Chapter 3 A Ride

Harlow woke up in pain and her pupils dilated. Her face paled in horror as she pushed the man, who was on top of her away. A ray of light shone, making the silver cross on his neck gleam.

Harlow immediately rushed out of the room and saw that it was still noisy outside.

Unable to hold back her tears, she struggled and staggered her way out of the bar. Once she was outside, she crouched down, and burst into tears.

People were on the street, staring at her, as they whispered among themselves. It wasn't until she heard someone call the police that Harlow stood up and walked out of there, wiping her tears away.

Tears kept trickling down her cheeks as she walked forward aimlessly, like a zombie.

She was in a daze as she wondered, 'How could that man have had sex with me without me knowing about it?'

All of a sudden, a loud creaking noise was heard, pulling Harlow back to reality.

It was the sound from a car's brakes as it came to a screeching halt right in front of her. Harlow pulled her torn dress to cover herself and sat on the street, mindlessly. Passers-by were shocked, but they did not come to help her.

A young man in a white shirt got off the BMW car and walked to Harlow. His golden rimmed glasses gleamed under the streetlights as he looked at her apologetically and said, "Are you all right, Miss?"

Harlow shook her head blankly in response.

"I am so sorry that I did not notice you on the street," the man said. Thinking that the car coming to a screeching halt right in front of her must have scared her, he helped her stand up.

However, Harlow pushed him away and walked forward, as though he did not exist.

The onlookers saw that and walked away from the scene.

"Watch out!" the man yelled. He swiftly grabbed her cold arm, pulling her away from another car that was almost about to hit her.

"Are you even okay? Can you hear me? Please say something, Miss. Would you like me to take you to a hospital?" he asked. Only then did he notice her tattered clothes, the strong smell of alcohol, her disheveled hair and her tears as she walked barefoot. A strange feeling flashed through his heart as he looked at her.

"I'm fine," Harlow replied bluntly. She then withdrew her hand from him, straightened herself up and crossed the street.

Looking at her, the man quickly got into his car and followed her.

"I am so sorry that I startled you, Miss. Let me at least give you a ride home," he offered. He then drove to her side, lowered the window and added, "It's not safe for a woman to walk alone at these hours."

Upon hearing no response from her, he took out his ID from his wallet and handed it to her. "My name is Zachary Zeng, and here is my ID. If you trust me, please let me give you a ride home."

Looking at Zachary's warm expression, Harlow felt like she could trust him.

After all, his warm smile was the only thing that felt nice that night.

She quietly sat down in his car. Her tears had dried up and a burning pain surged through her body, but she did not utter a word about it. Harlow had preserved her virginity for the man she would fall in love with, but now, all that seemed like a pipe dream.

"Where are you headed to, Miss?" Zachary asked hesitantly as he drove.

"Take me to Neo Business School," Harlow replied in a low voice.

"Looks like you're a college student. So what are you studying there?" Zachary asked with a smile.

She kept thinking about that night as she leaned against the seat and stared outside the window blankly. Sensing her reluctance to answer, Zachary smiled and turned on the music player.

A warm classical melody flooded through her ears. Although Harlow was a very young woman, she preferred the beauty of classical music over pop music, which most youngsters listened to. Classical music could comfort and soothe anyone's wounded heart and that was exactly the thing that Harlow needed at that moment.

After relaxing for a while, she opened her eyes and looked outside the window. Upon seeing the familiar place, she immediately sat upright and said, "Stop the car!"

Zachary stopped the car near the pavement and said, "There are still at least a hundred meters to the school. Please, let me drive you to the entrance."

"No, I am good." Harlow quickly got out of the car and walked towards the community building ahead of her. She was in such a hurry to get in that she even forgot to thank him.

After watching her disappear into the darkness of the night, Zachary rolled up the car's windows and left.

Harlow walked to the C Block of the community and got into the elevator. She then pressed for the tenth floor. Only after the elevator started to ascend did she calm down.

She got out of the elevator, walked to room 105, tidied up her hair and clothes before she was about to press the doorbell.