Her Greatest Asset

It must have been past midnight already. The earliest crack of dawn was waiting idly at the edge of the purplish horizon. This night that preceded it was chill and muted, and the sky was naked. The sole moon, although hanging mighty and far-reaching, still failed to go beyond the farthest corner of a dim and narrow alleyway-a gap between two old abandoned buildings, where the mysterious man was crouching silently and motionless halfway, alone before three frail stray cats. There were snow-grey, deep black, and a vibrant orange one, feeding them through his open palm.

At the scantily lit entrance over thirty meters away from him, there was a shadow suddenly emerged forming into a shape of a slim woman. She rested her almost-bare back against the cold bricks of the nearest wall, her panting figure finally away from anyone's ferocious eyesight. She heard the hurrying black luxury cars passing at the edge of her warping vision. She exhaled in one-eternity long all the efforts she exerted to escape from the chase she had herself instigated. Her sudden drawing of breath felt was almost suffocating her.

I should've just told my dad about my whereabouts, she said to herself. She thought everything was going to be okay. But sadly and unfortunately, it didn't turn out in the way she had hoped it would. Maybe losing wealth did also mean losing the privilege of hoping.

She composed herself, and for a moment struggled to put on her heels back on her throbbing feet for running toward this hiding place barefooted.

She intentionally didn't tell her dad about the upcoming party of a friend, or much better called as merely an acquaintance of her. His name was Edward Smith. It was like a farewell party for all the graduating senior high school students. She realized by then that her escape from her home required a deliberate planning.

At dinner time she was already tensed, her smartphone vibrating each minute mostly asking where was she already, or that the party would not be fun and exciting at all without her presence. This was one of her friends, Katherine. She replied: otw, see you later, and have fun while I am still away, before turning the phone off discreetly for good.

As any loving dads do, Henry Morrison inquired if she'd already had a boyfriend, because he was hearing a rumor. Of course she denied that claim wholeheartedly.

"Really? But why?" asked Henry, smiling widely, "you should be looking for one now."

"For what?" Madeline almost rolled her eyes. "Men suck."

"For you to be happier, for one," his dad continued, started slicing the steak. "Although I agree that they are shit, yes, including me." His subsequent laughter echoed even to the farthest corridors untouched by lights. Then, as if hit by own realization, he immediately became serious, eyes threatening. "But please never ever come close to that Smith boy."

She had no reply right there but she just swallowed.

Her dad continued. "What do you want to pursue in college? Or do you want pursue college at all? You can take a gap year or travel abroad before you do."

"I'm not thinking about anything yet."

A nod and cheap smile from his dad, a bit defeated.

Partially nervous this time by how he held the utensils, Henry said, "You should eat more," pointing at the dessert still untouched by neither of them, "I don't like how you look very thin lately."

"I can take care of myself, thank you..." said Madeline dismissively.

"M-maddie, w-will you go with me? At the gathering?" Asked Henry, eyes still hopeful, although looking uncertain at her possible response. He knew it already, his daughter's response, but asked her anyway, perhaps expecting for a change of heart.

Madeline shook her head with conviction. "No, sorry."

Henry only nodded by then, already satisfied with their conversation, then a long continuous silence ensued and prevailed.

This gathering, she'd been told over and over by her dad, was arranged and funded by no other than the Lancastriels, the richest of them all. He had told her how wealthy they were owning numerous multinational corporations, how influential, even wealthier than some of the world's richest monarchs in total net-worth.

He had also told he really wanted to meet them for years already, to network with them and be at least one of their business partners. Although implied really as just a joke, it was even his greatest dream for his daughter to be married to one of them. Henry never talked with her about what he owed them, how much.

One thing they were both agreeing upon was that the family's successor was still the greatest mystery yet to know. Maybe the gathering's main purpose was to unravel that. Maybe. Maybe not. But she wasn't interested in the slightest anyway. As if hoping would become anything. They would never give a fuck about them for sure, for her even more.

Somehow though, on her solitude and loneliest moment, she couldn't help but imagine what it would look like. To be one of them. To be one with the stars. With that amount of wealth and power and influence however, probably whoever the heir would be (of course this should be a boy), she guessed he would be difficult to deal with. Arrogant, Alpha Male, therefore a shit. With a laugh, she wished his would-be beloved good luck.

Without any more topics to talk about, later on her dad just exhaled violently, therefore he was already full. Thereafter her dad bade his goodnight kiss and proceeded upstairs. Hearing the soft slam of her dad's wooden door, she immediately-but stealthily followed suit towards her own room and quickly dressed, finally initiating the plan. She rushed everything from choosing just a simple red dress highlighting her waist and showcasing her back and a glimpse of her bosoms, down to a simple blush on and a red matte lipsticks for the finishing touch, presentable enough to be worthy of anyone's precious attention. She snatched her bag, dumped her phone inside, and then waited for a while longer to ensure that her dad had already been deeply asleep.

Hearing nothing but silence, all was well and off she finally go, while the maids were busy back at the kitchen, doing their noble jobs, with occasional unrecognizable murmurs.

Finally she was free, shifting her attention between her phone for the current time and around the place for any suspicious glance. Meanwhile the guards were still doing some rounds with flashlights on, checking different areas of the mansion for any unwanted stuff, temporarily (a mere minute in estimation) away from the entryway as the transition simultaneously began.

At last, the mission was accomplished in a minute-held breath, like it was a game of hide and seek which she was undoubtedly good at as a child. Right after she was already waving at the slowly approaching black slender car she'd hired which had been waiting discreetly far outside with headlights off as a preventive measure against anyone's scrutiny.

She exhaled upon settling inside the car, dark and cold and silent like her own inside, until it roared to life and swiftly began to gather its momentum against the long dying night.

On that moment onward nothing she was feeling but excitement for the party that would be held tonight, indifferent on whatever the cost of her joy would be, and oblivious of where and who the circumstances of her life's choices would bring her towards.

"C'mon, it's just a kiss for damn sake," urged Edward, smiling mischievously after licking his lips. He had already been tamed by a pint of beer, yet not enough to control his raging system. An athlete, a swimmer specifically, tall and muscular, it was undeniable that his handsome face held irresistible charisma. That's why it was a well-known buzz that he had already almost fucked every girl of the class, maybe except her. Presently, he was standing next to her, while she was a minuscule beside, his arm now reaching for her waist.

They were alone at the second-floor open balcony, which he had insisted and she hadn't hesitantly opposed, looking over the crazy people dancing awkwardly down below already influenced by both drugs and alcohol and their hormones.

This party, she'd just realized now, he had set up merely as a ploy to prey her. How did she fail to notice that? How did she fail to realize that her friends were complicit in this, towards her doom? But what if she had known this all along but never weighed its importance or considered its consequences and just foolishly went along with it simply because this was actually her form of rebellion against her life, the world, her dad, the truth she'd been denying for a long time already? She was nothing now.

"I don't like to, I'm sorry," she said dismissively, nervously sipping on, but actually just smelling the clear glass filled with orange juice, and pulling herself away from Edward's territorial grasp.

"I will pay you," he added, face unwavering.

That made her look furiously at him. "Fuck you." The glass she was holding almost choked against her hand.

Edward just chuckled, eyes burning with heated anticipation. "It's been a common gossip. Your dad's companies going bankrupt-"

"You don't know anything." She swallowed the apparent stone magically appeared on her throat.

He leered at her. "I don't have to know anything to know something." He was thinking for a moment. "How much do you want exactly-"

"I said no."

He bursted another laughter. "You don't know how far money can reach, not anymore." His tone was mingled with mockery. "Can't you see? This might be a blessing in disguise. For your dad's temporary release in the future, or for his burial perhaps-"

"Shut up!" She felt her head breaking apart, her knees trembling, rushing heartbeats she could hear behind her ears. While her eyes brimmed with tears, then flowed silently down her cheeks, tickling her.

"Use your lips, then." He went nearer to her. "Much better, fuck me up."

He was so gracefully fast that she had only seen the blur of his motion and just found herself caged and already helpless around him with an arm alone, cornering her with his huge and hard body against the marbled railing, the glass shattered and wailed below upon the sudden fall, orange juice spilled on their feet like unexpected summer light she couldn't wipe away. She tried to push him with both of her fisted hands against his chest but to no avail. He didn't budge even a bit. He grinned seeing her hopelessness. It was apparent he was the dominant one in terms of strength and immediately she felt him on her navel: warm, growing rapidly and determined, poking her senses. His other arm he wrapped around her behind for total enclosure, pushing her towards him, grinding himself against the silk of her dress. She heard him moan against her heated ears, growling crisp curses as he breathed heavily in pleasure. She recoiled in utter disgust and fear, stepping a feet backward, almost dedicated to let herself fall from the second floor rather than be near him and feel his fucking erection.

However both of them stood frozen when someone below called her name.

"Maddie!" That domineering voice she knew exactly where it belonged. "Madeline!"

She quickly darted her eyes to the origin of the shout and saw his dad, only wearing a white shirt and a boxer dispersing the curious and gossiping crowd, running past the given space near the pool and looking up at her. His faced was laced with nothing but concern, not anger or anything, but a vulnerable emotion she'd never seen before directed to her not until her mom's death. Or all along, she had just refused to acknowledge his genuine concern to her. Because this wasn't him she knew when she was a child. The kindness she wasn't really used to. And she hated it, him, herself, his change. How his redemption, his reconciliation with goodness, it took her mother's life away as a necessity to pave way for their mutual acceptance. How fool was she to allow such thing to unfold? For him to be forgiven right away? For his past actions to be forgotten right away? But did she have else to choose from, though? For he was, after all, his dad. The remaining family she had. Who else should she find any more reason to live? Someone she'd care for with all her being to get through this life and be done with it?

She felt Edward pull himself away with gritted teeth, retrieved something on his shorts, and called the security guards to stop the trespasser.

Immediately she almost said, "No!" But she knew, and it was obvious she held no power or anything to command anyone what to do. So she remained silent before her mouth even opened.

"Hold him tight. Use force if necessary. I'll call my dad." Then he hung up the call. He looked devilishly at her. "You and your family are really good at ruining everyone's happiness, aren't you? I'll make your dad rot in hell while I'm enjoying myself fucking you in heaven."

There was a faint voice inside her throbbing mind that was telling her to run. And she did. But Edward was swift and quickly wrapped her wrist. "You aren't going anywhere, bitch!"

She tried to break free from his grip but his fingers were slithered tightly around her, feeling his powerful force down to her bones, her blood stopped from their track to sustain her life. She was about to kick him when suddenly there was a faint flash bursted below down the venue and the sound of gunshot reverberated. Edward's apparent shock gave way to her victorious escape and she immediately-although stunned herself by the foreboding sound, pushed the door open, unconsciously ran five long step each down the stairs, and about to stumble down the well-polished tiles below. And yet, fortunate enough to get out, she immediately proceeded outside. There was an outcry of fear and panic swirling on the crowd, a gathering storm of chaos.

She looked nervously and desperately among the running crowd for his dad, thinking of nothing but only wishing that the gunshot was nothing. That it was merely a trick of imagination or that it was just a warning shot, without the intent of killing, although she was finally assured with only seeing the scene that the one who pulled the trigger was her own dad himself. He was now immobilized, sitting on his knees scraping the grass, bulging hands on his back handcuffed, and dozens of arms wrapped almost all around his limbs, including his bare neck.

Although far away from the scene, she could clearly see his struggle of trying to get out of them, including breathing, while the gun had been finally retrieved from his hand while someone pointed a gun directly at his head. She wasn't sure who he actually was, but the brooding intensity he was emanating around was enough to choke her throat against screaming. With just a command alone by this merciless authority she was certain it'd be her father's death without justice, this that would not be treated as homicide but merely a form of self-defense.

She and her dad's eyes unexpectedly met and his steady, almost pleading gaze, tender and solemn, was now enough to penetrate his thought.

Run, Maddie.

"Seize the girl!" Edward instructed, rapidly approaching toward her, shouting with all his remaining voice, pointing at her direction.

At least for her life, she ran. While doing so, she asked herself, almost in rage, why her dad went all the way here alone? How did he know she was here? Where were their bodyguards? Even through her blurred vision, both from her own tears and sudden raindrops, she looked around the empty cemented road for help. She saw her dad's car parked innocently alone outside, and so there she went, but when she was about to open it, it secured itself from any intrusion. It was locked, and the keys might be on her dad. On the other hand, her hired driver and his car were inside Edward's premise, and obviously she couldn't go back. So she resorted to other ways. On her east, she saw an approaching vehicle. Because of the headlight blinding her sight it was indistinguishable. But anyway she shoved herself in the middle of its way and it screeched, the driver pulled back on his seat, and the horn echoed repeatedly against the surrounding silence.

She was fortunate it was a taxi without any passengers. No negotiation took place outright between the driver and her but she just opened the door, dumped herself, and instructed him to take her anywhere except here. For a moment he was still hesitant to follow, not until she promised she would triple the fare. Eventually he nodded and before the guards including Edward came, they were already on their way going somewhere, to where? She didn't know exactly, but she couldn't care less any longer. She was now at ease partly because of the smooth driving, however it was evident she would not be for long, for there were approaching cars appeared behind them later on, speeding up to more than the maximum speed allowed, desperate to reach and corner her. So she pleaded the driver to do the same, and somehow he did after all the inquisitive stares on the rear mirror.

This was a moment of desperate time that called for desperate measure. She already had to give all that she had in exchange for a longer life. Upon them reaching a traffic jam, no more space for overtake but to just suddenly halt and awfully wait, she finally decided to escape by feet. She was about to pay- because she couldn't just leave, she simply couldn't, beside she owed her life to him-when she realized at last that she had nothing, carrying nothing but herself, no phone or money, anything. What now? She was about to resort to just cry miserably in the corner and just surrender and be fucked and imprisoned and later on just take her own life through falling to a bridge down the deep murky river and just be found a week after floating kilometers away from the site-already so white and started decomposing, when the driver meekly pointed to her face and told her to just give to him one of her earrings. To her it was a sort of revelation, and therefore without hesitation, she removed it hastily that her left ear even bled, but pain wasn't belong to the vocabulary of her current emotions, not anymore, when everything was too much to bear already. Weakened by everything, the burden of being nothing, the uncertainty of her life and her dad's life, she opened the car's door and ran barefooted down the unfamiliar street and looked not for the nearest light, even not for the most populous area, but to the darkest and most absent, and leaning against the cold wall she was finally relieved when she heard (after everything that happened) nothing any more than but the deafening silence and her dribbling heartbeats racing for her life's sustenance.

Finally, being given a new chance to survive longer and further against the world's and human's cruelty, whatever lay before her now she would gladly welcome with wide open arms, with love and beauty, with tenderness and unyielding hope, even another death. Because what else? How else? How to make sense of the world and her life anymore but to make the most out of her pain and sadness and loneliness and sorrow, turn it into something tangible that would at least carry her (not otherwise) and to simply move forward and continue living until she didn't have to, despite despite despite, and most especially because even though she was nothing more but only lesser than an afterthought? Doomed to be forgotten and ignored, worthless. So fucking be it!

Across the hallway, towards nowhere and no-when, in silence, through the darkness ahead of the unknown, she walked, slowly at once then moderately as if called, until a voice, a man's, behind the shadow, chillingly spoke. Her heartbeats skipped a lifetime for this momentary chance of divine providence, of finally being seen, heard, known, touched, and felt, by none other than light itself.