“Ken, stop,” I said softly.
He hung up in a rush and ran in. “Did I wake you?”
Ishook my head and looked at his anxious face with a heavy heart.
“You silly girl,” Ken muttered bitterly. “What did you ever see in Scott that made you treat him like he was worth it?”
I stayed silent for a long while. My mind drifted back to that summer long ago.
I was only twelve at the time. I’d begged to visit Serevan because my aunt lived there.
During the journey there, I was kidnapped by human traffickers.
1/2
In a dark, damp basement, I was so scared that all I could do was cry.
Scott had been kidnapped too. He was only a year older than me, but he kept comforting me.
He held my hand and said, “Don’t be scared. If they sell us, I’ll ask to go with you. That way, I can protect you.”
That moment etched itself into my heart forever.
Eventually, the police rescued us. However, we were sent home to different places.
I secretly found out which college he was applying to. I wanted to go there too.
By then, I heard he was already with his childhood sweetheart, Eula.
At the time, all I wanted was to quietly wish him well. To my surprise, life took a turn, and I actually got the chance to marry him. However, the grown–up Scott was no longer the boy who once promised to protect me in the dark.
