Chap-153*People Behind Masks*

Cynthia Dion:  "Nobody is here to look after you. Please, just recover, and then I'll take you wherever you want to go," he responded in a calm tone, though his heart told a different story. The way he was breathing heavily, his heart racing, suggested he had a good reason to be so agitated and skeptical. I nodded against his chest, and he gently released me by loosening his embrace. He removed his coat and draped it over me, hugging me once more. If only he had trusted me, I might have lifted my head from his chest and spent the rest of my painful life in the security of his arms. After a few minutes of standing in silence, he finally escorted me to the car and settled me in the passenger seat. He got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and I didn't ask where we were going, my mind still somewhat dazed. It wasn't until he parked the car in the driveway of his mansion that it dawned on me. "I don't want to go there; they all hate me," I told him, a genuine expression of my desi