Chapter 1 Where they met

In a dark lonely alley, Ariel walked with a slumped body. Her left eye was bruised and was hurting really badly. So was her right arm.

She was fed up! How long did she have to live with that abusive drunk? He claimed he loved her yet each time he came home at night, he would reek of alcohol and force himself on her. If she resisted even a little, he would hit her.

Was that love? How would she know anyway? She never had someone to truly love and care for her.

Ariel was the adopted daughter of the Albert family. Anyone would be thrilled to be adopted by such a wealthy and well off family but instead of being thrilled, she was filled with regret and anguish.

She had the guise of an adopted daughter when she was actually the product of an affair between her father and her unknown mother.

This spite her step mother so much that she made sure she lived like a real bastard child and hid the fact from her to avoid her from claiming rights.

They all treated her like dirt and made her live in the basement. If they were going to treat her like that, why adopt her in the first place? She would wonder.

Her life was hell as it was and then she met Marco. At first he was charming and she fell for his caring and loving side. He was practically the only person who treated her like a living being.

After she turned 18, she left the Albert family and went to live with him but little did she know that she was falling from the pan to the fire.

In the first year of living with him, he was as caring and loving as he originally was but as time went by, he started changing.

He became far from caring and loving and he often treated her like a punching bag.

"Your only worth is your body!" He'd say. "You're completely useless. You should be happy that someone like me loves you!" Other times, he'd say.

But was that really love? She wanted to ask but never got the chance or worked up the courage.

Now she was even doing all sorts of bad things on his behalf. He made her take loans, lie and even steal. She wasn't good at any of that and often got caught. This led to being beaten and even jailed for a week or two.

She still did all those things because she thought he truly loved her and that was what a person receiving love must do. They must sacrifice a bit.

'But Clara never did those things!' she thought as she dragged her body through the dark alley.

Clara was her sister. The real and only true daughter of the Albert family. She was the real princess and was treated like one of course.

She was also one of the reasons why her life was worse than hell while living in that house.

Ariel kept dwelling on this and felt even worse as she thought of how Clara got anything and everything she ever asked for while she was simply a shadow. No! A shadow was far better than her in her circumstance.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she bit her lip. Her hand hurt a lot.

All of a sudden, she heard men punching and hitting from a distance. It was all dark so she couldn't see clearly from her range. Was there a fight? Her curiosity caused her to draw closer and got a closer view.

There were a bunch of guys in black beating up a man on the floor.

"Oh no! Should I call for help?" She asked herself. "But they look like gangsters. Will I get involved?"

A side of her told her to run but she didn't want to be a coward. She was already running away from a lot in her life. She mustered up courage and did the most courageous thing she had ever done in her life.

She took out her phone and played a police siren in her highest volume. This alerted the gangsters and they immediately fled.

Ariel gave out a sigh of relief. They didn't know it was a prank and luckily she was able to save the man from dying in the hands of those thugs.

When she was sure that they had gone far, she went to the man. He was barely breathing and was unconscious. His face was covered in his own blood, his hair messed up and so was the rest of his body.

"What should I do?" She asked herself, feeling panicked.

The man slowly started to regain his consciousness and blinked.

"Are you awake? Can you stand?" He heard a female voice ask but his vision was blurry. "You must be like me!" She said, sadly. "People just want to hate you even when you're not doing anything." Her sad voice immediately gave him the impression that she was a constant victim of abuse. But then she said, "But don't give up. It will all be over soon!" She assured him, managing to smile amidst her own pain. "Everything will be okay in the end."

Her silhouette was unfamiliar and weird. He couldn't see her face and could only hear her voice.

"Are they...gone?" He asked in a deep tone and she nodded. "Did you chase them?" She tried to help him up before answering but then she heard people approaching.

"Boss!" Someone called and for fear of it being the guys from earlier, she decided to run. She didn't want to get caught.

"Wait!" He called out with his little strength.

"I'm sorry, I'm not bold enough to face them. I'm scared!" She said and in that instance, he caught a glimpse of her face and as she attempted to flee, he caught her hair and it came off her head. It was a wig!

Ariel ran, without minding her lost wig. It wasn't as important as her life but she left with regret. She shouldn't have left that man to the fate of those people. What if he died? But there was nothing she could've done either.

The man, who was left to his fate, stared at the black wig.

"Boss!" The people approached and contrary to Ariel's worries, they were actually his people. "We were looking for you everywhere! They beat you up so badly, Boss! Where are they?" The front man asked but their boss seemed to be paying no attention to his words.

"White!" The man called, and looked at him. "I seem to not feel any pain anymore!" He said.

"Eh? Boss, what are you saying?" White asked, confused.

"Follow that girl!" He ordered, pointing at the direction Ariel ran in and without question, white sent out two men to follow her stealthily.

He watched as his boss stared at the wig and spotted a smile on his lips. This immediately gave him goosebumps. What had gotten into him?