CHAPTER 9

Harley sighed out as he ran a hand through his short thick hair, having searched the entire mansion, he still didn't find Ronan nor did the people from the north know where he went. Most of which seemed surprised in hearing he was even in the mansion to begin with when he was supposed to be with his father-in-law in the feasting hall. They were and had always been children unfortunately. Hope, Harley and Penelope were supposed to act as adult but instead the three of them had always been childish together and always ran away from formal conversations and meetings. Harley, despite being three years older that Hope hadn't found his own mate despite having countless invitations and secret admirers that wanted to be taken under his wing and treated like a Queen. The thing that drew most women to him was his kind personality and his complete honesty and loyalty to his family name and anyone around him. Harley had always been nice ever since he was a child and with Hope being a talkative loud and dominating child, they went rather well since he always looked up to her despite being older than she was. She was very strong in mind and soul altogether which made him more drawn to her, since he, himself, couldn't match up to her. As though through instinct, he walked towards the garden, probably going to wait for her there since he'd always know Hope and her long connection to it. When she cried, she would be there. When she was over joyed, she would be there talking to the large tree belonging to a really great grandfather of hers. When she was bored, she would be there poking at the fish in a small pod next to the rose flowers. Either way she would be, she was always there somehow unless she had something or somewhere else to be. It was just a place she was most connected to and Harley didn't bother to ask her why she loved it so much, he simply knew that it was just a natural instinct for her and she wouldn't be able to explain it herself. He reached for the handle of the glass door only to spot Hope in there, squeezed into a hole in the tree where she used to sit in ever since. Sort of like a nest the tree had made as though for her to find comfort in. A smile spread across his face, knowing Hope was always going to be Hope. He opened the door, getting Hope's attention almost immediately as she click sound slipped into her ears. She quickly reached her hands to her face and frantically began to wipe off her tears, not wanting Harley to witness the grown up Hope crying away like a child. Despite her efforts to mask the tears and frantic crying, Harley noticed from where he was and instantly dropped his smile. "Hope.... Are you okay?" He asked as he quietly closed the door and made a beeline to where she was, still inside the hole of the tree. Surprisingly she was still able to fit into the space with her folded knees. "What's wrong?" He asked as he squatted in front of her and watched as the tears kept on falling from her eyes to her dress. "What happened?" He reached over to her chin and tilted it up to face him. "What happened to finding Ronan?" "I found him." She struggled to say through the watery voice from the crying she has been doing. "That's why.... That's why I'm like this.... Because I found Ronan..." She squeezed her eyes tight and tried to hold back her muffled moans but it was to no avail. Her efforts only made odd humming voices at the back of her compressed throat, taking him a bit over the edge as he noticed she was trying to hold back. "What happened?" He asked again, grabbing her wrists and preying her hands off her face. Instead, she looked away and clenched onto her jaw as she tried to control herself, only to force her body to begin shaking instead. "Hope, come on, say something, what did Ronan do to you?" He asked and she still didn't utter a word. "Did he hurt you beat you up?" He asked and she shook her head vigorously as her face only flooded with more tears, a small visible vein pressed on her forehead from holding back too much. "Did he hurt you somehow then?" She nodded and pressed her lips together as tightly as she could as she glanced down at her thighs. "Did he... Force you to do something?" He asked and she shook her head vigorously again, getting him more confused. "Where did he hurt you then?" She weakly raised her shaky hand and pointed at the center of her chest. "Your... Chest hurts?" "My heart does." She managed to whisper out. "Why?" He asked carefully as he watched his best friend's painful face eat at him. He just never thought Hope would cry this much and try to hold back more of it just not to look fragile. Just like Penelope had told him earlier, Hope was still a woman. Even though she's strong and bright on the outside, she can still be fragile and soft on the inside. "What happened with Ronan?" He asked, reached up to cup her cheeks and began wiping off the tears with his thumb, feeling the warmness from her cheeks almost instantly and he knew she was dying from the inside. But before he would tell her to stop holding back so much, he needed her to tell him what was wrong first. "Please tell me..." He begged as his eyes trailed towards the temples, noticing the other faint veins polling onto her temple. "He's not the man I thought he was..." She sighed out as she finally gazed into his eyes, showing him the puffy redness caused by her crying. "He was some other woman.... And I now know he hadn't been the loyal husband I thought he was.... I know deep down after looking right into his eyes that he's been doing things behind my back and always smiling at me with so many lies trailing behind him." She sniffed as she glanced down to her thighs now. "I always thought he was different. That he was really deep in love with me and I felt so special having him. I felt like I was the only girl in the world with true happiness, but, I guess I was wrong. He's just been hiding himself from me... For a long time." She sighed out shakily as Harley frowned deeply and clenched his jaw. Ronan.....