[|]

Jared had been driving for hours, heading to Redside after he had gotten my stuff from Lucas' place and my other ones at Maddy's. I had not also said anything to him since he was driving and neither had he asked even though I could see from his countenance that he wanted to know what happened.

Maddy had called and surprisingly, Lucas who had unblocked me called too but I never picked any of their calls. I even had to turn off my phone so I could save the battery. I needed to stay away from both of them until I could think straight.

Maybe after taking care of my troubled mind, I could try to talk to them again. If that was possible.

"Jackie?"

I blinked out of my deep thoughts and leaned away from the window. I looked at Jared who was facing the road while driving.

"Yeah?"

Jared sighed. "I'm sorry about everything."

"You know?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"When I went to get your things, Lucas tried to get me to tell him where you were but I read the room and knew I couldn't tell him. I asked what happened and he told me everything, down to the pictures aspect. I'm sorry for what's happening. You've been the a lot from what I can see," Jared said, sympathizing with me.

I shrugged and leaned back on the leather seat.

"Also, I punched Lucas in the face when he told me he's supposedly married to Maddy. Why would he hide such a thing from you? The best he could have done was to let you know so you two can decide together on what's best. Now, he's left you alone."

"Jared, let's not talk about this issue. I don't want to cry again. I haven't eaten since yesterday and need rest. I'm worried about my baby more than anything right now," I said and placed my hand on my stomach.

"Wait, you're pregnant?!"

I hissed at the volume of his voice and rubbed my ear with my index finger. I glared at him and he smiled apologetically.

"Sorry... You're pregnant? How much have I missed since I went on a trip?" He asked and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"A lot as you can see," I muttered and spotted the welcome to Redside post ahead of us. I was glad that I was now back home, at least I could stay with my mother until I found myself again.

Half an hour later, Jared drove into my old neighborhood and I felt a shadow cast over me as I got memories filling my head. The houses on each side of the street were still the same, the balls and bicycles on the side of the road left by kids in the neighborhood gave me a nostalgic feeling as I used to love watching the kids play in the evening or weekends.

I found myself smiling when I saw a tree I used to sit under whenever I wanted to be away from the house.

"Which one is your mom's house?"

I looked ahead of me and pointed at the house upfront. When Jared parked on the side of the street, I frowned at the sight of a for rent poster at the entrance of our walkway leading to our house.

"Uh, I don't think anyone lives here anymore. Are you sure this is the place?" Jared asked, looking at me.

I unfastened my seatbelt and got out of the car. Slowly, I walked toward the house and saw no signs of anyone. The porch did not have any shoes or the seats that used to be outside. The window blinds were drawn down and the lawn was filled with litter.

I quickly took out my phone and searched for my mother's number. Once I found it, I dialed it and placed the phone to my ear. It rang once and she picked.

"Jackie, how are you? I was about to call you so we could meet up this weekend."

"Mom, where are you?" I asked, still taking in the place. "I'm standing in front of our house in Redside and it says the house is for rent. What happened?"

"Oh, that. I moved out yesterday to a nice apartment in California. What are you doing in Redside?"

I cursed in my head and gritted my teeth. I glanced at Jared who was still sitting in his car and hated that I had him drive me all the way to this place for nothing. I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

"Mom, I'll see you this weekend. I gotta go," I said and ended the call. I rushed back to the car and boarded it, feeling tired everywhere.

"What happened?" Jared asked.

"My mom moved out. I'm sorry for making you come all the way to this place."

Jared smiled. "It's not a problem. Since you want to stay away from everything for a while, you could stay here and I'll be here with you too. The only thing is to find a place to stay. Do you know anyone else we could stay with?"

"No, I don't."

Jared hummed. "Okay. What about any guest house or a motel?"

"Won't that be too expensive? You could just drive back and I'll be fine," I said and he smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth.

"Nah. I'm going to be here for you. Now, tell me a good place to stay for at least a few days and I'm paying."

I smacked my mouth with a roll of my eyes. The people in my life were so stubborn when it came to me telling them not to help me with anything. I fastened my seatbelt and motioned for him to drive.

"There's a motel ten minutes away from this neighborhood," I said and he beamed.

[|]

"Here it is," Jared said as I walked into the room.

It was manageable with a big bed against the wall in the center of the room, two wide windows, a flat screen television hanging on the wall and what I suspected to be a door leading to a bathroom.

"My room is beside yours. Why don't you relax while I check mine out. I'll also buy us food and some hygiene stuff, hm?" Jared said and turned away to leave.

I stopped him by holding his arm. He looked down at me and I smiled softly.

"Thank you," I said and he chuckled before holding my chin.

"You don't need to thank me. We're friends and I will always be here for you when you need help," Jared said with a wink. He patted my head and left the room.

I exhaled and walked to the bed which I sat on. I laced my fingers and propped it on my lap, only to feel a light heaviness around my finger. I unlaced my fingers and raised my left hand to my face. I eyed the promise ring Lucas had given me and felt my heart sting. I touched the diamond on the band and bit my lip, feeling the emotional pain again.

"You promised not to hurt me and to love me, Lucas. You couldn't keep any of your promises," I whispered, remembering that very day like it was yesterday.

With a deep breath, I held the ring and removed it. It landed onto my palm, which I stared at before dropping it on the bed. I stood up and walked over to the window. I leaned against the frame and stared at the cars parked in the middle of the motel.

My phone rang in my pocket, shocking me. I pulled it out and brought it to my face.

"Andrea?"

I had forgotten that she existed as she was no longer a friend or anyone important to me anymore. I felt tempted to ignore the call but knowing she could have something important to say made me accept the call. I put the call on loud speaker and kept my eyes on the cars outside my room.

"Yes, Andrea?"

"Hi, Jackie. Are you home right now? I have something important to tell you."

"Sorry, I'm not. What do you have to tell me? You can say it through the call."

"Okay," she said and I heard the sound of paper in the background. "So, my dad was able to find a very interesting information yesterday. Our last information was about the money being sent from Ruth's account to those boys, right? And that Ruth is not in the country... Well, our recent discovery proves it wrong."

My heart skipped a beat as I was confused about what she was trying to tell me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ruth Hamilton paid two tickets to Haiti recently. Obviously for herself and someone else. My dad was able to get his hands on Ruth's call history and the last person she called was someone by the name Donatella Adamson. She made the call to Donatella twenty minutes before their flight. We don't know the content of the call since it's hard getting such. After that call, Donatella boarded the plane but Ruth never did."

I quickly walked back to the bed and sat on it. I was too shocked that I had to relax to take in the new information.

"What do you mean? Can you explain further?"

"Ruth never landed in Haiti, yes. Only Donatella did. We searched about her and Donatella Adamson is Ruth's classmate and lover from the social media posts we found. It seemed as if Ruth wanted to get away with her lover but she never went with her."

I ran my hand over my face, dread filling my head at the idea of Ruth being the one to photoshop the picture Lucas had seen. There was a possibility she was the one behind it as she didn't want to leave yet?

"Also, we suspect that Ruth is still in Redside."

"Redside?" I whispered in horror. "I'm currently in Redside."

"What are you doing there?" Andrea asked in a confused tone of voice.

"It's complicated... You said she's in Redside. How do you know that?"

"Ruth used an ATM with her credit card just this morning, at around 6. She withdrew a sum of $15,000 and we don't know what it is for. I don't know about you, Jackie but you need to be careful out there."

My heart was heavy with fear for the fact that Ruth could be aware of where I was.