Still Wanna Escape After Stealing My Heart? novel Chapter 776

Ruth was crying miserably on the other side of the line. "Sabrina, hurry and come save me please."

"Don't cry, Ruth. Tell me the address and I'll head over right away to get you," Sabrina said immediately.

"It's a secret hostel in the slum area, you lived here six years ago. They told me it's just a secret hostel when it actually is filled with people specializing in trafficking. They said they are going to sell me off to some old man, and he is going to be here in an hour."

Sabrina's heart ached, listening to her friend's suffering voice. "I'll be there right away. If that old man arrives before I do, you need to fight him with everything you have. Buy yourself some time, do you understand?" 1

"Okay."

Sabrina hung up, grabbed her bag and rushed down, without stopping to inform the Design Director. She got into her car and it wasn't until she was on the way when she called the Director to explain her sudden disappearance.

"I'm sorry, Director, there is some urgent matter that I need to take care of. I'll be right back when I'm done." Sabrina did not want anyone to find out about what happened to Ruth, as it could easily ruin her reputation. Never would she imagine her friend in

such a situation where her own parents would send her off to such a horrible place. The slum was where she had once called home years ago. Ruth didn't have t o say anything further for Sabrina to know how hellish the environment was in there. As she drove, Sabrina simply couldn't wrap her head around how cruel Ruth's parents could be. What kind of people could be so merciless to their own daughter, yet so loving towards their niece? Wasn't she their blood kin?

Just then, Sabrina's phone rang again. At first, she thought it was from Ruth but when she picked it up, it was Marcus on the other line.

"Director Shaw, I know that you are a good man, and you've helped me before. But that does not cancel out what your grandfather did to me. He had caused way too much damage to my life for Selene's sake. What he had done was not as simple as causing damage anymore, he was actively trying to destroy me. Even if I really turn out to be your cousin, how could I reconnect with your grandfather at this point? It's impossible, do you understand? I can die of poverty, I can take insults from anyone, even when I don't have the power to fight back, I can withstand it. But the one thing I would never do is to suck up to anyone! I would rather die from hunger or torture than to be at someone's mercy!" 1

Marcus was overwhelmed with different feelings at Sabrina's words. The more she insisted, the more certain he was that Sabrina was his cousin.

Marcus had a painting that had been painted by his grandfather's mistress in his possession. Though it was not a masterpiece with any investment value, Marcus had taken a liking to the integrity that was hidden within the painting, along with the calligraphy of the short poem at the corner of it. The painting was of plum blossoms in the snow. Even people like Marcus, who did not know the first thing about paintings, could sense the prideful beauty that could survive through loneliness and pain. The poem next t o the drawing was even more enticing. It read,' Without the cold, how would the plum blossom smell s o sweet?'

Marcus had never been fond of his step-grandmother whom he had never met in his entire life. After all, people who would become someone's mistress couldn't be very decent. However, upon laying eyes on the painting, the poem on it and delicate calligraphy made him realize that there was a story behind the woman. Unfortunately, his step-grandmother had long passed by the time he was born. That was why when his friend offered to sell him the painting and told him that it was the work of his step-grandmother, Marcus did not hesitate to make the purchase. It was from that point onward that he began to feel respect for the woman. He was convinced that even though his aunt had been raised by his step-grandmother, she would have been educated to be someone like her mother and would have grown up to be someone with integrity and pride. From there, he assumed that his aunt's children would also inherit the same unbending perseverance and strength, precisely like

Sabrina.