Harley's POV

Henry and a couple of other guards escorted me to an unknown location an hour away from the estate. It was up a large hill and gated on all sides. Woods surrounded the entire perimeter. The path was unfamiliar, so naturally, I flipped out. Now, I feel awful for yelling at Henry and the other guards since they were only doing what Xander told them to do.

There was an average Honda parked in the front of a tall, wide-roof two-story house when I arrived. To my surprise, it was magnificently big and decorated with an eye that was truly talented. The unhomeyness of the house shown brightly through the neutral tones of the furniture and the walls. Henry told me my stuff was already in my room, and I was to stay here as long as my family and I wanted to.

The second he spoke of my family, I burst through the wooden door with the elegant handle and rushed into the house—my family. My slightly taller little brother laid on the couch with his eye glued to the TV. My father rushed into the hallway to see what the noise had been. When his eyes landed on me, he threw his old riggty eyeglasses on the floor and rushed to me.

Tears were already coming out of his eyes by the time he made it to me. He wrapped his big tan, tattooed arms around me. His long ungroomed beard tickled the face.

"Hey, Papa." I coughed out a sob as my arms wrapped tighter around him, not wanting to let him go.

"My Babygirl." He cried into my ear. He roughly kissed my cheek and pulled me away but didn't let go of my arms. "I can't believe you're here." He looked me all over my face like he was seeing me for the first time. "I've missed you so much, sweetie." Then he crushed me into another hug. "I was so scared." He sighed.

"I can't breathe, Papa," I whined and pulled myself out of his hold. The wrinkles on his forehead had deepened, and his cheeks look more hollow than usual. His golden tan skin now paler. He was in desperate need of a haircut and a trim. "Oh, Papa." I sighed softly, then grabbed his face in my trembling hands. "I'm so sorry. About everything." Soft tears streamed down my cheek. He looked so visibly tired.

"Sorry for what, Sweetie? You didn't do anything wrong." He wrapped me up in another hug.

We stayed like that for longer than before until the heat became unbearable.

"You look a mess," I said to him playfully.

"You too. You look like Cinderella before she met her fairy godmother." He joked back. I missed this.

Then I realized Gabriel was waiting patiently next to us. Watching the entire thing.

"Come here." I smiled and pulled his small body to me. His long brown hair was past his shoulders now, and his toothy smile was more toothless than when I left.

"I missed you, sissy." He squeaked, grabbing my head.

"I know. I missed you too." I squeezed him a little tighter. "Very, very much." I had to retrain myself since tears were begging to roll down my cheeks again.

"Why we're gone so long?" He squeaked. If only I could tell him the truth and explain everything. If only he knew. Instead, I opted out.

"Sorry, it took me so long." I coughed out and smiled playfully, pulling him away from me. "You don't have to worry anymore because I'm not leaving ever again." I tickled his small potted belly, and he giggled.

"Gabe, why don't you go play upstairs. Sissy will come see you in a bit." My dad's voice turned monotone, and his face was serious. I knew what followed next—the conversation I'd dreaded from the beginning. I was embarrassed and ashamed of what happened with Xander. I was mortified that I allowed myself to fall in love with a guy like him, and I didn't try hard enough to come back to my family. I let him lead me on and strip me of all my morals and values. I should've kept fighting him even if I would've died. It would've been better than just submitting myself to him, like a coward.

"Okay." Gabriel chirped and races upstairs. The house was big, bigger than we needed. There was no way I was allowing us to stay here longer than we needed to. Xander owned this place surely, and I didn't want anything to do with him.

"Let's talk." My dad said and motioned for me to follow him. I didn't need to ask why. I just quietly nodded and followed him. We walked past a large open kitchen and dining room into a narrow hall and out of a black sliding door that leads to the backyard. I almost laughed at how ridiculous the yard looked. Two playsets sat on the left side of the lengthy yard while a big sandbox was next to. A blob-shaped pool was splat in the middle of the deck. Xander really went all out. "Yeah, it's a bit much." My dad commented.

The humorous grin immediately left my face.

"Dad-" I began once we made it to a large gazebo in the corner of the deck.

"I don't mean to upset you, sweetie, but none of this makes sense." He sat down. He took a deep breath.

"I know-"

"Four checks came in the mail about a week and a half ago. Each for $250,000 grand." He sighed.

"W-what?" I spluttered. I was ready to spill my guts out about everything. However, I guess I was still learning things. Things Xander did behind my back.

"Addressed to Harley's father and Brother, and stamped with a red seal with the initials XHS" My dad looked up at me. "I couldn't understand who would send us that much money on your account." He ran a hand over his balding head. He wasn't finished. "Then I remember when Avery came to visit me about a month ago." He clasped his hand in each other. Avery visited? My bottom lip quivered at the thought. "She said the cops believed an organization like a gang took you, and I knew right then, sweetie." His face softened. "Did they hurt you? Touch you? Tell me everything, Harley. I'll make them pay." My dad grabbed my hands and pleaded.

"W-what-" my face scrunched. "N-no. No, papa. Nobody hurt me or anything." I shook my head, trying to reassure him. "I swear I was fine. They treated me-me v-very well." I wiped the tears from his tough leather-like cheeks. It hurt to say the words, but they weren't lies. It could've been a lot worse for me at the estate, but Xander did protect me. "Nothing happened to me, papa. In fact, I was just a maid." I lied. "I just cleaned and cooked and stuff. Just like I do when I'm at home." I laughed humorlessly, trying desperately to wipe whatever awful images he has in his head.

"A-are you sure?" He asked. "They didn't mess with you or anything?"

"No. No, they didn't." I shook my head. "In fact, I made some friends while I was there." I took a seat next to him now. "I met a woman named Rachel and a woman named Brooke. We became good friends, and we helped each other out. We lived together like roommates." I smiled at him. A small grin worked up to his lips. Relief washed over me.

"Why did they take you? Do you know?" He asked. "Why did they move us in here and send us all that money?"

I explained to him everything. I told him that Xander sent the money as a generous compensation for wrongly taking me. It was a long shot but dad didn't question it. I left out parts that he might've been sensitive to, including the fact that I completely fell in love with Xander, and he shattered my heart into a million microscopic pieces. I left that out, but I was truthful about the reason they took me and Avery and Daniel. He was angered, but he was mostly just glad I was home. I think a small part of him was thankful to Xander for protecting me and helping us. I was thankful, too, but it didn't stop the ache buried in my heart.

"I don't want any ties to the cartel, Harley. In fact I'm going to quit my job at the factory." He waved his hand in the air. It was a good idea anyways, I might've suggested it myself if he didn't. "That life is way behind me, and I don't want this family anywhere near it." He panicked slightly. "I paid off your mother's debts years ago to get away from everything." He was sweating now.

"I know." I shook my head softly. He was worried, and I understood why but I knew Xander wouldn't hurt my family or me. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew it. "Listen, papa, let's leave here," I said. "We'll go far away from here and start all over." I tried to smile to encourage his thoughts, but I felt nothing but dread.

"Is that what you want, honey?" My dad asked.

It wasn't what I wanted at all. I wanted Xander to love me, and I wanted him to turn back time and fix everything. I wanted to stay beside Avery, and I wanted things to go back to the way they were. But all of it was unrealistic. It was time to start over now that we had the opportunity.

"Yes," I said.

"What about school and Avery?" He asked.

"I can finish school anywhere." I said. "-and I can always come to visit, and we can talk on the phon-" I said everything half-heartedly. My head fell forward, so my eyes were glued on the wooden boards below me. Dad must've heard the quiver in my voice and the lies between my words.

"Avery's been looking for you," Dad said suddenly. "She has been going crazy, Harley. She swore to me she'd find you." He sighed.

She did? It's not unbelievable but still kind of heart warming and shocking to hear.

"I heard she dropped out of school and such. She's awol. I felt for her, sweetie. I just didn't know how to help her even though she was trying to help me." He breathed.

"I have to go see her." I stood up. Avery was struggling without me. Looking for me. Who knows how close she got. She was probably waiting for me right now.

"I know you're worried about her. I am, too, and I'm sure she's dying to see you but you've been through a lot, Harley. Unpack and rest. We'll talk more about everything tomorrow." He said.

I did nothing but nod. I never realized how much I missed hearing my dad's fatherly instructions. We shuffled back into the unfamiliar house. An apple cinnamon candle was burning on the kitchen counter, making the whole place smell like Christmas. Dad knew how much I liked that. I didn't look back at my dad as I grabbed my canvas duffle bag off the floor and started up the carpeted steps. There was no personality in the house. It's all looked like a showroom a realtor set up. I wasn't sure which room was mine, so I opened up every door on the second floor until I reached a warm neutral orange painted room with a simple, minimalistic platform bed in the middle, a white desk in the corner, and a closet on the opposite side. It was much nicer than my bedroom at home, but it lacked the warmth and homeyness I craved right now. Not sparing much time looking around, I threw the duffle onto the bed and started unpacking. There wasn't much to take at the estate. Most of the clothes I had were hand-me-downs from Rachel and Brooke. I left all the clothes Xander bought me. I never wore them, to begin with. Most of the items weren't fit for daily wear. Some things I couldn't part with as easily. I picked up a picture of Rachel, Brooke, and me during one of our many fruitful nights in the dorm. Rachel crushed me to her chest, and Brooke piled on top of both of us to snap the picture. It went into the dorm photobook, but I took it with me. It hurt to think I didn't even get to say so goodbye to them. I didn't want them to see me in such a morbid state. They deserved better, and I did too.

Emilio gave me a picture too. The one he took of me while I was completely wasted. I looked horrible, but it was funny nonetheless. Henry pushed a phone towards me on our drive here and told me to call if I ever needed anything. I threw it in my bag since I already knew Xander told him to give it to me.

Pulling it out, I pressed the power button down till the screen turned on and the time and date appeared. It was new, shiny, and untouched. I needed a new one anyways, I reasoned with myself. I looked through it mindlessly before finding the contacts and scrolling through. It already had Henry's number, Felipe's, all of the Sanchez brothers, Rachel, Brooke, Avery's, and Xander's number in it. It wasn't surprising he knew her number. Nothing surprised me about him. Still, my finger hovered over his contact for longer than it should've. Pushing the thoughts away, I slide the phone into my back pocket and continued sifting through clothes and tossing them on the bed. The bag was shallow, but I stuffed it pretty well. My throat ached from crying and screaming, and the headache I developed never went away. I was just too preoccupied to notice.

When I left Xander's office, I never expected him actually to let me leave so easily. It seemed like he was prepared for everything. For my outrage and request. He didn't attempt to reel me in or chase after me. I guess the disappointment made me more frustrated. Of course, I didn't notice until now that I was alone with my own thoughts.

Sighing, my hand grazed the bottom of the duffle. My finger felt over a thick piece of paper followed by thinner paper underneath. I grasped all of the sheets and pulled them out of the bag to examine them. It was the Manila folder Xander gave me in his office one night. The same folder he said would earn me my freedom. Of course, I never opened them, but when I left in a storm, I remembered the folder and grabbed it from the nightstand I hid it in. Truthfully I don't know what possessed me to take it with me since I didn't know what information it held. Cautiously, I folded back the thick cover. My fingers shook slightly as I did it. Nothing in here could be worse than what I've already seen.

My eyes widened as I panned over the papers inside. Printed photos of Huncho's estate were stacked on top of one another. Almost the entire house was photographed, but the pictures that grabbed my attention were from the basement—the cages full of women, including Mariá. I flipped through them one by one. Pictures of that ginormous Buddha statute were captured. The last couple of pictures were tabbed off. Text messages between Huncho and Daniel back and forth. They talked about shipments, the potential sex ring, business opportunities, and me. Daniel asked him about me. I read the conversation over and over but still couldn't understand.

Daniel knew where I was the whole time. Did Avery know? What would she think if she didn't know? Why didn't he try to get me? Did I want him to? Of course not.

The last two pictures were photos of the Buddha statue tilted over on the courtyard floor and a narrow hole under where it was supposed to be. The next photo showed a closer and clearer photo of what was inside. Bricks and bricks of parchment covered cocaine.

——————————— Ooooo, What will Harley do with the new information she just learned?!! I smell revenge, perhaps???

Hey, y'all!!! I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot; I hope y'all enjoyed.

Feel free to comment and vote.