Nancy''s ire began to rise. She red at Crystal and said, "That was Paul. Why did you hang up on him like that?"


    Crystal smiled and said, "This is part of the n. We are going to build up some mystery around you and y a little game called Hard To-Get. So, please do not do anything without my say so. Do you understand?"


    A shark-like Cheshire grin appeared on Nancy''s face, and she said, "Oh, Crystal! You are so wicked. I love it. How did you get to be so smart?


    Crystal shrugged and said, "Maybe it''s Maybelline." And both girls broke into a fit of giggles. They went into Nancy''s room together, and while she was dressing, Crystal noticed a mark on her arm that she hadn''t previously seen. She pointed to it and asked, "What happened?"


    Nancy frowned and said, "I was kicked a while back, and I fell into the coffee table. I ended up being stuck in the hospital for half a month. It''s all right now, though."


    Crystal: "You know, I always look down on men that beat women. They are so rude."


    Nancy: "After everything Nathan did to you, I can see why you would say that, and Ipletely agree with you. Why is God so cruel? He did not have to make men like this, but he did. Anyway, do you need to reapply for medicine on your wounds? I can find some for you."


    "I''ll be fine for a while longer," Crystal replied. "If you could get it for meter, though, that would be appreciated."


    Suddenly, Nancy''s phone rang, and she picked it up before Crystal could stop her. Crystal red at her, but she just motioned for her to be quiet.


    When Nancy heard who was on the other line, her face lit up, and she began to cry. The number belonged to Paul, but her son had called her, and she quickly turned on the speaker so that Crystal could listen in.


    "Is that you, Mom?" asked rk. Nancy could not believe that after all this time, she was finally talking to her son. She noted how much older he sounded, and it seemed that he had a vocabry of a far older child.


    Nancy: "Baby. It is me. I''m so happy to hear your voice!"


    rk: "Mom... Why did you abandon me? Daddy said that you don''t care about me anymore. Please don''t abandon me. I will be obedient. I won''t be naughty..."


    Nancy: "rk, Mommy, didn''t want to leave you. I won''t abandon you, and I will never stop fighting to see you. Don''t listen to your Father. Now, I have a question to ask you, and I would be grateful if you could tell me the truth. Is that strange woman still bullying you?"


    rk: "Mommy, I am so scared. She said I stole her things, but I didn''t! I really didn''t!


    Nancy: "Can you let me talk to your Father?"


    rk: "Daddy''s not here..."


    Nancy: "rk, Mommy''sing soon. Wait for me, okay?"


    rk: "Okay. Bye Mommy. I love you.


    Nancy: "I love you too, baby."


    After hanging up the phone, Nancy took off running, and Crystal followed her. On the way to the car, Nancy tried to phone Paul. Unfortunately, he picked up after the second ring, and even without the speaker on, Crystal could make out every word of their conversation.


    "How dare you call me at this time?" Paul hissed. "Woman, are you crazy?"


    Why is this a bad time?- Nancy wondered. She looked at the clock. It was just past ten, which wasn''t thatte. On the other hand, she could hear a woman''s voice in the background, and she wondered if it was his lover. If so, that would exin his anger.


    Paul: "Where did you find the bravery to dial this number?"


    Crystal watched as Nancy''s face turned red from rage. This is a Momma bear in action - she thought excitedly - And everyone knows that you don''t fuck with a Momma bear''s cubs!


    Nancy took a deep breath and growled into the microphone. "Paul!" she roared. "If you hurt rk, I will kill you!! And if that bitch that you are with hurts him, then I will kill you both!"


    "How dare you!" Paul eximed. He waited a moment for a response, and when it didn''te, he realized that she''d hung upon him. "How dare she?" he muttered angrily. Then, he walked over to the window and calmly set his phone on the sill.


    Paul owned the world''srgest smuggling group. He was a member in good standing at Thermae Balneae. He controlled the trading of underground arms. He nned armed terrorist activities while preventing presidents and governments from taking countermeasures against him. He was a famous killer, extremely cold and cruel - and he was not used to being yelled at or hung upon. "That bitch!" he hissed under his breath.


    There was a naked woman on the bed, and she could see that he was tense, so she got up and wrapped her arms around Paul. "My body is so hot," she murmured. "Come back to bed, okay? Don''t you want to fool around a little more?"


    Paul was no longer in the mood, though, but before he was forced to tell her so, his son began to shriek. Then, without a word, he went into action. Paul ran out of the room, and after following the sound for a few minutes, he found rk. He had been locked in a small ck room, and he became so afraid that he tried to climb out the window.


    rk had been trying to get to higher ground, but a branch had snapped. He''d fallen just over a meter,nding safely on a lower limb but scrapping both of his knees.


    Almost immediately, the boy resumed his climb.


    rk''s mother had once told him, "If you ever need me, but I am not around, look to the sky.. Then, even if you cannot see me, you can know that I love you and that I am thinking of you."