---- Or that was what happened in the past. Now? He was nothing more than a fearsome beast I wanted to get away from. Naturally, the sudden change shocked the secretary. "Yvonne!" A husky voice spoke, and it made me stop. The secretary noticed my eyes. They were red and proof that I had cried. Even so, he only hesitated for a moment before pointing me to the car. I dragged my exhausted body and ignored the secretary, who obviously wanted to talk to me, and I trudged into the car. Yep, Lawrence was inside, just as I had expected. He did not even care about why or how I looked like I just got out of a torture chamber. Instead, he frowned. Displeased, he asked, "It's only been two weeks. You're reduced to a lowly beggar now?" ---- His mockery did not hit me like it used to. I wasn't even disappointed about his blatant ignoring of my bruises. I kept my head low and said, "Sorry." I never wanted to take out any illegal loans. I was duped into it. I never wanted to be tortured, nor would I have asked to slap myself. Did he think I wanted to be tied to a wall like a dog and lick up scraps from the ground? I never wanted to! They forced me!