Room

"We are sorry Ms. Johnson, it's been a month since the classes started for the freshman. So all the dorm rooms have been allotted to other students. As we didn't get any mail from you, we just assumed that you might not join us this semester. We can try to accommodate you the next semester for a dorm room. You can attend your classes this semester though. But I am afraid you have to find a place to stay for now" the student coordinator of the Chicago University said with a hint of pity.

Serra's shoulders slumped feeling dejected. She escaped from that hell, but its effects are still haunting her.

"Here is your class schedule for this semester" the coordinator handed over some papers to help Serra to catch up with the concepts she missed so far.

"Thank you" despite her situation, Serra thanked the coordinator before leaving the campus. Once outside the campus, she found a bus station and sat there alone holding her luggage. So many people walked past her, and every one ignored her.

Serra is naturally beautiful. Just that, her father never bothered to take her to a dentist to remove her braces and change her glasses which she doesn't need and are too big on her face. Despite all that, Robert Jenkins was eager to have an heir, so he wanted to marry her because his priest advised him.

She doesn't have money, or she doesn't know anyone in this new city. Unable to come up with anything, she sat alone in that bus station, silently weighing her non-existent options.

Just then, Kyle and Carlos walked out of a pub nearby.

"That chic was hot, why didn't you take her upon her offer?" Carlos asked Kyle.

Kyle shook his head, not at all interested in that loose woman..

"She might be hot, but she was giving me bi*ch vibes. And moreover, I have seen her with someone else on the campus. The woman I take should at least have some character" Kyle replied.

Carlos sighed.

"Hera doesn't give you bi*ch vibes, but still you don't trust her. You are complicated" Carlos complained.

Kyle gave him a look. He is itching to kill the other woman who tried to kill Matteo. But he is controlling his urge with iron shackles.

"I am just looking out for my brother. If she proved out to be good, I will be happy for my brother. He is already too invested in her. I don't want him to get hurt, again" he replied evenly.

Carlos grinned mischievously.

"What about Olivia? She is beautiful. Wanna try her?" he asked Kyle.

Kyle gave him a cold smirk.

"Sure, if you want get killed in Russia by Alesso, then you can you can try" Kyle inflated Carlos's excitement in a second.

Carlos sighed heavily and gave Kyle a dirty look.

But Kyle was not looking at Carlos, he was looking at Serra who was sitting in the bus station alone while cluthing her luggage close to her chest. She looked vulnerable and pitiful.

That particular moment, he remembered how Luca found him in a similar situation and took him in and gave him a family. It felt like he was looking at himself.

It's a little dark, and Kyle couldn't see her face clearly. But for whatever reason, he felt a strange sensation near his chest, which he never experienced before. Before his mind could decide, he found himself crossing the street and walking towards her, as if an invisible string was pulling him towards her. He is not the type who would do anything on instinct. He is not very charitable either. Helping anyone is not on his list, ever. He believes in logic over emotions. But this time, his brain seems to be losing the battle.

"Kyle, where are you going?" Carlos asked and rushed to follow after Kyle.

When Kyle crossed the street and stood right Infront of Serra, he found her wiping her tears after removing her glasses. When she senses that someone is standing infront of her, she looked up immediately with trepidation. She was worried for a second that the Jenkins might have came back to take her away. But when she saw a stranger, she blinked her long lashes to clear her gaze.

Kyle looked at her light blue eyes which almost looked grey. They are captivating and mesmerizing. And he found himself being pulled into her gaze.

'Strange, is she someone sent by my brother to distract me?' he wondered.

"Kyle, What are you doing here? Who is she?" Carlos caught up with Kyle. When he looked at Serra, he looked puzzled.

"You know this chic?" Carlos inquired.

He didn't find Serra as captivating as Kyle found her. She pushed her specks back up her nose, hiding half her face, which Kyle had the privilege to look at and admire her natural beauty. Her skin looked smooth and blemish free before her ugly glasses hid her beauty and she opened her mouth to show her braces.

Kyle was snapped back into reality by Carlos's voice. But he ignored Carlos and looked at Serra intently.

A young girl sitting alone in a bus station holding her luggage while crying is not a good scenario. It speaks volumes about her situation. If it's his brother who sent her, then he has to prove to his brother that no one and nothing can distract him from what he came here to do. At least, that's what he told himself.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Don't you know it's not safe to be here alone at this hour of the night?" he demanded while looking at Serra, as if he trying to look into her soul.

The words he spoke to her looked foreign to his ears. He is everyone's nightmare, and the person whom all the fathers would tell their daughters to stay away from. To think that he is cautioning a girl about her safety looked unbelievable to himself.

She stood up to her feet looking like she was trying hard not to cry. She couldn't look at his face properly because her eyes are wet and her vision is blurry because of tears.

"I am sorry. My dorm room was given to someone else and I had nowhere to go. I didn't know that cannot sit here. I will leave now" she spoke innocently, showing how innocent and vulnerable she was.

Coming from a small town, Serra is alone, and innocent. She doesn't know whom she can believe and whom she cannot.

Slowly she started to walk away from the station while holding her back tightly.

Something tugged at Kyle's heart, looking at her like that. Even if it's a ploy, he decided to see how far she is willing to take this.

"Wait" he stopped her before he could stop himself.

'What the hell is happening to me' he cursed to himself.

He knows the horrors of this city, and he can see that she wouldn't last long like this. The thought of something happening to her is making him feel uncomfortable.

Serra stopped and turned to look at Kyle.

Carlos is watching everything play with shock. He cannot believe his eyes and ears. The person who just robbed him of a million dollars just now is feeling pity for some ugly girl. The chic is not beautiful, but the tone Kyle is using in front of her is softer than Carlos ever heard from Kyle.

"I need a maid in my house. If you are ready to clean and cook at my place, there is a spare room which you can stay in" Kyle offered, much to Carlos shock and Serra's happiness.

Carlos is gaping like a fish out of water. Kyle doesn't like sharing his space with anyone. So to see him voluntarily offer it to a girl is shocking.

"Ok" Serra agreed instantly. She is not scared of work. As long as she can have somewhere to live, she is ready to live even in the basement and go to the university.