a few seconds and leaves a few kisses on some areas of it and her buttocks that he tenderly squeezes.       “Alright, it’s enough,” Gilbert pronounces confidently. “And now let’s go further…”       Gilbert rolls the relaxed Alicia onto the back and impatiently takes off the unbuttoned jacket that he puts aside as well as his tie and weakens the belt of his pants. Then he kisses the girl greedily on the lips and starts running his hand over her neck, collarbones, breasts, belly, and crotch.       The girl does not resist it and later starts to answer him with a greater passion, confidently caressing his face and running his hand through his hair, which she pulls slightly. It makes Gilbert much more excited, and he gives more pressure when he kisses and bites the girl’s neck and collarbones with great pleasure, but still stays tender and soft. He gets through himself and forgets that he does not actually like tender things, and wants to get what he wants and finally make this girl belong to him.       Gilbert gets really surprised when Alicia, being quite excited and breathing heavily, lies him on his back at some moment, sits over him, and gives him a passionate kiss on the lips, examining his mouth with her tongue and confidently starting to caress his face and his torso. She also gives much attention to his penis, which starts to get into her abdomen.       “Oh, babe, what you’re doing…” Gilbert makes a quiet moan.       “What you really want,” Alicia says confidently. “What you’re begging me about…”       At some moment, Alicia opens up a few buttons on Gilbert’s shirt and tenderly rubs his very hairy, naked chest, not paying attention to her disgust at seeing it due to her strong feelings. Gilbert’s eyes literally pop out of his head from the pleasure he is feeling now, and he smiles widely, understanding that he is strongly shaking from how skillfully this young girl is pleasing her client.       “Holy shit, Cheryl, you are just incomparable!” Gilbert moans loudly with closed eyes. “A-a-a!”       “Relax, honey,” Alicia pronounces in a low voice with a sly smile. “Get all the thoughts out of your mind.”       “Oh, babe, you make me feel wide!”       “It’s just the beginning. You don’t know what’s waiting for you.”       “A-a-a-a! I haven’t felt so good for such a long time. Oh, yeah… M-m-m…”       “I shall give you the pleasure you have never had before,” Alicia promises confidently in a low, seducing voice, still running her hands over Gilbert’s torso and leaving short kisses on some parts of it. “I will do my best for you to always think of me when I am far from you.”       “You already got obsessed with my mind. Already… I want you… Want…”       “I'm going to do my best not to disappoint you.”       Alicia being usually shy is now acting not in the way she does. Two people are living inside her, one of whom she gave the name, Cheryl. While Alicia’s side is swearing and getting ashamed of how she is caressing and kissing the forty-year-old man for great money, Cheryl’s side is acting absolutely freely and keeping an image of a fateful cutie and does not feel shy of literally licking her client and squeezing and caressing his penis, making him moan loudly and shake strongly.       “AH, CHERYL!” Gilbert shouts loudly when Alicia’s hand skillfully caresses his penis and squeezes it strongly but tenderly. “WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO ME!”       “Like it?” Alicia smiles mysteriously.       “A-a-a… You want to drive me insane!”       “Yes, Gilbert, I wanna make you go insane.”       Alicia grabs Gilbert by the chin and sets her little arrogant gaze into his little bedroom eyes.       “You will see that the dolly Cheryl is one of the sexiest dancers at the club where she’s working for the reason,” Alicia says with her head proudly raised.       “Oh, yeah, baby, do it!” Gilbert says excitedly. “DO IT! Tame my ‘big friend’ that craws some caress of feminine hands and mouth!”       “I take a lot of money for my services, but trust me, it’s worth it.”       “I am ready to give you everything I have for you to give me pleasure.”       “Don’t doubt. I shall satisfy you the way your wife and all your exes would have never done. And if you want to know how good I’m at sex, you will learn it now. I hope you will not regret deciding to ask me about it.”       Alicia kisses Gilbert sharply on the lips and gives him a continuous kiss on the lips, during which she continues to rub his chest confidently, moaning quietly and breathing heavily because of the excitement that she is obsessed with. At some moment, she covers his whole torso with kisses, gives much attention to his tough nipples, and then takes a way to his abdomen with her lips, a slight touch of which makes the man shake and tense all his muscles.       While Gilbert tries to enjoy these unforgettable moments and feels what he has not done for a probably bigger part of his life, Alicia easily takes a shirt off him that she puts aside and also takes off his pants that the two do not need now. Thus, the millionaire is now lying in only his underwear of one famous brand and moans loudly when she starts to caress his groin and gives some attention to his tough penis. His body with too many hairs is impossible to call perfect because he has a little belly and has no hint at the tough six-pack that all young girls dream about after watching movies and reading magazines. However, Alicia does not care about it now because her goal is to please the man and get great money for it.       And for this, she is doing her best and makes him go crazier and crazier. Gilbert gets great pleasure from such skillful caresses of Alicia and moments when he confidently caresses her buttocks, her perfectly straight back, and the attractive curves of her waist and squeezes strongly her big breasts, which got a little bigger from a strong excitement.       At some moment, he even feels a clasp of the bustier with a corset, opens it up, and takes it off the girl, seeing her naked breasts that this millionaire caresses with pleasure with both hands. Besides, he does not miss a chance to suck and lick her quite tough nipples. In the end, the two take the underwear off each other, staying absolutely naked in the end and letting passion get obsessed with them and do its work.       Probably because she feels like a confident girl named Cheryl, Alicia feels quite comfortable while being absolutely naked and showing her naked breasts to Gilbert, while he pays attention to it for a long time. The girl confidently caresses his whole body and gets her client ready to have sex with him at the nearest time at the house where Gilbert is living with his daughter and wife. Who do not even know that the head of their family is not shy about having fun with the young girl, who is pleasing him in all possible ways and showing her excellent skills in this business, for which she got so famous and popular for those, who want to have some fun and relax a little.       

***

      Thinking of one of these moments in her life, Alicia feels so ashamed that she could actually do all those things when she was a young, stupid girl. Now the woman could give anything to strike that time out of her life because it gave her many problems and made her suffer a lot. And she is still trying to solve the problems. Being an adult person, Alicia is madly regretting agreeing to work as a prostitute and eventually becoming a sex toy for a bigger part of the men that lived in this city twenty years ago and did not mind having some fun with the one to have a young, gorgeous body.       “Gosh, how ashamed I am…” Alicia pronounces in a shaking voice while tears roll down her cheek. “Ashamed of everything I was doing…”       Alicia sniffs quietly.       “Why was I such an idiot?” Alicia wonders. “Why did I actually agree when to work as a prostitute and was running naked literally in front of all the men in the city?”       Alicia shakes her head.       “I did it just for money…” Alicia adds in a little shaking voice. “For earning good money, I went too far…”       At this moment, tears of despair are slowly rolling down Alicia’s face.       “Because of that terrible job, I got through that hell and became the killer of one of my clients against my wish,” Alicia says quietly. “My God, I’m such an idiot… Stupid idiot that ruined her life. Who missed a chance to live quietly. Be married to a good man and educate her own children.”       Alicia sniffs quietly again.       “God, forgive me…” Alicia begs with pity in her eyes. “Forgive me… I am madly ashamed of behaving like that… I would give everything not to make it happen. To find the courage to decline the suggestion of being naked and dancing in front of men.”       Alicia closes her face with both hands and gives a few quiet sobs.       “Mom, Dad, forgive me…” Alicia pronounces with pity, moving her eyes to the ceiling. “Forgive me for becoming a slut for money… For killing a person… If you had known it when you were alive, you would’ve killed me…”       Alicia closes her mouth with her hand.       “But believe me, if I had a chance to turn time back upon, I would’ve refused from that dirty work,” Alicia confesses. “Because of which my whole life got worse… I didn’t want it, I swear…”       Alicia shakes her head.       “And you forgive me, Lizzy…” Alicia pronounces in a little shaking voice. “And you, Jackson… I’m sorry, Mr. Cameron… I'm sorry, Raquelle…”       Alicia sniffs quietly.       “I know I was a stupid idiot… And I’m paying much for that for a bigger part of my life. I can’t deserve forgiveness for the sins of my past. What I will always be ashamed of.”       Alicia closes her face with both hands and keeps crying bitterly and blaming herself for being so stupid and making lots of mistakes, which she would be madly happy to fix. But she completely understands that she will no longer have a chance to do it because the time is gone. Besides, she cannot exclude that even so many years later, there are still people, who are living in the city and remember her as one of the best dancers from the nightclub where shy and decent girls would never ever go.       

***

      Meanwhile, Raquelle and Alexis are at Alicia’s home while waiting for a call from Eleanor, who has not let them know about her and sent no messages in the past two days. From the moment of the kidnapping of the woman, the girls try to stay together: the one does not want to stay alone and knows she needs someone to support her at such a hard time, and the other completely understands it and does not find the courage to leave her.       Since she does not know what’s happening to her aunt, and when she will have a chance to help her, Raquelle is madly worried and literally cannot sleep at night. She prays that everything is alright and wants to believe Alicia will be back home safe and sound and forget the terrible story once and forever.       “My God, why hasn’t that woman called me yet?” Raquelle wonders, nervously walking into the living room in front of Alexis sitting on the sofa. “It’s been two days, but she hasn’t called and sent no message.”       “Don’t worry, Raquelle,” Alexis pronounces quietly. “You will see, she will call you.”       “I don’t understand why Eleanor is playing time. Does she wanna drive me crazy and make me guess if my aunt is alive?”       “Yeah, I think Eleanor really wanna make you nervous.”       “The situation is so hopeless that even the police can do nothing.”       “At least you’ve reported.”       “Does it make sense? Inspector Bradford says I should wait for a call from Eleanor. But she doesn’t text and doesn’t call me!”       “That woman would show up early or late. She does understand it. She should know she wouldn’t hide forever.”       “Anyway, we have only to pray that nothing happens to Aunt Alicia.”       “We should believe.”       “Oh, if everything was so easy…” Raquelle puts her hand on her forehead with a quiet sigh. “I can’t literally sleep at night because I am worried.”       “I know…” Alexis nods. “My mother is also really worried about Alicia and prays for her to be safe and sound.”       “She knows it?”       “Yup, I told her everything. And she asks me to tell her everything’s happening… But…”       Alexis shrugs.       “I’ve got nothing to make her happy with,” Alexis adds with sadness in her eyes.       “Right,” Raquelle agrees. “Nothing.”       “Anyway, she has your aunt in your mind.”       “Gosh, gosh, gosh…” Raquelle, understanding that she gets tired from walking, sits on the sofa with a quiet sigh. “I shall not take it! It’s really crazy.”       “Hold on, Raquelle,” Alexis encourages softly. “You should believe everything will be okay.”       “If that woman wanna torture me a little more, I’m not sure if I can wait for the moment she decides to call.”       “Eleanor will call you early or late and tell you what to do to save Alicia.”       “I wonder, how much is she gonna make me wait and guess? How long am I gonna suffer from the fact that I know nothing about my aunt?”       “You shouldn't give up,” Alexis says confidently. “Especially now. When you’ve gotta do it.”       “I know, Lexi… But it’s too hard…”       “I know the situation is very hard, but you should hold on. Or better try to distract somehow.”       “I can’t think of anything else but the fact that my close person is in trouble.” Raquelle sniffs quietly, closing her mouth with her hand.       “It’s madly hurtful for me to think my aunt is now in trouble. That woman could do something terrible to her. Keep her far from here… Without feeding… Giving her water… And even beat her…”       “Do you think Eleanor could do this?” Alexis rounds her eyes.       “Not her, but her people. They beat her strongly when that woman told them to come here.”       “God shall save her! Oh, no!”       “I’m so frightened… I’m afraid to think of what she is going to get through.”       “I completely get it, honey. I understand what you’re worried about and know how bad you feel.”       “My God, I never thought I’d have to get through something like this,” Raquelle sighs tiredly, running her hands over her face. “Never thought…”       “Anyway, you should hold on and stay strong.”       “How? I have less and less strength! I’m losing my hope for the best!”       “Do this, at least for Alicia. She needs you now. Even if you can do nothing now.”       “Exactly, I can’t!” Raquelle pronounces excitedly. “I feel terribly bad from thinking I have to stay here and wait…”       “Sometimes there are events that you can’t change at all. Only time and a true belief in the best would help you either solve them, or at least give you hope.”       “I can expect anything from Eleanor Woodham. She even might give me no chance to save my aunt and quietly kill her.”       “No, I don’t think she will do this.”       “Nothing will surprise me. If that woman is so mad at my aunt, she definitely wanna do anything to her.”       “Don’t think about it, Raquelle, please,” Alexis begs with sadness in her eyes. “Believe that everything will be fine. Believe that woman is gonna call you soon.”       “I’m trying to think positively. But only bad thoughts come into my mind.”       “Don’t give up so easily.” Alexis puts her hand on Raquelle's hands folded in front of her and caresses them while she looks at them with her sad eyes. “You are strong. A strong girl that has gotten through much.”       “Sometimes I think I just comfort myself by saying these things,” Raquelle confesses in a low voice. “I’m actually very weak and might break down because of anything.”       “I understand that the situation with Alicia broke you. But I can’t call you weak. You got through the tests fate prepared for you with honor. For example, you reached success in your career. To reach just something, you should be a very purposeful person and not give up after every single failure.”       “Only God knows how many times I’ve wanted to leave everything because I couldn’t do something, and people have criticized me. They didn’t want to have a better look at me and even laughed at me. The fact that I just started my way and knew nothing didn’t stop them. I could do nothing.”       “But you did get what you wanted! You didn’t give up and stood in the line alongside famous models. Nobody criticizes you. Nobody tries to move you just because you are nobody.”       “It took very much work, many nerves, and many tears I cried. I didn’t almost talk about it, but what I’ve reached is a result of working and being criticized for many years.”       “So, if you braced yourself then, you can do this now. I know you can do it. Just believe in the best and always tell yourself everything is gonna be okay, and you can take it.”       “It’s not so easy, Lexi…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “It’s different things. Building a career is one thing, and worrying about the life of your close person, who might die because of a terrible woman at any time is another thing.”       “I’m sure Alicia will be back home safe and sound very soon,” Alexis replies confidently.       “If something like this happened to you, you would say different things.”       “Do you think I understand nothing and don’t worry about your aunt?”       “Of course, you do. You just can’t feel everything I worry about right now.”       “But I can imagine!”       “Besides, you don’t know half of what I’ve had to get through for my whole life. You don’t know how hard my life was.”       “Yeah, maybe… But…”       “You don’t know the whole story of my life. You don’t know I’ve actually experienced much more than people know.”       “Raquelle…”       “I rarely talk about it to the media because I don’t wanna think of bad things. But trust me, I’ve got something to say. I can tell the whole world about my soul wounds that haven’t been gone yet. I can tell how much the events in my life impacted me in a bad sense.”       “You think everyone’s life is easy?” Alexis wonders. “You think other people have no problems? No, Raquelle, They have no fewer problems than you do.”       “But they don’t give them such strong wounds that I got in my childhood years. Which have negatively impacted my life and reminded me of them.”       “You know, something that gave me strong pain happened to me, too. There were moments when I was in despair and didn’t know what to do.”       “Really?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.       “Yup…” Alexis says nothing for two seconds. “For example, one of the hardest moments in my life was the time that came after the divorce of my parents.”       “Divorce of your parents?” Raquelle frowns slightly.       “They divorced when I was ten. One fateful day, Father was back home and said he was seeing another woman and fell in love with her. He said he wanted to marry her and was going to file for divorce.”       “That’s how…” Raquelle pronounces with sadness in her eyes.       “Of course, Father and Mother argued because of that for some time. Mother wondered why it happened, and what she did wrong. And Father blamed her for forgetting about him and literally getting obsessed with caring about me. He wanted love, attention, and care but got nothing from that.”       “Did she really give him so little attention?”       “Of course, Mother cooked for him, washed his clothes, and ironed them. But she gave me much more attention.”       “Okay.”       “It’s amazing, but my parents got divorced without scandals and agreed about everything peacefully. Father never avoided paying alimony, and he gave Mother money every month. But it was a very little amount.”       “Did your mother forgive your father?”       “Nope, she didn’t,” Alexis shakes her head. “Mother is still really mad at Father for preferring a young girl and leaving his daughter and wife, who he was married to for more than fifteen years.”       “And as I understand, did you stay with her?”       “Yes, I stayed to live with my mother. Father left the apartment, which he and Mother bought in a marriage, and moved to live with his lover.”       “Do you communicate with him?”       “No, I don’t communicate with him.”       “Haven’t you forgiven?”       “I could say that the fact that my mother still turns me against him and doesn’t want me to talk to him has to do with it. And I don’t want to do it, honestly.”       “As I understand, did you barely accept their divorce?”       “Yes, it was very hard for me…” Alexis confesses with sadness in her eyes. “It was a too great change in my life. I had a dad, who came back home after work every day. But one fateful day, he suddenly told us about another woman, took his stuff, and left home…”       Alexis swallows up nervously.       “When I heard it, I cried in my room for a whole day and refused to eat,” Alexis confesses. “And then I didn’t go to school for a few days and refused to meet my friends. They called me, but I never answered.”       “My gosh…” Raquelle shakes her head.       “And then someone went to my home, and I told them what happened in my family. I said my parents wanted to get divorced because of another woman. And I got the support. Someone shared their experience gotten after a divorce of their parents and helped me come to myself.”       “I get it…” Raquelle moves her sad eyes to her hands for a second. “My parents had also gotten divorced some time before they died… But I didn’t know it…”       “About the fact that they died or the fact that they were gonna get divorced?” Alexis specifies.       “My family was hiding that they died and wanted to get divorced until the very end. Until I somehow heard my grandfather sitting in his room and saying it while viewing a photo of my mother and father.”       “I’m imagining how shocked you were.”       “Very shocked. I got very mad at my grandfather for hiding the truth from me, and didn’t talk to him for a long time. I got mad because he tried to find any excuses even when I… So to say… Got him caught. It hurt that he thought I was a little baby, to whom someone should’ve explained everything very carefully and even lied. Even though I already knew what death and divorce were.”       “It was much harder for you than me. Because my parents didn't die. They just got divorced. But it was a great tragedy for me. I… Got used to the fact that I had a mother and a father. And then something happened out of the blue! Father went home and showed a wish to get divorced and marry his lover, whom he had been secretly seeing for a few months.”       “Have you already taken it? Or are you still suffering now?”       “No, now I take it much quieter. Even if I still feel sad because my family is not full.” Alexis shakes her head with sadness in her eyes. “Anyway, I wanted us to have a big, friendly family. Looking at those, whose fathers and mothers aren’t divorced, I’m a little jealous of them, to be honest.”       “I get it,” Raquelle pronounces quietly.       “Besides, many people laughed at me because I was growing up without a father.”       “Someone laughed at you?”       “Yup. It was also another reason why it was hard for me to take the divorce of my parents.”       “Someone laughed at me, too…” Raquelle moves her sad eyes to her hands. “Because I actually had no parents. They called me a pathetic orphan…”       “But I could do nothing… I wouldn’t make my father sure to stay. He was determined to leave home.”       “What could you do?” Raquelle sighs heavily. “Nothing!”       “So, it happened that my mother and I stayed alone and lived on what she started to earn after she got a job. And small amounts of alimony Father was paying before I turned eighteen.”       “Grandfather and I were also living on what he was earning for his job. But we always lacked it. I was never able to buy something beautiful. Something I always dreamed about. That’s why I was bullied. An orphan, a pauper.”       “And I can’t get too much, too. You know how much I want to buy. But I’m not able to do it.”       “Would you like to meet your father and talk to him?”       “Not very much by my wish. But if I met him by chance, I wouldn’t refuse to talk.”       “But you’re mad at him.”       “Yeah, but he’s my father… That man didn’t stop being the one after getting divorced from Mother.”       “Don’t you probably wanna talk to your stepmother?”       “Nope, I don’t wanna meet his new wife. I’ve always blamed her for getting our family ruined. And… Would never love and accept the homewrecker. But I’m not gonna ruin their life. They can live as they want.”       “They probably have children.”       “Even if they are born, I shall not consider them my brothers and sisters. Children of the homewrecker that ruined my family and the little world I lived in.”       “I get it.”       “I don’t wanna start an open war, but they shouldn’t hope I will get on well with them and attend all their parties. And Mother would mind it. She doesn’t forget that Father left her for his lover, and I will never forgive him.”       “Okay…”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds.       “You know…” Alexis pronounces thoughtfully and says nothing for two seconds, moving her eyes down. “Maybe… This story would seem nothing to you… Unlike what’s happening to you now. But it was too hard for me. As I've said, it was very hard for me to take the divorce of my parents.”       “Everyone has their little and big tragedies,” Raquelle notices with sadness in her eyes.       “Hey, why did your parent get divorced?”       “Honestly, I don’t know why they got divorced.”       “Another woman was the one to blame?”       “No, there was not another woman. I know it.”       “But why did they get divorced?”       “Grandfather and Aunt always said they started to fight often and couldn’t live in love and peace some time later after my birth.” Raquelle shrugs. “I dunno… Maybe, they were nervous… Maybe, they got sick of each other and stopped loving… Anything could be the reason for that… But I don’t still know the real reason for their divorce…”       “Okay…” Alexis sighs heavily. “But I’ve always known the reason. I was no longer a baby, and anyone didn’t have to explain to me why my mother and father suddenly started a talk about a divorce.”       “I understood much, too. But I was a little baby, who knew and understood nothing. Who everyone should’ve explained everything in a very soft way. It irritated me a little, to be honest.”       “I thought I would never take it… I got a little better and forgot everything only when I was with my friends. They… Distracted me somehow.”       “Did you have a good relationship with your schoolmates?”       “Well…” Alexis bites her lip slightly. “Honestly, I didn’t get too well with my schoolmates. Even if I never hated anyone, and they helped me out and helped with something.”       “Okay…”       “But befriending almost all those people was impossible because we had different interests and too many misunderstandings. Besides, there were some people that laughed at me because I had no father.”       “And don’t you speak to anyone from school?”       “I don’t do now. But still, I’m grateful to many guys for helping me come to myself after the divorce of my parents… As I've said, a father and a mother of some people were divorced, too. So, they shared their experience with me.”       “Get it…”       “And…” Alexis sighs heavily again with sadness in her eyes. “Jacqueline was one of the people, with who I was forgetting about my problems.”       “Jacqueline?” Raquelle frowns slightly. “The one we visited at home some time ago?”       “Yup… We were schoolmates for a few years, but when we were studying in Grade 5 or 6, Jacqueline’s parents took her to a private school that could give better education than the one where I was studying. But we didn’t stop speaking and kept meeting.”       “You somehow said your mother minded your friendship with her.”       “Yes. She thinks Jacqueline impacts me badly and let me know she wasn’t happy when I took her to our home.”       “Did she try to meddle in your relationship?”       “Luckily, no. But Mother doesn’t get sick of reminding me that I would better talk to someone else. For example, she says I’d better be a friend of a daughter of a friend of hers, who she is working with. Or spend time with the son of that woman.”       “Don’t you want?”       “They’re boring! Both! I don’t even have anything to talk to them about! They don’t understand my jokes, I don’t find anything funny about their jokes.”       “And Jacqueline did?”       “Jacqueline did. Even though we’re so different, it was easy for us to speak. Everybody, who is living and working at their home, knows me very well. But looking at me, it seems like I’m supposed to speak to some nerds. I have a very discreet cloth styling, I rarely make makeup, I don’t like experimenting with my hair… I’ve never tried to drink or smoke… Some people feel bored next to someone like me. Someone like me can’t be accepted everywhere.”       “And how do her parents treat you?”       “They love me and accept me at their home warmly. And everybody working at their house know me very well. But I think you’ve understood it.”       “I thought so. The security let you in without problems, and the servant was very nice to you.”       “Right…” Alexis throws a short, sad look aside. “Everything had been okay before the terrible day she and I fought.”       “Are you missing her?” Raquelle asks with sadness in her eyes.       “Much…” Alexis shakes her head. “I'm really sorry that I took you with me.”       “You did because of me?” Raquelle asks hesitantly. “Because I went to her home?”       “I lost patience after hearing her saying terrible things about you. And with your pretense, that girl wasn’t polite.”       “Lexi…”       “First, I tried to quietly tell her that she shouldn't have behaved like this. But… Jacqueline was very stubborn… And I lost patience… Said many bad things… Blamed her for never being a good friend of mine.”       “I’m really very sorry about what happened…” Raquelle says softly, quietly with pity in her eyes, caressing Alexis’s shoulder, who barely contains a wish to cry. “Really… I didn’t want you to fight with that girl.”       “But it happened.”       “I feel guilty because you fought with her when defending me.”       “No, no, Raquelle, please, you shouldn’t blame yourself.”       “I shouldn't have gone with you on that day. That was wrong.” Raquelle slowly moves her eyes down. “Jacqueline didn’t definitely treat me very well, and I dared to come there.”       “Stop, please…” Alexis shakes her head.       “I’m sorry about not thinking of asking you how she treated me to understand if something bad would happen. You wouldn’t have fought with her.”       “Please, Raquelle, don’t blame yourself…” Alexis says with sadness in her eyes, moving her eyes to Raquelle. “You aren't guilty of anything… It was only my fault… I shouldn’t have suggested you go with me.”       “Lexi…”       “I knew Jacqueline disliked you because of the story of the false rumors Ringer. I knew she wouldn’t be happy with your visit.”       “It doesn’t make sense now.”       “I think you were nervous before visiting that girl for the reason. You had a bad presentiment, it didn’t betray you.”       “I’ve always had a very good intuition,” Raquelle confesses thoughtfully. “My presentiments may often be right. But I may hear no call of them and eventually do what I want.”       “People are right when they sometimes say you should listen to your feelings. Because they might help you avoid something bad.”       “I know… I could’ve avoided something bad many times if I’d listened to my feelings and done what my heart told me to. But I was too headstrong to listen to someone and something…” Raquelle sighs heavily. “And in the case of your friend, everything ended terribly… I didn’t reject your idea of going to her home, and it became the reason for your fight…”       “Don’t worry, Raquelle,” Alexis says softly. “Early or late, Jacqueline and I would’ve fought.”       “No, don’t say so.”       “That girl has been lately unbearable, and I barely took her tricks. I don’t know, maybe, it had to do with a boy… Maybe, her parents refused to do something for her… Maybe, something else… I dunno! Anything could be the reason for that.”       “But you fought with her because of me.”       “Actually, that girl was always unbearable enough. But I was taking her behavior, which was disgusting and too arrogant at times, for a long time. But on that day, I lost my patience… I did when she started insulting you, humiliating you, and blaming you for not getting worldwide fame in an honest way. She said something that I don’t wanna think about ‘cause it would be unpleasant for you to hear it…”       Alexis shrugs with sadness in her eyes.       “Then I started crying and told her everything I thought about her,” Alexis confesses quietly. “And Jacqueline lost patience, too, and she told me many bad things. She claimed I was a gray mouse that couldn’t dress up and do makeup… And I actually like ugly…”       “Really?”       “As it turned out, I’m a nerd to her.”       Alexis sniffs quietly.       “Imagine…” Alexis pronounces in a little shaking voice. “The one I befriended for a bigger part of my life said such terrible things about me.”       “Maybe, she said it in anger?” Raquelle assumes. “You said many bad things about her, and she claimed something like that?”       “I dunno. Anyway, I haven’t been at her house since she kicked me out. I have nothing to do there…”       “Anyway, you shouldn’t have fought with her because of me. You shouldn't have tried to change her mind.”       “But she showed disrespect for you.”       “If Jaqueline hated me and thought I was arrogant and forgot who I owed my loud name, it’s her opinion. I can’t make everyone love me.”       “It’s okay she said bad things behind you. But that girl didn’t hold herself down even with your pretense.”       “It’s okay, Lexi. Early or late, people will understand they’ve been cruelly deceived. Understand that there was no proof for the things they talked about.”       “I just tried to defend you. I tried to prove to Jacqueline that you weren’t so bad and mean.”       “I appreciate it, but it wasn’t worth it. Because of me, you lost your best friend.”       “You know, I’ve been lately thinking my mother was right when she said Jacqueline wasn’t the best friend of mine. Because she wasn’t really a perfect friend.”       “No, Lexi, don’t say that…”       “It’s true, Raquelle. Jacqueline just used me. While I did everything for her, she did nothing for me. She thought it should’ve happened. I closed my eyes for that and didn’t notice that girl treated me in a bad way.”       “Really?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.       “It’s like a couple in love, in which only one person loves. When someone does anything for you, and you think it should be happening and give nothing back, it’s not love. As well as friendship, love requires mutuality.”       “But she supported you after the divorce of your parents.”       “Oh, she didn’t the fuck support me,” Alexis sighs tiredly. “Jacqueline didn’t even go to my home when I didn’t talk to anyone and went to school for a few days. I got stronger support from other guys, who were worried about me much more than that girl.”       “That’s how…”       “So… Maybe, that’s good we are no longer friends. Because we weren’t actually the ones.” Alexis sniffs quietly while tears show up on her cheeks, which she carefully wipes. “Besides, she might be very arrogant. She loves reminding everyone that she was lucky to be born into a rich, well-provided family and do nothing to earn at least one penny. And she sometimes hurt me by reminding me about the fact that I don’t have a full family. That’s why I felt very hurt.”       “Nobody is perfect, Lexi,” Raquelle notices. “Everyone has their demons.”       “Yeah… Maybe, I did not behave very well and was too rude to her. And I am even sorry about it. But still… Jacqueline was never such a good friend.”       “Does your mother know what happened to you?”       “She does… I could say she’s even happy about our fight. She always wanted me to stop communicating with her.”       “She said so?”       “She did. It happened for the better. Maybe, you’ll start communicating with someone to be better.”       “Do you have friends, except Jacqueline?”       “I don’t have them now.”       “So, did you have just one friend?”       “Yes, one. Of course, I speak to some of her friends, but we don’t have a close relationship.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Raquelle thinks of her best friend Natalia, who is similar to Jacqueline to some extent.       “You know, Lexi…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully with a slight smile. “You reminded me of one girl by telling about Jacqueline…”       “Who?” Alexis asks.       “My best friend, who means very much to me…”       “Why did she remind you of her?”       “Why?” Alexis smiles slightly. “She’s the same as Jacqueline is?”       “She’s similar to some extent. My friend may sometimes be impossible and capricious. That’s why it might be hard to have a deal with her. But actually, she is a wonderful girl, whom I can trust with anything…”       “Really?” Alexis smiles slightly.       “She always supports me and helps me with a good word or doing something. I love her like my own sister. And I think I’m very lucky to know such a wonderful person.”       “How long have you been friends?”       “Since school times. Since we were about eleven…”       “So long?”       “Yes. And for the years we’ve been friends, she’s done so much for me that I wouldn’t thank her until the last day of my life.” Raquelle shakes her head. “I don't know what I would do if I lost her… For me, it would be a tragedy.”       “I get it,” Alexis pronounces softly.       “I also speak to many people and get on well with them. But that girl is the only one to know much more than anyone else. She knows what I sometimes can’t tell Grandfather Frederick or Aunt Alicia.”       “That’s good you’ve got such a good friend.”       “And now I’m missing her so badly.”       “Did you meet her a long time ago?”       “I haven’t met her since I left America. Two days ago, I tried to call her before Eleanor kidnapped Aunt Alicia, but her phone was turned off.”       “Don’t you wanna talk to her now? You could tell her about Alicia… I’m sure, that girl would support you.”       “If Eleanor doesn’t show up at the nearest time, I shall try to call Natalia again and tell her what’s happening here.”       “Natalia? Who’s Natalia?”       “It’s her name.”       “Ah… Her name is Natalia?”       “Yes.”       “Beautiful name.”       Raquelle falls into silence for two seconds, sniffing quietly and carefully wiping her tears off under her eyes. As well as Alexis, who barely holds herself down not to start to cry.       “Say, don’t you wanna reconcile with Jacqueline?” Raquelle asks with sadness in her eyes.       “I don’t know…” Alexis pronounces in a little shaking voice. “I’m not sure if we can be friends.”       “Do you think Jacqueline won’t understand her mistakes and become a good friend to you?”       “Hardly.”       “Excuse me, why did you actually befriend her all those years?”       “Because… Erm… Because it was funny to spend time with her. Yes, she’s spoiled and sometimes very insolent, but she does have a sense of humor. She can have much fun.”       “I’m sure Jacqueline was a friend of yours for a reason. You’ve got something she liked. I dunno… Kindness, loyalty, readiness to support and comfort…”       “That girl was a friend of mine because I was good to her. I would’ve always covered her, always helped her, always done something she asked me about.”       “I’m sure she’s grateful to you for everything you’ve done to her at the bottom of her heart.”       “I don’t know, Raquelle… Maybe, Jacqueline doesn’t remember how much I’ve done for her.       As I’ve said, she thought it should’ve happened.”       “Don’t judge the situation by what happened the last time. You were obsessed with bad emotions and said many bad things to each other.”       “But it’s the truth. I said who Jacqueline actually was.”       “Lexi…”       “It’s okay, Raquelle. If we fought, it should’ve happened. So, I should look for other friends. That would be much better than that girl.”       “Wouldn’t you forgive her even if she went to your home and asked you for forgiveness?”       “It won’t happen. Jacqueline has never apologized first and has always waited for people to apologize to her. She can’t recognize her mistakes. She thinks she’s a very good and loyal friend.”       “What if she does? What if she recognizes her mistakes and wanna apologize?”       “I don’t know. But I’m afraid we’ll hardly be close even if we reconcile.”       “Or vice versa, you’ll get much closer to each other.”       “We’ll see. Now I can say nothing.”       “Lexi…”       “Are you mad at her? For showing disrespect to you?”       “Not at all.”       “What?” Alexis rounds her eyes, looking at Raquelle surprisingly. “Not at all?”       “Not at all.”       “Aren't you angry at her for saying those bad things about you? And many other things that I don’t even wanna talk about.”       “No, I'm not angry at her,” Raquelle nods confidently with a slight smile.       “But, Raquelle…”       “Really. As I’ve said, if someone has a bad opinion about me, it’s okay.”       “But you were supposed to be hurt.”       “Yes, that hurts. It’s bad. Very hurt. But I learn not to take criticism seriously and to get some lessons from it.”       “But…”       “If someone thinks my fame is paid for by a sugar daddy, they can think so. People may think I sleep with someone to be in a celebrity world. It’s okay. I don’t aim to be good for everyone.”       “Really?”       “I do know who I am, how I got famous, and who I owe for all of that. And the most important thing is that my closest people do know who I am and what I could do.”       “Anyway, you chose this way. You knew all the people wouldn’t love you.”       “I completely knew it. And I still can’t say I don’t react to insults and criticism. It still hurts me. For example, I was worried because someone spread rumors about me, which everyone believed. I was crying… I was asking myself what I did to get through that.”       “You know…”       Alexis sighs quietly and moves her guilty look to Raquelle.       “I also disliked you when I met you for the first time,” Alexis recalls with sadness in her eyes. “I said all the same that newspapers, magazines, reporters did. And Jacqueline did… I agreed with them and… I thought you were a spoiled bitch, who couldn’t be grateful and forgot who gave her such good things.”       “Lexi…” Raquelle pronounces softly.       “It’s true. People are right when they say everyone will believe almost anything they hear. One idiot wrote an article about you allegedly starting a riot on the shootings and humiliating those you worked and kept working with, and people believed and started swearing at you. And I was one of them…”       “I don’t blame you for believing all of that.”       “I realized it was a lie too late. I woke up only thanks to my mother, whom I told about that dinner. She was trying to make me sure that I shouldn't have blindly believed someone not to be able to prove anything. Because… That person didn’t prove that you were guilty of that scandal. They showed no photos, no videos… There was even no witness that would confirm everything.” Alexis shakes her head. “If it’s so, they lied about you. The anonymous thought people would be stupid and naive and believe the story without asking for any proof. And… It happened.”       “Maybe,” Raquelle pronounces with sadness in her eyes.       “Hey, do you have any guesses about who could do that?”       “I do.”       “Who is that?”       “Somehow I had a photoshoot with an actor… We seriously fought at the first meeting. And when we worked together on the shooting, our conflict got much worse. So bad that the man threatened to make me regret that and ruin my career.”       “But why did you fight?”       “Well… Because I didn’t admire him. I didn't admire that selfish peacock.”       “Wow…”       “He was the one to start the conflict. I didn’t wanna conflict with him and was nice enough toward him.”       “Do you think he’s taking revenge on you for not pleasing him with a couple of compliments?”       “Not only because of that. He could get hurt by the fact that I rejected him.”       “Rejected?”       “Yup. Well, he wasn’t used to that because girls had not dared to reject him before.”       “Actually… It’s possible.”       “I’m more than sure it was him. There is nobody else to spread those false rumors about me.”       “But you’ve got many haters because you’re famous. Someone from them might also have to do with that.”       “Furthermore, I started to receive anonymous letters with threats almost at the same time.”       “Anonymous letters?”       “Yes, someone often sends them to my email. Yesterday, I got another one two days ago.”       “And what did they say?”       “First, I was made to quit my modeling career. If I didn’t do that, I would regret it a lot. And then the anonymous confessed they spread those false rumors about me.”       “They confessed it?”       “But I already understood the one to blame for all my problems is the actor. The insulted and humiliated actor.”       “Is he famous? Or not?”       “People around me say he was famous somewhere in the 00s and played a role in a super popular movie. But I can’t remember him, I don’t know him, and I haven’t watched any movies with him.”       “And what’s his name?”       “Terrence MacClife.”       “Come on?” Alexis rounds her eyes. “You know Terrence MacClife?”       “Sadly.”       “My God, that’s the famous actor! I love his character Mason from the movie ‘American Love Affair!’ It’s been many years, but I still re-watch that movie at times.”       “Everyone talks so much about that movie that I don’t feel comfortable. Because I don’t know anything about it.”       “My God, I don’t understand that you don’t know Terrence himself. He’s a dream of all the girls! Handsome! True Apollo!”       “Yes, maybe, he’s handsome, but he’s too disgusting and non-educated.”       “I dunno…” Alexis pronounces thoughtfully. “He’s always very gentle in public. He never refuses to sign something for his fans or take a photo with them.”       “He is an actor. He pretends to be good.”       “Listen, I don’t believe he spread those rumors. Why would he do it? Terrence has no reason to get famous thanks to your name because everyone knows him. And he has no reason to ruin your career.”       “Why not? He does! MacClife got hurt by the fact that I behaved not in the way everyone did and rejected him with no regret.”       “Why did you do that? He's handsome!”       “I don’t need that handsome guy!”       “Why?”       “I just don’t like him.”       “Maybe, you do?” Alexis smiles mysteriously. “What if you’re not indifferent to him?”       “No, Lexi, I don’t care about that man.”       “C’mon, Raquelle! You know what kind of honor you’d get if you become a girlfriend of Terrence MacClife himself.”       “I would become the girlfriend of a more educated and decent man.”       “Don’t you like him at all? Just a little!”       “No, I don’t like him.”       “Raquelle…”       “How could I love someone to get me ashamed of the whole world? Who turned everyone against me and made them believe that I allegedly insulted and humiliated those I worked with and always started scandals.”       “Do you have real proof of the fact that it was him?”       “I do. His anonymous letters.”       “They’d give you nothing. They don’t have Terrence’s personal confession about the fact that he did it.”       “Anyway, I’m not going to leave him unpunished. When my Aunt Alicia is back home, I will seriously work on this case and make that scumbag pay for what he did.”       “I don’t know, I’d think about everything well and don’t blame everyone,” Alexis says quietly. “Yes, Terrence could do that, but knowing your status, anyone could be the one to blame.”       “C'mon, Lexi, don’t think about it.”       Raquelle tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.       “It doesn’t make sense now,” Raquelle adds. “Early or late, the truth would come to light, and that man would stop mocking me and telling everyone a lie.”       “Anyway, I wouldn’t leave this case without attention and would kick the one to blame,” Alexis says confidently. “Find out who did that and make them pay much for what they did.”       “I haven’t decided what I’d do to them. I’m gonna do this a little later. At the moment, I care about how to help my aunt get saved from Eleanor Woodham.”       “Okay, do what you want. But anyway, I’m really ashamed of you for my behavior on the first day of your visit.”       “Don’t be,” Raquelle cracks a slight smile. “I completely get it.”       “You probably thought you’d come here to have a rest and forget about that scandal. But I reminded you of that again. And it made you feel worse.”       “I always thought about it anyway.”       “Besides, I promised Alicia to keep silent about that scandal with your pretense. But I couldn’t keep my word…” Alexis swallows up nervously. “It was disgusting for me to watch you pretending that everything was fine so hard. I didn’t understand it was just your way to distract… So, I lost patience.”       “Right, I tried to distract somehow,” Raquelle nods. “Because I knew I’d go crazy if I always thought of what Terrence did to me.”       “Yes, sometimes I can’t keep my mouth shut… But I’m really very sorry… I understand that I was wrong.”       “Lexi…”       “Please, Raquelle…”       Alexis moves her eyes for a second but then bravely looks at Raquelle.       “Forgive me for behaving so disgustingly on that day,” Alexis apologizes with pity in her eyes. “I know I should’ve shown respect for you but didn’t do that.”       “Please, Lexi, don’t apologize,” Raquelle says softly. “You and I already talked about everything.”       “Now I’ve made absolutely sure that you’re a cool girl. Kind, sweet, loyal… I… I believed Alicia, who had always said it. I realized you were really the one. You aren’t a bitch that journalists and reporters call you just to make a sensation and get as much money as possible.”       “Please, let’s not be back to what’s unpleasant for both of us to remember.”       “I swear, I didn’t wanna give you pain,” Alexis says hesitantly, looking at Raquelle a little scarily. “And didn’t wanna become your enemy.”       “Don’t worry about it, darling.” Raquelle softly caresses Alexis’s hand with a slight smile. “I'm not any angry at you. You had a right to your opinion, and I can’t be mad ‘cause it wasn’t the same as my close people's.”       “I want you to know you can always count on me,” Alexis says amicably. “I wouldn’t believe any newspapers that publish such terrible things about you. And I shall remember that Alicia wouldn’t say good things about you if you weren’t the one. If she says her niece is good, it’s the truth.”       “Maybe, we didn’t get on well at once. But I’m glad we eventually got on well. You seem like a good person that I could talk about something to.”       “Nice to hear it.”       “Sadly, I have no friends in London… They are all in the United States. But I’m glad I met at least someone I could talk to when I want to go back here again.”       “And I’ll know I’ll always have a person, who I can always talk to about something.” Alexis shrugs. “Since I fought with Jacqueline, I’d be communicating at least with you. Yes, we aren’t friends. But… Who knows… Maybe, we’ll get much closer someday and… Communicate as well as you communicate with your friend from America.”       “I already feel good I have the one to support me right now, while my aunt is in trouble. Not to let me go crazy and… Have despair and depression. If I was alone now, I wouldn’t undure it all.”       “I’m glad I’m helping you take this time somehow,” Alexis says softly.       “Yeah… Thanks, Lexi.” Raquelle cracks a slight smile. “Thank you so much. Now I really need to hear some nice words that… Would give me hope for the best.”       “And thank you for just speaking to me,” Alexis thanks. “You’re the best. Really. The best.”       Raquelle smiles much wider through tears. And a few moments later, she ends up in Alexis’s amiable hug and accepts it with great pleasure, still crying quietly and sometimes sniffing.       While the girls talk, share what they are worried about, calm each other down, and show their regret about not having the best relationship at the beginning, a lot of time is gone. And when they hug each other, someone suddenly rings the doorbell of the apartment a few seconds later. That’s why Alexis and Raquelle sharply step away from each other.       “Who’s that?” Alexis asks with a scare in her eyes.       “If only Eleanor’s accomplices hadn't come here,” Raquelle replies with anxiety in her soul.       “What do we do?”       “We’ve got no choice. We’ve have to open the door.”       “Aren’t you afraid?”       “I am. But what I can do.”       “Be careful. What if that woman really told her big guys to come here.”       “Anyway, hide somewhere and call the police. And try not to make too many noises.”       “Okay, as you want.”       Raquelle exhales sharply, slowly gets up from the sofa, and goes to the hall confidently enough, being seriously frightened by the fact that Eleanor’s accomplices could come here. But after quickly opening the door, the girl does not see Eleanor or her accomplices… She sees Jacqueline. The blonde looks tense enough and looks at the brunette with scared eyes, nervously twirling her little beige purse and shifting her weight from one foot to another.       “Jacqueline?” Raquelle pronounces surprisingly, rounding her eyes. “Is that you?”       “Hello, Raquelle,” Jacqueline greets quietly, hesitantly. “Sorry for bothering you…”       “But… What are you doing here? How did you get this address?”       “Erm… Actually, I wanted to go to the home of Alexis. But I was met by Valeria, her mother. She said her daughter was in Alicia’s apartment.”       “That’s how…”       “So, I came here…”       “Did Lexi’s mother say where her apartment is?”       “I know the apartment of that woman is in front of the one Alexis is living in.”       “Okay… And…” Raquelle bites her lip slightly. “What do you need? Why did you come? Talk to Lexi?”       “I could say so,” Jacqueline nods. “But not only for that. But also for… Supporting you.”       “Supporting me?”       “I know what happened to you.”       “What do you mean?”       “The kidnapping of Alicia.”       “You know everything?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.       “I'm really sorry about what happened to her… Alicia is a wonderful woman, who did not deserve all of that.”       “Erm…” Raquelle moves her eyes aside for a second. “Wait, wait, but how did you know what happened? Who told you my aunt was in a danger? Lexi’s mother?”       “Yup, she,” Jacqueline confesses shyly. “Lexi’s mother told me everything. I mean… I persuaded her to tell me everything.”       “That’s how!”       “Honestly, she doesn’t like me and isn’t happy when I come here. But… She didn’t hide where Alexis is now.”       “Okay… Lexi is really here. Supporting me while I know nothing about Aunt Alicia.”       “So, is that the truth? Is Alicia really in trouble?”       “Truth, Jacqueline.”       “Honestly, I didn’t believe it when I heard it first. Because… I didn’t know Alicia would have some problems. That would make someone wish to kidnap her.”       “But she does have problems. Very serious.”       “I hope she will solve them. And she will be back home safe and sound.”       “Amen.”       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, after which Jacqueline decides to break it, folding her hands in front of her and looking at Raquelle a little hesitantly:       “Yes, Raquelle… Ms. Cameron… I…” Jacqueline moves her eyes to her hands for a second. “I would like to tell you something… If we met. Can I talk to you?”       “Talk to me?” Raquelle asks.       “I promise I will not take a lot of time from you. Literally two minutes, and I shall leave.”       “Is that so important?”       “Yes…” Jacqueline nods in approval, looking at Raquelle with pity in her eyes. “Please, Ms. Cameron, listen to me. I want to get rid of this burden that’s dragging me down and feel some relief.”       “So…”       Raquelle glances aside.       “If you want to talk…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully and makes a gesture to let Jacqueline come into the apartment. “Come in.”       When Raquelle steps back from the doorstep, Jacqueline enters the apartment a little hesitantly.       “Come in the living room,” Raquelle adds. “I will close the door and come to you,”       Jacqueline nods and goes to the living room, tightly squeezing the handle of her purse. After coming there, the blonde stops and sets her hesitant look on Alexis, who rounds her eyes, still sitting on the sofa.       “Alexis?” Jacqueline wonders with a scare in her eyes.       “Jacqueline?” Alexis pronounces hesitantly.       “Hi…”       “Hi… I didn’t think I’d meet you here…”       “Me too…”       “What are you doing here?”       “Erm… I was actually… Going your home.”       “My home?”       “Yeah. But your mother opened the door and said you were in Alicia’s apartment. So, I came here.”       “And what do you need?”       “I want to t-t-talk. Not only you. But also Raquelle.”       “Talk?” Alexis frowns slightly.       “Literally two words…”       Alexis says nothing and keeps gloomily looking at Jacqueline being hesitant, shifting her weight from one foot to another, and looking down at times. And after she closes the door, Raquelle goes to the living room and sees the girls silently looking at each other, not being able to say anything more. The brunette says nothing for two seconds and then breaks the silence, pointing at the sofa:       “Sit down, Jacqueline. Don’t hesitate.”       The slightly white and tense Jacqueline comes to the sofa, hesitantly sits on the edge of it, and puts her purse near herself. Raquelle sits down next to Alexis, who looks excited, folding her hands in front of her.       “So…” Raquelle pronounces thoughtfully. “Speak. I’m listening to you closely. What do you want to tell me?”       “Erm, you see, Raquelle…” Jacqueline pronounces quietly, hesitantly, and shamelessly moves her eyes down for a moment. “I would like… To apologize to you… Apologize for behaving in such a bad way…”       “Don’t do it, Jacqueline. Please…”       “I’m ashamed of you for showing disrespect to you.”       “You had a right to have your opinion.”       “You see… When Lexi told me that you came here to visit Alicia, I… Let her know I thought you were a supercilious bitch.” Jacqueline swallows up nervously. “Because I believed what was written about you. I know I shouldn’t believe everything, but… I’ve always easily trusted everything newspapers and magazines write. And… I couldn’t even think that article could be false. I didn’t think that anonymous didn’t prove their words… They just said you started an affray on a set but didn’t think of proving it…”       “Don’t think about it…” Raquelle pronounces softly. “It’s okay.”       “I thought you did not get your job thanks to a hard and long work,” Jacqueline confesses in a little shaking voice, sometimes looking at her hands. “You… Were allegedly in a bed of powerful people… And they… Paid for everything… For you to wake up famous immediately…”       “Jacqueline…”       “I know I shouldn’t have thought so… I shouldn't have said what I didn’t know.” Jacqueline swallows up nervously. “I didn’t get all my wealth by myself. My parents have been working hard for many years to get everything we’ve got. And I… I’ve just always lived in a beautiful and big home… I’ve never been deprived of anything. I could ask anything and get it at once.”       Jacqueline wipes tears under her eyes carefully.       “I…” Jacqueline pronounces in a little shaking voice. “I must admit that I… I have been a spoiled girl since I was born. My parents still make any wish of mine come true. I just need to say I want one or another thing, and they give me the money. They say I could go to a shop and buy. They’ve never cared about what I buy. How much I buy.”       “You should be happy you have an opportunity to do it,” Raquelle says quietly.       “I’m happy. But… Sadly… I’ve never thought about how hard we could earn money… How hard Mother and Father earn it… I never thought someone wouldn’t get fame without a reason… They’ve gotta do something to get noticed. And spend many years of their life to reach just something.”       “It’s true,” Raquelle nods. “But it’s especially hard to start something from the beginning. When you’ve got no help… No foundation… When you’ve gotta build it and keep doing it to reach just something. And yeah, it might really take ages. And someone might not reach just something for the whole life.”       “Yeah… And… I must admit… I’ve recently started to think about it… And…, I even think of trying to find out what earning money means.”       “But what are you gonna do?”       “I don’t know… But I’m thinking of asking my parents to let me help them with their business. Even I don’t understand much about what they’re doing. But… Still…”       “Try if you want. Who knows, maybe, you’ve got a great talent for what they’re doing.”       “I’m starting to realize that I… Should deserve what I get somehow.” Jacqueline shakes her head. “I don’t want them to think I’d live on their account until they die or until I find a rich husband. Maybe… I’d really need to do something. At least for me. Not to suffer from doing nothing. To find something to do and work for my pleasure.”       “I’m glad if you’re really starting to think about it,” Raquelle says amicably. “It’s never too late to start with something. You’ll learn everything little by little and probably continue the business of your parents or open your own one. At least you’d have money that you would spend on yourself. You know how proud you’d feel when you take banknotes you’d earn for the first time.”       «I know… But actually, I…” Jacqueline sighs heavily and looks down for a second. “Wanted to talk not about it… But about what happened on the day you visited my home…”       “Jacqueline…” Raquelle pronounces softly and quietly.       “I behaved too superciliously to you,” Jacqueline confesses with sadness in her eyes. “And I’m really sorry about showing a great disrespect for you and not holding myself down, at least with your pretense.”       “I repeat, you had a right to your opinion. You could have any opinion about me. I couldn’t make you admire me. It’s out of my power.”       “I know, but I would like everything to be otherwise. And I would like to apologize to you.”       “Jacqueline, please…”       “Please, Raquelle, forgive me for thinking you were almost a slut. For insulting you, defending the anonymous, who refuses to introduce themselves to the world and tell those things openly. Now I completely understand I made a mistake and was wrong.”       “And what changed your opinion?”       “Time. I reflected on that situation again. And the fact that the anonymous didn’t give any proof made me doubt it was the truth.”       “I’m glad if it’s so.”       “You would hardly dare to start a riot on shootings and yelling everyone owes you. Now I’m sure you’re absolutely different. Not what that person described you.”       “I’ve got some suspicions about whom to blame. And when I solve the problem of Aunt Alicia, I will be back to this case again.”       “I wonder, why did they do that?”       “Sadly, there is someone, who decided to take revenge on me for rejecting him,” Raquelle replies thoughtfully. “It hurt him much. He wasn’t used to getting rejected. And my behavior got him wild.”       “Wow…”       “Of course, I’m gonna have to prove that he did it, but I’m sure that it was the one to blame.”       “Anyway, now I understand why Alicia is defending you so hard. I’m not surprised anymore. Not surprised that Alexis stood by your side, as well. Even if she disliked you somehow,”       “Right. Lexi and I didn’t get along well at first, but then we decided to start everything over again.”       “Besides…” Jacqueline glances at Alexis. “During the last talk between Lexi and me, she said I behaved like a spoiled and capricious girl that got used to living on someone’s account. I didn’t want to listen to it. But then I reflected on it… Think about what kind of good and nice things I’ve done for twenty-two years of my life.”       Jacqueline shakes her head.       “And realized I’ve done nothing,” Jacqueline adds. “I’ve been depending on my parents and wasting the money they’ve been earning. It was okay when it happened when I was little and going to school. But… As I’ve said, it’s my time to find out what earning money means.”       “It’s the right decision,” Raquelle replies softly.       “Of course, I realized it not at once after our fight. But quickly enough… Just called the memories of my whole life. Realized that I was… Ashamed of many of them…”       Jacqueline sniffs quietly.       “Sometimes I could be rude and arrogant to some people, literally thinking they’re something disgusting to look at,” Jacqueline adds hesitantly.       “Even your friends?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.       “Even my friends. And…” Jacqueline says nothing for two seconds. “I’m surprised many friends are mine still stand my terrible character and keep communicating with me. Because I’m unbearable. And madly capricious…”       “That’s good you confess it,” Raquelle says amicably.       “My bad features were stronger than my good ones for a long time. So, here’s the reason I was a little insolent bitch from a rich family that used people. Used what she got with pleasure. But she gave nothing back.”       “And it’s wrong. As Lexi recently said, love and friendship require mutuality.”       “I know. And I really want everything to be otherwise. I want to stop being a bad girl. I want everybody to realize that I can love, be a friend, feel sorry, and show regret. I’m not stoned. I don’t think only of me.”       “I think if someone is still a friend of you, you’ve got something they love you for. Something that is the reason why they’re ready to close their eyes to your character.”       “Maybe, they love the fact that I’m living in a rich family.”       “Who knows. Anyway, people still want to be your friends. Your friends close their eyes to your weakness.”       “Anyway, I will be trying to get much better.”       “It’s all in your hands,” Raquelle smiles shyly.       “First of all, I want to apologize to you.” Jacqueline sniffs quietly, looking at Raquelle with pity in her eyes. “I’m really ashamed of the way I behaved toward you.”       “It’s okay, Jacqueline, don’t worry,” Raquelle pronounces softly. “I’m not mad at you.”       “I swear, I did not want everything to happen. And I shall no longer believe what those, who can prove nothing, write about you. Promise…”       “I believe you.” Raquelle smiles much wider. “I believe in your regret. And I’m sure you’re not lying.”       “I’m not lying to you,” Jacqueline says confidently. “I really want to apologize and want to be in peace with you from now on.”       “It depends on your wish.”       “I’m really very sorry… Forgive me… Please…”       “And I want to say you did the right thing by recognizing your mistakes. Yes, everyone makes mistakes. But it’s never too late to fix them. It’s never too late to learn a lesson. Find out what you can do, and what you cannot do.”       “I know…”       “I’m very glad you recognized your weaknesses and thought I was bad for nothing.”       “And believe me, I’m ready to fight with them and get better,” Jacqueline replies confidently.       “You’ve done the first step. Done the hardest step. And then it’d be easier.”       “You think I can do this?”       “Everything starts with confessing the facts. And then you need to do your best to become a better version of yourself. And I’m sure you can do it. Because you want to change yourself.”       “Would you forgive me for being so rude?” Jacqueline rounds her eyes. “Please, Raquelle, don’t be mad at me. I didn’t want to hurt you and give pain.”       “I’ve got no reason to be angry at you.”       “I promise I will no longer say a bad word about you and respect you.”       “I believe you, Jacqueline,” Raquelle smiles much wider. “I believe. And I know you may be a very good person.”       “Thanks, Raquelle,” Jacqueline thanks with a slight smile. “Thank you for understanding me. Thank you so much for forgiving me.”       “I’m not mad at you. I will not be.”       “You can’t even imagine how good I feel now. I got rid of a heavy burden.”       “You got better?”       “Much better.”       “I hope you and I will get on and keep communicating well,” Raquelle expresses hope.       “I would be happy to be a friend of yours. The famous model that… I’ve always liked.”       “Let’s start everything again and try to make our relationship better?”       “I can’t reject a chance that you kindly gave me.”       Meanwhile, a tear rolls down Jacqueline's cheek. Seeing it, Raquelle sits on the sofa next to the young girl and gives her an amicable hug. The blonde accepts it with great pleasure, sniffs two times, and makes a sob, while the brunette presses her to herself and smiles much wider.       Some time later, Jacqueline steps back from Raquelle and slowly, moves her eyes hesitantly to Alexis, who silently watches the girls, not hiding her smile and being happy everything has been solved. The blonde with long hair gathered in a ponytail fights with her hesitance and fears and then sits next to her former friend.       “Lexi, darling…” Jacqueline pronounces in a shaking voice with pity in her eyes and takes Alexis’s hand. “Please, forgive me for everything I told you on that day.”       “Jacqueline…” Alexis pronounces quietly.       “Yes, I was an idiot. I wasn’t right at all. I really have a disgusting character that doesn’t let me live. I am a spoiled girl, for whom everyone does everything. For whom everyone solves her problems.”       “If you understand it, I’m happy.”       “You did the right thing by deciding to open my eyes and saying I was the one. Because I started to reflect on who I was.”       “Someone should’ve done it.”       “Yeah…” Jacqueline sniffs quietly. “I'm really very sorry for not listening to you and behaving so badly. Saying many bad things and giving you such strong pain.”       “Yes, you made me cry,” Alexis confesses confidently. “Very much. I cried for almost a whole day after I left your home.”       “I’m really very sorry about what happened.” Jacqueline shakes her head. “Forgive me for what you had to take from me and my tricks that sometimes crossed all the lines. I’m really ashamed of everything I told you that day. And the way I behaved then. And the time before we fought.”       “I’m glad you understood many of your mistakes,” Alexis says quietly.       “I know I wasn’t the best friend of you and really just used you but gave you nothing. You were the one to show initiative, and I just thought it should’ve happened. But I wanna fix it. I wanna be a good friend, who you can always count on.”       “Jacqueline…”       “I don’t want to lose you, Lexi. I don’t wanna ruin our friendship, which means very much to me. You mean much more than many friends of mine to me. You’re my best friend, who I love very much.”       Jacqueline sniffs quietly, looking at Alexis with her eyes full of pity.       “Please, Lexi…” Jacqueline pronounces in a little shaking voice. “Don’t tell me you don’t wanna be a friend of mine anymore… I don’t want it… Please, forgive me. I’m really very sorry for behaving like that. I wanna be better. I wanna change,”       “I believe, Jacqueline,” Alexis says softly through tears with a shy smile. “And I want to apologize to you, too.”       Alexis takes Jacqueline’s hands a little tighter.       “I’m sorry about the way I behaved the last time.” Alexis apologizes. “I said too many bad things to you. And I’m very sorry about crossing the line and going too far.”       “No, no, please, don’t apologize,” Jacqueline says excitedly in a little shaking voice. “You shouldn't regret it.”       “I shouldn't have said everything you heard from me. I shouldn't have behaved like this.”       “You were absolutely right. You said everything I didn’t wanna notice. You said what other people had never told me. You were the first one to do it. And I’m truly grateful to you for that.”       “I swear, I didn’t wanna hurt you at all… I…”       Alexis shakes her head.       “I don’t know what I got obsessed with…” Alexis adds in a little shaking voice. “I said so many bad things…”       “It’s okay, honey,” Jacqueline pronounces softly. “You did the right thing. You made me think about what I am and who I am.”       “Yes, I’m not gonna deny that you’ve never been perfect. You weren’t always a good friend. But… You’re not so bad.”       “I know I’m not perfect. But I wanna start to change something about myself. And I wanna do this right now.”       “I swear, Jacqueline, I didn’t wanna fight with you. I didn’t wanna ruin our friendship. I didn’t wanna lose you.”       “You think I wanted?”       “Jacqueline…”       “When I came to myself a little, I was in my room and crying, too. While nobody saw. I suddenly became ashamed of all my actions. I got ashamed of not being a good friend and just using everyone.”       “But I can’t call you a terrible friend. You’ve always known how to make me laugh and make my mood better. When I felt sad, you were the only one to fix it,”       “I realized I didn’t wanna lose you. I don’t wanna lose the one, who would always listen and do anything she's asked about.”       “You will not lose…” Alexis sniffs quietly. “Because I don’t also wanna you. Our friendship is very important to me. You’re the only best friend of mine. I’ve got no closest friends but you. Just you.”       “And you are my closest friend,” Jacqueline confesses. “The best friend, whom I could tell any secrets.”       “I’m very sorry about behaving like an idiot.”       “Don’t worry, Lexi, I get it. You were just defending Raquelle and trying to let me know I’m terrible, and she was just slandered.”       “Besides, I shouldn't have brought her to your home. Knowing you wouldn’t be happy.”       “You know… It’s very hard to recognize your mistake. But… I did find the courage to do it.”       “Glad to hear this.”       “I know I’m gonna spend a lot of time getting better. But I am ready for that. Ready to get better.”       “Great.”       “So, what?” Jacqueline gives a couple of sobs with a shy smile through tears and carefully wipes tears under her eyes. “Are we friends again?”       “Can we walk together and spend time together?” Alexis asks a little hesitantly.       “Of course, we can!” Jacqueline smiles widely. “I would be happy to go somewhere and go somewhere to eat.”       “And forget what happened on that terrible day?”       “I don’t even wanna think about it.”       “And didn’t you add me to the list of those, who are banned from going your home?”       “No, I didn’t do that. I promised, but I didn’t do it.”       “Really?”       “You can go to my home whenever you want. I would accept you with pleasure. And my parents would still be happy to meet you.”       “Okay, I shall come.”       “And yeah, my plan about a party at my house is still up.”       “Are you having a party?”       “Aha, I wanna call all our friends somehow and suggest they have fun at my home.”       “Great!” Alexis smiles shyly. “I will come with pleasure!”       “I would be happy to see you.”       “Let me know when the party is up.”       “I don’t know it yet. But I think it’s gonna happen soon.”       “Okay, I will be waiting.”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Alexis and Jacqueline shyly smile at each other.       “So what, friend?” Alexis pronounces and opens her arms, suggesting Jacqueline hug her. “Peace?”       “Peace!”       Alexis and Jacqueline take each other in a tight, friendly hug with a wide smile on their faces and quiet, happy whoops, behaving like they did not see each other for ages and just met right after a long separation.       All this time, Raquelle was silently watching them and is now truly glad for the girls, who managed to reconcile and are now tightly hugging each other, barely holding down a wish to give a happy whoop and not hiding their true, wide smiles. At some moment, the girl feels a tear slowly rolls down her cheek, which she carefully wipes. Her happiness is caused by the fact that she no longer feels guilty about the fight between the two friends, who had a conflict because of her, and also about other claims to each other.       Watching Alexis and Jacqueline, at some moment, Raquelle calls the memories of the time when she just started to communicate with Natalia and later got much closer to her. She understands that she is madly missing her best friend, whom she loves with all her heart like her own sister. And she cannot imagine what she would do without such a wonderful person, who has helped her get through hard moments of life, supported her, and has been able to make her have fun when she felt sad.       Raquelle could be watching Jacqueline and Alexis tightly hugging each other and not hiding their wide smiles forever. She could keep being happy as if she is watching a show and worried about the relationship between the main characters. At some moment, they hear a wired phone starts calling. The three girls shake slightly from surprise and look at each other with a little scare in their eyes.       “Oh, gosh!” Alexis exhales sharply. “I was scared!”       “What a loud ring…” Jacqueline pronounces thoughtfully. “Couldn’t Alicia make it quieter…”       “If only it was Eleanor Woodham…” Raquelle begs quietly with anxiety in her soul. “If only she called me and said what happened to my aunt.”       Raquelle takes the phone placed not far from her with a shaking hand, not being even to get up from the sofa, and quietly answers the call:       “Hello.”       “Hello, Raquelle!” the cheerful feminine voice on the phone pronounces. “How are you doing? Are you still shocked after my message? Worried about your beloved auntie and trying to find her so hard? Even if it’s worthless.”       “Erm…” Raquelle stutters for a second and bites her lip slightly, understanding how fast her heart starts beating after she hears a familiar voice. “Eleanor? Eleanor Woodham?”       “M-m-m, I see you know my name and surname,” Eleanor replies thoughtfully. “As I understand, had Alicia whispered much in your ear before she disappeared?”       “Yes, I know everything you are planning to do.”       “So… I see your aunt has already told you everything about this case.”       “She did. You should not be busy telling me something.”       “Wonderful then!”       “I want to hear an answer to only one question of mine… What did you do to my aunt? Where is she now?”       “How you can’t wait to know it…”       “Answer now!” Raquelle demands an answer loudly and excitedly. “Where is my aunt Alicia?”       “Quiet, quiet, baby, quiet,” Eleanor pronounces quietly. “Do not scream. I am not deaf.”       “Where is my aunt Alicia?”       “Take care of your nerves. Because you will need them when it’s the funeral of your aunt.”       “What?”       “What you heard.”       “What did you do to her, Eleanor Woodham?” Raquelle barely holds her anger down, tightly clenching a free hand into a fist. “What did you do to her?”       “I did what I should have done to your aunt.”       “What?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “What do you mean?”       “Calm down, my darling, I have not killed her yet. Your aunt is alive.”       “What do you mean you have not killed her yet?”       “She is just waiting for the moment when I deal with her.”       “Where is she? Where did you take her?”       “To one very good place. Where you would not surely find her.”       “Why?” Raquelle wonders. “What did my aunt do to you that you are doing this to her?”       “M-m-m, how curious you are…”       “Why are you chasing her? Why?”       “Do not rush, Raquelle, don’t rush. Don’t ask me so many questions.”       “I want to know where you hid her, and why you decided to do it.”       “Don’t worry, you will know everything soon. But a little later. When I want to do it.”       “How long are you going to hold her there?”       “As much as I want,” Eleanor says confidently. “I can assure you that you will not meet your auntie Alicia until I decide to give you a chance to do it.”       “But can I at least hear her voice?”       “No, you cannot.”       “I want to make sure you are not lying to me.”       “Do not worry, girl, your aunt is alive so far. She is where I told my people to bring her.” Eleanor laughs evilly. “By the way, they were very lucky they caught her in the city in an unpopular place, by which she was going for her business. So, those guys did their work quickly and quietly. Stopped her, grabbed her under an arm, got her in a car, and drove away.”       

***

      Two days ago.       Alicia is quickly walking on the asphalt path with her shoes with little heels, embracing herself tightly with her arms, and sometimes glancing at everything she sees around her. She is seriously excited because Raquelle shows such a great interest in her problems and aims to know all the truth in all ways. The woman shakes from thinking she would have to tell her niece how she accidentally killed the man while protecting herself from him trying to rape her when she was young.       She does want to forget this nightmare so badly and never think about what has made her wake up at night with cold sweat for many years. But unfortunately, the current events do not let her forget what she will hate herself for a long time. Even if Alicia was found non-guilty and did not go to prison, where she could have been for half of her life. While there are people, who remind her of her sins of the past, the woman will never forget all of that and start a quiet life.       There is nobody in the place where she is slowly walking. It’s possible to see only an old house where someone hardly lives, many high trees and a straight empty road, on which nobody drives. It’s very quiet here because the center of the city is quite far from here. The light cold wind slightly blows up Alicia’s face and strands of her short hair, and the sky got covered with gray clouds, even if there was sunny weather this morning in London. It’s very quiet here because the center of the city is far from here. Maybe, someone comes here at times to stay alone in silence, but this place is not popular for habitats, many of whom prefer being in more popular places.       Some time ago, Alicia went to a small crunch, which was located in this place, and prayed to God. She became more religious and began to regularly pray after she murdered the man. After this, the woman decided not to go home, but to walk a little in a very quiet place and think about what was happening in her life. Now it’s the middle of September. That’s why people are getting ready for Christmas, which will be celebrated literally in two weeks, and buying gifts for their close people and everything they need to celebrate this holiday. But Alicia’s mood is quite bad to celebrate it. She does not feel a Christmas spirit. However, when she was little, she was getting ready for Christmas with great pleasure and adored giving and opening gifts with her family.       However, it seems that Raquelle does not also really care about the upcoming holiday, even if she knows it’s coming soon. This year, the holiday that usually seems so beautiful and magical will either be the worst one or not be celebrated because of the bad mood and great problems in their lives.       “Raquelle will never know I killed the man when I was young,” Alicia thinks with a heavy heart and sadness in her eyes, slowly walking on the straight road. “I don’t want her to turn her back on me because of my sins of the past… About which this girl will never learn. Never.”       Alicia swallows up nervously.       “She’d better think that Eleanor is threatening me only because of the money and is obsessed with an idea to get the full amount,” Alicia thinks. “She shouldn’t know that woman is actually revenging me for the murder of her father, and Eleanor actually cares about the banknotes much less.”       Alicia sighs heavily and crosses her arms over her chest.       “I’m ready to do anything not to let that snake do something to my girl,” Alicia thinks. “Not to let Raquelle find out what still makes me wish to burn from shame. I’d better die than let her know what happened to Gilbert Woodham sixteen years ago because of me.”       Thinking too much about her problems and ways to protect Raquelle from the hidden truth and any threats, Alicia does not see a black car driving on the road very fast. But when someone in the one sees the woman, the driver slowly stops. The people in the auto easily recognize her, even if her back is turned on them and does not react to what’s happening.       While Alicia is slowly going on the asphalt and knocking on it with little heels, the car stops quickly, and three men get out of it and confidently come up to her. And then one of them grabs the woman from behind and tightly closes her mouth with a free hand. That’s why Alicia’s heart stops at once, and she tries to scream and get out of the strong grip. But sadly, this man is too strong for her.       “Don’t move, bitch,” the man says in a rude, low voice. “Or it would be worse for you.”       “We have found you, dirty slut,” the second man adds much ruder, who opens a jackknife and points it at Alicia, who is looking at him with her widely open eyes and trying to scream and call someone to help. “It's so good we found you at this place. We did think we would have to go to your home and make a sudden surprise for you and your beloved niece.”       “We are so lucky you were going by, and the Bald recognized you,” the third man says with a sly smile, pointing at his bald friend, who is holding Alicia tightly and closing her mouth. “And now we have got a perfect chance to do a command of our madam Woodham and bring you where she told us.”       Alicia tries to scream at the top of her lungs, not stopping to resist and get out of the arms of this strong man, who is holding her very tightly and not letting this fragile, unprotected woman go.       “Do not pretend that you understand nothing,” the man with the knife says confidently. “The daughter of the late Gilbert Woodham warned you that the time of revenge would come. And it’s finally come. Now, nobody is going to pity you. Nobody will play time and wait for something.”       “The last time, the people of the deeply respected Ms. Woodham just went to your home and reminded you of what you should not forget,” the bald man says confidently. “And now we are going to drive you to the house of your would-be stepdaughter.”       “And trust us, nobody will find you there. Nobody would go on the territory of the house of the daughter of the late Mr. Woodham so easily.”       “So, do not hope someone will help you.”       “Especially, your niece,” the man with the knife smirks evilly.       “Come on, bitch, get in the car!” the bald man orders. “You will go to madam Woodham!”       The bald man starts to push Alicia to the car by force that is placed not far from them. But the woman resists very hard, whining loudly, getting out somehow, trying to run away, and even hitting her offenders on everything she can with her legs and hands.       “You see how stubborn she is!” the bald man resents.       “Stop resisting, bitch!” one of the men throws sharply, comes shortly to Alicia getting white from fear and painfully grabs her by the hair, looking at her with her eyes full of evil, which make her shake and make her legs a little weak. “You have got no place to run.”       The man pulls Alicia by the hair much stronger while she feels how crazy her heart is beating and looks at all the three men, who are trying to take her somewhere, with her dumbfounded eyes.       “Do not dare to run.” the man says confidently. “You will go to the house of Eleanor Woodham no matter what your wish is. We are pushing you in the car and going there immediately.”       “And then we will deal with your beloved niece,” the man with the knife threatens confidently.       Alicia shakes her head sharply with her widely open eyes, whining something loudly.       “Yes, yes, madam Woodham does not want to let her stay alive,” the man with the knife adds. “And she kindly let us play with her a little. I personally have great plans for her…”       “M-M-M-M!” Alicia whines loudly, trying to say something so hard.       “Of course, she’s the same whore as you, who has fucked so many men. But she is freaking attractive and sexy. Just like you were when you were young.”       “Yeah, that gal is surely going on your way, Alicia Thompson,” the bald man notices with a sly smile. “She is also shaking her naked ass for money. For men and for a camera. She has only to kill someone to live the same life you lived once upon a time.”       “M-M-M!” Alicia tries to say something again.       “It’s alright, she will not deprive someone to be innocent of life. Because madam Woodham will personally deal with her. It goes without saying, after she kills you.”       “Nobody would help her,” the man says confidently, who rudely grabs Alicia by the hair. “She has nobody that would protect her. No husband, no brother, no some pathetic friend… And that gal will not deal with three men, who are two times stronger than her and would be able to place that gal above a shoulder and carry her where we’d have to.”       Alicia barely moves her hand of the bald man off her mouth and, looking at all the three with evil in the eyes, hisses through her teeth:       “Don’t try… Bastards…”       “What did you say?” one of the men frowns strongly.       “I will skin you alive if you, that poisonous cobra, or you touch my niece at least with a finger. Do not even dare to stand in her way, cads!”       Alicia instantly gets a strong slap from the man with the knife and shouts out loud when she feels her cheek starts sharply burning.       “Do not dare to hurt our madam, you, nasty cheap!” the man with the knife resents with evil. “YOU ARE NOT FROM ONE OF HER!”       “I said do not dare to hurt my niece,” Alicia demands rudely.       “Who are you to give us orders? You do not belong to any respectful family. Unlike the Woodhams, who are known and respected by the entire London! The entire Great Britain!”       “Exactly!” the bald man agrees. “You are just a bitch that betrayed the late Mr. Woodham and rejected what he could give you.”       “Let me go now, bald dogs!” Alicia demands rudely, getting out of the strong grip of the bald man, who twists her arms around her back and holds them. “I SAID, LET ME GO! YOU WILL NOT MAKE GO ANYWHERE!”       “SHIT UP, WHORE!” the third man shouts loudly and gives Alicia a strong slap in the face. “WATCH YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU ARE TALKING TO US!”       “Go to the fuck, scumbags!”       “Hey, bald, push this bitch to the car before she gets out somewhere!”       The bald man pulls Alicia to the car by force, while she resists furiously and is not going to go anywhere with these horrible people.       “Let me go!” Alicia demands loudly. “Let me go, I said!”       “Close your mouth and go to the car!” the bald man demands rudely.       “I WILL NOT GO WITH YOU ANYWHERE!”       “Nobody asks you!” the man with the knife says confidently. “If madam Woodham told us to bring you to her, we will do this.”       “NEVER!”       Alicia steps on the bald man’s leg with her heel and quickly runs away as far as possible.       “UGH, BITCH!” the bald man winces strongly from pain, starting to energetically rub the area that starts to hurt. “SCUMBAG!”       “Follow her!” the man with the knife orders.       “Bald, catch us!” the third man adds.       Two men immediately run after Alicia and start chasing her wherever she runs. When the bald man comes to himself a little, he, slightly limping, follows his friends, as well.       Alicia runs away as quickly as possible from them. Luckily, she had many workouts when she was young and does not forget about doing simple exercises. That’s what helps her run quickly enough and not get tired after a few seconds of running. Besides, she is also obsessed with a strong fear for herself and her life because it would be easy for these men to do anything to her in this deserted place. They might even kill her without moving an eyebrow.       The woman starts to regret actually going here. She knew well that it was too dangerous to be outside without anyone due to the current situation. Especially, in deserted places that are favorite ones for bad people because they could commit any crime without fear of getting caught.       “STOP, FUCKING BITCH!” one of the two men yells, chasing Alicia and almost catching her. “YOU WILL NOT GO FROM MADAM WOODHAM! SHE WILL DESTROY YOU! SHE WILL TAKE REVENGE FOR KILLING HER ALL-FAVORITE FATHER!”       “Stop immediately, or it will be much worse for you!” the other man demands. “WE WILL CATCH YOU ANYWAY, SCUMBAG!”       “Stop right now, scumbag!” the other man demands. “We will catch you, bitch! STOP! Or it will be much worse for you!”       Unfortunately, no matter how quickly Alicia runs away from the two men, they catch her some time later. One of them strikes the woman down at once by giving her a strong slap in the face, and then the other man twists her arms around the back and presses the victim tightly to the dirty asphalt.       “You have been caught, dirty whore!” the first man hisses through his teeth.       “NO, LET ME GO!” Alicia shouts at the top of her lungs with tears in her eyes. “LET ME GO!”       “Close your dirty mouth, slut!” the man with the knife throws rudely.       “HELP ME! SOMEONE! FOR GOD’S SAKE!”       “You were told to SHUT THE FUCK UP!” The man with the knife rudely pulls Alicia by the hair. “DO YOU NOT GET IT?”       “HELP!” Alicia keeps screaming for help and sniffs quietly. “SOMEONE, HELP ME! PLEASE! SAVE ME! THESE PEOPLE WANT…”       Alicia does not finish her thought as she sharply gets turned onto her back and has her mouth tightly closed with her hand. That’s why someone would hardly get what she wants to say. She can only sob and whine loudly. At some moment, one of the men starts to threaten her with a knife, tightly putting it against her throat and making the woman open her eyes full of horror much wider.       “Scream as much as you want, bitch,” the man with the knife says rudely. “You can even lose your voice. But nobody will hear you anyway. And you will go with us. Go to madam Woodham, who is already waiting for you.”       Alicia shakes her head sharply, trying to say a loud “No,” but instead of this, she can only whine with tears that are rolling over her cheeks out of her eyes full of horror.       “FUCK, STOP WHINING AND CRYING!” the other man screams at the top of his lungs.       A few seconds later, the bald man comes to his friends in a limp walk and looks at Alicia still lying on the ground with evil in his eyes.       “SCUMBAG, YOU ALMOST MADE ME DISABLED!” the bald man shouts. “I ALMOST LOST MY LEG!”       Alicia tries to say something and show resistance, but she can do nothing because the men are holding her very tightly.       “STOP RESISTING!” the bald man throws rudely. “YOU WILL GO WITH US ANYWAY!”       “Alright, guys, take her to the car now!” the second man with the knife orders. “If she keeps being like a buffalo, just give her a hit for her to pass out for a while. Us to quietly drive her to the house of our madam.”       “GET UP, FUCKING SLUT!” the third man screams with evil in his eyes, sharply taking Alicia under her arms and making her get up, and then pushes her forward rudely. “GO TO THE CAR! NOW, I SAID!”       “Go faster, brainless chicken!” the man with the knife pushes Alicia in the back.       “FASTER!” the bald man shouts.       Despite trying to resist, scream, bite and fight so hard, the three men take Alicia screaming loudly and resisting hard to the car, in which they barely get her. After this, one of them sits in the driver's seat and two others sit in the backseat on the two hands of the woman not to let her run away. At some moment, one of them takes a dense material from a little bag placed in the backseat and tightly ties Alicia’s mouth so she does not make them deaf by screaming loudly. And the third man starts a motor and presses the gas pedal as strongly as possible. That’s why the car sharply gives a start with a disgusting squeak.       Alicia does not stop whining loudly and beating the strong men with both hands, while they are holding her so hard. At first, the men took all of this, and then they get enraged at some moment.       “SHUT THE FUCK UP, AT LAST!” the bald man shouts and gives Alicia a strong slap in the face. “WE HAVE A HEADACHE FROM YOUR WILD SHOUTS!”       “IF YOU DO NOT SHUT UP, WE WILL SLAP YOUR INSOLENT FACE YOU TO GET KNOCKED OUT FOR TWO HOURS AND LET US QUIETLY GO TO MADAM WOODHAM!” the second man adds crossly, sharply grabbing Alicia by the throat and squeezing it strongly.       “M-m-m…” Alicia whines painfully, looking at the men sitting on both sides of her.       “You think we are kidding? DO YOU THINK WE ARE PLAYING WITH YOU? NO, DARLING! YOU WILL DO EVERYTHING WE WILL TELL YOU!”       “If you start to insult madam Woodham, you will have to regret it very much,” the bald man says confidently.       “DID YOU GET IT, SCUMBAG?”       Alicia being white and scared to the death, trying to catch some air she lacks so much, just gives a few loud sobs while her dumbfounded eyes are focused on the man that is strangling her strongly.       “WE ASKED, DID YOU GET IT?” the bald man screams much louder and strongly slaps Alicia in the face.       Alicia makes a loud sob and then nods, stopping to resist so hard and screaming and crying so loudly. She understands that if these men caught her and sat her in the car, they will not let her go and will drive to the house of Eleanor Woodham, who told these people to bring this woman to her.       However, Alicia is much more worried about Raquelle, who stayed all alone, not her. Who would have to run into the one, who craved taking revenge on her aunt for the murder of her father, which happened many years ago.       

***

      “This nasty bitch was resisting and screaming at the whole car salon for a long time while my people were driving her to me,” Eleanor says. “But later she understood that resisting was senseless and calmed down, at last.”       Eleanor laughs evilly.       “That’s how she saved my people,” Eleanor adds. “If those men had killed her right there and not driven her to my house alive, I would have skinned them alive. But since Alicia got brains, my loyal helpers drove her where they had to and got a good reward for the good job.”       “Do not avoid the answer,” Raquelle says coldly. “Answer where you are hiding her now.”       “Ah, my sweet Raquelle… I’m not so stupid to say these things.”       “If that woman loses at least one hair, you will pay much for that. And I do not care who you are, which surname you have, who your father was, or anything like that. I will not leave you unpunished and will make you pay for what you did to my aunt.”       “I will close my eyes to the fact that you are from America, where nobody knows about my family. But if you lived in England, I would skin you alive. For daring to talk to Eleanor Woodham like this. The daughter of the all-favorite and respected Gilbert Woodham.”       “I repeat, I do not care whose daughter you are. If something happens to my aunt Alicia, you will pay a lot for that,” Raquelle says in a rude, low voice.       “And what will you do to me, pathetic model? The pathetic, insulted model!”       “You better do not make me mad. Or you will have to regret it.”       “Anyway, you can even not try to find your auntie. Nobody will let you into my house. Or if you resist and refuse to leave my territory, my people will quickly deal with you.”       “Do not scare me, Eleanor Woodham,” Raquelle says with her head proudly raised.       “And you do not dare to threaten me. I do not care about your threats, our ubiquitous girl. You can be silent about them.” Eleanor smirks evilly. “Or do you really think Eleanor Georgina Woodham would get scared by the threats of a second-rate model? Ugh! No, honey! You must be afraid of me. Because I can do much. And I would be much more powerful and richer than you.”       “Better leave my aunt alone, and we will forget we met and talked somehow.”       “Oh, no, sweetie! I will not give her alive to you.”       “Then just give her a phone! I want to talk to her. I want to make sure she is really fine.”       “Ah, I would do it with pleasure, but sadly, she is not near me. However, I recently visited your auntie and let her know that she would have to pay very soon.”       “Then call her! Right now!”       “Alas, I can’t do it.”       “I swear, Eleanor, if you do something to her, you will regret it,” Raquelle says confidently. “If she loses at least one hair, you will regret it, and I will skin you alive. You hear me!”       “Calm down, my girl, calm down,” Eleanor replies quietly with a sly smile. “I do say, take care of your nerves because you will need them.”       “If only she did not die because of you. I swear, I will not leave it unpunished.”       “Well, your auntie is alive so far. But she is going to pay her debts very soon.”       “You are crazy, Eleanor.”       “But I do not exclude that the idiot might make me tell my people to kill her earlier. Because she snaps and insults everybody, who is living at my house. The snake calls me a snake.” Eleanor simpers quietly and evilly. “How it’s funny…”       “Do not dare…” Raquelle hisses through her teeth, clenching her hand tightly into a fist and understanding her heart is beating several times faster and stronger than before. “Do not even dare to touch her with a finger.”       “I say again, do not threaten me. Do not scare me with the thought that I would change my mind, let your auntie go and forget that I want to kill that bitch.”       “Please, Eleanor…”       “Do not hope you are in a tale with a happy end, in which kindness gets a win over evil. No beautiful speeches will make me refuse what I have been dreaming about for nobody the fuck knows how many years.”       “Let me talk to Aunt Alicia just a little,” Raquelle begs with despair and pity in her eyes. “Let me hear her voice.”       “No!”       “For God’s sake, Eleanor…”       “Fuck, calm down there, stupid chicken!” Eleanor bellows with evil in her eyes. “Stop having stupid hysterics. And stop crying here!”       “Please…” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “I ask not very much from you.”       “Remember, Raquelle Cameron, now your aunt's life depends on you.”       “What?”       “If you agree to do everything that I shall tell you, Alicia will be back home alive. If you do not, you will get your aunt with little parts! Bloody parts.”       “Alright.” Raquelle exhales sharply and puts her hand on her forehead for a second. “I agree to do anything you would ask me about. Say what you want to get for my aunt Alicia to be free, and I shall do it.”       “Good girl!” Eleanor pronounces with a slight smile. “You have finally turned on your brain and realized Eleanor Woodham would get what she wants.”       “My God, say what you want from me! I shall do it, and you will leave my aunt alone once and forever!”       “Listen closely, you, pathetic model.” Eleanor smiles slyly. “Tomorrow, you should go to the meeting with me at five o’clock. ALONE. I want to underline this word with a bold line.”       “I will come,” Raquelle agrees quietly. “Where?”       “My home. I will agree with the security, so they let in the territory. The servants will also be aware of it and will bring you to me. I will be waiting for you at my office. In the office, which belonged to my dad somehow.”       “Alright, give me the address.”       “You can go to my home in this way…” Eleanor shortly explains to Raquelle where she should go, while the brunette nods at times. “But actually, you have the Internet. Open the maps and see if you, stupid chicken, did not understand anything.” I have already called the address.       “I understood it,” Raquelle says quietly. “I will come. I will come to your home. I will call a taxi.”       “You will not have to go alone with empty hands. With money.”       “How much?”       “Two thousand pounds.”       “What?” Raquelle rounds her eyes. “So much?”       “Why is it so much? You’ve got money and would find the amount without problems.”       “But…”       “It’s going to be a ransom, which you will have to pay your beloved relative to be free.”       “Erm…”       “What’s wrong?” Eleanor smiles slyly. “Hasn’t the worldwide famous model earned this amount of money for the years she has been shaking her ass in front of the camera?”       “I’m sorry, but…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly and bites her lip slightly, counting quickly the money she has with her. “I don’t have so much money at the moment.”       “Look for it then! I don’t care how you would get the amount, but you must come with the money tomorrow in the evening.”       Raquelle exhales sharply, having to agree to agree on Eleanor’s claims, not understanding how she could get the amount until tomorrow.       “Alright, I agree,” Raquelle pronounces without any emotions. “I… I will find the money.”       “Great!” Eleanor exclaims confidently. “If you come alone and give me the money, I will let your aunt go, and we will go away quietly. If you take the police or someone else with you, I will kill you and then Alicia. No matter if you take money, it’ll be your funeral if you are with someone else. Especially, policemen.”       Raquelle says nothing and swallows up nervously, feeling that she gets goosebumps on her back because of how horrifying Eleanor’s low voice sounds.       “I hope you understood everything, and I will not have to explain everything many times,” Eleanor expresses hope. “Did you?”       “Yes, I got it,” Raquelle replies confidently. “I will do everything you want. Don’t doubt it.”       “I hope. In this case, see you tomorrow at my home. I will be waiting for you with impatience.”       “Yeah, see.”       “Tomorrow, I shall call you again some time before the meeting to remind you of the duty you should give me. Stay happy, little star.”       Laughing maliciously, Eleanor turns off the call, and Raquelle slowly puts the phone aside and moves her eyes into the distance. She is in despair because she has a goal to get two hundred pounds by tomorrow evening. But the girl does not know how to do it. That’s why she gets obsessed with panic and fear that she will not make this claim and will let the daughter of the late Gilbert kill Alicia.       Alexis and Jacqueline were closely listening to the talk and watching Raquelle, who was getting more excited and much whiter while talking to Eleanor. At some moment, the girls look at each other and come closer to the brunette to find out what she was told.       “Well?” Alexis pronounces impatiently with anxiety in her soul. “What did Eleanor say? What does she want?”       “She asked me about a meeting,” Raquelle replies quietly and moves her dumbfounded eyes to Alexis and Jacqueline.       “What? Meeting?”       “I will be meeting her tomorrow in the evening at five o’clock.”       “Oh, my God…” Alexis puts her hand on her heart.       “Wait…” Jacqueline frowns slightly. “Did I hear it right… Eleanor Woodham? Do you mean her?”       “Her,” Raquelle nods confidently.       “I know her! That woman is from a very famous family of the Woodhams. They own the network of cloth shops, which were opened somewhere in the 80s, but which are still popular enough.”       “That’s her…”       “What? Eleanor herself?”       “Eleanor herself,” Raquelle confirms.       “Did she kidnap Alicia?”       “She did.”       “But why?” Jacqueline throws her hands up. “Why did that woman need it? What does she want from your aunt? What does she have to do with her?”       “It’s a long story. But I can say Eleanor got mad because my aunt hit her close friend with a car many years ago and ran away from the crime scene. Then she stayed alive, but Eleanor tells my aunt to pay the money that her father lent to the family of the suffered girl.”       “Is that why she kidnapped her?”       “I can’t exclude that there are more reasons. That woman is definitely mad at her for something. And she has definitely known her for not one, not two years.”       “Wow…”       “What does she want from you?” Alexis asks. “What do you have to do for Alicia to be back home?”       “To save my aunt, I should meet Eleanor…” Raquelle confesses. “And pay money to her…”       “Money?” Alexis rounds her eyes. “And how much does she want?”       “She told me to give her two thousand pounds.”       “What? Two thousand pounds?”       “I must pay the money for Eleanor to set my Aunt free.”       “My gosh!” Alexis puts her hands on her hips. “That bitch robbed honest people and got much money, and now she wants you to give her money. Why does she need more?”       “I don’t know…” Raquelle shakes her head. “But Eleanor asked for that amount of money. And after getting it, she promised to set Aunt Alicia free.”       “And do have you the money with you?”       “No, sadly, I don’t have the money now…” Raquelle throws her hands up.       “No?” Alexis rounds her eyes. “But how? The meeting will take place tomorrow!”       “I know, Lexi, but I don’t have the money. And I can’t imagine where I’d get it.”       “My God…”       “I’ve got all the money in New York.”       “What if you ask your grandfather to transfer the money to you?”       “It would take a lot of time. I need the money tomorrow.”       “How much do you have with you?”       “Not very much. I took only some banknotes and exchanged dollars for pounds before coming here.”       “Oh, God…”       “Oh, gosh…” Raquelle grabs her hair, getting a stronger panic. “What do I do? What do I do? I must find the money right now!”       “Don’t you have a card?” Jacqueline wonders. “You could go to a bank and withdraw the amount you need.”       “No, Jacqueline, I have all my cards at home. I have only banknotes with me.”       “Hard case…”       “I know. I don’t know how to get the money. Even if I have very little time.”       “Erm, well, I could lend you some money,” Alexis says thoughtfully.       “Really?”       “If you need it so much.”       “How much can you give me?”       “Sadly, only two hundred pounds.”       “Would you ask your mother to give it?”       “No, no, it’s my saved money. I’ve been keeping a little amount for myself. I wanna buy something.”       “No, Lexi, I can’t take the money from you.”       “Don’t worry, Raquelle. If it happened, I’m ready to lend you the money.”       “It’s awkward for me to take the money.”       “But you’ve got no choice now.”       “Right. I’ve really got no choice.”       “Take my money, then.”       “Are you sure you wanna give it?”       “I am sure. Take it.”       “Oh, okay, I agree… Moreover, I don’t have a choice anyway.”       “Okay, I shall go home and give the money to you a little later.”       “Thanks a lot,” Raquelle sighs quietly. “But it won’t be enough anyway. Since you give me two hundred pounds, I need one thousand and eight hundred pounds. And I don’t know where to get them.”       “How much money do you currently have?” Jacqueline frowns slightly.       “Only one thousand pounds. I had a little bit more than two hundred when I came here… But I spent a bigger part of the amount… And I kept the money for necessary things to buy.”       “Well, eight hundred more pounds…” Alexis counts thoughtfully.       “But if I give her the money, I will have nothing to live on here. I’m afraid I wouldn’t even have enough money for a ticket to the USA when I wanted to go back there.”       “So, don’t you wanna give your money?”       “I don’t want. But I have to. I shall do it for Aunt Alicia.”       “What if you really have no money for a ticket?”       “I dunno. I will think up something. Maybe, I ask my aunt to give me money. Or ask Grandfather to transfer money to me.”       “Okay…” Alexis nods. “Is there someone else you could borrow money from?”       “Nobody. I somehow said I had no familiars or friends here. If there was someone, I would surely go and ask to borrow some money. But alas, there are none of them…”       “Yeah… Hard case…”       “Damn!” Raquelle exhales sharply and puts her hand on her forehead, not knowing what to do, who to ask for help, or where to run. “I’m in despair! Where can I get the money? Where?”       Raquelle shakes her head.       “I’ve got the time only until tomorrow!” Raquelle pronounces excitedly. “If I don’t find the amount, it’ll be a funeral for my aunt. But I can’t let it happen! I can’t!”       “Hey, don’t you really have a bank card?” Alexis wonders. “So, your grandfather to transfer money to you!”       “Nope… No card… Only banknotes… But if I had known I would have this situation, I would’ve taken much more money. Or taken my card with me.”       “Raquelle…”       “Listen, Raquelle, maybe, I could help you?” Jacqueline offers her help.       “You?” Raquelle rounds her eyes.       “Yup…”       “Wait, Jacqueline, are you serious?” Alexis frowns slightly.       “Absolutely serious! If I can help you, I’m ready to do this.”       “But…”       “As Raquelle needs eight hundred dollars, I can lend her the money. It’s not a problem for me.”       “Would your parents allow it?”       “Of course, they would. I can say nothing about giving the money for ransom to Eleanor Woodham.”       “Erm…”       “Hey, you know they never control what I buy. Father and Mother wouldn’t one hundred percent ask and know what I spent the money for.”       “Are you sure you’re ready to give such a great amount of money?”       “C’mon, it’s not great! Eight hundred pounds is a small amount. Especially, knowing how much they earn every month.”       “Oh, God, Jacqueline, I shall be very grateful to you if you do it,” Raquelle exhales sharply with relief.       “Of course, I will do.”       “It’s awkward for me to get money from you, but I have to. Moreover, I don’t know anyone, who can help you. Except for Lexi and you.”       “Don’t worry, I will give you the money. If I can help you somehow, I wanna use it. And I would be happy to help Alicia set free and get off the woman, who dared to do that.”       “Are you really ready to do that?”       “Let’s think I would do at least something good for another person.”       “My God, Jacqueline, if you do this, I will be grateful to you for your whole life.”       Raquelle moves her eyes to Alexis and smiles shyly, feeling great relief.       “You, too, Lexi,” Raquelle smiles shyly.       “Don’t worry,” Jacqueline says amicably. “You will have the money.”       “Listen, I… I don’t know how to thank you.” Raquelle sniffs quietly. “You literally saved me, girls.”       “Relax, Raquelle, it’s okay,” Alexis cracks a slight smile. “I would give all my money to Alicia, who doesn't deserve everything Eleanor Woodham is doing to her.”       “I promise I’ll surely replace all the money as soon as possible,” Raquelle promises confidently. “I’ve got all my money and cards in New York. But tomorrow, after meeting Eleanor, I will ask Grandpa to transfer me the money. I will give you everything after I get the money at the bank. I… I will think about how to get it. And I will give you everything until the last penny.”       “C’mon, don’t rush,” Jacqueline waves her hand shyly. “You can replace the money at any time, I shall not make you rush. Plus eight hundred, minus eight hundred – it’s not very much money for my family. Sometimes we spend two times more on something. Sometimes we don’t actually count it.”       “You can also replace the money when you get an opportunity,” Alexis says confidently. “It’s okay. I will save money again. Now I’ve gotta help a good person come back home safe and sound.”       “Thank you so much, girls,” Raquelle thanks with a wide smile. “I will owe you for my whole life for your help and kindness.”       “In this case, I shall go to a bank right now and withdraw the amount from my parents’ account,” Jacqueline promises. “And then come here and give it to you.”       “Thanks a lot. Thanks…”       Raquelle sniffs quietly.       “I can’t…” Raquelle pronounces in a little shaking voice. “My God…”       Raquelle gets Jacqueline and Alexis involved in an amicable, group hug with tears in her eyes, and the girls answer her with pleasure. The girl does not hide how much she is grateful to these girls for agreeing to help her so easily and doing something to save Alicia, who is in the hands of a dangerous woman, who could do anything to her. And she is nicely surprised that Jacqueline also decided to give her help. The girl, who said she was sorry about her actions, apologized for them and did not miss a chance to do a kind thing, which would definitely help her save Alicia’s life.       

***

      Meanwhile, Eleanor is still at her home, in her large, light room, the design of which is made in dark shades, sitting on the bed with her head proudly raised and thinking about something with a sly smile on her face. Sometimes she listens to the noises that she can hear somewhere on the first floor and just looks around everything she sees in front of her.       “Ah, Raquelle, Raquelle…” Eleanor shakes her head with a sly, wide smile. “What a naive and stupid girl you are… Do you really think I need the money that I told you to give me for the freedom of your auntie? Do you think you will save your beloved auntie, who will live a quiet life by giving me two thousand pounds?”       Eleanor simpers quietly, moving a sly look at a slightly open window, through which cold air gets into the room.       “No, of course!” Eleanor pronounces confidently. “You can give me as much money as you want – it would not help you and your aunt. I have a lot of money anyway. You would never earn so much money for a shooting of a commercial for some underwear.”       Eleanor twists her arms behind the back and starts keeping her weight on them, leaning on the bed, on which there are incredibly soft, silk bedclothes.       “I need you, my dear girl,” Eleanor adds confidently. “And your beloved auntie. That nasty bitch, who was working with some whores and shaking her naked ass for some men. I shall destroy you two. And take revenge for what happened to my father many years ago. For the fact that my friend isn’t able to live a full life anymore.”       Eleanor says nothing for two seconds, thinking about something that makes her frown strongly.       “First of all, that fucking slut, Alicia Thompson, will get her punishment,” Eleanor says. “I mean Cheryl. The mask, under which she was known to a big part of London.”       Eleanor tightly clenches her hands into fists.       “I hate that scumbag…” Eleanor hisses through her teeth. “I hate… Unsinkable bitch… So sorry that she didn’t die right in the courtroom… She would’ve done something good for me and my family. Which is cursing that fucking snake for depriving the innocent man of life.”       Some time later, Eleanor gets up from the bed with her head proudly raised and slowly comes to a small table near the door, which leads to a large, spacious balcony, from which there is a good view of everything that’s happening on the territory of her house. Then the woman takes a silver pistol that looks new and has definitely not been used yet.       “I will need this thing at tomorrow’s meeting with that gal…” Eleanor says confidently, looking at the cold gun and wrapping it in her hands with a wide smile. “All this time, the pistol has been waiting for the moment. And tomorrow, it will happen.”       Eleanor runs her fingertips over her gun.       “Don’t betray me, buddy…” Eleanor pronounces. “You should kill that nasty bitch, Cheryl, with one shot. As well as her beloved niece… For a company. Kill the same whore that sleeps with rich and famous men for money and fame.”       Eleanor smirks evilly.       “She really took after her auntie…” Eleanor adds. “I don’t know what about Cameron’s mommy, but her auntie definitely was her teacher in seducing men and taught her different tricks in bed. Which would not leave anyone indifferent.”       Eleanor looks at the gun for a few seconds and tightly squeezes it.       “I will never forgive Alicia,” Eleanor says confidently. “Never forget the fact that dirty slut ruined the whole life of my family. She ruined it… Fucking homewrecker, who made my parents get divorced.”       Eleanor growls quietly, irritably.       “That bitch will pay for what she did sixteen years ago,” Eleanor promises. “I will kill her… Kill with my own hands. Do what they did not let me do in the courtroom.”       Eleanor swallows up nervously.       “There would be minus one fucking bitch,” Eleanor adds gloomily. “The bitch, who sent my beloved daddy to another world. The best and most innocent man. Who was the kindest one. Who gave himself to those he truly loved. Who made a great mistake by falling in love with that cursed snake, who should have been killed right in prison. He almost gave her everything he had… But sadly. He became a victim of her anyway.”       Eleanor shakes her head.       “If that scumbag hadn’t run away from here on the day of the murder, she would have died then,” Eleanor says in a low, rude voice. “I would’ve immediately reported her to the police. I would've paid all the people that bitch to die in a cell with tortures.”       Eleanor moves her eyes to the pistol that she is holding in her hands.       “It’s okay, Daddy…” Eleanor pronounces confidently. “It’s okay… I will take revenge on that scumbag for you… I swear, Alicia will burn in hell for what she did. This time, she will not run away anywhere. And I will not calm down until that bitch dies and rots under the ground.”       Eleanor squeezes the pistol in her hand very tightly, being determined to get revenge and wishing to make her plan come true right now. The memories of her late father make the woman have a stronger hate for Alicia and make her much more sure that she is doing the right thing by deciding to take revenge on the killer of the man, who, as she thinks, was innocent.       “Sadly, I can’t bring my daddy to life in any way,” Eleanor says quietly. “I can do nothing with it. But I would be very happy to know the killer of him would get what she deserved and be burning somewhere in hell. That slut, Alicia, does belong there! She can keep suffering from remorse.”       Eleanor throws a look full of evil at the half-closed window.       “For me, it’s the best gift for Christmas, which is coming very soon,” Eleanor says confidently. “When I kill those two prostitutes, I will have an incredible dinner and invite my whole family. We will celebrate the glory of justice and the Christmas holidays.”       Eleanor proudly raises her head up.       “I will do my best for nobody to prove or do anything,” Eleanor says. “The police will not prove that I did it. And they would be afraid of standing in the way of the daughter of Gilbert Woodham, who was loved and respected by everyone. Besides, I am not going to stay in prison for something I will never regret. Never.”       Eleanor glances at one of the pictures hanging on the wall of her room.       “The killer of my father will pay for what she did,” Eleanor promises confidently and puts her pistol on the table near the bed with her head proudly raised. “I swear on his grave… I shall bring this case to an end and kill that skank.”       Eleanor simpers quietly and evilly, waiting for tomorrow impatiently when she does what she has been dreaming about for so long. Every second, the woman starts to get madder at Alicia because of what she did to her father. It makes her keep moving on, despite nothing, and plan her revenge for the one, who was accidentally killed by the former lover of Gilbert Woodham many years ago.       Eleanor still shakes when calling the memories of the funeral of her father, on which she could not stop crying. Even sixteen years later, she still cries hard from realizing that she had to watch her closest person getting buried in the ground not because of natural causes of death but because of the accident murder.       

***

      May 21st, 1998.       The sudden death of Gilbert Woodham shocked all his friends and family members and made them cry bitterly. A few days ago, more specifically, on May, 12th, the man was killed with a very strong hit on the head, because of which he died instantly, without a chance to stay alive. And today is the day of the funerals, on which all the closest people of the man came. Although this man was known as the owner of “The Woodham Shop” a very popular network of clothes shops in Great Britain and was often mentioned in newspapers, magazines, and different TV shows, Gilbert’s family decided not to let journalists and reporters come to such a sad event. Only his closest people got a chance to personally say farewell to this man.       For them, Gilbert was the kindest and most fair man in the world, and he could not hurt a fly. But the young woman named Alicia Thompson, who killed him and is now hiding from the police not to go to jail, knew the real rotted character of the one, who was a lover of her for some time. But nobody wanted to believe her when she was saying terrible things about the dead one and trying to open everybody’s eyes somehow…       All the relatives, many of whom came to London especially for this, closest friends and colleagues came to Gilbert’s funerals in a quiet place. Even the warm, sunny weather cannot comfort them. Everybody is wearing black clothes. Someone covers their red and tear-stained eyes with dark glasses. All of them have true sadness and grief in their eyes.       Women and girls are quietly crying upon the coffin of the dead man, who was praised in a little crunch that is placed not far from the cemetery where all these people came. Men are trying to hold themselves down and comfort those, who cannot stop crying. However, despite a wish to cry from grief loudly and scream about their pain, everybody tries to be discreet and keep their emotions under control, watching the coffin with Gilbert’s body getting lowered and buried in the ground by fewer people.       But the most heartbroken one at the funeral is the only daughter of the dead man named Eleanor Woodham. She has horror in her eyes while watching what’s happening and cannot believe her beloved daddy is now getting buried in the ground. Some time ago, the man was hugging and kissing her and saying how much he adored his little girl, and how much she meant to him. But now she stayed without a father. She will no longer feel the care and love that she was getting all the time. He never spared money for her and gave her everything his daughter dreamed about.       Some of her family members are standing next to her, hugging the girl tightly and trying to comfort her somehow. But no hugs or words of sympathy can make her pain just a little weaker. Eleanor would have never thought she would lose her father, being a twenty-year-old girl, and someday come to his funeral and be standing in front of his grave along with those, who loved and respected Gilbert.       “I still can’t believe that Gilbert has died…” the middle-aged woman, who is hugging Eleanor and pressing her against herself. “The whole life lied in front of him… But we’re being at his funerals…”       The woman sniffs quietly and slightly fixes her dark hair gathered in a beautiful bun.       “God, how awful…” the woman pronounces with despair.       “Yeah, such a good man left us…” the adult man nods with sadness in his eyes, holding the hand of another woman of the same age. “I still can’t believe Gilbert is no longer with us.”       “He wanted to live a long life…” the woman, whom the man is hugging, notices in a little shaking voice. “Gilbert always said he wanted to watch Eleanor getting married someday. He wanted to hold his grandchild in his arms and play with him or her.”       “My God, what a tragedy…” the other woman shakes her head. “What a tragedy…”       The woman with light brown hair sniffs quietly, carefully wipes tears off under her eyes with a handkerchief, and fixes her little black hat.       “Why do good people die, while bad ones keep living?” the woman wonders. “God… Gilbert was the kindest man. He never refused to help his close people. For them, he was ready for anything. He could easily give them anything.”       “I don’t know how I will be living without him, Aunt Eveline,” Eleanor says quietly in a shaking voice. “How do I live without my daddy? Why did my dad leave me so early? I’m only twenty-one! I’m not ready to stay alone!”       Eleanor makes a couple of quiet sobs and tightly hugs the woman, who is still pressing her against herself.       “Why was it him?” Eleanor wonders. “Why was it Dad? What did he do to die in such a tragic way?”       “Ah, Eleanor, my sweet girl…” the woman named Eveline pronounces with sadness in her eyes and softly kisses Eleanor on the temple. “I also can’t believe your dad and my brother died.”       “It’s insane… I will not handle it…”       “My God… Gilbert…”       Eveline shakes her head.       “My little brother…” Eveline pronounces in a little shaking voice. “Why was it you? Why did you leave us? Why?”       “I never thought my dad would die so early,” Eleanor says quietly. “Never…”       “Even despite the fact that he wasn’t living with your mother, I always considered him my son-in-law,” the adult woman confesses confidently, tenderly caressing Eleanor’s cheek. “I always loved Gilbert as my own son. He was always so kind to me and Randolph. He said he loved me… And he even called me a mother many times.”       “I know… Dad really loved you and Grandfather.”       “Yeah, I liked Gilbert at once when Caroline introduced him to Cecilia and me,” Randolph says with sadness in his eyes. “And we were saddened when our daughter told us she was going to get divorced from him.”       “I haven’t taken the fact that they got divorced,” Eleanor sighs heavily. “I can’t take the fact that we stopped being a traditional family. Mom, dad, and a baby…”       “We also hoped they would come back together. But alas, it didn’t happen.”       “By the way, I'm so sorry that Caroline didn’t come to say farewell to him,” Eveline says quietly. “Gilbert was her husband and the father of my niece Eleanor…”       “A relationship between Mother and Father got much worse in the past few years,” Eleanor confesses quietly. “They always ignored each other. Dad got busy with much work, and Mother didn’t stay home all day long…”       “It’s so hurtful that such a beautiful couple broke up, after all.”       “I was crying a lot because our family was ruined. And I even went to Daddy and begged him to reconcile with Mother. I thought he would do this for me. Because we were much closer to each other than Mother and I are. But alas… He refused. And she didn’t wanna come back to him.”       “Yeah, their relationship was hard,” Randolph nods. “But don’t think your mother doesn’t care about your father’s death. Caroline is saddened by Gilbert’s death as much as we did.”       “We don’t doubt, Mr. Robinson,” Eveline nods. “We know that, despite nothing, Caroline deeply respected my brother, at least because he was the father of Eleanor.”       “You’re right, Eveline…” Cecilia pronounces softly. “My daughter never said at least one bad word about Gilbert.”       By this moment, the coffin with Gilbert’s body is lowered and almost buried in the ground before many people, many of whom are trying to distract from sad thoughts by talking. And some time later, another middle-aged woman with hair, which is dark but a little lighter than Eveline’s one, comes to the family members of the late man. And a boy at the age of about eighteen with the same hair color follows her.       “I’m so sorry that Uncle Gilbert has died,” the young boy says with pity in his eyes, caressing Eleanor’s shoulder. “Mother and I were shocked when we found it out from Aunt Eveline.”       “It all seems like a terrible nightmare,” Eleanor replies in a little shaking voice.       “Accept my condolences, Eleanor.” The young man takes Eleanor into his amicable hug. “Remember that all of us are with you.”       “Thanks a lot, Stephan,” Eleanor cracks a slight smile, holding the hand of the boy named Stephan. “Thanks for coming to support me.”       Eleanor moves her eyes to the woman, who is standing next to Stephan.       “Thank you, too, Aunt Yolanda,” Eleanor thanks. “Thanks for finding time to come to London. I need your support so badly right now.”       “We should’ve come, my girl,” Yolanda says with sadness in her eyes, hugs Eleanor touchily, and kisses her cutely on the cheek. “When Eveline called us and told us what happened, Stephan and I took our stuff and went to London.”       “My father wanted to come, too,” Stephan confesses. “But sadly, he has very much work. He couldn’t get free time.”       “It’s okay,” Eleanor says in a quiet, shaking voice.       “But he is sending his true condolences and doesn’t stop thinking of Uncle and his close people.”       “Thanks, Stephan,” Eveline thanks softly. “Tell him we’re grateful to him for the support.”       Stephan says nothing and confidently nods.       “I was crying all day long when I heard about Father’s death,” Eleanor sighs heavily, embracing herself with her arms and sniffing quietly. “There was such a good day. I was shopping with my friend, bought so many interesting things and didn’t think of bad things.”       Eleanor sniffs quietly.       “But then Gaston, my driver, drove me home,” Eleanor adds. “And we save policemen in the house. And… Nina told me my father had been taken away. She said he was dead.”       Eleanor closes her mouth with her hand, while Yolanda softly caresses her shoulders.       “I didn’t believe it at first,” Eleanor confesses. “I thought it was a lie. But everybody in the house was crying bitterly… Nobody could calm down. And then I had hysteria, too.”       “We all had hysteria, my dear girl,” Cecilia says softly. “We were also crying bitterly, and we couldn’t believe it was the truth.”       “Yes, Mother didn’t want to tell me that,” Stephan confesses. “But I quickly noticed she sharply changed after the talk with Aunt Eveline. At first, I thought they fought because of something, and she got upset.”       Stephan swallows up nervously.       “And she didn’t wanna say anything for a long time,” Stephan adds. “But I persuaded her to do this, saying I had a right to know everything. And I was shocked when I heard that my uncle was dead.”       “I was crying for a long time after I found out everything,” Yolanda confesses. “I didn’t believe my brother was dead. My best friend, who was a trustworthy wall for me.”       “She wanted to go to the funerals without me, but I refused to stay home and literally insisted that my mother take me with her.”       “And we’re grateful to you for not staying indifferent and for coming here,” Randolph thanks softly.       “I should’ve come, Mr. Robinson. Uncle Gilbert always treated me very warmly. He was like my father… Who I should’ve said farewell to.”       “Gilbert was giving his love to everyone,” Yolanda sighs heavily. “It was the best and kindest man I had ever known.”       “You’re right…” Eleanor nods with sadness in her eyes.       “Ah, Stephan, Eleanor…” Eveline sighs heavily, caressing Stephan’s cheek and pressing Eleanor closely to herself. “My dear niblings…”       Silence settles in the air for some time, during which Randolph throws a look at visitors, among whom it’s possible to see a young blonde-haired girl that is in a little stage of pregnancy, judging the small size of her belly. She is now talking to one of the visitors, who softly caresses her shoulder or holds her hands.       “Yasmin’s boyfriend did a bad thing by not changing her mind about going to the funerals,” Randolph says thoughtfully. “Pregnant women are not allowed to be nervous… Besides, her pregnancy is going not very well.”       “Right,” Cecelia nods. “A funeral is a great stress for anyone.”       “My God, I did tell her to stay home and think of a child. But she went… If only she wasn’t under a threat of experiencing a miscarriage because of worrying.”       “Your niece loved Gilbert very much and couldn’t miss his funerals,” Eveline says thoughtfully.       “Yeah, but you know well what’s happening to her pregnancy now.”       “I know. And I support you that she shouldn't have gone to the funeral, being pregnant.”       “Oh… Try not to let her get nervous. Distract my niece by talking.”       “Don’t worry, Mr. Robinson. We are getting Yasmine busy with talks and watching her condition.”       “God shall not let anything happen to her baby,” Cecilia shows anxiety. “She was so happy when she found out that she was pregnant. And Yasmine’s boyfriend can’t wait to meet his little one.”       “Yeah, Gabriel is waiting for that baby so badly.”       “I hope the child will help her get rid of the sadness that unites all of us…” Eleanor sighs heavily. “And we would be happy to help her take care of the child she is carrying in her belly…”       “Maybe, it will distract and help us get through the pain from the loss,” Stephan expresses hope.       Gilbert’s family members say nothing and just sigh hard, still watching the visitors, who became witnesses to how the coffin was buried and are trying to realize the soul of this man went to another world. Women are still crying quietly, and men are trying to comfort them somehow and let them know that they can always count on them.       Some time later, some friends and colleagues of Gilbert come to the family Woodham-Robinson and show their condolences and wish them all the best, giving special attention to Eleanor, who often presses herself against someone with tears in her eyes and cannot take the fact that her father has just been buried.       And some time later, a skinny woman with short, dark hair shows up along the visitors, holding a little purse in her hands, wearing a black suit, and wearing a black headscarf on her head like a bandana. Some of the people are surprised to see her and come to her to ask something and share their condolences with her. And one of those, who are here, points at the side where Eleanor and her family members are standing, and she hesitantly comes to them.       “Eleanor?” the woman pronounces hesitantly, squeezing the handle of her purse with both hands.       The family members of the late Gilbert turn to the unfamiliar woman and open their eyes wider, definitely getting shocked by her appearance. Eleanor is especially shocked, setting her red, tear-stained eyes on her.       “Mother?” Eleanor pronounces in a shaking voice.       “Caroline?” the other pronounce hesitantly.       “My God, Caroline…” Eveline shakes her head. “Did you decide to come here?”       “But, daughter…” Cecelia pronounces, being confused. “You wanted to stay home.”       “I couldn’t stay home,” Caroline confesses with sadness in her eyes. “I decided to come at the last moment. Dressed up and went here in a taxi.”       “Anyway, nobody made you come here,” Randolph notices.       “No, Father, I thought coming here and saying goodbye to him was my duty. Still… Gilbert was my husband and the father of my daughter Eleanor. Despite our divorce and all the scandals, I deeply respected him and am saddened by his sudden death.”       “My God, Mom…” Eleanor pronounces in a shaking voice with tears in her eyes. “Mother…”       Eleanor takes Caroline in her hug, who holds her daughter tightly and kisses her on the cheek.       “Eleanor, my girl…” Caroline pronounces in a shaking voice and sniffs quietly. “Sunshine…”       “I’m so glad you’ve come,” Eleanor confesses quietly and makes a sob. “I need your support so badly…”       “I’m so sorry, daughter…” Caroline steps back from Eleanor and tenderly caresses her cheek. “I’m sorry your dad died. Despite nothing, I never wished anything bad for him.”       “I know,” Eleanor nods.       “I came here not just for him, but also for you. I knew you would need my support.”       “Thanks, Mom… Thanks.”       “Daughter…” Caroline hugs Eleanor tightly again. “I’m with you, sweetie. You’re not alone. You have me.”       “Don’t leave me,” Eleanor begs with despair. “I need you so badly.”       “Never. I will never leave you and will always support you.”       “Thanks…”       “But you’re a little late,” Eveline says hesitantly.       “What?” Caroline frowns slightly, stepping back from Eleanor. “What do you mean?”       “Gilbert has been praised and just buried.”       “Yes, his grave is there,” Yolanda confirms, pointing at the place that is surrounded by some visitors.       “My gosh…” Caroline pronounces with sadness in her eyes. “I was sure I wouldn’t come here before the praise… Decided to come here too late.”       “The important thing is that you’ve come,” Cecilia says confidently, softly caressing Caroline’s cheek. “You showed respect for Gilbert and came to say farewell to him.”       “I can’t believe it’s all happening now.”       “Now everyone will leave, and we will stand in front of Gilbert’s grave and say farewell to him.”       “Of course, we will.”       “Yeah, I shall stay with Daddy,” Eleanor says in a quiet, shaking voice and sniffs. “Talk to him a little…”       “We’ll stay with you, cousin,” Stephan says confidently, caressing Eleanor’s shoulder.       “Undoubtedly,” Randolph confirms confidently.       “Thank you all so much,” Eleanor puts on a slight smile. “Thank you for being next to me. I wouldn’t have survived the funeral of my close person alone.”       “We couldn’t ignore this event,” the pregnant blonde-haired girl confesses, who comes to Eleanor and her family members, while everybody turns on her. “The death of Mr. Woodham got all of us shocked.”       “And thank you for coming, too, Yasmin,” Eleanor thanks amicably. “I’m so happy you’re here.”       “Sadly, Gabriel didn’t manage to come with me. But he asked me to give you his truest condolence.”       “Thanks a lot… But you shouldn’t have done that.”       “Why?”       “You’re gonna have a baby soon. You must take care of him or her and have much rest.”       “I do take care of me.”       “Moreover, your pregnancy isn’t doing too well. Gabriel should’ve changed your mind and made you stay home.”       “Don’t worry about my child, Eleanor,” Yasmin smiles shyly, caressing her belly. “Luckily, I feel well. And I made my sweetheart and Uncle Randolph sure that nothing bad would happen.”       “Take care of you, I’m begging you. We don’t want anything to happen to your child.”       “I couldn’t miss the funeral of your father, who I always loved very much.”       “We all loved him, honey,” Eleanor says confidently. “Daddy was just a gold man with a kind heart and a wide soul.”       Eleanor frowns strongly.       “Even if someone tried to prove he was a stinker…” Eleanor adds.       Yasmine says nothing and amicably hugs Eleanor, showing her sympathy. And then the young girl does the same towards the other family members of Woodham-Robinson, saying something nice to them and letting them know that she is sorry for them.       “Yeah, but I don’t understand, how could it happen?” Yasmin wonders. “Mr. Woodham always had excellent health. He wasn’t so old to die too early.”       “We were told that the death was caused by a strong hit on the head with a blunt instrument,” Eveline says with sadness in her eyes. “A traumatic brain injury that instantly provoked death.”       “Hit on the head?” Yasmin closes her mouth with her hand, having horror in her eyes. “My God, was he killed?”       “Sadly,” Yolanda nods. “The police are now investigating the murder and looking for all the possible suspects.”       “My God…”       “On the phone, Eveline said that something terrible was happening in Gilbert’s house on the day of the murder. We know the police found a broken vase at his office, with which someone supposedly killed my older brother.”       “Yes, Yolanda is right,” Eveline confirms confidently. “Gilbert’s head was all in blood when one of the servants found his corpse at his office. Nina immediately called his bodyguards and asked them to do something. But trying to bring Gilbert to life was worthless because he was already dead.”       “You saw everything?” Yasmin specifies.       “Yes, I saw everything when Eleanor called me and literally begged to go to her home. I left all my business and immediately came.”       “Who? Who needed it? Who actually dared to do such a terrible thing?”       “Gilbert had many enemies,” Randolph notices thoughtfully. “So, there are many suspects. Many people tried to make him horrible but couldn’t prove it.”       “Yeah, they envied that he earned all his money and had a successful business,” Cecilia agrees confidently. “The network of his clothes gave him great money and is still very popular. I personally adore buying something there for me.”       “I wonder, who is going to run all of that after Uncle’s death?” Stephan asks. “Uncle Gilbert didn’t tell anyone about his future successor, who will continue his business.”       “This question is open yet, but our family should decide it,” Yolanda says confidently. “We can’t close all these shops that give the Woodhams great money so easily.”       “As far as I know, his assistant is ruling everything,” Caroline says thoughtfully. “But when we come to ourselves after what happened, we should sit down and discuss it. Someone should take Gilbert’s place and rule the network of ‘The Woodham Shop’. Or discuss nothing and let my daughter get control of the business.”       “Yeah, he didn’t say Eleanor would be his successor, but Gilbert actively told her about his business,” Eveline notices. “So, he could plan to make her the next owner of the network.”       “We’ll surely talk about it a little later,” Yasmin agrees with sadness in her eyes. “But now I’m more interested in who needed to kill Mr. Woodham. Did he do such a bad thing to someone that someone went to his home and hit him on the head at his office?”       “The way that nobody heard anything!” Stephan exclaims.       “I do know who killed my daddy,” Eleanor says confidently, looking at everybody with evil in her eyes. “I know what a bitch dared to do that.”       “What?” Caroline pronounces with horror in her eyes. “You know?”       “Alicia Thompson did that, Mother. She killed Father.”       “Alicia Thompson?”       “She hit him on the head. I do not doubt it.”       “Is that the wench, who seduced your father and made him leave me? And had slept with a bigger half of men from London!”       “Yes, that’s the bitch! The slim dolly Cheryl… The nickname, under which everybody knew that whore.”       “Gosh, Eleanor, are you so sure about it?” Cecilia gets horrified, closing her mouth with her hand.       “I am, Grandmother!”       “Yeah… Of course, Alicia is a real scumbag, but she would hardly commit a murder.”       “But she did that!”       “Wait, didn’t she run away from your father?” Eveline frowns slightly.       “She did. But Father was looking for her for many years to revenge her for what she did to him.”       “Wow!” Caroline throws gloomily. “As it turned out, that bitch left him.”       “She did. And then she began to tell everyone terrible stories about him. Dad was a horrible monster that literally beat, insulted, and humiliated her. He had hysteria when he saw her with other men. He wanted her world to go around him.”       “But she did nothing.” Randolph notices confidently. “Who she is, and who Gilbert was! Who would believe the prostitute, who has slept literally with all the men in London?”       “That bitch did show off,” Yolanda adds gloomily. “Gilbert literally got her out of the shit. Cheryl must have been grateful to him for that, and kissed his legs.”       “She pronounced herself a queen!” Cecelia exclaims.       “Right!”       “And Father got what he wanted and found that woman,” Eleanor says confidently.       “Where did he find her if it’s not a secret?” Stephan specifies.       “At the airport. He got a call from his friend, who said Alicia was going to go to America. She already had a ticket. So, my father told his bodyguard to get ready and went there. And he quickly caught her there.”       “Wow…”       “Then my father and his bodyguards brought her to his home, locked himself in his office, and talked about something with her for a long time.”       “And what’s next?”       “Although he told everybody not to bother him, they started to worry that my dad was there for too long. But when Nina, our servant, wanted to come to the office and see if everything was fine, she got no answer. She decided to risk and enter the office. Luckily, the door wasn’t locked. And when she came there, Nina saw the bloody father lying on the floor.”       “Oh, my God…”       “Wasn’t Alicia there at that moment?” Stephan wonders.       “Nope, that prostitute was gone when Nina entered the office and found the dead dad.”       “So, as it turned out, did she run away?”       “Exactly!” Eleanor exclaims. “Alicia managed to run away so that nobody noticed anything.”       “But how? You’ve got so many bodyguards at home, by whom even a fly wouldn’t pass!”       “I don’t know, Stephan. But that bitch did run away. She cheated on everybody and left the home so that nobody saw anything.”       “You should immediately fire those, who let that bitch run away,” Caroline says gloomily. “It was their work! But they let that whore go.”       “You’re right,” Eleanor nods. “I will do this at the nearest time. I shall fire those, who should’ve watched the house instead of going somewhere.”       “Erm, excuse me, I don’t get it…” Yasmin frowns slightly. “Who is Alicia?”       “A nasty wench, who worked as a stripper at a nightclub,” Caroline says coldly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Who has been fucked by literally the whole of London. That scumbag is known under the name Cheryl, but her real name is Alicia.”       “Why are you so sure she killed Mr. Woodham?”       “Because she’s a bitch!” Eleanor throws coldly. “That’s why! If not for that bitch, we wouldn’t have had to shed tears and watch a coffin with Dad’s body buried in the ground.”       “How did she actually come from?” Yasmin wonders. “I don’t know anything about it.”       “Father met her at that club. And he fell in love with her like a little naïve boy. I mean, she seduced him, and he couldn’t resist and left my mother because of that bitch.”       “It’s true,” Caroline nods confidently. “That’s why Gilbert got cold to me and didn’t talk to me at all. And somehow he says he got a young lover and said he wanted to get divorced.”       “I don’t understand what such a wonderful man found about that stupid prostitute,” Randolph wonders. “He had such an amazing wife that loved him with all her heart and gave birth to such a wonderful daughter.”       “And she never wanted brilliants and mink coats,” Cecelia adds. “Gilbert gave her much money at his wish.”       “And he showed a wish to regularly give me money and provide for me,” Caroline confesses. “He bought an apartment for me and paid as much money as I needed for a good life every month.”       “Yeah, he fell in love with the wench but didn’t throw his ex-wife like a kitten,” Eveline notices confidently. “He behaved very worthily.”       “Dad wasn’t guilty of the fact that bitch seduced him,” Eleanor says with sadness in her eyes. “He was very happy with Mother. Cheryl was the one to ruin their idyll.”       “Yeah, fucking hunter for rich men,” Yolanda throws gloomily.       “Someone from the university somehow told me Cheryl wanted about four hundred pounds for one hour,” Stephan says. “Or for just one private dance.”       “And Father literally got blind from love and wasn’t shy of bringing her to home,” Eleanor confesses. “He gave her money and always gave her some expensive gifts, which Alicia never rejected.”       “And he created her own brand of clothes that she had been running for some time.” Eveline recalls.       “C’mon, she was the owner formally,” Yolanda waves her hand. “Other people Gilbert hired did almost everything for her. He also paid for the advertisement. As well as awards for allegedly great success in the fashion industry.”       “I tried to open Father’s eyes many times and make him sure to leave that gal,” Eleanor confesses. “But he didn’t listen to me, called me a little stupid girl, and was obsessed with a wish to get married to that dirty slut. I didn’t like her at once when he decided to introduce her to me as his beloved woman.”       “Yeah, she washed his brains well,” Caroline sighs heavily.       “At least, when he woke up, Daddy apologized to me for not believing me. And he apologized to you for doing that to you.”       “I forgave your father for seeing that prostitute a long time ago. Gilbert wasn’t guilty of succumbing and falling in love like crazy.” Caroline glances aside. “I understand… A young and beautiful girl with a gorgeous body is always better than an old, ugly lady with wrinkles.”       “No, Mommy, for God’s sake, don’t say that!” Eleanor protests, taking Caroline’s hands. “You’re very beautiful for me.”       “I can’t deny the truth, Eleanor. I’m no longer young and can’t bring my young years back.”       “But you’re still very beautiful.”       “Thank God, you became very beautiful.”       “Mother…”       “But I still don’t get why that woman killed Uncle,” Stephan wonders. “She was supposed to look into his eyes like a doggy. If Uncle Gilbert praised her and spent his money on her. And turn a dancer from a nightclub to the owner of a fashion business.”       “That scumbag wanted to become rich thanks to him,” Eleanor says confidently. “First, that Alicia was pretending to be good, but then that slut started to say terrible things about Father and tried to make him a stinker, who harassed her.”       “But as we’ve said, nobody believed her,” Randolph notices.       “That slut must have thanked Daddy for getting her out of the hole and turning her from a dirty slut to an important madam. But instead of that, Father got no thanks.” Eleanor glances aside. “Not surprised that he started to get mad at that scumbag much more, who became arrogant and left him eventually.”       “By the way, I did tell Gilbert that pathetic prostitute would deceive him,” Caroline confesses confidently. “I tried to make him sure so many times that he made a great mistake when he decided to exchange me with that dirt whore. But she drove him so crazy that Gilbert became blind.”       “I’m imagining how hut you felt,” Yasmin says with sadness in her eyes.       “It felt hurt at first, but then the pain was gone.” Caroline sniffs quietly. “I blame Gilbert for nothing. Only that whore Alicia was guilty of making my ex-husband do that to me.”       “We don’t also blame Gilbert for losing his mind because of that woman,” Cecelia confesses, looking at Randolph. “He was guilty of nothing.”       “Right…”       Caroline shakes her head with tears in her eyes, closing her mouth with her hand.       “I swear, if I know that gal really killed him, I shall personally strangle her,” Caroline says in a low, rude voice. “I shall make that whore pay for what she did.”       “Anyway, she is now the number one suspect in the murder of Gilbert,” Eveline says confidently.       “Did you tell the police about it?” Yasmin specifies.       “Yes, I told the police why they should’ve checked that wench well. I’ve always known the whole story because I was often at Gilbert’s home, and he told me everything.”       “If that bitch had dared to come to Gilbert’s funerals, I would have killed her right here,” Randolph says coldly. “I know we need to be quiet at a cemetery and watch the mouth, but excuse me… That bitch has always made us mad and enraged. It’s impossible to be silent when someone mentions Alicia Thompson.”       “I wish that wench was cursed,” Eveline says under her nose, crossing her arms over her chest. “I want her to suffer from remorse caused by killing our beloved Gilbert until the last day of her life. She dared to touch the holy thing with her dirty hands.”       “Wait, have the police not questioned that Alicia – or Cheryl – yet?” Yasmin frowns slightly, putting her hand on her little rounded belly. “You pointed at her as a suspect in the murder of Mr. Woodham!”       “Sadly, she has not been found yet.”       “What?”       “That wench is now hiding somewhere,” Eleanor says gloomily. “Nobody has seen Alicia since the day my father was killed.”       “That’s how…”       “She is probably afraid that I would kill her if I saw her somewhere. Because I am one hundred percent sure that she did it.”       “Well, as she is hiding, Alicia does have to do with it,” Stephan says confidently.       “It’s alright, the police will find her and put her in prison.”       “If she doesn’t seduce someone from the police. You know… One friend of mine, who is older than me, knows that slim dolly Cheryl well and somehow had fun with her for some money. He said she was really very sexy… She was easily able to drive men crazy.”       “She will be shaking her ass for her cellmates very soon,” Eleanor says confidently. “The police are looking for her so hard and will check her fingerprints when she shows up.”       “I wish she was found quickly,” Caroline expresses hope. “Or I wish she went to the police and confessed that she killed him.”       “It’s okay, that bitch will not hide for a long time. If our charges are confirmed, I shall do my best for her to be taken from the ground.”       “At least, she will not fly away to another country because she will quickly get caught on passport control, and they will send a request to the police,” Eveline says confidently. “And when they find out she is the one, she will finally be made to pay for what she did to my brother.”       “I shall pull the hair of that wench if I see her,” Eleanor says rudely, clenching her hands into hard fists. “And I shall calm down when she gets a fair sentence for the murder of my father.”       “That’s right!” Yolanda nods confidently.       “That thankless pig will pay for that. And I hope she will be suffering for her whole life because she deprived the best man that I had ever known of life.”       “I hope she will be found very soon,” Yasmin expresses hope. “I hope the police will find proof of the fact that she had to do with the murder. If she is a killer, that woman must go to prison.”       “She will go there, Yasmin,” Randolph says confidently and kisses Yasmin on the temple, holding her by the back of her head. “The judge will not listen to her lie about how bad Gilbert was, and how he allegedly tried to rape her. Alicia will not prove anything and will get charged with the murder of the one, a kept woman of who she was.”       “God shall help, Uncle. I don’t doubt that you will be right.”       “I will be praying that she is found and put to prison for a long time,” Caroline promises confidently. “I shall surely go to a crunch and ask God to punish the killer of my ex-husband and the one that ruined our strong family. I do believe God is fair and punishes those, who commit hard sins.”       “Yeah, we will sadly not bring Gilbert back,” Yolanda sighs quietly and sniffs. “But my brother always wanted us to be happy and kept living, despite nothing.”       Yolanda swallows up nervously.       “So, let’s try to brace ourselves and do what the dead man wanted,” Yolanda suggests. “Let’s be all together for him and do our best to get the hardest sentence for Gilbert’s killer. Especially if that wench Alicia was the one to do it.”       “That scumbag will not hide anywhere from me,” Eleanor says coldly. “I shall turn the whole London upside down, but find Alicia and betray her to the police immediately. And if I have to, I shall go to America and find that bitch there. I would go anywhere if she got out somewhere.”       Eleanor throws a look at Gilbert’s grave, near which very many people are still standing.       “Rest in peace, daddy,” Eleanor pronounces softly and sniffs quietly. “I swear I will revenge Alicia for your death… Even if I have to do terrible things, I will find a way to deal with the one that killed you.”       Eleanor swallows up nervously.       “That scumbag will be afraid to even go outside,” Eleanor says confidently. “Because everyone will be pointing at her and calling her a fucking whore. Alicia Thompson will know who Eleanor Georgina Woodham is. She will… I swear on my life…”       Cecilia looks at Eleanor with pity in her eyes and hugs her tightly while the others look at each other and watch the girl with their sad eyes, who is, in their opinion, is so shocked that she does not understand what she says. However, none of them suspects that her plan would actually come true, and Eleanor would really do what she might go to jail for many years.       

***

      Thinking about that day, Eleanor understands tears are slowly running down her cheeks, which she does not try to hold down while nobody sees how the woman, who seems strong at first sight, broke down. It’s been very many years since the death of Gilbert, but she is not ready to accept such a great loss. Not only that. But also the fact that the killer of him avoided the sentence somehow.       “God, why?” Eleanor wonders and makes a quiet sob. “Why was it my daddy? My beloved and best daddy, who I loved so much?”       Eleanor sniffs quietly.       “It’s been sixteen years, but I still can’t believe it,” Eleanor adds. “I’ve felt lonely without my close person for sixteen years.”       Eleanor exhales slowly.       “God, why did You not take that prostitute, Alicia, and her niece, Raquelle?” Eleanor wonders. “Why? Couldn’t You take the killer with You? What kind of justice?”       Eleanor glances aside.       “I know my father made a mistake when standing in the way of that woman,” Eleanor adds. “But he later realized it and was determined to destroy her. Dad was always a light and wonderful man. Why did he die? Why?”       Eleanor sharply wipes tears under her eyes.       “Damn…” Eleanor pronounces in a little shaking voice. “I wouldn’t be so mad if she hadn’t killed him. I would tell her to go to the fuck and let her live her life. But that scumbag killed my dad… Killed… KILLED!”       Eleanor makes a few more quiet sobs, closing her mouth with both hands, standing in front of the window of her spacious room, and barely holding down a wish to scream at the whole house about the pain in the soul that she still has.       “I wish you died, Alicia Thompson…” Eleanor whispers with evil in her eyes. “I wish you were burning in hell for depriving me of my father and ruining my family. For the fact that Ines almost died because of you.”       Eleanor sniffs quietly.       “It’s okay, tomorrow, I shall fix this injustice,” Eleanor says confidently. “Tomorrow, you will finally die and go where you belong.”       Eleanor sighs heavily.       “That’s how I would be quiet…” Eleanor adds. “And I will start thinking about my life. I will be doing what I missed for the years I was looking for you and planning revenge.”       Eleanor wipes tears under her eyes.       “Maybe, someday, Daddy will see how I meet a man and get married…” Eleanor says thoughtfully. “And even give birth to a baby… I dunno… I don’t actually wanna have a family and spend my time on pregnancy and labor, but on the other hand… I’d like someone to stay after I die. I wanna give what I am running now to someone.”       Eleanor cracks a slight smile.       “Anyway, I am still able to give birth,” Eleanor adds confidently. “I’m not so old. Unlike that whore Alicia, who will never be able to give birth. And for me, she will always be a whore, despite her age. Even if she is eighty or ninety!”       Eleanor tightly clenches her hands into fists.       “However, that bitch will not live until that age…” Eleanor says confidently. “She will die at the age of forty-seven, being an old maiden, who has no husband and children… She will leave no children after her death.”       Eleanor smirks evilly and sharply wipes tears off her face a few seconds later, sniffing quietly and literally making herself stop crying.       “Alright, Eleanor, stop crying…” Eleanor pronounces quietly. “Stop… You must be strong… You must keep your emotions inside… For your dad… For revenge on the killer of him…”       Eleanor swallows up nervously.       “You can do this…” Eleanor says with her head proudly raised. “You will show no emotions… Yes, it’s madly hard, but you can do this. Just think of your close person and do what you should do. Do what the judge should’ve done sixteen years ago.”       Eleanor proudly raises her head up with her eyes, which are wet because of tears, and starts watching fewer people working in the back of the house, which she can clearly see from the window of her room, and cleaning the whole territory of her house from snow with shovels.       “It will happen tomorrow, Daddy…” Eleanor says confidently, quietly. “Tomorrow, I shall destroy that bitch, who ruined our family. Who made you leave my mother and almost give her everything you had earned in such a hard way.”       Eleanor exhales slowly.       “That bitch will pay for what she did,” Eleanor adds. “I swear. I will bring the case to an end. And calm down when I personally watch that whore die with terrible tortures. Completely understanding who Eleanor Georgina Woodham is. I think she already knows it well… But she will make absolutely sure about it tomorrow… When I meet her niece.”       Eleanor moves her eyes to the pistol, which she puts on the table near the bed at some moment. But now she takes it again and starts looking at it from all sides with pride, sniffing quietly at times.       “Better late than never…” Eleanor says with a sly smile. “I’d better take revenge sixteen years later than do nothing to deal with the one that ruined my whole life and deprived me of my close person.”       Every second, Eleanor gets more obsessed with a wish to kill the woman, who killed her father somehow. And she cannot wait for tomorrow to do what she has spent a little more than sixteen years. What is the reason why she sacrificed so many years, which she could have spent on her personal life and meeting someone, who would make her very happy.