Chapter 8

Dennis. He did save her. His tears of joy made her cry harder. She felt like she needed him more than ever.

" Dennis please, please don't cry, it hurts me to see you like this!" exclaimed Shana wiping away her husband's tears. She held his face in between her hands.

" Don't cry. Please don't" said Shana desperately. She hated seeing her husband so upset. She hates it more than anything else in the world. All the pain she suffered was all for nothing. Bethany just stood there angrily. She couldn't believe that Dennis could storm out of the cafe when he saw Shana nearly hit by a car. She felt Dennis's affection for her had changed. Bethany felt the resentment in her heart grow. She plans to avenge her anger on Shana.

Bethany walked over to them and pulled on Shana's hair hard. Shana yelped in pain and pain-Filled Dennis's eyes as he watched Bethany pull Shana's hair in a painful grip.

"Don't you ever touch her like that again, bitch!" Shana's head snapped towards her husband who was now glaring at Bethany," I won't allow you to hurt her".

" You're such an idiot Dennis! She did it on purpose to get your attention," screamed Bethany.

" Shut up, Bethany! You have no right to speak or tell me how to deal with my wife!", shouted Dennis furiously.

Bethany stepped closer to Shana. She grabbed her arm tightly, forcing her to stand up.

Shana cried silently watching Dennis argue with Bethany. Dennis seemed so angry. She wanted nothing more than to comfort him. Shana wished that he would stop arguing and kiss him. Just one quick and soft kiss. That's all Shana wants. Her husband needs to see that she truly loves him.

"What the fuck was that, Bethany?!" exclaimed Dennis," He glared at Bethany intensely.

"To prove to you that she did it purposefully" replied Bethany smugly. Shana's eyes widened as a tear escaped her eye.

"I swear, if you're lying I will make sure to kill you myself" warned Dennis dangerously. Bethany smirked and walked backward and suddenly she stopped walking and started laughing hysterically. Shana's eyes widen once again when she heard her laugh.

Her voice is so high-pitched and annoying. Shana thought. She stared at Bethany for a couple of minutes until Dennis pulled Shana to her chest and she started sobbing even louder. Shana felt guilty for causing her husband this kind of situation. She should've protected herself.

Shana felt herself getting wet from her tears. Bethany had tears rolling down her cheeks as well and she kept shaking her head, denying the fact that Dennis had loved someone else other than her.

After some time, Bethany stopped crying and stopped shaking her head. She wiped the tears away from her cheeks before facing Dennis. She stared at him for a few seconds before looking away.

"You still want me?", asked Bethany, turning to look at Shana who stood next to Dennis with her eyes locked on Bethany's back with a blank face.

She waited for her answer patiently, wanting him to say yes. When he didn't reply immediately, Bethany sighed loudly and shook her head once again.

" What do you mean by that, hm?", questioned Dennis irritated.

"Why don't you ask yourself" responded Bethany annoyed. She was already used to Dennis being angry.

After she finished speaking, Bethany started walking towards the door and then turned around to look at Dennis. Without saying another word she left, leaving both Shana and Dennis alone. Dennis looked closely at Shana's facial expression before saying

"I need to go and talked to Bethany.".

Shana looked at Dennis with a sad look.

"Ok..", said Shana softly.

Before she could say another word, Shana felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and bring her close to his body. Dennis kissed the top of her head and she closed her eyes.

"I am sorry that I caused you trouble" apologized Shana sincerely.

He kissed her head once again,

"Shhh... I'll take care of everything ok? Just go home, sleep in your bed and I promise I will come back. Ok?"

Shana nodded and kissed him tenderly. After kissing each other deeply and passionately for some time, he released her from his embrace.

"I will be coming back soon, ok?", he informed Shana, caressing her cheek. Before Shana could respond, Dennis kissed her lips one last time and left.

While waiting for him to come back, she sat down on the table and closed her eyes to rest. She was tired and wanted to sleep. A few minutes after Dennis left, a beautiful figure appeared in front of her eyes and slowly made its way toward her. It took her by surprise for a moment before she smiled widely.

She felt her body getting warm and comfortable when she hugged the person behind her.

"Shana? Are you okay?". Asked the person.

"Yes".

After hearing Shana's response, the person let out a sigh of relief,

" Oh thank goodness!" The person hugged Shana tighter and tightened their grip around her. He buried his face in Shana's chest and inhaled her perfume.

"I am so worried about you!", said the person while hugging Shana tighter. She continued hugging her tightly.

Shana gently pushed the person away so that she could see them.

" Can you send me home?" requested Shana

"Sure. Can you walk or do you want me to carry you? "

"Oh, no. I can walk well" Halsey ignored Shana's words and kept carrying Shana into the car. Halsey buckled the seatbelt and placed his hands on the steering wheel, waiting for Shana to say something.

"Thank you Halsey" Shana smiled.

Halsey returned the smile," No problem". She then started driving. They drove to Shana's house, Halsey making sure that Shana stayed in her passenger seat. Halsey helped Shana out of her seat, carried her bridal style, and brought her inside the house. She placed Shana on the couch. Shana was sleeping peacefully, looking cute in her tank tops.

"Hey sleepyhead", Halsey whispered, lightly rubbing Shana's arm.

"Huh?", mumbled Shana, her eyes still closed.

"Are you awake? Or do you need more rest?"

"Wha…?", Shana finally opened her eyes and was able to make sense of things. She sat up quickly and gasped," Wha…where am I?".

"Your home" answered Halsey calmly

Shana looked around confused. She tried standing up but she stumbled, falling straight on the floor. Luckily, Halsey caught Shana in time and placed her on the couch again.

"Do you love Dennis?" Halsey asked cautiously for fear of offended Shana.

"Yes, I do."

"Even after all of this? Instead of taking care of you, he was busy taking care of Bethany's heart. He even left you."

"That doesn't matter to me anymore Halsey. I was going crazy without him. Every time we fought, I always missed him so much. But he never called me back because of her, he never came back to me, he never cared what happened between us. This whole thing has been a mistake. I know that I shouldn't have married him. I knew deep down inside that I wouldn't have lasted long if it wasn't for the contract. We are together because of the fucking contract. That was enough for me."

Shana felt horrible. Halsey listened to Shana talking about her relationship with Dennis.

"It's not too late Shana. You two can still work things out and fix this situation. Please don't give up just yet", pleaded Halsey.

Shana gave a bitter laugh," How do I fix this situation when the only girl he sees is Bethany?.

"No. That's not true. Why did he defend you when Bethany stormed at you? He probably has feelings for you".

Shana stood up. She was exhausted from yelling at her best friend so much. She began to walk towards her bedroom, ignoring all the advice given by her best friend.

"Shana, wait-"

Shana didn't listen to what Halsey had to say. She walked to her room quietly and shut the door. Once she was safely locked inside her bedroom, tears streamed from her eyes as she fell to the ground. She hugged her knees and rested her forehead on them. Shana started crying harder when she felt her phone vibrating, indicating a text message. She didn't bother looking at it and just continued to cry instead. She didn't want anyone to see her like this.

She laid on the floor, her body covered by a thick blanket, and cried silently until she passed out unconscious.

~•~•~ •~•~ •~•~

A few hours later, Shana woke up, surprised to find herself lying in bed instead of on the cold hard marble floor. "Where am I?", she thought. Her memory was blurry. All she remembered was arguing with her best friend about Dennis.

Shana got up off her bed and put on her jeans and her favorite red sweater. She grabbed her jacket and her keys before stepping out of her room and heading out of her house.

Shana started making her way through the town and didn't stop walking until she reached the main road which went towards the forest. She was looking forward to spending a nice relaxing day alone.

Until now, there is no news from Dennis. She didn't get any notifications from Dennis that inform his whereabouts.

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the street. Shana turned around quickly and saw a tall blonde boy walking toward her. She was confused to see him approaching her. He was wearing black jogger shorts and was smiling brightly. She could barely recognize him without the sunglasses covering his eyes.

"What are you doing ?", she asked as soon as he arrived beside her.

"Shh! You can't shout my name here. People might hear you" said the stranger amusedly.

"Why? Who are you?" replied Shana and silently dialed Dennis' number. Shana could feel her safety threatened.

"Oh God, please help me" Shana pleaded. Her heart was beating so loud, that it was almost impossible to hear anything the man next to her was saying.

The man chuckled softly.

His laughter scared the hell out of Shana causing her to take a step back. His sudden laugh made her jump backward.

"Who am I?", asked the stranger while laughing even more loudly.

"Stop laughing!", shouted Shana angrily while glaring at the man. The man stopped laughing immediately after she yelled at him. His smile faded completely.

"You don't recognize me huh?", he asked seriously.

Shana couldn't reply as her eyes started to water uncontrollably.

"Look I know you think we haven't seen each other in years so let's start over", the stranger offered.

"I don't trust you. Who are you? Why were you following me?", questioned Shana curiously.

"Because I hate him. I want to destroy everything he had."

" If you do hate him why did you try to kill me?" Shana frowned while asking.

"Because he hurt me. It's better than the alternative. You deserve to die so that he will finally know how I feel for losing someone he loves"

" Love? " Shana chuckled." You got a wrong person. Dennis never love me. He even got me to sign a divorce paper," she smirks.

The stranger stared at her blankly for a couple of seconds and laughed again,

" You're lying, right? Don't lie to my face you bitch! He loves you!"

Shana scoffed while crossing her arms. Of course, he would never love her. He was using her, just like everyone else did. Just like everyone did she thought to herself. Shana shook her head, trying to erase the thoughts from her mind. She needed to be strong for herself.

"What do you want?" Asked Shana, interrupting the stranger and changing the topic.

"Nothing. I just wanted to kill you", said the stranger. He stared at her intensely and his stare made shivers run down Shana's spine. Shana is ready to run away from the man but unfortunately, the man is faster than her. Her mouth was covered with a cloth and soon after Shana felt dizzy before losing consciousness.

When Shana woke up, she noticed that she was in a white room. She tried to move but realized that her limbs were tied up tightly. She struggled against her ropes, not knowing what happened and what they are for. She tried calling for help but there wasn't even a single response from anyone except for her screams. Shana was getting frantic. There was nothing she could do to free herself and with every moment she spent with her captor, she started to lose hope.

The man took out another cloth and put a spoonful of food in Shana's mouth.

"Eat" commanded the man and Shana complied.

"Tell me who you are", ordered Shana again.

"Just eat your soup"

"How long have I been here? Where is Dennis?", asked Shana worriedly

"Dennis? ", laughed the woman," Oh, my dear little princess you must've forgotten by him already"

"But…He promised to take care of me forever and ever" sobbed Shana

The stranger smiled wickedly," Well, he can't save you anymore. Your husband ran away with his girlfriend"

"I...but…you lied, right?", whimpered Shana shocked that her husband is gone. Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks.

"He isn't happy since you married him. I guess that is karma for being so ungrateful to your husband", laughed the woman cruelly.

Shana heard footsteps coming closer to where she was located.

"Oh, you guys have arrived?" asked the man to the group of guys.

"Hello, we found you. Did we scare you? ", asked one of the men, stroking Shana's hair. He was obviously drunk, his breath stank, and his shirt was unbuttoned revealing his bare skin.

"Let me go! I'm sorry. Let me go right now", she demanded frantically.

"We won't hurt you, baby girl, I promise. But we can't help if you keep crying so much", the man who was currently caressing Shana's cheek told her.

"Please, let me go!" Shana screamed at the top of her lungs.

One of the guys picked her up from the floor roughly. Shana started screaming again, trying to fight against him to get away from him.

"Listen up lady, I don't need any trouble with you. You can stay here and I will leave you for the night or you can play with us. Your choice. But I won't hesitate to beat the shit out of you if you make us upset" said the man calmly, holding Shana tighter in the tight embrace that was suffocating her.

"You'll get hurt", said Shana while pleading to let her go.

"Nonsense, we're stronger than you. Now stop struggling, we aren't going to hurt you". The man then kissed the tip of Shana's nose. He started licking the tip of her nose, teasing her.

"You got a nice body. It could be great if you serve us" said the younger men. Just then, Shana realizes that she has been naked all along.

Shana was so furious with him. If looks could kill, he will definitely be dead right now.

"Don't touch me, you bastard. And if I scream again, then I'm sure I can cause you some serious harm. Do you understand? ", demanded Shana while staring at the man with a deadly glare.

"Yeah yeah...Whatever. I'll leave you alone. We've got places to go so we should go. " the younger boys whispered. They started dragging Shana toward the door.

"No! Let me go! Dennis! Help! ", screamed Shana, but was ignored by the men.

Shana was pulled into the corridor and soon after, the door slammed shut behind them.

They seated Shana in a chair still bound and naked.

"Let her be outside and enjoy the night view and the next day she will die of cold"

Then they left the place while still laughing obnoxiously.

"What are you doing?!" Shana shouted furiously once again but received no answer.

Shana closed her eyes tightly wishing that when she opens them again, Dennis will be standing in front of her and would come to rescue her, taking her away from this horrible place. Shana opened her eyes again and the first thing Shana noticed was Dennis. She screamed at the sight of Dennis standing in front of her. Shana didn't know whether it was because she was angry, frightened, or terrified but she couldn't say anything.