8 Vent

Toni shrugged her shoulders. "The problem could be anything. It could be that the parents lost a business deal with you or lost a tender for a project or they could have submitted a loan proposal for the investor company you manage and they were rejected by you. So, it could be anything. You don't have to make personal mistakes with them. Right?"

"Yes, too. Yes, too. Then, what do you think we should do?"

"We can do this. We lure them with big money when they are lured into accepting the money we offer then we trace their accounts and arrest them. We use the authorities to arrest them on the grounds that they are extorting us."

"That's a good idea. Execute it," concluded Gerson.

**

Bella threw herself in front of Een, the midwife who had been her best friend, her best friend who helped Bella take care of Bella's two hearts, Julius and Julian, when Bella had nothing.

"What's wrong with you, Bella? Why did you suddenly come to my workplace?" asked Midwife Een while continuing to watch Bella's face.

"I met him, ma'am," Bella replied wearily.

"Him? Who is he?"

"The biggest enemy in my life."

"You mean, Beni, your cheating fiancé?"

Bella immediately shook her head. "He may be my number two enemy but maybe I've crossed him off my enemies list because I don't need to remember that unfaithful bastard anymore."

Een frowned. Then she said, "You mean, your number one enemy is that guy who raped you. Is that so?"

Bella did not answer. Her face was bent. She just stared at the ceiling of Een's private room in this clinic.

Seeing that Een immediately left her seat, approached Bella who was sitting 1 meter in front of her then she sat next to Bella and hugged Bella and patted Bella's shoulders especially when Bella immediately cried in her arms.

Een and Bella have indeed become best friends since Bella was kicked out of the house and ended up in this clinic led by Een.

"How come you met him? You said you wanted to avoid him even though you already knew his identity."

"I really didn't want to approach him, ma'am. But fate brought me together with him. Ugh, what to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Rudi received a job from that jerk's company that made me have to be the architect for the project owned by that guy. Huhuhu."

"Huh? You'll be working on a project owned by the father of your children. Is that so?"

"Yes, ma'am. That's what happened. All day I've been trying to get Mr. Rudi to cancel the project but he won't do it. He kept begging me and threatened to fire me and stop working with my team if I didn't take the project. I had given up but he begged me and I couldn't bear to refuse his request."

"Yes, Bella. You can't refuse Mr. Rudi's request. However, Mr. Rudi is your helper. When you were unemployed and had no work experience, he accepted you to be his main architect in his company so that you could support your two children and own a house."

"That's it, sis. Mr. Rudi has contributed greatly to my life and that of my two children, so I couldn't refuse his request. Moreover, I see he's very proud of this mall project because it's the first mall project his company has done."

"So what if you meet the father of your children. Does he recognize you?"

"That's what makes me even more annoyed. He doesn't seem to know me but at the same time he's trying to tease me."

"Is that because he knows that you were once his victim?"

"I don't know about this, Sister. But, a rapist like that could have had many victims. Therefore, he must have forgotten about his victims. Moreover, when he raped me, he was heavily drunk."

Een seemed to think for a moment and then she said, "yes. You might be right. She may have forgotten about you. In that case, you should also think of her as someone you don't know when you have to work with her. How about it?"

"I can't. Every time I see him I'm reminded of what happened to me. That cruel night that I should have forgotten is now vividly displayed again in my eyes when I see him."

Een could only sigh at Bella's sadness.

The Pandora's box that I had closed tightly, seemed to open wide when I met her. I remembered the coercion she did. I remembered again when he boldly molested me when I kept saying no, when I kept rejecting him. When I screamed. Huhuhu."

Een hugged Bella's body. "I know this is hard for you, Bella."

"Huhuhu. I always remember when he shut me up and raped me and accused me of all sorts of things."

"Accuse you of things?"

"Yes. He accused me of being a harlot or something like that. The words were vague but she seemed angry with me."

Een was pensive for a moment and then she said, "Maybe it's a symptom of someone who hates women. Maybe there's a woman who once scarred his heart so that when he gets the chance to rape another woman, he puts the woman he once hated in the face of the woman he's raping. That's how he can rape his victims."

"Yes, ma'am. That seems to be what happened to me. Then what about this, ma'am?"

"It's hard like this. So that means, you will always be with him because you are involved in a project with your children's father. Is that so?"

"Probably not necessary. Maybe I'll work on the mall design at home, so that even if that person comes to my office to see the progress of the mall design, I won't have to meet him. Right?"

"You can do that?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll tell Mr. Rudi that I'm not feeling well but I can do the project at home. That way, I can take care of my two kids while working on the project. Right?"

"Okay. But what if your children's father insists on seeing the progress of the design you're working on at your house. What if that happens?"

"No. That can't happen especially if my children have to meet that person because my children already know his face and name. I once showed that person's face when he was interviewed on TV. Therefore, he can't come to my house."

"What if he insists on finding out the progress of the design you're working on?"

"Then I'll have to meet him at the office. But I'm scared."

"Scared why?"

"I'm afraid he'll rape me again."

"Then you should buy pepper spray or a stunt gun, an electric weapon to beat him up if he dares to try to rape you again."

"Good idea, sis. I'll buy it."

"Good then."

Suddenly Bella's cell phone vibrated. Bella immediately released her hug from Een. Then she took out her cell phone. It turned out there was an incoming chat from Rudi and when Bella read the contents of the chat, Bella's face changed.

"What's wrong with you, Bella?"

Bella gaped and said, "Mr. Rudi just told me that the man wants to see the progress of the design I'm working on."

"You mean, the father of your children?"

"Yes, ma'am. He did. How is this? Whereas usually big bosses like that only know they will criticize when the design is finished and throw it into the trash can when the architect who made the design is not in accordance with what they want. Or they will directly accept the design work of architects they trust. But why did he want to follow the development of the design that I was working on step by step? What happened? I don't want to meet that person."