UNDER HIS RULES

“I miss you, Beatrice!” Hera exclaimed as soon as she saw her friend in the cafeteria. She sat down calmly, enjoying her favorite grilled meat. Beatrice almost choked from Hera’s tight hug.

“Same here, I miss you too,” Beatrice replied, returning the hug just as tightly. “But let me eat first. I’m hungry. I’ve missed the food in this restaurant so much.”

Hera chuckled. “Where have you been, Beatrice? I looked for you at your house, but you weren’t there. Your neighbor said you ran away.”

Beatrice grinned. “Yeah, I ran away,” she joked playfully. She took a big spoonful of her portion of noodle soup. However, her words contradicted the reality she was facing. It felt painful, but Beatrice couldn’t express it so easily.

“Why?” Hera still couldn’t believe it.

Beatrice, whom she knew, rarely avoided problems. She was a girl who dared to speak up. However, Beatrice hadn’t been to campus for over a month. Her phone suddenly became inactive too. Beatrice seemed to have disappeared into thin air. And now? She was in the campus cafeteria? Hera couldn’t help but be shocked.

As soon as one of their classmates saw Beatrice, they immediately informed Hera. Hera quickly confirmed the information.

“Never mind. The important thing is that I’m here now and I can go back to studying,” Beatrice said.

Beatrice didn’t want to talk about her dark and changed life story yet. What good would it do to narrate how she ended up becoming a captive due to her father’s overwhelming debt? Instead of sympathy, Beatrice felt she might receive mockery. Even though Hera wouldn’t do that, there was still a part of Beatrice that couldn’t accept her current situation as one of Sam’s residents.

“Yeah, I guess,” Hera’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know who to talk to lately.”

“Why?” Beatrice suddenly worried when she saw Hera’s cheerfulness fade. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s my brother, Beatrice,” Hera said softly, her voice turning into sobs. Her shoulders trembled as she tried to hold back the tears that were welling up. Unable to bear it any longer, Hera embraced Beatrice and cried on her shoulder. “My brother passed away.”

Beatrice’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

But no matter what, news of someone’s death couldn’t be turned into a joke, right? Especially when Hera was in tears.

Beatrice let Hera cry and wet her shoulder with tears. Her shirt was probably damp from the tears, but it didn’t matter. Hera had another friend on campus, Anwar. But he hadn’t been seen since earlier. Beatrice wanted to ask Hera, but it seemed that Hera needed Beatrice more right now.

“The last time I saw him…” Beatrice muttered softly. “About five or six months ago, right?” Beatrice tried to recall her memories of Hera’s only brother. “Is he sick or something, Her? I’m sorry, I didn’t know and I wasn’t there for you when you were feeling down.” Beatrice felt really sad thinking about her helplessness.

“No,” Hera wiped her wet face. “Tony wasn’t sick. He was healthy and going about his activities as usual. Suddenly…” Hera choked up. She sobbed again, remembering the sudden arrival of many people at her house. Shortly after, the lifeless body of Toto or Antony Harliem lay there. He died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Hera screamed hysterically while her mother fainted multiple times. Even at her funeral, they couldn’t believe what had happened. Hera would never forgive anyone who did this to her brother.

Though he may have seemed rough, like a troublemaker, and appeared to have a carefree life, Antony Harliem was a brother who deeply cared for his sister. He worked hard wherever he could to earn money. Hera was not allowed to help him just to find some cash because for Tony, he was the head of the family.

Hera had to become a graduate and make her family proud.

They remained silent for a while, and Beatrice wondered if she could visit Tony’s grave. Even if it was just for five minutes, the visit would be precious in Beatrice’s life. Getting to know Tony, even briefly and only through Hera’s stories, had made Beatrice develop some concern. However, would it be easy?

Considering the two people who were always watching over her, never far away from her. She couldn’t protest at all.

“Sorry, I got carried away,” Hera said after trying to calm herself. “I shouldn’t have immediately told you about this, right?”

Beatrice smiled. “No, not at all. I’m actually glad that you can still confide in me. What does it mean? It means you trust me, Ra.”

“Thank you, Beatrice.” Hera smiled genuinely.

Even though her eyes were swollen, the burden on her shoulders lessened a bit. She had been holding back her sadness not because she had no one to share it with. The case of her brother’s death was not something she could easily talk about. The police had come several times, and often the visitors were Tony’s coworkers from one of the shopping centers in the South City.

Hera knew that Tony worked as one of the security personnel there.

“I really want to visit Tony’s grave, Ra,” Beatrice said softly but filled with sorrow. She knew it wouldn’t be possible. She was looking for trouble just as she was starting to breathe freely. Uti said it was rare for Sam to give such a rare opportunity as the one Beatrice had experienced.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Let’s go now!” Hera suddenly became excited. “I also want to go there.”

“Miss,” called one of Sam’s subordinates who suddenly approached. If Beatrice didn’t remember incorrectly, his name was Mateo. “It’s time to go home.”

Beatrice sighed softly. “Okay. I’ll finish this business first.”

Hera was taken aback. “Wait… since when are you called Miss?”

The black-haired girl could only grimace.

“Beatrice,” Hera called. “Don’t you want to tell me?”

“It’s not the right time yet, Ra.” Beatrice gave her friend a hug. “We’ll meet again in class tomorrow. If I have time, I’ll tell you.”

***[]***

Beatrice returned home with Mateo and Zein. Jack took care of all her university needs. Sam just waited inside his car, not moving an inch. It was unclear what he was doing inside the car. The last time Beatrice remembered, Sam was enjoying his cigar.

“Where is Sam?” Beatrice asked as she noticed that the car she had traveled with Sam was not in the parking area.

“The boss has some business, Non. He asked you to return to headquarters,” Mateo replied.

Could Beatrice argue? Not at all.

“There’s a delivery from the boss for you,” Zein said, handing her a black paper bag that made Beatrice furrow her brow.

As she reached inside to see what it contained, she pulled out the latest model of a mobile phone that was ready for immediate use. There was also a black card with the name B. N Samuel K printed on it.

“What is this?” Beatrice asked, confused. She knew what the card was, but why did Sam give it to her?

“You can ask the boss directly.”

Beatrice sighed. She played with the new phone for a while. It was different from her old one, and she wasn’t quite familiar with this advanced and expensive device.

Before she could even grasp at least twenty-five percent of the phone’s features, Sam’s name appeared on the screen. She immediately slid the green icon, rather than getting herself into trouble.

“Hello,” Beatrice greeted softly.

“Do you like my gift?” Sam asked.

“Um… for what occasion am I given such a gift?”

Sam burst into laughter. “I’m always suspected of having ulterior motives, aren’t I?”

“Every time I receive something that I consider rare, you always ask for something in return.”

Sam continued to laugh.

“These two items are not ordinary, Sam, I know that.”

“And?” Sam asked impatiently.

“What do you want from me this time?”

“Ah… Beatrice is getting smarter.” Sam chuckled, but the mere thought of it made Beatrice’s heart race. However, what she asked was indeed true. She was starting to understand Sam’s behavior in front of her.

The girl waited with a pounding heart. All the craziness about Sam had taken over her since earlier. She just hoped Sam wouldn’t do anything even crazier than what she imagined.

For Beatrice… she belonged only to her future husband.

“I’ll tell you later. Right now, I have things to do. You go home and stick to your class schedule. Don’t deviate, and don’t think you can escape from my life, you.”

Beatrice nervously swallowed. “I know,” she replied.

“While inside the house, you can only be close to Uti. Ompong and Yongki will always be there to watch over you. Mateo and Zein when you’re outside. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“I have to go now.”

“Sam,” Before Sam could fully hang up, for some reason, Beatrice wanted to know how long Sam would leave her at home. “Until when will you be gone?”

Unfortunately, Beatrice didn’t have the chance to ask that question. The phone call was already ended by Sam. However, Beatrice also wanted to say thank you once again. Today, she felt great happiness in her heart. Although there was some surprising and saddening news, at least Beatrice could still meet Hera, who comforted her on campus.

Not losing her wits, Beatrice chose to send a message to Sam.

Beatrice:

Thank you once again for today. I’m really happy.

There was no reply from Sam. It didn’t matter as long as the message was sent and read by Sam, that was more than enough.

Little did Beatrice know, in the place where Sam was, he grinned with delight. Just that series of messages had already driven Sam almost crazy. He felt an urge to press the accelerator as hard as possible to catch up with Beatrice and return home with her.

Unfortunately,… in front of him, the figure who held the key to Tony’s murder was waiting to be interrogated. Sam had the phone in his pocket, and he pulled out one of the available chairs. His eyes looked contemptuously at the battered opponent.

“You really don’t want to talk?” Sam asked with a cynical smile.

He took out his cigar again, along with the cutting tool. Calculatingly, he carefully observed the smoothness and density of the cigar he was about to smoke. The sound of the freshly cut cigar was dramatic.

“Or… do you prefer a cigar like this one?”