Against Her Will

Episode 12

Leilani immediately went to the room she had been staying in and quickly had a shower, wanting to get out of the soaked clothes she was in. Once she was in more comfortable clothes, she went to Daniel's room just to check up on him, only to find Ricardo already there. She immediately turned around to walk away, she'd rather come back later. She didn't want to see him right now, his words were still in her head, constantly pissing her off.

"Mommy!" Daniel shouted out excitedly when he saw her. He quickly jumped from his father's arms and hugged her legs, looking up at her adorably.

"Hey Little Bambino, how are you?" Leilani asked as she turned back to the room, picking him up as he rested on her hip. Ricardo looked at her surprised at the Italian words, her accent showed that she spoke it often and he wondered what the words meant. He knew that it was a term of endearment obviously, but he was curious to know the entire meaning.

"I'm great mommy! Do you know it's my birthday tomorrow? Will you be there?" Daniel asked hopefully.

"Of course, I will. Like I'd miss you turning 6 years old. You are such a big boy...and heavy too," Leilani muttered the last part to herself. Daniel was so proud at being called a big boy that he completely missed it, but Ricardo heard it and snorted in amusement as he got up and was about to pick Daniel up from her, but when his arms raised to do just that, she flinched away from him. He furrowed his brows when he saw her staring at his hands in fear and he then lowered them in confusion and what he didn't want to admit was concern.

Leilani didn't know what had made her body react like that, she tried to control her urge to flinch as much as she could around others, especially men, and yet it had happened anyway. She had just remembered how he had treated her just moments ago and now that he raised his hand, and even despite knowing that because of the kid in her arms, he wouldn't hurt her, she had still flinched. She hated this, she hated being so weak, she missed the girl she had used to be.

Every time she felt fearful of someone getting close to her, every time a friendly gesture like putting an arm around her shoulders drove her into a panic, every time the words her uncle so callously spat at her played on repeat in her mind, and every single time she nearly gave up on this life and was moments away from seeing her brother and parents again, she hated her uncle just that much more. She sighed as she pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked away from him. He would never understand because she would never tell him, despite his actions, she would rather him not get hurt because of her uncle. He may be a billionaire, but there was still a chance that he could get hurt. Her uncle was ruthless when it came to anyone finding out about who he really was.

There had been times before when someone had found out and had informed the authorities except they were all in her uncle's pocket and after getting beaten nearly half to death, the next day's newspaper showed the mysterious disappearance of the person before their body was found, much like she thought hers would be one day, all bloody and broken. She never told anyone and made sure no one ever found out. Her friends had found out one day when she had been at her job doing her work when they had come to surprise her.

Isabella had pulled her into a hug and she had nearly cried out at the pain but she held it in as she had taught herself to do except Lucas had noticed her pained expression and subtly went behind her and lifted her shirt to see the belt lashes. He had told her that he had been suspecting something going on for a long time now, which is why he was so forward about it since he knew she would never tell him, so he had taken matters into his own hands.

She had pulled away from him and pulled her shirt down fearfully as he looked at her horrified. Bella stood on the side, concerned and confused as to what had just happened. Before he told Bella what he saw, she quickly pulled them into the back of the room before anyone could overhear anything. Honestly, she had never seen him so angry before. It had almost scared her, but it was Luke. If she knew one thing, it was that he would never hurt her so she calmed herself down and then before he could go on a whole tirade, practically begged him not to do anything about it.

It had taken literally more than a week to get him to promise not to do anything after she reluctantly explained the situation in the least amount of detail as possible, and then she had to calm Bella from going to 'cut off his d£$% and feed it to him,' in her words, vulgar, I know. And to this day, they were the only ones who knew and that is how it would always stay. No one else could find out, no one. She was already familiar with the consequences and she refused to feel that crippling guilt again. And now, without her friends with her, she was all alone, but that was a far cry better than being responsible for someone's death. She would deal with it, as she always has. She would be fine. She just had to be strong. It was the only way she'd make it through.