"I'm late for class!" shrieked Brielle as she looked at the alarm clock.

Jack rubbed his eyes as he sat up on the bed. "It's morning already?"

"Yes!" said Brielle as she almost flew to the bathroom.

"Brielle, wait, its only seven o' clock." said Jack rushing after her after glancing at his phone.

"I know! Class starts at eight and I need to catch the bus at seven thirty, because there's no way I can catch the one at seven fifteen. It takes forty five minutes to reach my University, so that means I'll be fifteen minutes late at least. First class is with Stewart, the time-keeper. Shit!" said Brielle in a single breath.

Before Jack could respond she had stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

"Foolish girl." muttered Jack shaking his head as he turned around. He reached for his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Arthur get the car ready, we'll be down in twenty." said Jack, a smile playing around his lips.

"Sure thing Sir." said Arthur happily. He had received his license last week and was more than happy to spend some time with Jack's BMW.

Jack took a quick shower and put on his business suit. He thought he would start his day early, like Brielle, and catch up on the work he'd missed out on at Dixon Enterprises.

"Jack!" called Brielle as she met him at the staircase. She was dressed in a floral cotton top and blue jeans, a bag slung over her shoulder. She looked so much like when he'd first met her that Jack had to resist the urge to take her back to bed.

"I'm going to skip breakfast." she announced before racing down the stairs. "See you Jack, have a great day!"

Jack cursed under his breath as he chased after her. He managed to grab her wrist as she was about to dash out the door.

"Gabrielle Dane, will you please stop running and listen to me?" he said sternly. Brielle calmed down after a while and eventually stopped fidgeting.

"What is it?" she asked reproachfully looking at the watch on her wrist.

"Come and have breakfast, then I'll take you to the university myself." said Jack pulling her to the dining room.

"But I'll be late!" she protested.

"No you won't." said Jack firmly.

Brielle followed him, sulking and took her seat at the table. Her stomach grumbled at the sight of toast, pouched egg and orange juice.

She started eating as fast as she could, barely chewing her food.

"Brielle, honey?" asked Jack as he managed a mouthful for every four of Brielle's. "I thought I was engaged to someone who can't digest their food whole?"

"Well you thought wrong. I can." she said ignoring him. "Well, I'm done! Toodles!"

She was about to fly off again, and there was nothing he could do to stop her. Jack sighed as he abandoned his meal and went with her.

"Jack, you don't have to alter your schedule to accommodate me," said Brielle as he led her to the waiting Audi R8. Her eyes widened at the sleek, elegant black painted model. "Whoa, that's the car you'll use to drop me to University?"

"And drive myself to work, yes." said Jack as he opened the door for her.

"Wow." said Brielle as she slipped inside, a grin plastered on her face. Jack smiled. She hadn't really changed at all, despite everything that she had been through. He hoped she never would get used to all the luxury he could offer her; he loved seeing her appreciation and surprise at being presented with such things. She made the investments seem worthwhile.

Jack got in the driver's seat and started up the engine, as Brielle sucked in her breath as much as she could. She knew how he could be breathtakingly sexy.

Jack smirked at her and drove with more pleasure than he'd ever had in his life.

***

"A notice?" shrieked Claire as soon as she entered her house. She slammed the door shut and marched into the living room where her assistant and alleged daughter were playing cards.

"That asshole sent me a bloody notice? He filed a case against me, how dare he!" demanded Claire.

"Miss please settle down." said her assistant immediately, a timid woman in her mid twenties. "I'll call for the lawyer, he'll arrive in a few minutes."

"Shut up Rebecca." snapped Claire as she threw her handbag to the floor in rage. The contents clattered at the fall and scattered everywhere.

A little girl poked her head from behind the sofa, looking very scared, the cards fallen at her feet.

"It's all right Vicky," said Rebecca hurrying to pick up the stuff from the handbag. Rebecca looked at the child and smiled weakly. "Why don't you watch some tv?"

"More tv?" shouted Claire angrily as she kicked her heels off. One shoe crashed into a lamp and blew it out while the other ricocheted on top of the television, over Vicky's head. Claire sat down on the sofa and said in a steely voice. "I can't stand another minute of those horrendous cartoons. Send Victoria to bed immediately. I don't want her around."

"But Miss," started Rebecca rushing to take Victoria into her arms. The poor girl was so frightened she readily obliged. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Get her out of my sight!" said Claire tersely, and Victoria started crying. "Oh shut her up Rebecca. She just needs a spanking."

Rebecca hurriedly took Victoria to her room and shut the door.

"It's all right dear," she said wiping the child's tears. "I won't let her hurt you."

"I want to go home." said Victoria rubbing her face with her hands. Frankly, Rebecca wanted to cry too. Personally, she felt that if Jack was Victoria's father, he had best gain custody of her. So far Claire hadn't laid a finger on Victoria, but her harsh words were affecting the child psychologically. Rebecca prayed that Jack would win the case.

"I know, love." said Rebecca hugging her tight. "I know."

"REBECCA! GET YOUR ASS HERE RIGHT NOW!" yelled Claire from outside. "I told you to get her to sleep not chat with her. Come out quickly."

"I have to go Vicky." said Rebecca wiping her own face with a handkerchief. "Try-try to sleep, will you?"

Before Vicky could respond, Rebecca left the room, locking the door securely behind her.

Vicky sighed as she slumped onto the bed, her tears falling freely. She missed her home, she missed her friends, why oh why was she subjected to this? She didn't know why she was being punished.

She hugged her knees to her chest and cried silently. She heard the sound on pouring rain come from outside and stopped crying. She liked the rain, it rained a lot where she used to live.

She walked up to the window to look at the rain, but instead, Vicky saw an old balding man, and a young lady completely drenched to the skin walk up to her very own window!

They waved at her and tapped against the glass. Vicky tried to open the window, but couldn't. The young lady gestured at her to move away as she used a knife like gadget to cut through the glass.

"Hi there Victoria," said the woman with a pleasant smile. "My name is Paula. And this is Willis. We are here to rescue you. Want to come?"

"You'll take me home?" asked Victoria her teary eyes wide with wonder. Paula saw so much of herself in little Victoria, she felt a lump form in her throat.

"Yes darling, home." said Paula reaching out her hand. Victoria grabbed onto it and Paula pulled her out of the window.

"Lets go Willis," said Paula as they took to the shadows of Claire's estate once again to escape discreetly.

"Poor kid." said Willis as he pulled a spare raincoat from his bag pack and covered Victoria with it. They started to walk briskly through a route that Willis only seemed to know. "My client will probably go nuts when he hears what Claire's been doing."

"I hope he does. That woman is pure evil." said Paula with immense distaste as she followed him, carrying Victoria in her arms. "You got everything on tape right?"

"Yup." said Willis. "She's losing the case all right."

Paula smiled as they finally exited the tall gates of Claire's huge estate and got into a waiting car.

"You're free kiddo." said Willis ruffling Victoria's hair as they sat down in the back seat.

"Hi there cutie!" said a boyish looking guy from the front seat. "Is it just me, or are you the prettiest girl I've ever met?" He turned around to shake hands with her.

"Hello." said Victoria instantly liking the man.

"My name's Axky, well actually its Leslie, but only you are allowed to call me that okay?" said the man winking at her.

"Okay Leslie." said Victoria giggling as Axky winced. "I'm Victoria, but you can call me Vicky."

He smiled at her in the most peculiar way and turned around to start the car. Paula thought it was because this was the only interaction Axky had ever had with a child.

"You ready Vicky?" he said as he started up the engine.

"Yes Leslie!" said Victoria excitedly. "Lets go!"

As Axky pressed down on the accelerator, Victoria's laugh filled the air as she hugged Paula tightly, Willis smiled at the child and thought that maybe this Axky wasn't such a bad guy after all.

None of them turned around to look at Claire's house. Had they done so, they would have seen a very drenched Rebecca and Claire running helter skelter looking for young Victoria.