Healing Together

Chapter - 4

The Phone Call.

I stood naked in front of the huge mirror and saw my condition. My bruises have faded, but my deep scar on my lower abdomen will never disappear; it will always remind me of that horrific incident that I wish to forget. I recall every detail of how I got this scar; it was when I refused to eat that disgusting food. To make me regret, Clyde gripped the sharp knife in his hand and sliced deep into my lower abdomen, leaving this ugly scar. I screamed, and they simply stood there smirking at my pain. Without my knowledge, tears began to stream of their own accord; just recalling what they did to me makes my heart ache about having to go through that torture. I took a warm shower after shaking my head to clear my mind of that dreadful memory. After the shower, I wrapped a towel over my body and walked out of the bathroom to find some clothes on the bed.

True to his words, he sends me clothes that look brand new. I quickly slipped them on and tied my hair into a bun. I began pacing the room after getting dressed.

"What should I do now?" I muttered to myself. I looked at the closed door and I approached the closed door. I hope the door is open.

I twisted the doorknob and its opened. I exhaled in relief. I assumed he would have locked me in this room, but I was wrong, but what if I leave this room and he tortures me as they did? No, I'm on the wrong track; if he intended to torture me, he would not have provided me with a large room with clothing, and he certainly would not have provided me with a medical facility.

'What if he wanted you to get well so he could break you again?' said my subconscious. Just thinking about it makes me feel sick.

No, he would not do anything like that. I convinced myself and exited the room. I was taken aback by the beauty of my surroundings. I can tell he's a wealthy man. I started walking and got close to the stairway. I made the decision to walk downstairs.

I was lost in thought and missed a step. I tightly clenched my eyes close and waited for the hit, but it never came. A person slipped their arms around my waist, and my gaze met those grey eyes, which glowed with intensity.

"Are you OK?" I sprang out of his arms because of his gruff voice.

"I'm fine," I whispered, staring down at my feet.

"Come on, let's have breakfast," I nodded and started following him. We took our seats at the table. To my relief, the meal was served as soon as we got seated. After being in a coma for several days, I was starving. We were eating breakfast in solitude when I had a thought. I don’t want to ask him, but I have to.

"How did you get me here? And why are you taking care of me?" Before responding, he gave me an emotionless stare.

"You'll find out soon," I frowned and looked down at my plate. Why couldn’t he tell me the reason? It is making me restless and nervous. I don’t know him and I am sure I don’t trust him, even though he saves my life from those monsters.

"What's your name?" I quickly glanced up after hearing him ask that question. I just realised I didn't even know what his name was.

"Harper…Harper White" he nodded and continued to eat his breakfast.

"Yours?" I'm not sure whether he'll even say his name to me. But it took me by surprise when he spoke.

"Xavier Castillo," I nodded, and we ate our meal in silent. After breakfast, he rose up to leave. I find myself following his gesture as well. He was going to head upstairs when I decided to speak out.

"Wait," he turned around to face me with a raised eyebrow, and I played with my fingers while looking down.

"Wh...when can I leave?" I waited for a response but didn't hear anything, so I looked up to see if he had left me standing where I was, but I was mistaken; instead, his grey eyes turned dark and he clenched his fist, which made me terrified. I took a step back, unsure of what he would do to me. His eyes softened as he watched my fear.

He responded, "You'll leave when you feel better," and he walked away, leaving me standing where I was. I'm not sure why he wouldn't let me leave.

"As if your family care for you to take you back in their house, don't you remember you left your house before you got kidnapped." My heart squeezed in agony as my subconscious spoke the truth. I don't have anywhere to go, but my best friend is more than willing to take me in. She is the only person in this entire world that genuinely cares about me, and I am thankful for that. Just thinking about her makes me happy. I just need a phone so I can call her and get the hell out of here. I don’t want to be a burden to him than I already did.

I made the decision to borrow a phone from him the next time I saw him. I sighed as I climbed up the stairs to my temporary bedroom, and decided to take a nap.

(Xavier P.O.V)

"Are you sure?" I listened to him before hanging up.

I am going to make them pay for their mistake. Harper, just the thought of her makes me forget about everything and just think about her. She is a beautiful woman who suffers a lot in her life. Apparently, after knowing her name, I did a background check on her and I was shocked when I came to know about her family. In my opinion, they don’t even consider her family. Her step-mother and her step-siblings abused her mentally and physically. They made her do chores in her house and many more things and even her father knew about it but didn’t do anything to stop it. She was accused of stealing and that was the last nerve for her and she left her house and that was the day when she got kidnapped. Brody and Clyde said that Mr. Tucker's daughter was supposed to be there and they saw her and thought she was the one and kidnapped her. Though I heard the story, I didn’t forgive them for what they did to her. She only has one friend who lives in the apartment and she is the one who files a missing report in the police station for her friend. I even learned that her family had forbidden her from attending college. She lives a dreadful life there, and I don't want her to go back there. They don't even treat her with dignity, let alone think of her as a family; even if she has a family, it all goes down the drain. Even though I'm not quite sure about it, I now know an ugly secret that her father is keeping from her. I'll find out more about it in due time, though.

When she said she wanted to leave this place, I didn’t want her to leave. I don't know why, but I suppose it's because she's the one person who makes this house feel less lonely. With a lot of thinking, I decided to go back to work. Today, I decided to work from home rather than going to the company. I was so engrossed in my work that I didn’t realize the time. After hours of working, there was a knock on the door of my office.

I said "Come in", since I knew my maid would be calling me for dinner.

"Dinner is ready, sir," I nodded in response and she turned around and left the room. I quickly completed the remaining work and got up to head downstairs.

When I got there, I spotted her seated at the dining table frowning, yet she still looked cute.

Without exchanging a word, we began to eat, and when I noticed she was messing around with her food, I scowled. She's not eating. Why? She either didn't enjoy the dinner or she was considering leaving once again.

"What are you thinking about?" When she hears me, she swiftly glances up.

"No...Nothing." I shook my head at her lying, I set my spoon down, and gave her all my attention, saying, “Stop lying and tell me,” As if debating whether to tell me or not. I patiently waited for a whole minute, before she finally chose to speak.

She looked down at her meal, "Can I borrow your phone?" she asked while looking down at her food. I tilted my head in confusion, whom she is going to call, or worse, is she is going to call someone so that she can leave? Suddenly my anger rose just thinking about that.

"Why?" I tried to soften my voice but I failed miserably, making her scared even more. I cursed mentally for making her terrify of me.

"I...I...was...want to call...my friend to tell her I am fine and she need not worry about me," I exhaled in relief when I heard that, and my rage subsided.

"Fine, you can call her after dinner," Her face had a hint of a smile on her face but she didn’t smile like I wanted her to. I wish she could laugh and smile one day. I only want to see her heal from her past and live her life fully.