For someone as pure and kind as Miss Moe to be defiled by that male… For her to suffer at the hands ofanyoneis akin totorture to me. I could have been faster, stronger. I could have gotten there quicker. I could have done more?—
“No,” she whispers at last, stopping my mind from conjuring all types of depraved scenarios. “Nothing happened.”
She twists her hands out of my grasp, but instead of pulling away, she shocks me when she presses her palms over my knuckles.
“You arrived in time. You—” She takes a deep breath, the corners of her eyes moist with unshed tears. “You saved me, Nykander. I don’t know how you did it, but you saved me. Thank you.”
I stare at her, my heart beating wildly in my chest.
“Nothing? He didn’t?—”
She shakes her head. “He tore some of my dress,” she adds nervously. “But he didn’t touch me.”
As if I were a sailor lost at sea finally finding land, I let out a big sigh as I lean in and rest my forehead on her knees.
“Good. That’s good,” I say. “I’m so happy I got there in time…”
What I don’t say is that if I hadn’t… I don’t know if I could have ever forgiven myself.
Her hand reaches out and touches my head—the first time she’s touched me so intimately in all our acquaintance. I look up at her, my eyes wide with surprise. But she manages to throw me off again when I see her lips stretched in the most genuine smile, almost like a beam of light. Her eyes are two half-moons with little wings at the corners.
My mouth parts, unable to take my gaze off her.
Her hand continues to caress me. First, my hair, then her palm cups my cheek.
“I truly believed that was to be my fate,” she starts, her features softening with sadness.
“What happened? How did you end up there?”
Her lips tighten, and her eyes appear distant as she speaks, “Our restaurant was in financial trouble a few years ago and my parents had to borrow money from moneylenders. They couldn’t make the deadline for the payment and more interest accumulated. It was to the point that even selling the restaurant wouldn’t make up for the amount owed.” She pauses to catch her breath. “They… They threatened to not only take our restaurant but also kill my brother if we did not pay.”
Her gaze shifts to the money pouch. “I’ve been working on the side to earn my own money since we never had much in the first place. My mother discovered it and took it away. But of course, it was a paltry sum compared to what we owed.” She shakes her head. “So she decided I was a better payment instead of my brother.”
My hands ball into fists as I hear her defeated voice.
“Do you want them to pay for it?” I ask suddenly.
She blinks. “W-what?”
“Do you want them to pay for what they did to you?”
“N-no. Of course not.”
“But they sold you!”
“They…” She looks away. “I can’t say I understand or forgive them for what they’ve done. I certainly resent them for everything. But they’re still my parents. I don’t wish them to come to any harm…”
“Are you sure? I can help you. I can?—”
“No, please. It’s enough that you helped me. I don’t need you to take revenge for me. I believe people’s actions will be repaid in kind by the universe.”
The urge to go out there and wreck havoc for everything she’s been put through is immense. But I don’t act on it. I don’t move. I sit in front of her, listening to her, respecting her choices.
If she says she doesn’t want to see her parents punished, then so be it. But that doesn’t mean they will live a prosperous life—of that I will make sure. Even if the universe doesn’t repay them in kind, I will.
“But there is something I’d like to ask you…” She adds shyly.
“Of course. Anything, please.”
