I bit my lip as I tried to find an excuse to stay on campus.

No matter what Mother said, I would never, ever buy into her "our little precious" crap again. Not after father had flat out refused to pay my ransom, supposedly on the grounds of "refusal to negotiate with terrorists." Everything that had happened after was all his fault. [i]He[/i] had been the one to torture me for crying too much, to take from me what was only mine to give, to rob me of my childhood. And I would [i]never[/i] forgive him. The farther away from him I remained, the better.

Of course, there was no guarantee they would even show up. Father knew I blamed him, and Mother said I would have the summer house to myself. But, still, despite my new found fortune, the guards protecting me were paid by Father. If he asked them to force me to visit him, they would. And who would argue with such a rich man?

Anyway, something had been wrong with mother earlier. She had seemed far too nervous. Was she planning something? To kill me, perhaps? If I died, would the fortune I had just inherited be handed to my parents? No, it wouldn't be safe to return. I had to do something to get rid of them, and probably to lose the guards, too. They should be easy enough to replace with the money I had. Except... what if the new guards tried to betray me and take all the cash they could?

I shook my head vigorously. Too paranoid. I couldn't help it, of course; I had been this way ever since my ordeal had begun. I needed a distraction. 

I dressed myself in a long, black skirt and a white cardigan over a black tanktop. For good measure, I added a few bracelets and my new necklace to the ensemble. I would be with my guards; they weren't likely to do anything to hurt me as long as I was cooperating. I exited my apartment, locking the door behind me, and motioned toward my nearest guard. "Take me to a nice restaurant... maybe something near a club," I said. Of course, I didn't have a license myself; I had never found the time to learn how to drive amidst playing catch-up with all my other studies. I would have to rely on my guards for transportation and, of course, protection. As long as they were around, I should be safe from everyone else, even in public places. Sometimes, risks were necessary, perhaps even a vital part of my recovery.