IN THE CAGE

37. STRENGTHS

...FAWN...

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I woke up in an arid esophagus. The new day began again with the sun already rising high in the sky, and today again. I'm still cuffed to the head of the bed with my arm numb.

"You're awake" Felix-a man I've rarely seen lately because of Haru-emerged again with a porridge and a glass of water. I stared at the water in the glass with impatience.

"Water.." I said and was a little surprised by my hoarse voice.

I must have screamed too much yesterday until my voice was almost gone. Damn, even talking is painful.

"Wait a minute" Felix said. He pulled out a key from his white coat pocket. Not long after that, he freed my hand from those cuffs.

Arrrggghhh

I groaned in pain as I lowered my arm. My muscles screamed in a terrible feeling of pain. My breath's wheezing.

"You've been here a month and you haven't understood anything." Felix commented on my situation. That old bastard, is he looking for trouble?

"You wouldn't be in this situation if you didn't make Ace's boss mad" he said. "I think you've been in a better situation lately, but now it feels like you're back to the beginning."

"Shut your mouth" I complained. I don't care what Felix thinks, now I just want a drink. Ignoring her eyes that were glaring at me full of worry and aggravation, I took the glass glass glass in the tray and downed its contents.

"Eat and take a bath, after that I'll treat your wrists."

When I heard Felix say it, I realized that my arm was hurt. Red rashes and blisters appeared there, probably because I kept thrashing yesterday. Now, because Felix is touching her, I feel like my wrist is a little sore.

"Where is Haru?" my neck and voice feel better after drinking.

"He's got a more important job than accompanying you to play here."

This Felix.., why is he always talking in a fight!

"Forget, motherfucker. I'm sorry I asked you to talk." I picked up the porridge she served in the glass bowl, the soft aroma of the porridge sparking a roar in my stomach. I've been starving since yesterday to eat the porridge in a few minutes. It didn't take long because I wasn't chewing at all. I just swallowed the entire bowl in a few puffs.

After eating the pureed porridge - which had not yet filled me, I looked up at Felix. Butler the Hunter family was very annoying. Without speaking, I knew he was disgusted by me. Very arrogant, I hope he doesn't have time to celebrate his birthday again next year!

"Band!" Felix's orders. He picked up a tray on the table and left me alone in the room that now smelled like porridge.

"Man is crazy, just like his master!" I cursed as hell.

As Felix said, my situation right now does feel like a return to square one. But I have no regrets, even if Ace hits me back and uses his violence to control me, it's better than me obediently obeying his will. I'm not a dog, damn it. I won't bow to him just because we've spent how many weeks together? A month? Whatever.

Even if it's a year gone, I still won't obey that bastard Ace Hunter. That savage man with a black personality was not worthy of kindness.

Ughh, by the way my arm hurts a lot. Time to take a shower and forget about yesterday's bad luck.

...----------------...

The bandages adorn the left and right of my wrists, thanks to Felix. The handcuffs used to block my movements were still stuck to the head of the bed, reminding me of the suffering I felt all day yesterday.

I sat on the sofa, contemplating silence while my mind crept away from this room that narrowed my freedom. I thought about Joseph and what had happened to him. Whether he's okay or death has picked him up, I don't know. I want to wish him well, but I know what kind of life we live. Death is nothing new, the lives of our bodyguards are cheap.

Plus, Ace is Ace. The cold-blooded psychopath had no sympathy at all for humans other than himself. I know how cruel people like him can be. People who feel they are very powerful.

Goddamnit!

Why is my life so bleak?

Though I only want to repay the kindness of the Rashid family, but why am I even trapped in this hell? Why is dying harder than survival?

Cklek!

The door to the room is open. I who was lying on the sofa raised my head and found Ace waltzing in. The sky outside was still bright, so it was quite strange for me to see her coming home. Ace walked straight into the closet, took off his formal clothes to the floor and changed into a black t-shirt. His black hair that was neatly combed to the back was randomized to a mess. A few strands of his black mane fell face to face, making him look humanly handsome, not as handsome as usual, deadly handsome.

His pair of eyes then turned towards the bed before looking at me.

"Huh, that's where you look."

Do I have anywhere else to go? I rolled my eyes and turned my head back to the head of the bed. I just want to sleep to avoid it.

"Have you eaten?" Ace spoke again. This time, the sound of his footsteps came closer. I kept my eyes closed. I don't want to care about it.

"You don't want to talk now?"

Yeah, correct. If you know that, you'd better get out of front of me you psychopath! If only I could spit those words in his face. But I don't want to be in handcuffs anymore.

I don't know what Ace was thinking.Why is he stressed again? Will he get angry and hit me? That kind of fear crept back into my heart. I don't want to be beaten, even if I have to die, I want a quick and painless death, not a death that comes from slow torment.

"Evan or Anggara." said Ace suddenly. "Who do you think killed my parents?"

"Huh?" I responded too quickly. Damn, I should have shut up!

"Shocked?" Ace looked at me briefly and grinned faintly. "You certainly wouldn't believe that your noble boss, and his idiot brother-in-law were capable of murder, would you?"

"What do you mean murder? Didn't your parents die in the explosion?" I know the origin of the explosion is still unclear because the Hunter family wanted a closed investigation into the incident. I thought, at least they (the Hunter family) already knew the cause of their parents' death and deliberately did not expose it to the media.

"Let me give you a little information" Ace said in a light voice as if jokingly. "It was murder."

"Then, are you suspecting Anggara's boss?"

I don't know about Evan Caspian, but Mr Anggara? The man had recently become the head in Spades, he couldn't possibly be involved in the black things that had already happened even before he became the leader. Mr. Anggara is a very dignified man and has a soft heart. He might look a bit cold on the outside, but he's not the kind of person who would initiate such black things as murder.

"Only two of them can carry out such a murder." Ace responded with a heavy voice. "I've been trying so hard to find a clue as to who's behind my parents' deaths. I even befriended a girl whose innocence was sick to me."

Did he say anything about Miss Indira?

"Luckily now his bodyguard made up for three full years of that sickening falsehood.., at least I got rewarded for my friendly acting. Don't you agree?"

"You..." I got up from my side position and looked at Ace from the side. "You, don't you like Miss Indira?"

"That's an interesting fairy tale." Ace said. "I tried to look like that, but Indira knew that my heart wasn't as smooth as I showed it. She turned me down and decided to marry that bastard Evan. Don't you think Indira's choice is stupid?"

"That's the right choice.., I guess?" I wouldn't want Miss Indira to marry Ace. This man is rotten to the bone, very inappropriate for the noble Miss Indira.

"But, what's with the murder talk?" I changed the topic back to the beginning. I still don't understand why Ace asked me about it.

"That's what you heard," Ace said back. "I'm here solely to find out who killed my parents. I have to protect Margot and fulfill her ambition to get her back to being a sane girl."

"Well..."

"My uncle said something interesting this morning." continued Ace again. "he said something like this, that love is weakness."

The way Ace told the story, although his voice and expression were witty, his eyes showed wounds. I don't know what to react to the information spill he's exposing. I don't know how to respond to his injured pair of eyes.

"Me and Margot are my father's weakness, so he's easily removed."

"I-I don't believe that." I interrupted Ace's words with a trembling voice. A hot and unpleasant sensation crept into my heart, as if it were burning me. I don't want to interfere in Ace's and his uncle's affairs, but I don't want that misdirection to stain him black.

"Love is power. If it wasn't for love, you wouldn't be here right now and trying to fulfill Miss Margot's ambition and protect her!"

"Heh, then what about you? Hasn't love trapped you here? If it wasn't for your mother, you would have done what you wanted by now. Killing me is one of them."

I breathe heavily. "You misinterpreted my decision. Although I hate you who have taken advantage of the safety of my dear ones, I do not give up and stay here because they are my weakness. I don't blame them at all."

Ace tilted his body gesture towards me, his fingers touching the bandage on my wrist.

"I'm here because my love for them is so strong. Are they weaknesses? No. gabe. They are my strength. My love for them makes me willing to live an obnoxious life with a bastard like you. I..., I have no regrets at all!"

"You're talking again with a very positive perspective. Does saying such positive and high moral things keep your heart entertained?" Ace made a joke, damn it, after my long words. He mocked.

"Then what about you? If love is a weakness, is Miss Margot a weakness for you?"

Silent for a moment, Ace stopped his fingers and looked up into my eyes. His pair of black pupils were serene-looking like a storm in the darkness of the night.

"No," he said later.

"Love is my strength, I will do anything for the people I love. I believe you're in the same situation." I said to Ace in a weak voice. I don't know what this guy is thinking, but the tension is definitely not without reason.

"Fawn's..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for making me think back to what means so much to me."

"E-eh, huh?"

Since Margot is a very meaningful figure to Ace, protecting Margot from any threat is Ace's priority. That means-even if he had to get rid of Fawn in the process of protecting Margot, he would.

He'll get rid of Fawn like his uncle wants.

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