DANIELLE'S POV

I closed the cab door and my mom wound the window down. "Call me when you get home." I said and she nodded.

"Go back inside and make sure you rest early. You have to go to work in the morning." She said, waving at me to leave.

I nodded and waved until the can left my line of sight and then went back into the building.

I checked my phone for the time. It was a little before seven so I was sure I would be able to meet Lillian at home. I needed to know what had happened earlier, this morning. Her friendship was really important to me to get upset over her response.

I cleaned my home and took the things my mom had brought along to the first floor. I'll pick it up when I came back from visiting. Thankfully, mom hadn't left too late and I could go back home.

I paused, home? Had I already began to see Jonathan's place as home?

I removed that thought from my head. I'll think about it later. For now, I needed to focus on what I was going to do.

I walked about ten minutes before I saw Lucas and Lillian's place. I squared my shoulders and walked to the first door. All through my walk, I'd been trying to imagine what mood Lillian would be in. It was clear I had upset her, the problem may be finding out what it was and being patient even if she was still in a foul mood. As much as I hated confrontation, I hardly kept quiet when it came to me defending myself from other's accusations.

I rang the doorbell the first time, second time, third time and was about to dial Lillian's number when the door opened. I stared at Lillian in shock and moved closer to her.

"Oh my God. What happened to you? Are you okay?"

Lillian glared at me and hid her face behind the door. "What are you here for?" She asked me, looking around nervously.

"I was worried about you and I wanted to apologize for hurting you." I replied. "Can I come in?" I asked her when she continued looking around.

She shook her head. "I don't have enough time to talk right now. Maybe you can come back later."

I stared at her, she was wearing a worn out sweatshirt and a short, obviously not an outfit to go out. "Are you going somewhere? How did you get hurt?" The little I'd seen of her face when she had first opened the door was bad. She looked like someone had mugged her, her eyes were black and the remaining part of her face were caked with foundation, a sign she was hiding worse.

Lillian nodded. "Yes. And you're wasting my time. I need to go." She said and started closing the door, but I put her hand in between, wincing when the door closed on my hand. "What is wrong with you?" She hissed at me, pushing my hand away.

I nursed my hurting palm. "I just wanted to understand what was going on. You also don't look so good. Is something going on?"

She pursed her lips and muttered, "Even if something is, it's not like you will understand. I'll explain everything to you later."

"Explain what?" That was Lucas' voice. I turned to him and gave him a warm smile.

"Are you buy getting home?" I asked him and he shrugged.

"Busy day at the office." He looked behind me, and I was sure he was looking at his girlfriend. "Explain what?" He asked again and I rolled my eyes.

"Girl talk. None of your business."

He still looked curious, but he dropped it. "What are you doing here? Did Lillian call you here?"

I turned to Lillian and noticed her flushed face. "No she didn't. I just decided to come and see an old friend."

"Come inside then. I can get you something to drink." He said and took hold of my arm.

Lillian's face dropped to where he was holding me, and I removed my arm from his grasp. "There's no need to. I should be getting home now. I'll see you guys later." I replied, staring at Lillian, who was no longer looking at me.

Lucas moved and opened the door wider. "Come on. Why are you declining our invitation? Now that you're married, we no longer see you as much. It's even surprising that you still have your apartment here."

I glanced at Lillian, who gave me a tense smile. "He's right. Come in and have at least a glass of water before you go. You must be tired."

They both gave me no choice, and I entered their apartment, getting a full glance of Lillian. The parts of her thigh that weren't covered by her short were filled with black and blue bruises. I moved closer to her. "What the heck, girl. Were you mugged?" I asked in horror. She reminded me of Eleni when she'd arrived.

Lucas dropped a glass of juice on the table and pulled Lillian, making her sit close to him on the couch, almost on his lap. He laughed. "You must be horrified, you poor thing." He looked at Lillian. "Something like that. We ran into her ex the other day, and he decided to do a number on her because he was drunk."

I gasped. "Hope he was arrested?"

She gasped in pain and I stared at her. She laughed. "I'm still in a little pain. Yes, we reported him immediately and there's no way he's getting away without a trial."

I nodded. "That's better. What an asshole. Men who hit women or people weaker than them are just insecure and need to do that because they're trying to build up their ego." I glanced at Lucas. "Where were you when your girlfriend was getting abused?"

Lillian waved her hands frantically. "Oh no. He wasn't there. He had business in the area, and so I was there alone. When he got there, the cops had already arrived."

I nodded, studying her. She looked awfully uncomfortable. I supposed looking that beaten was going to make a woman feel like that.

I took the glass of juice and drank it, standing up. "I'd better leave. It was nice seeing you guys again. Lucas, please protect your girlfriend better."

He smiled and stood up. "Of course. You look like you're in a hurry. Your husband already rushing you to come home?"

I rolled my eyes, not taking offense since he had said it in a joking tone. "Of course. I'm a married woman. I can't be staying too long outside." I waved at Lillian. "I hope you never get hurt again and if you need some cheering up, you know you can always call me, right?"

She smiled, and I left the apartment with Lucas following me. He closed the door and I turned to him.

"I'm fine. I need to get back to my apartment to get something before I go home. You should stay with Lillian, she looks really down."

He started saying something, but I shook my head. "You can't convince me. There's already a driver waiting for me at my apartment. Lillian needs you right now." I said and he smiled.

"Alright. Let's try to fix another double date so I can apologize to your husband. I really want to get to know him better."

I smiled, knowing that wasn't going to happen. I didn't think I had the ability to convince Jonathan of that again, and it only took a blink of an eye to say the wrong thing that would further sever their relationship, something I couldn't risk.

"Of course." I replied and knew he was watching me as I walked further from his apartment. As I walked towards mine, something kept on bugging me. Was it the fact that men that abused women randomly still existed? I doubted it. Was it the fact that the usual bubbly Lillian looked so beat down? Perhaps I needed to talk to someone to get a second opinion. I just couldn't shake the fact that something was really wrong.

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I entered our building complex, armed with what my mom had brought, and froze. Eleni was coming down from Jonathan's car. I was able to see her face and I unfroze, going to meet them.

"Hey." I greeted when I was close to them, and Eleni jumped and turned to me, looking terrified.

I dropped the bags in my hand. "I'm sorry for scaring you." I glanced at Jonathan, who just shrugged and left the garage, heading to the elevator. I rolled my eyes. Where had he even gone with her? The Eleni I knew kept all her movement within two miles of the apartment.

"Hey. Sorry, I had something else in mind. You're just getting home?" She asked, her eyes on the bags in my hands.

I nodded. "Yeah. I went to see some of my friends and since it didn't take long. How about you? You went out?"

She nodded and we started walking together. "Yes. I told Jonathan to go with me to the police. Hope you don't mind?"

I stopped and stared at her. "Are you in trouble?" I whispered and she laughed a little.

"A little. I went to file a restraining order against my husband."

I nodded. "That makes no sense. If he reaches out to you, you can slam him with the order. At least, that will keep you a little secure."

She stopped walking and stared at me, and I also stopped. "What's the problem?"

"Every time I go out alone, I always feel like there's someone staring at me. He also sent me a text a few days ago." She said, and my jaw dropped.

"Really? Is he here?"

She shrugged. "He may and he may not be. The restraining order will be approved by a judge, and then I'll send it to him so he knows the law is on my side."

"Wow. That's really serious. Don't worry about him. If I ever see him, I'll kill him or annihilate him so he never has a chance to come near you."

She stared at me confused, and I finally recognized the look that had been bugging me. Lillian had tried her best to hide it, but her expression was similar to the expressions I'd seen on Eleni's face when she was lost in thoughts. The fear and terror that always stood out.

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