THE VOLKOVS I - VELVET SCARS

The Girl Who Ran Away

FOUR YEARS AGO ਊ⁠ NEW YORK CITY

The room door barged opening revealing Jade, who looked anything but happy as she walked inside.

“Mom, how did Amelia know?”. She said. Urgency in her voice.

Linda looked up to see her daughter. Surprise evident on her face and she wonders why her daughter would barge in her room and question her without any greetings.

“Mom?”. Jade called out again.

“How did Amelia know about who?”.

“Jennie”. Jade folded her hands.

Linda pursed her lips before speaking up. “I..said something about it a few weeks ago. But why are you–”.

“She knows Jennie is connected to Ivan mom!”. Jade's voice was strained as she tried to make her mother understand what she had done by telling Amelia, the madam of the Volkovs about Jennie.

Linda looked at her daughter, unimpressed. “Isn't it good? Amelia could take her in while they wait for Ivan”.

“Is it good that they're some Amelia men chasing after her?”.

Linda raised a brow. Not understanding what her daughter's saying.

She thought telling Amelia about Jennie would make things easier, thinking Amelia has a heart of gold and would take Jennie in the same way she did when jade introduced her.

“Amelia wouldn't do that”. Linda tried to defend her long time friend.

“Mom. Why don't you get it? No one was supposed to know. Not even Ivan himself”. And with that Jade rushed out of her mother's room and ran towards Jennie's room.

Once she reached, she knocked on the door. Once. Twice.

No response.

“Jennie?”. She called out. Still nothing.

She opened the door to see an almost complete room.

Most of the things that belonged to Jennie weren't where it was supposed to be.

Jade's heart sank. “No”. She rushed inside. The first thing in her mind was that Jennie had been taken away.

She opened the wardrobes and everywhere else. There wasn't any sign of Jennie.

“Mom!”. Jade yelled.

She looked around the bed to see a folded paper resting on it.

Linda rushed to see her daughter at the sound of her voice. “What's wrong?”.

Jade grabbed the paper. “Jennie is gone”. She whispered

Jade felt her body weakened. Not really knowing if she was upset that her bestfriend left without telling her or maybe because Jennie had ran away out of fear of knowing her life's in danger.

“Jennie knew”. Jade cursed herself.

She had felt this way when Jennie found out about Selene and Ivan.

Jade knew, but didn't know how to tell her best friend. Maybe if she did earlier instead of being scared of how Jennie would take the news,it would have been better.

And now she failed to tell Jennie again, the type of danger she's in for loving a Volkov.

Meanwhile, Jennie was already on a bus heading toward a rural village far from the city.

She didn't know exactly where she was going. She didn't even know anyone apart from Ivan, her drunk father and Jade.

Yet she's leaving everything behind.

No…not really.

Everything left her behind except Jade.

Why?

She doesn't know either.

The same way she didn't know she had another life growing in her. For a guy who had planned his future with another woman.

Jennie didn't believe it.

But it all made sense.

She was so stupid.

Really stupid.

Maybe if she didn't fight her stepmother back she would have a shelter over her head.

But how could she not fight back?

When after finding out when was pregnant, Ivan suddenly disappeared.

As if that wasn't enough she found out about Selene and Ivan.

The only one who looked at her like she matter had another lady in his life?

It was hard to believe.

Ivan had always showed his disgust for the same Selene Jennie saw at his house. So when did it all happen?

Or was Jennie really stupid?

Because Selene was always confident. She is rich. Popular at school and beautiful.

The kind of popularity that made students in school turn heads at the smell of her perfume which according to Jennie smelt like fake, arrogant and pick me. Just like the owner.

Finding about Ivan and Selene broke her, then when she went home Karen, her stepmother,framed her.

Which resulted to her own father kicking her out of the house. No questions. Not even bothering to listen to her own side of the story.

Jennie stepped down from the bus and watched as it drove deeper into the road.

Jennie let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding as she looked around.

They were trees and farms close to some visible farmhouses.

She didn't even know where exactly she was. She knew leaving without telling her friend who took her in wasn't the best way to appreciate her. She only wanted to escape the armed men chasing after her.

She walked and walked, passing by old women until her legs ached.

She stopped when she saw a bench made of bamboo sticks and sat down on it carefully, resting her chin on her hand.

She went deep into her thoughts, going through the memory lane of what had happened for the past ten weeks and how everything turned out like this.

“What have I gotten myself into”. She muttered.