5. Entrance to Hell

Amanda runs into the room of a baby who is not hers and has appropriated her anyway. He locks the door and drops to the floor, rolling down the wall as he stares back at the crib.

"What have I done? What have I gotten myself into?" She thinks to herself again and again, those two questions have not left her since she left the hospital and, apparently, they will never leave her, it is something she will have to carry with her for the rest of her life.

He inspects the room with frightened eyes, looks for a place to take refuge, but finds none. There is no safe place for her inside that house, nor outside either.

She feels like a fish out of water pretending to be someone she's not, pretending to be a mother when she has no idea how to be, living in a house that isn't her own with completely unknown and dangerous people.

Panic begins to take hold of her. Before, he was afraid, but the adrenaline did not allow him to think clearly and realize the magnitude of the matter. Now that, at least for the time being, he's safe, worries are starting to run through his mind.

Unable to control it, she's breathing heavily, she's almost hyperventilating, she's never felt this overwhelmed before, it's too much for her to take in. With his hands, he wraps his knees and tucks his head between his legs. She wants to make herself small, so small that no one will be able to see her, but she knows that this is impossible now.

He thinks of the girl who has just been murdered knowing that this could be his future, he thinks of his mother, of the dangerous operation he had undergone and of the fact that he will not be able to be by her side during his recovery. She will go crazy, Amanda knows that she is everything to her mother and that she could never endure a life without her.

There are no more options, there are no other paths you can take, the best thing now is to accept your reality and move on. Amanda knows perfectly well that the best way to solve problems is to face them and that's what she's going to do.

First things first, he has to control the situation with that indecent and dirty ogre who has just beaten him twice without any contemplation, that despicable being who believes himself to be the master of the world just because he has money. His mother is in the hospital, yes, but she's safe and he'll be fine. In order to make sure she comes up with a plan to get her out of that luxurious mansion-like prison, the first thing is to keep Alejo calm.

He has already made clear his intentions and what Elena means in his life; If that girl could do it, she can too, she knows that she is strong and that she achieves everything she sets her mind to, she just has to find a way to do it, to discover the weak point of that man.

Just then, a knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts causing her to rise to her feet at full speed. Her hands begin to shake just at the thought that it might be Alexius, but the familiar voice reassured her:

"Love... Elena, it's me, Pablo, please open the door for me, I'm alone.

She thinks about it for fractions of a second until she finally decides to open it and Pablo quickly walks in looking both ways before closing the door again to make sure no one sees him.

Not knowing why she did it, Amanda shot into his arms, leaned her head against Pablo's neck, and began to cry. She cried with all her might, she cried as if she had never cried before. She might seem like a pathetic girl, but she didn't care, she needed to let off steam.

To her complete surprise, he stroked her hair and brushed back the lock of hair that was stuck to her cheek, moistened by the tears that ran uncontrollably down her delicate face. Paul wrapped his arms around her waist for as long as she needed to.

"Shhhh, you're fine, it's all over," he said, though it wasn't true, but it was what this poor girl needed to hear right now

After a few minutes, she pulled away, wiping her wet face with the torso of her hand.

"I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened to me," I knew, I had been attacked and raped by Alejo.

"Don't worry about that. Tell me everything, I've come to listen to you, I figured you'd need to be heard by someone. Nothing you tell me I'll tell Alejo, this will only be between you and me

"Why?" She asks, astonished.

"I just... I want to protect you." For the first time, I was telling him something that was true...

Pablo didn't know the reason, but something from the depths of his being told him that this girl needed to be taken care of. She seemed to be as delicate as the petal of a flower, or as a fine crystal waiting for the slightest wind to break into pieces, and he didn't want that to happen to her. In a way, he feels guilty, maybe if he hadn't bought her the damn medicines he wouldn't be there now.

He offered her his hand and she took it, and they walked to the other corner of the room and took a seat in large white armchairs. Amanda opened up, detailed each of the events that had taken place in Alejo's office, the way she fell to the floor when he slapped her for the first time, how he wanted to take advantage of her right in that place, the second slap and how this time she could take it and, finally, the excuse she came up with to get rid of him.

The more she told him, the more anger began to build up in Pablo's chest. His hands were shaking and his jaw was as clenched as he could, that was his way of restraining himself so as not to commit a folly.

He had seen thousands of things that Alejo had done, bloodthirsty things, situations that could turn anyone's stomach, but in none of those circumstances had he had to hold back so much. There was definitely something about this girl that awakened her more vulnerable side...