The Sinner

I. The Banished Lady

In a land not so far away, there lived a place that lived in the past.

The people there simply called it the Town because its founders never came up with a proper name. They were too much consumed with haste to build it and set the rules in motion. In every convention, in every meeting, they simply referred to it as The Town and it stuck up to this day.

Their rules were their law. And the people of The Town took their law quite seriously. If one would inspect them, they weren't even complicated at all. They were basic laws against crime one could easily find in any other towns.

But what sets The Town aside from the rest?

They refuse the use of anything more advanced than electricity in any way whatsoever and the children of the Town grew up knowing what other towns would call ancient or basic.

Oh, yes, they know about the other towns. They had heard stories. They believed the other towns owned carriages that didn't require a horse at all. They could talk and see one another even when the other person was not in the same vicinity as them. They could do things with the 'tip of their fingers' as what the teachers in the schools of the Town would say. The children thought it was magic.

The adults, on the other hand, saw it as threat. The leaders battled against each other whether or not to form alliances with the other towns, but they would always go back to what the founders believed: the Town was indestructible. In a sense, it was true.

The Town was not really a town. The other towns outside considered it a country, and a very strong one at that. And it spanned almost half of the entire continent in the west. The very few people who knew of the Town's existence would not dare distract the Town. No one dared think of invading it either. Its very presence was a threat to almost all other towns outside because they stood on it.

The Town was their very foundation, built deep underground with its own cities and streets and buildings. They destroy the Town, they fall with it. And everyone left them alone untouched, peaceful as ever, forever living the history that had long been forgotten by the other towns, unknown to the commoners aboveground and alien to the very few powerful who had knowledge of their existence.

The streets of the Town were made of stones, fitted perfectly for carriages to drive by and people to walk on. The houses, though with enough electricity to give light, were always on the side of dim. Businesses thrived. Livestock were kept on the other side of town as well as the farms with their own holes to provide sun to their crops. As a matter of fact, everything from irrigation to waste disposals had been thoroughly planned from the start by the founders themselves. The Town could stand on its own without help from the outside.

The people of the Town were generally content and happy with their lives. It was, after all, the only life they had known. But if there was one thing they would have liked to experience more, it was the sun. Yes, they knew of the sun. They could experience it from time to time and bask in its goodness in the many parks their founders had built. Such parks were built with perfect holes hundreds of feet above the ground, giving them natural light and ventilation. These holes were the only access to the other towns and they were surrounded by tall walls shaped like a funnel so no one from the outside could climb on them and see the Town below. And if ever one could manage to climb to the top, sliding down would be easy though the fall might lead to a sudden death. Climbing out, on the other hand, was impossible. Or everyone believed that to be so.

There were hundreds of such walls and only once had it been trespassed. That was almost a century ago and it never happened again. What became of the trespasser was never disclosed to the public though ideas that ranged from possible to insane circulated that the story soon became a myth and the trespasser was named Mr. Jones. Some stories said that Mr. Jones survived and married a woman from a higher class. Others said he was taken prisoner until he died. There was one that said Mr. Jones was amongst the first founders of the Town.

But this was not Mr. Jones' story for there were far better adventures in the Town that would awaken anyone's attention. One in particular was about the banished lady...

*****

She had never imagined such immense hatred.

She only knew of pleasing, of maintaining decorum and accepting. She also knew, or rather, perfected the art of being vile, being perfect, and of being the most beautiful.

She knew only of pride, haughtiness and sarcasm. She was the best at being hated-at being the enemy of pretty, powerless girls she had considered her prey for years. She fed on their weakness and ire, reveled on their fear of her hypercritical remarks.

But never had she let hatred rule her to full height no matter how many times she was tempted to.

Not when she had not gotten what she had always wanted, not when she was deprived of things she so desired, for the world was only good to those who do well, but never to those who were hated-to those who made the good look even better. No, she never felt hatred even when she felt wronged for having been deprived of the same happiness found by the girls who hated her.

No...she never felt it then for Lady Belinda Kate Carrington never new hatred until the day she was banished.

She had been in her room, getting ready for supper, unaware of men waiting for her to come down while her mother, lady Amber Carrington, insisted that she come down at once. Not even her sister, Julia, could look into her eyes while she descended down the stairs. It had only been a week since her great scandal-her very first one. Mayhap that was the reason, she had thought.

Her father, lord Emmett Carrington was at the door, his face hard and determined. Across from him were two men, both draped in large, black coats.

She had asked them what the fuss was all about.

And that was when her world started to turn upside down. It turned as they all moved, facing her, and the two men walked forward and loomed over her.

She shouted for her mother, for Julia. She begged her father to give her another chance, that she would not make another mistake once again, that she would never shame him once more. But no one listened and she was dragged toward a waiting carriage outside their doors.

Julia ran toward her before the carriage took off, ignoring their mother's orders to come back.

"Do not go far, Belinda," her sister told her. Her hope of her sister stopping the carriage sank down to her toes. "Do not go far. I will find you. Wherever they take you, I will find you. I promise."

"Do not let them take me, Julia, please," she begged.

"Be strong, Belinda. I'll be-"

"Julia!" their father's voice shouted for her sister. Julia cowered away from the carriage mouthing, "Do not go far."

Belinda's heart sank as the carriage went away, slowly driving her from the life she knew-the only life she knew. Tears wouldn't stop and she wiped them away, fear and cold suddenly enveloping her entire body.

They had not even provided her with a coat. Had they even packed her things? No, of course not, for she would have known.

She watched Willowfair pass by before her eyes, the unassuming gentries walking with their expensive coats and dresses, the expensive estates and carriages.

She was being driven away from all of it.

She did so many things but she did not deserve this, she thought as new tears flooded her eyes. Her breathing became short gasps as she fought for control. Her red hair had gone askew in her struggle earlier.

She was being banished, she realized.

That night five years ago was the last time Belinda Kate Carrington cried.

*****

The lady did not take her hood down even when she had finally stepped inside the Sperling Estate. Andrew, the butler, did not find it uncommon at all for his master had received visitors who assumed far worse attempts of secrecy.

She would not have been permitted entrance if she had not been coming by for nearly a month, asking for the master of the house. Andrew had let it known to his master of the lady's insistence but it had only been today that the man grumpily said yes.

Andrew led the visitor toward the study where the master did his business.

He opened the door and announced her presence.

Once Andrew left, McKenzie Haverston stood from his chair and said, "Please, do not find it rude that I would insist upon haste." He checked the clock and sighed. He'd be late for an important meeting. "I have only permitted my butler to take you before me for I can no longer take daily reports of the same lady coming by every day asking for my time."

"I do understand that you are quite busy, Mr. Haverston, but I am in need of great help." By the way she spoke he knew she was a lady with status. The question now was why such lady would come find him?

"What help?" he asked, looking at the lady's slender figure. Her coat was too large for her, obviously chosen for the same reason why she had not taken her hood off.

"You are a Town Guard."

"That is not a secret."

"Then I do have a case for you," the lady said. "I wish to find my sister."

"What is the nature of her disappearance?" If it was a simple disappearance, anyone could directly come into the Grand Guard Hall and file for the case. But with this woman's efforts, it was either a case that would cause a scandal or a petty, foolish one which was getting too rampant nowadays.

He had been getting useless cases being presented to him by crying single ladies and their mamas in their poor attempt to get his attentions. Even a Town Guard could not be saved from the desperate single ladies still out in the marriage mart.

"She had been banished," came the lady's reply.

"I am sorry to tell you that we do not handle banishment cases. No matter how you may feel that your sister has been wronged, the law does not-"

"I know of the law. I would not have come here if I knew I would not get your help."

Ah, so she was confident he'd help her. McKenzie scratched at the scar across his right brow, a habit when he was getting impatient. "And why would you think I would take a banishment case?" he finally asked.

Honestly, if this was another single chit who wished to trick him into marriage, he would throw her out of the house for having wasted his time.

She finally pulled her hood off her face to reveal a beautiful lady with flaming red hair. Her cheeks were high and finely formed, her chin pointed and her eyes dark blue. She looked vaguely familiar and he quickly searched his memory for a name. He was quite good at memorizing faces and giving a name to them.

Carrington. She was a Carrington. She talked of banishment and if his memory served him right, Belinda Carrington had been banished out of Willowfair five years past. Emmett Carrington had two daughters. This must be the other one. She did not know her name but he soon would.

"I am Julia Carrington, now lady Trilby," she said, sparing him the trouble. Her face was too serious, her stand too stiff. He had heard of her recent marriage to the youngest Trilby son. "As I have said, Mr. Haverston, I wish that you find my sister, Belinda. You must know about her for her disappearance had caused a great scandal five years past."

"And I have told you, lady Trilby, that a banishment case is not-"

"The banishment is not unlawful, Mr. Haverston," she interjected, her blue eyes looking straight at him. "But where she was banished to is," she finished.

McKenzie finally allowed a frown. "Where she was banished to?"

Julia Carrington-Trilby's face tightened but McKenzie was certain that she was fighting back tears. "She was banished aboveground."

II. Once Upon in Town

Once upon in Town...

There lived a little girl named Belinda Kate Carrington. She had known naught but praises for her beauty. She had flaming red hair and the bluest eyes amongst the little girls her age. She was the most beautiful and she shall have the best future. She'd marry the wealthiest lord while the others would cry in despair and utter defeat at her feet.

She'd have it all, she was told. With merely her looks, she'd have it all.

That's why she ought to associate herself only to those who could bring her good. She ought to make friends to those whose families were powerful and rich. She ought to ignore those who were scandalous and poor.

Carringtons didn't mingle with anyone of lower status.

It was acceptable to be vile, but only to those who weren't gentry. It was paramount to be nice, but only to those who could be nice to her in return.

Little Belinda Kate Carrington was too wise for her age and she questioned everything her mother taught her. But she was told that to be wise would not land her a lord. To be wise was to be independent and no woman ought to be alone for being alone meant no pretty dresses and balls and carriages and friends.

And so little Belinda accepted her mother's teachings for she never wanted to be alone.

*****

"I always have the best time with you," her client seductively said near her ear. His hand was on her bare knee and was teasingly trailing up her thigh. He was rather handsome, really, but he was simply like everyone else she serviced-egotistical, arrogant and filthy rich.

Belinda squirmed away with a chuckle, itching to get out of the car as soon as she could. She had endured an entire night with the arrogant fool and she could barely wait to be back in the safety of her own apartment.

If he did not pay so handsomely, Belinda would not have allowed being his escort for several nights now. But it paid her bills and his insults to her kind, although delivered as jests, had to be endured.

"I do enjoy our nights as well," she answered, reaching for the door. "As a matter of fact, very much so that I could not wait to-"

The rest of her words were snatched out of her throat when he sharply pulled her back against him, his eyes darkened with lust. He crushed his wet, full mouth against hers, devouring her like a hungry wolf. Belinda struggled and managed to push the man away.

Fury registered on his face. "Don't play hard-to-get, kitten. This has been a long time coming," he said, snatching her hand and pressing it against his arousal. "I'll give you an extra hundred if you give me head."

Belinda's eyes widened with horror. "I do not bed clients, Mr. Jacob. Please, kindly let go of my hand before I call for the police."

He groaned, pulling her even closer to him. "Your delicate speech make me horny, kitten. I like the way you talk. So Victorian. So sexy it turns me so hard," he said, sticking out his tongue and lapped on her cheek.

A shudder of disgust ran up her spine. She had been through this too many times not to know what to do, but it still brought the same chilling effect. Her hand fumbled inside her clutch bag and when she found what she was looking for, she leaned as far away as she could and sprayed the contents on his face.

His cry of pain freed her and she was out of the car before he could go after her.

"Bitch! You'll pay for this!" he was shouting as she scurried away.

She pulled her tight dress lower, limping on her heels, murmuring to herself, "You all do say the same thing, you bloody bastards." She replaced the pepper spray in her clutch as she crossed the street.

Ah, she had lost another client. The bloody bastard paid a thousand bucks for three mere hours of her time. He was a big loss. But it was unavoidable. There would be more, she thought.

As she walked along the side of the familiar street, she unclasped her red waves and shook them free. Men turned to look at her, most of them with a tiny smile on their face. She smiled back, enjoying the attention.

The street was too familiar for it was where she would usually request her clients to drop her off. They could never know where she lived. None of them did. For what she did during most nights were never a part of her entire day.

She walked another block and hailed a taxi. Once inside, she gave her address and stared out the window with a sigh. What Mr. Jacob did to her ran through her mind once more and she shuddered. Her hand went to the cheek he licked with his disgusting tongue and wiped it clean.

And then the memory faded as she willed her mind to forget about him and the money she could have gotten from him if she had encouraged his advances. But she had her rules. She was not anyone's woman. She'd accompany them to their lavish parties and make them laugh all night, laugh at their silly jokes in return and make a total fool of herself, but never would she end up in their beds.

It was the only thing that was left pure. Everything else had been tarnished, shattered to pieces. If she lost it for some money, what would that make her then?

She could live another day without Mr. Jacob's contributions to her daily income, but she could never live the rest of her life if she would let that devil bastard between her legs.

*****

Belinda looked at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection with a combination of pity and contempt. She had washed off the rest of her makeup and tied her hair in a bun above her head. Wearing a shirt too large for her and a pair of running pants, she could no longer see the same woman who wore pretty gowns and glittering jewels five years ago.

She had the same freckles still, the ones who showed only when she spent even mere minutes under park holes underground and showed too much here now that she was constantly exposed to sunlight. Her hair had gone too long for a hairdresser was never cheap aboveground. Fine lines were starting to appear around the edges of her mouth and eyes.

Her boss, the owner of the escort company she was affiliated with, had told her that her beauty was exquisite-that her blue eyes and red hair were simply highlights to her other amazing features. It seemed that a slender body with a good pair of breasts was given higher regard even aboveground. And all the while she grew up thinking her long, thick lashes and high cheekbones were her best features!

Do not go far. I will find you. Wherever they take you, I will find you. I promise...

She had been but four and twenty when she last heard Julia's words. Five years had passed, she never went too far from where they had taken her, and still no Julia.

Her jaw clenched when she felt tears threatening to rise up.

She had never cried after that night she was banished and she would not cry now.

Belinda expertly forced the tears to retreat and stood from her dresser. Dinner had been fine with Mr. Jacob, saving her a few more bucks, but she suddenly found herself hungry. Finding a few leftover pizzas from last night, she threw them into the oven and waited.

And then she started to giggle, and then chuckle and then laughed out loud. People from the Town ought to see her doing such things now. They would surely be horrified if not amused of the things she could do aboveground.

Her laughter started to die down into chuckles. But would they appreciate it? Would they appreciate her struggles to get to where she was at the moment? Would they appreciate that she had survived at all?

Do not go far. I will find you.

Belinda was starting to forget her sister's voice, her face or even how she said them, but she would never forget the words. They were the only things that had kept her going for five years.

Once her slices of pizza were hot and edible, she took them to her small parlor. She sat cross-legged on the couch and chuckled some more, imagining her mother's face if she ever saw her sitting like a lady without breeding.

Lifting her shoulders in a shrug of proud disobedience, Belinda picked up the book she had been reading and lost herself in another world filled of love and magic.

*****

Mayhap she had misunderstood Mr. Jacob for she found out the very next day what his wealth was capable of.

She went to the office to check if she had any bookings for the week. Perhaps she was the only one among the girls who did so for they all had phones and the internet to do it, but ever since Belinda had known of technology, she never learned to love it. She did not have a phone or a computer. She hated Google and learned everything she knew about aboveground from the books in the library.

She knew what Facebook and Twitter were and had once been curious enough to research about them, but never had she had the urge to join. She had enough of publicity to last her a lifetime. She had enough of people to dictate her actions to have a phone and allow them easy access into her life.

Belinda perused through the schedules of the girls and looked for hers when suddenly a door opened, catching her attention. The lady who came out of her office looked rather irked when she saw Belinda.

"You bitch, what have you done last night?" Terry asked. The lady had aged beautifully. Belinda was always amazed by that fact. Once being a paid escort for years prior to building her own escort service company, Terry knew every part of the business.

"I did what I had to do," Belinda answered nonchalantly, knowing full well what Terry was talking about.

"You pepper-sprayed the son of a bitch!" She could not quite determine whether Terry was amused or not. But there was still the fact that Mr. Jacob meant money.

She merely shrugged and turned her eyes back on her schedule. "He deserved it."

"He called and threatened to ruin me!" Terry said with horror. "You have to call him back and ask for apology."

"The bloody hell I am!"

"You will or I kick you out." Terry placed her hands on her hips, her brow arched high as she stared at Belinda. "Go to Mr. Jacob and swallow your pride for once, Belinda."

"I prefer not to, thank you."

"Then you are out of here!" Terry cried out, surprising the other girls who were scattered around the room in their small and tight dresses.

Belinda forced a smile. "Very well, it was nice to have worked with you. Good day." She turned and never looked back even when Terry shouted for her to return. She smiled for she knew the lady would beg her to go back tomorrow. It had happened too many times before and in all cases, it was always because she refused to obey Terry.

No one could ever make Belinda Kate Carrington do anything she did not wish to do.

The trouble she had caused Mr. Jacob though had not been taken lightly for the man had found her when she was out for coffee that very afternoon.

Fear and panic ruled her for a moment when he showed his arrogant self before her. To know that she had been followed was enough to send a shiver throughout her body.

But she got over her shock and stepped to the side to walk past him. He blocked her way and she almost threw the contents of her coffee cup on his expensive shirt. "You have a lot of begging to do, Ms. Belinda," he uttered darkly.

"I am afraid it is you who has a tad to apologize for, Mr. Jacob," she countered. And while he was busy thinking of a rejoinder, Belinda quickly walked around him and out of the coffee shop.

She briskly walked down the sidewalk. Ah, bloody hell, she ought not to have worn her heeled boots! And her pants were too tight she could barely bend her knees!

Sure enough, Mr. Jacob in his long legs and quite fit physique, managed to catch up to pull her roughly by her arm. She whirled and splashed her hot coffee all over his face and shirt. His face reddened and the cheers she received from the passersby and the ones sitting around the small tables outside the coffee shop did not help extinguish the fury in the man she had utterly humiliated and burned-literally.

Belinda stumbled back, too shocked at what she had done and the fact that she was capable of it that she did not realize Mr. Jacob had reached for her arm and twisted it until she cried out in pain. And her loyal cheer-givers were suddenly gone, awkwardly forcing themselves to mind their own business.

"Let me go, you bloody bastard!" Belinda shouted at Mr. Jacob.

He bared his teeth and hissed near her face, "I pay for your services and I choose what services you give, you filthy bitch. And if I say you suck my cock, you suck my cock. If I want to choke you, you say yes. You," he said, pulling at her arm until she was forced to crush against him in pain, "do not order me-"

"I suggest that you let go of the lady at once, sir, before you regret it," a cold voice said behind Mr. Jacob.

Belinda saw the angry fire in the man standing in front of her her before he roughly pushed her to the side without letting go of her arm so they both faced the stranger.

Belinda's stared at the man and her brows started to form a frown. It deepened while she wondered why he looked so familiar. And slowly, ever so slowly, her memory proved its worth and she started to recognize him. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. He was wearing a dark brown frock coat with its collar pulled high that it almost hid the bottom part of his handsome face.

"Fuck off," she faintly heard Mr. Jacob shout at the man.

She recognized the scar across his right eyebrow before it twitched. "I believe I have warned you," he told Mr. Jacob.

"The fuck you-" Mr. Jacob did not finish his words for the man sent him on the ground with a single blow. As Mr. Jacob moaned in pain with his hands covering his bloody face, Belinda stood frozen, gaping at the stranger.

But he was no stranger for she knew him.

He straightened, roughly fixed his coat and finally turned his blue eyes on her.

"Well, hello there, lady Belinda," McKenzie Haverston said to her with a grin.

III. The Scarred Haverston

Once upon in Town...

"I hate him! I hate him!" the little girl shouted while she cried in her mother's arms. "I shall never marry that boy, Mama! He pushed me in the pond! He pushed me! He's...he's arrogant!"

Little Belinda stared at the little girl with awe. She could shout and her mother merely shook her head. Little Cressida Belverst was indeed causing a scene amongst the crowd in the weekend Haverston party. Not only was she drenched and dripping pond water on the elegant carpet, she was also being very loud.

"You should never associate yourself with such girls, Belinda," her mother whispered disapprovingly beside her.

"But-"

"The Belversts may be rich, Belinda, but they cannot put a reign on their daughter. Just look at her!" her mother hissed with a horrified look, shaking her head. "You stay away from her if you know what is good for you."

Little Belinda could not ken why for Cressida had seemed a rather nice and fun girl to be with. Well, until she was pushed into the pond and came crying to cause a scene. Belinda wanted to be her friend for Popsy and Poppy seemed rather too dry, but her mother liked them.

And so she shall avoid Cressida, she thought with a sigh.

*****

"I cannot believe you are here," she uttered with awe too many times now. Belinda stopped pacing before McKenzie Haverston and turned to face him as he sat on her old leather couch, unmoving and utterly calm. "And you have been following me for days, you say?"

He seemed out of place being in her tiny apartment and the couch seemed rather too small for his big form. He nodded. "Yes, I have. I had to make sure it was you."

"How did you find me?"

"I told you, your sister gave me the information."

"I meant here," she said with impatience. "Here, aboveground."

"Your sister said that you would not go far from the passage. I had to think like you when I arrived aboveground. Where would you go? Where would you live?" He looked around the apartment. "And here I am."

"But it seems impossible..." she muttered more to herself than to him.

"You have flaming red hair and blue eyes, Lady Belinda. They are not very common features even aboveground. And your sister provided a drawing of you."

Belinda could not point out why she had a feeling McKenzie Haverston was mocking her. He had not said anything to indicate so, but she knew he was mocking her. And she hated it.

When she returned her attention back on him she realized he had been studying her. His blue eyes were looking her up and down. Yet she did not see the same glimmer of admiration in them as the men she had encountered here aboveground. His gaze shouted disapproval by far and there was not an ounce of anything she'd consider positive in it as well.

She cared not what McKenzie Haverston thought of her here, nor did she care what he thought of her underground. Her mind came back to her sister, Julia.

"My sister finally looked for me," she whispered with disbelief. Tears of joy threatened to burst out but they stopped, merely giving her eyes an extra gleam. Even unconsciously her mind would stop her tears before she knew they were coming no matter the reason.

McKenzie Haverston arched his right scarred eyebrow. For a very tiny second she wondered where he acquired it. A brawl? A fight? A duel? "You did not believe she would?"

Yes, she silently answered. Five years had passed since her sister made that promise. She had tried to hang on to it, but the hope had slowly died and went to sleep along the years. "It had been a long time," she simply offered as a reply.

McKenzie stood up and suddenly he towered over her. She had forgotten how big he was. He very rarely went to balls when she was still underground. He and his brothers, all of them never liked such parties, even the rake brother, Adrien. She had merely seen him from a distance and until now she was at awe how strong his presence was. It made her want to cower and hide in a corner. But she was no coward and she had never let herself be swayed by mere domineering presence.

"Your sister found out where they had taken you only recently," he informed her. She waited for him to provide more details but it seemed that he was not one who would say much.

Stepping away from him, she went to her kitchen and fixed herself a cup of coffee.

"We ought to get back, Lady Belinda. As soon as possible," he added the last bit with emphasis.

"I shall think about it first." She ought to. She had dreamed of going back, of coming home, of seeing Julia, but now that there was a chance that she could come back without fear that the passage guards would kill her if she would-as what her captors can so strongly warned her about when they pushed her out that passage-she found that she was suddenly anxious.

She never liked her life aboveground. Yes, she may have enjoyed the freedom it offered, but there were things in her life here that she never wanted for herself. She knew in her heart that she belonged in the Town. But would the people underground think the same? They had shunned her, for goodness's sake! They shunned her!

"Are you, perhaps, afraid to go back home?" he asked behind her. His voice was formal, yet there was a touch of something promising like fun and adventure, like laughter and wit rolled into one. She shook the thought away and turned to face him from across the room.

"I am not afraid," she lied so effectively, but she hoped he did not notice her nose crinkle. She hated that it crinkled whenever she lied. She had managed to cover that one flaw by pretending to rub on it with the back of her hand. "I am afraid that I am rather too angry to go back." Now, that one was not a lie for it was also true.

McKenzie frowned. She hinted the impatience on his face. "The League of Founders had been looking into the cases of such banishment for years and they had long given up until recently when I gave them word of your possible banishment here. They are now looking into the case once more. I am certain that your banishment aboveground is completely unlawful, Lady Belinda, but I do believe that you do not have a reason to be angry when it was your action that led your family to banish you."

Belinda did not know that someone could bring back the memories of her banishment and cause her such immense pain still. McKenzie Haverston had just slapped the truth of her foolishness in her face and it hurt. And it angered her.

"But I am inclined to consider your life here a reason for your anger. After all, you were forced to take up a rather...uncommon form of employment to feed yourself."

Belinda gasped. She could not fathom whether to be amused and thankful that he found her situation aboveground pitiful that he reconsidered her source of anger, or be insulted for pointing out that she was a prostitute in more ways than one.

"And what do you think I do for employment?" It took all her control not to let her voice shake.

He awkwardly looked away and cleared his throat. "I rather not talk about it."

She chuckled with derision. "Very well, I do admit that my employment is rather distasteful to someone such as you, but it does pay handsomely."

His eyes flickered with annoyance. "I refuse to judge your employment here."

"You say so but I am certain you have already judged me, Mr. Haverston." She stared at him over the rim of her cup as she sipped her coffee. There was no point in changing his opinion of her for she had been judged far worse than that.

When she felt that her anger had subsided to a bearable degree, she replaced her cup on the counter and asked, "Why were you the one sent to come for me?"

Again, she hinted the impatience before he answered, "Apart from your sister, the men your father paid, and some trusted members of the League, I am the only one who knows you were sent here. Asking anyone else to do the task would only risk the secrecy of the unlawful banishment through the known passages."

"So you all know of the passages," she said with ire. She had never known such passages existed before. She was utterly and completely shocked when the two men who took her forced her through a passage. One moment she was underground, forced to take a hike, and the next she was out aboveground, lost and destitute.

"There are only a few numbers of townspeople who know of the passages," he answered. "And it would be good if you keep the knowledge to yourself."

She smiled at him and saw his face tighten. What was that about? Ignoring it, she said, "Very well, your secrets are safe with me. I am going out to get myself something to eat. Would you join me or would you rather starve?"

McKenzie Haverston shook his handsome head. "I do have a more comfortable apartment across the street."

Again, she felt the annoyance. She ought to have felt someone was watching her! But she had to admit the bastard was pretty good at his job.

"I will give you until the morrow to decide," he said, his voice filled with warning. The gall of this man! Did he mean to leave without her if she did not say yes by the morrow?

"Alright," she answered, walking toward her front door. "I am leaving now to get food. It would be best if you leave as well for I do not like strangers in my apartment."

*****

"It would be best if you give me an assurance that you would go back. Your sister is rather adamant that you return with me," McKenzie said to her as they finally stepped outside the building.

"I have lived quite a normal life here." He had noticed that she had a habit of crinkling her nose from time to time. He assumed that Lady Belinda had a rather sensitive nose for she had been rubbing on it twice now. "They do not judge me here as much as they did underground and I quite enjoy the freedom. You must understand that it will not be a very easy decision to go back, Mr. Haverston, but you can be assured that I shall have a ready answer by the morrow."

McKenzie nodded and turned away to cross the street. He had been here a week now and had grown accustomed to the new things within the neighborhood, but he was bloody ready to go back underground where his life awaited him. Before he entered the apartment building where he managed to rent a room at, he looked over his shoulder and watched Lady Belinda Carrington walk down the street in broad daylight. Evening would soon come and she ought not to be walking the streets alone.

He scoffed at himself. She knew the streets better than he. She would be fine.

Once inside his own apartment, one he rented with the help of a bookshop owner his sister-in-law Cressida had suggested he go to, McKenzie walked to the window and waited. He had spent his days watching her every move since he found her. It had been a lucky search, he thought. The drawing lady Trilby provided did not quite justify the real beauty of the real person, but it had been a great help. It took him three days to finally find her and another four to follow her every move and confirm his find.

And all the while he thought she would fall into his arms and tearfully cry with relief for having been finally found. He had imagined she would immediately and gladly leave everything behind and demand that he return her underground at once.

Why was she hesitating now? Surely she would want to leave behind her life here. Bloody hell, the woman was selling her own body for money! Even he would not want to live such a life. She may not have the same luxuries she had five years before her great scandal in the Town, but her sister would provide for a comfortable life for her in a country outside Willowfair. She didn't have to go back to Willowfair, she simply had to accept that she could have a better and more normal life somewhere underground.

It was better than what she had here.

His face tightened once more when he remembered the face of that bloody bastard who attacked her outside that shop.

He spent another hour standing by the window, waiting for her to return to her apartment. The sky had turned dark as evening finally dawned. He knew she took her food from a small and cheap restaurant nearby and he anticipated that she would soon be going home by now. Her daily routine had never changed since he had started following her. The only change was the men she serviced.

He had seen the hurt that registered on her face earlier when he reminded her of her banishment. And there was also the anger. She had done this to herself. She ought to be more repentant than angry. Most ladies who committed such debacle as lady Belinda Carrington did would have already come down on their knees by now. He wondered then if the lady was indeed without remorse. She had almost ruined her family's name by what she did five years ago. And even after all that her sister still found it in herself to take her back.

Remembering everything his sister-in-law, Cressida, had told her about the lady, and the things she had done to Mary, the wife of his brother Adrien, he could not believe he had let himself waste so much of his time to take the chit home.

Ungrateful, stubborn vixen, he said to himself. Her beauty had not diminished even until now, but she was still the same woman he was led to believe she was. She did not even pretend to be otherwise!

Be that as he may, he had one task and that was to take her home. Once that was done, he'd gladly let her face the wrath of Willowfair and go one with his life.

As he waited by the window, he saw a vehicle park outside her apartment building, drawing him away from his thoughts. He recognized it immediately and jumped in alarm. From a distance he saw Belinda walking down the side of the street, her head bent and unsuspicious.

He saw the back door of the black vehicle open and the man with a plaster on his nose climbed out, facing Belinda's direction. "This is turning out to be a bloody, dratted evening," he uttered with frustration as he turned on his heel to rescue the chit once more.