"We just want to have a little fun, why are you running away?" He whispered in her ear and her skin crawled with disgust as she heard the malicious intent in his voice.
She squirmed and kicked helplessly as the man picked her up while launching.
"I love feisty bitches, their fighting turns me on and makes everything even sweeter."
"Oof!" The man's breath wheezed out and Nitzan was unceremoniously dropped on the ground then someone dropped heavily to the ground beside her and she scrambled up to her feet and started to run but before she could go far, she tripped on something and fell.
"Are you okay?" A voice said gently and reached out a hand which she eyes frightfully. "We have to get out of here before those men wake up."
Nitzan glanced behind her and saw that her attackers were on the ground. She looked back at the man squatting in front of her and realized something about him felt familiar.
Thinking that surely he could not be as bad as those men who had just tried to rape her, she put her hand in his and he pulled her up.
"Arggh!" She winced when she tried to put pressure on her leg shard of pain travelled up her body.
"Lean on me." The man said and she put an arm around his shoulder and they both hobbled away then she saw the lights of her hotel.
"That is where I am staying." She pointed out and she turned to look at her savior and her eyes widened in recognition.
"You!" She mouthed.
He was the maintenance man from Bing's apartment building, the one who had taken her to the hospital after she had fallen down the stairs.
He has saved her life once again.
He smiled and helped her to the hotel and she directed him to her room where he helped her unto the bed she had sworn she would not touch.
He looked around the room while Nitzan studied him. He was a short middle aged man with a kindly face and greying hair.
"This is where you are staying miss." He said and Nitzan lowered her gaze and fiddled awkwardly with her hands.
"I got kicked out of my house and I have no where else to go, no one wants to help me now that I am poor." She said sadly and he nodded.
After a moment of silence he spoke. "My wife and I have an extra room, maybe you would like to stay with us until something better comes along." He offered.
Nitzan raised her head and stared at him with eyes shining with hope then she remembered what had happened with Lu Hua and her husband. She did not want to cause him and his wife to fight over her.
"I don't want to cause any inconvenience." She said sadly.
"What inconvenience? My wife would love to have you. You can't stay here." He said matter of fact and started to pick up her box. "She has an ointment that we can apply on the sprain of your ankle."
Nitzan looked at him with gratitude, this was the third time he was saving her life and she did not know why. A voice told her that he was a bad man but at that point, she doubted it very much. He had had the opportunity to be leave her to her fate two times already but he had helped her when it did not benefit her so she decided to put her trust in him.
They hobbled down the stairs and she went to return the key to the receptionist.
"Could I have my money back since I won't be staying here anymore?" Nitzan said and the receptionist turned to her and raised her eyebrow then pointed at a sign above the counter that read, "No Refunds"
Nitzan sighed and prepared to turn when they receptionist's voice stopped her.
"Hey!" She said and Nitzan turned to her and her eyes narrowed as she glanced from Nitzan's face to the television.
"Is that not you on the television?" She asked, drawing Nitzan's attention to the television.
And indeed, there was a picture of her on the corner of the television. Bing was apparently having a press conference.
"Unfortunately Mis Zhi Nitzan had not only squandered Zhi Luxury hotels funds and ran the company into a deficit but she had also broken the company's morality rules by releasing a sex tape on the internet. For this reasons , the board members have decided to expel her and I, Ran Bing had been chosen as the one who will be taking over as new CEO."
"And in other news, the much talked about wedding will no longer be held as the Cheng family have disassociated themselves with Miss Zhi Nitzan."
Nitzan watched with sorrow as her former best friend lied against her and she suddenly realized that she knew who was responsible for that video of her on the internet.
It was Ran Bing. She must have drugged her and set her up the same way that she had asked her to set up Jie. She felt sorrow as she realized that she had given that evil girl an opening to her and she was the actual cause of her downfall.
Next there was a video of Jie addressing reporters at a press conference in his house. Despite how she felt towards him, Natzin acknowledged how good he looked in his well tailored pinstriped shoes with a grey silk tie perfectly knotted around that spectacular neck. His eyes were cold and unforgiving as they looked at the screen as if he was staring into her soul.
'The young ladies of Osmanthus are going to be very glad.' Natzin mused in her mind.
"Let us go miss." The man said, jolting her out of her thoughts and Nitzan looked at him in surprise.
She had expected that after listening to this broadcast he would no longer want to have anything to do with her but here he was still wanting to take her away.
They left the hotel and almost immediately found a tricycle which they got into and headed a short distance away then they stopped.
The man paid the tricycle and helped her get down before stopping in front of a house with a small but well maintained garden.
As soon as they entered the very humble house, Nitzan's nose was hit with the aroma of delicious cooking and her belly gurgled noisily, making her blush.
"Mrs Shen." He called out and a robust woman with rosy cheeks came out of a room while wiping her hands and she stopped and looked startled as her inquiring eyes went from her husband to the girl at his side. She looked down and noticed that the girl seemed to have an injury.
"Oh you silly man!" The woman scolded loudly and Nitzan cringed.
"How are you making the poor child stand when she obviously looks so exhausted." She scolded and came forward and took Nitzan away from the man and led her to a comfy couch.
"You poor darling, let me go and get some ointment for that sprain." She said and disappeared through one of the doors while the man took her box into a room.
For the first time the entire day, Nitzan took a deep breath of relief. It felt like she was finally safe.
Nitzan soon settled fairly quickly into living with the Shen's. They were warm, generous and kind and they treated her like the child they had never had and they were like the parents she had lost and when they discovered that she was pregnant they treated her like a fragile egg and refused to let her do anything.
Although grateful for their care, Nitzan however did not give up on seeking justice and went to different lawyers who basically had the same thing to tell her.
"Since you did indeed sign the documents and the board has voted you out, then legally the company is no longer yours."
Bing had done a thorough job of ensuring that she could not get back control of the company without a huge fight for it. Nitzan cursed her carelessness in leaving everything in Bing's hand but it was too late.
She realized pretty soon that if she wanted to fight for the company, it was going to be a near impossible uphill task which would involve a lot of money that she did not have so she decided to focus on having her baby for the time being even though she was tormented almost daily with news of Bing and Jie.
After Bing's press conference, the Cheng family publicly announced that they were calling off the engagement between Jie and Nitzan. And after that, Nitzan would occasionally see pictures of Jie with a mystery woman and even though the pictures did not show her face, Nitzan knew the woman in question was Bing and it tore at her heart to know that they were both happy after they had hurt her so badly.
*
Nitzan jolted awake, a gasp escaping her lips. A dull ache, unfamiliar and insistent, pulsed low in her abdomen. It was not the usual pregnancy discomfort, this was a different feeling.
Sitting up in bed, she switched on the bedside lamp, the soft glow revealing a sheen of sweat on her skin. The ache tightened around her lower belly, a wave that rolled through her body, leaving a tremor in its wake.
Panic threatened to rise, but she pushed it down and managed to breathe. It had been six months, so this must be it, Labor. She was about to meet her baby at last.
The past six months had been spent meticulously preparing, reading countless books and attending endless birthing classes with Mrs Shen who was as excited as her, it was like the baby was her own grandchild and she felt so grateful to know that there were people who could provide such needed love for her.
Taking a calming breath, she glanced at the clock – 3:17 am then she looked at the pallet on the ground where Mrs Shen was sleeping. She had taken to sleeping in her room for the past one week because she wanted to be there if Nitzan went into labor in the middle of the night. Mrs Shen and Mr Shen had been nervous wrecks throughout the last few weeks, more so than her.
Minutes stretched into an eternity as she measured each contraction, though bearable, it stole her breath and stole the remaining remnants of sleep. Finally, after what felt like an hour (though it was only twenty minutes), Nitzan could no longer deny the truth. Her contractions were coming at regular intervals, and the pain was steadily intensifying.
Leaning forward she called out softly, "Mrs Shen… Mrs Shen!" She repeated louder when the woman did not answer the first call and she turned around and looked at Nitzan sleepily then her eyes flew wide open with realization.
"Is it coming?" She asked and when Nitzan nodded she jumped up and ran out of the room, roaring for Mr Shen.
Then she came back in and they timed the contractions while she put on a coat on Nitzan and packed the hospital bag in between. When the pain reached a level beyond her control, Nitzan whimpered, clinging to Mrs Shen like a lifeline. She spoke softly, reminding her of the breathing exercises she had been taught, her voice a steady anchor in the growing storm.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the contractions shifted. They came more frequently, but with a pushing sensation.Nitzan knew then it was time. Fortunately Mr Shen came into the room and together they helped her into the tricycle, their faces etched with nervous anticipation and concern.
At the hospital, everything became a blur. Nurses bustled around the room, checking Nitzan and prepping the room while shooing Mr Shen out. The sterile white walls, the beeping machines, all receded into the background as Nitzan focused on the task at hand. The pain was a primal force, but so was the overwhelming urge to bring her child into the world.
Hours bled into one another. Nitzan grunted and pushed, her body working overtime. Mrs Shen remained by her side,offering support and unwavering encouragement. The doctor's voice, calm yet firm, guided her through each powerful push.
Then, with a final, earth-shattering cry, a tiny, wet form slipped into the world.
Exhausted but exhilarated, Nitzan cradled the tiny baby in her arms. A tiny face, a button nose, a head crowned with dark downy hair - this perfect little miracle was hers.
The baby was taken away to be cleaned while Nitzan was taken to her room and the baby brought to her.
Tears streamed down Nitzan's face as she looked up at the two people who had helped her through the entire journey. Their eyes mirrored her own emotions – love, awe, and a profound exhaustion.
Mrs Shen leaned down, kissing her forehead, a silent promise of a lifetime of love and support for her and her baby and Nitzan felt overwhelmed with emotion.
The journey of motherhood had just begun, but in that moment, cradling her newborn child, Nitzan knew, with a fierce certainty, that she was ready for whatever was to come and she would ensure that she restored all that had been taken from her for the sake of the little one in her arms.
The baby was placed in a crib beside the bed to allow a very exhausted Nitzan get some much sleep and the Shen's left, Mrs Shen went to make some food for Nitzan while Mr Shen went to prepare to go to work, leaving Nitzan alone with the baby.
Some time later, Nitzan heard her baby's cries and she woke up to see someone standing beside the bed and rocking the crying baby. Nitzan instantly went wide awake when she recognized the person standing there beside her.
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