Chapter 6 Come On

• I stood waiting at the bus stop. Not to wait for a bus. But for someone. Until a car pulled up in front of me. The window was rolled down. I could see Sean's face in the driver's seat.
• "Come on in!" he said. I opened the car door and sat beside him. Stephen and I had arranged to meet today, after getting his contact number from Dad.
• "Where are we going?" I asked. We hadn't decided where we were going yet.
• "To a cozy place," Stephen replied.
• A few minutes later, we pulled into a quiet city park. We got out of the car. Stephen looked around at the vast surroundings and breathed in the air.
• I walked to the guardrail of the bridge. We were at the park bridge, under which was a shallow river and a flower garden that was now an attractive selfie spot.
• "Stephen..." I said softly. Saying his name. I looked far ahead. I saw Stephen also standing beside me, with both arms perched on the guardrail.
• "For the match, can I agree to it?" I asked with great reluctance.
• Sean turned his head with an astonished expression. "Why are you asking me for permission? You should be asking if it's okay for you to reject me?" Stephen wondered.
• "I have a favor to ask you," I said.
• "Just tell me, I might be able to help you," Stephen said kindly.
• "Please take me away from that house. I've had enough. It's all stressing me out. Get me out of that house at any cost. It doesn't matter if you don't marry me, just help me get away so far that they can't track me down," I pleaded.
• Sean looked at me in confusion. He must be thinking about my problem. But I couldn't tell him everything I was going through; I couldn't tell him that I wanted to run away from Calvin. Because to me, that would be a disgrace.
• "Why, Clara? I see your family is quite harmonious. Your family isn't in debt, right?" Stephen said.
• I shook my head. I didn't know about their business. I've also never been in contact with the world of family work. That's because, after graduating from undergraduate school last year, I was unemployed at home without being allowed to work for my father's company.
• "They're doing well. I'm sorry I can't explain it to you. Please take me away as far as possible," I begged pleadingly. My tears were welling up. I winced like someone about to cry.
• "I'll help you," Stephen said. Suddenly I glanced at him, looking into his eyes. Sean looked serious.
• "How?" I asked.
• "Do you want to go abroad with a fake identity?" Stephen asked.
• A fake identity? That sounded like a good idea. I nodded quickly. "I'll pay you whatever you want. Do me a favor," I said once more.
• "I'll take care of it. What about your job?" Stephen said.
• "I haven't worked at all. I don't know why my parents won't let me work, even though I've graduated," I confided.
• "What's the reason why your parents won't let you work? Don't you have your own company, and should be able to work to help your family," Stephen shot back.
• "Yes. That's what I don't understand. I'm not allowed to work. I'm only allowed to stay inside like a bird in a golden cage," I complained. "Whenever I ask father for permission to work, he always gets angry. Once I went to work secretly, and the next day I was fired for no apparent reason. I figured my boss must have been pressured by my father."
• "It seems like your father is very protective. If he had the power, he would have found out where you were overseas," Stephen guessed.
• Hearing that, I went limp. "So what should I do?" I asked half-desperately.
• "I'll find someone who can manipulate everything you need, including your ATM card. You'll have to open a new account in another country anyway, right? I'll think of a way," Stephen said.
• Our conversation was interrupted when Stephen picked up a phone call. I wasn't listening. My mind was busy planning my escape.
• "I miss you too, baby. See you later," Stephen hung up.
• "Is that your boyfriend?" I asked indifferently.
• "Yes. But we're not blessed," Stephen replied. Gotcha! How could a man as handsome as Stephen be single.
• I wasn't expecting love. We're both adults. No longer teenagers who need love. So, even though I knew that Sean already had a girlfriend, I could ignore it with a bit of envy tucked in my heart. Envy, why isn't his girlfriend just me?
• But that's okay. After all, we just met not too long ago. My feelings of admiration for him cannot be directly interpreted as falling in love. He was handsome and authoritative. I like his masculine appearance. That's about it.
• ***
• Stephen drove me to the front of the house. I said goodbye to him. Watching Stephen's car leave, I myself turned around and went through the gate.
• Once inside the house, I saw Carey looking like she had just woken up with a dirty face and messy hair. I shook my head. Did she just wake up at this hour? She must have stayed up all night.
• "What time do you get home?" I asked.
• Carey poured cold water into a glass. She took a short drink. "Eight in the morning," Carey replied.
• The man had been recalcitrant for a long time. His hobby was motorcycling since his school days. Then he got drunk more often, coming home almost every morning in a drunken stupor between assistants. Sometimes he doesn't come home at all for a few days.
• It's still lucky he doesn't come home with his prostitute. Of course, it was because of the strict house rules; father strictly forbade his sons to bring other women or men into the house unless they were married. Even having a small party with a group of friends was forbidden at home.
• I walked away from Carey. Up to the second floor. I went into my room and collapsed onto my bed. It was late afternoon now. Calvin must be getting ready to go home from work. My parents, on the other hand, haven't been seen since morning. The head assistant said they were spending the night out of town.
• Ting!
• A text message popped up on my phone screen.
• [Clara, you're not going anywhere today, right?]
• That was the message from Calvin. I replied to it.
• [No.]
• I lied. Of course if I lied, Calvin could find out the truth from the witnesses of the maid in the house to the driver. And I'm not that stupid to leave their mouths open. Yep. I bribed the Chief Assistant and the private driver, to pretend that they didn't know that I went out this afternoon.
• I was tired. I finally fell asleep for a while while waiting for dinner time, which was still a few hours away.
• I don't know how long I've been asleep, but suddenly I feel a light touch in my hair. I opened my eyes slightly. The shadow of someone sitting on the edge of the bed, the distinctive scent of perfume, suddenly my eyes woke up.
• "Clara," said Calvin's husky voice. The man seemed very relaxed sitting looking at me. I, on the other hand, stiffened.
• "You lied to me, baby." Calvin narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
• "What do you mean?" I asked back. Pretending not to understand.
• "If you're not going out, why are you dressed up? Usually when you're at home, you just wear a t-shirt and shorts, but today you're wearing a dress, your hair is done, you're even wearing makeup. I don't need to ask the maid to confirm the truth, dear. You have shown me everything clearly," Calvin said.
• I choked up. Stupid! Stupid me! Damn!
• ***