ISABELLA RAN

Her eyes shot open, and the first thing she recognised was the smell of disinfectant and medicine. Isabella moved her eyes around the dim lit room, noticing a curled up figure on the sofa a few steps away from the bed.

"Ugh..." She sat up, and her movements seeme to have alerted the figure who turned out to be William.

"You're finally awake...!" He was wearing home clothes- a pair of cotton pants, white shirt and a black jacket. His eyes were slightly red from sleeping and he seems haggard.

But why? What happened? Where is she? Seeing the confusion on her face, William grabbed a chair and sat by the bed- explaining what happened.

As he spoke, the colour on her face drained slowly. he knew she realized that her secret was already out.

He pursued his lips and stoood up. Her eyes were still in a daze, and he excused himself to call the doctors.

The chief doctor spoke up, her voice steady and calm as it broke the pressuring silence.

"Miss Chalice, you still have a chance. Patients like you can still be fight with appropriate medications and-" But she was cut off by a harsh growl and a sharp stare.

"I am dying, why cant you all just accept that?! Late stage! i have late stage cancer! I don't need any medication or any help- I just want to spend my last days in peace! I want to get discharged, now!"

"Isabella!" William sternly warns. Isabella gave him a deadly look- which was full of hatred and... Sadness.

"I'm tired, William. I'm tired and I just want to spend the last days of my life in peace! If I get treatment, would you be able to assure that I can still live?! Atleast, if I get out now and enjoy things I never had time to enjoy, I can rest well without any regrets! " So, why can't you understand?! I don't want to go through pain in my last days- much like how I did in the days that I lived- is what William could see in her eyes.

Even the doctors could see this, and excused themselves to give the family privacy. William told the Chief he would meet with her later- to which the elder woman nods in understanding.

It is hard for someone who is about to die, to even muster the courage to fight back. They just give up and let themselves get swallowed by the disease.

"Isabella, what is it that you really want?" She looked at the man who was asking her, before looking out into the window by her bedside- the sun was up in the sky and the city a-bustling with traffic and people going to and fro.

"Why didn't you tell us?" why ask her as if he cared?

"What use does it have for me to tell you? So you can pity me? Hah. I'd rather die in some corner than receive your pity."

"Isabella, we are talking about your life and death here! This is not the time for you to act like this." the woman looked at him full of sarcasm oozing from her eyes- the disdain he had never seen in those pools of emerald was so thick, that her eyes seems to glow in hatred.

" Act like what? Rational? Why? Will you tell me that my feelings aren't stable and my anger is not valid? Just like every single time you all again and again make me feel like I am not part of your family?!"

"Isabella, that's not true-"

"Oh COME ON William. We all know that even if something happenes to me, it isn't really a loss in the family!" William fought the urge to raiae his hands at her- his quivering fists made Isabella laugh sarcastically.

"Do you want to hit me? Come on! This might be your last time!" he looked at her with conflicted pair of eyes, emotions seem to flash in them one by one before he closes it and aileny sat there in meditation.

Isabella hated that look, it looked as if he cared for her genuinely. She gritted her teeth- this hypocrite, he has the audacity to act lkke he cared? He might have taken care of her in the hoapital but that doesn't mean she's obligated to juat forgive and forget.

"Get out." the man opened his eyes and looked at the stoic woman on the bed. She was frail, and in just a few days she looked like she lost a lot of weight.

"I said, GET OUT!" Isabella roared.

If she continues like this, she will die early. William bit his lips and stood up, picking up his phone in the process.

There is no use in talking to her, the disease is clouding her judgement.

"I will be back. We will... Do everything we can so you can be cured." the woman on the bed began to protest, but he just walked out and locked the door. His subordinates, Arista and a male named Lizt immediately saluted-

The boss looked very sttressed these days- and he looks sad...

" Stand guard here and help her with whatever she wants."

"Yes boss." the man dialed the driver's number, and keft with a sullen aura.

The car arrived in the Chalice residence.

"Ah! Is it brother?!" the young teenage girl in pigtails and ribbons was already on her way to school. She perked up, and ran towardsthe car as the person inside steps out. She beamed a good morning to him, but found that he was in his casual home clkthes and looked like he had not slept in days.

Her brother had been outside the home for a week now, and his subordinates said he was doing overtime work. However, he came home dressed like this... Where is he from? Surely not the office?

"Brother, Brother. Where did you go? I miss you, brother!" Renna tried to strike up a conversation- but her brother told her he was tired and left with a cold face.

Renna looked at the back of her brother, and her eyes looked dangerously dull.

Who was it, that took the attentionof her brother? Her brother's eyes only need to look at her, he can only adore her, he CANNOT ignore her!

The intimate servants around her, saw the way she gripped her school bag with so much hatred, and looked at each other in alarm.

"Miss, you'll be late for your school's social party today! You know, Master Taylor would be there~"

"Oh yeah! Let's go now, Jessica and Maybel must be waiting fkr me at school!"

She ran to her car and happily left the mansion.

"Wow, we dodged a big bullet." the nanny wipes her sweat.

"Yes, I thought she would stab the Young Master.."

"Sh! Dont say such nonsense! I told you already, if you want to keep this job, you have to tighten your lips!" the younger servants mumbled an apology, but secretly sneered in their hearts-

Why does this family insists on raising such a monster? If it was a normal family, they would have placed her in an institution to get treatment. Psychopathy is a disease- add up the obsessive behaviour she has towards her parents and brother, she was literally a walking danger.

Stabbing people, she also gets away with it.

Even if she was at fault, the family seems adamant in letting her get whatever she wanted- even if she was at fault.

Even the first Miss could not escape her evil clutches... Poor miss. She had to leave this place in the ripe age of eighteen because of miss Renna.

Ah, the Eldest miss was far better than the little miss in many aspects- academic, character, demeanor... It was a mystery why the family seems to hate her...

William met his father on the way to his quarters.

"Oh William, you look like a wreck- is everything okay? I called the company, but you weren't there... Where did you go?" the man met haggard pair of eyes, and there was this struggle inside them that he had never seen in his confident and stable son.

The man pursued his lips, and turned.

" Come to my office. " William followed that straight back, his head down in misery.

The silence in the room, was deafening. Isabella looked at the folded blanket and the bed that had been made.

She was not going to stay here- William would surely tell their parents and conplicate things for her. She already took out the needle on her wrist and stopped the bleeding with a cloth. Then, she peeped at the door- hah, those two hasn't come back yet.

Earlier, she asked the woman to buy her some fruit and when she was hone she sent the man to ask for some medicine in the downstairs pharmacy.

Slipping out, Isabella pretended to be a patient that waas just acsually strolling around- before slipping into a storage room. Usually they kept spare scrub suits here for the employees.

"Aha, there it is." wearing the blue scrub suit, a doctor's coat, a spare rubber shoes  that is worn by the staff, she grabs a face mask and a stethoscope, walking out into the hall ways liesurely.

She boarded the elevator , and even came face to face with the female guard William assigned to her as she walked towards the exit.

"Damn." she took a turn towards the toilet, and only came out a few moments later. Realizing that she needed to sign something if she uses the front door, she uses the fire exit and then hailed a cab to go home.

She only have about an hour to lack up necessities and liquidate her remainkng assets- then flee before William finds her.

"Uncle, please use the fastest route to Elm Subdivisions, I will pay you double." thankfully, William kept her personal belongings. She left her bag, but brought her wallet, phone, as well as her planner and her person stamp seal.

The taxi did take her home very fast and she wasted no time in packing a small bag- she only yook a few underwears, three shirts, two pants, one skirt, hygiene products, her jewelries, electronics, and expensive shoes and bags that she planned to sell off- just a few of them.

Then, she found her car in the driveway, and left he home after calling the realtor to sell the place as fast as he can.

The realtor did not ask anything, but hastened the process of selling, and found a solution by selling it to the bank. With her excellent credentials, the bank did not hesitate, immediately buying the property in less than a few seconds of checking.

She split the amount between her and the realtor's company, taking the cash out of her accounts and transferring them to the new accounts. The transactions went smooth- it seems even God was on her side today.

"Yes, I e-mailed and even faxed my resignation letter- ofcourse, thahk you for everything up until now. Yes, I am well aware that he's trying to find me, asistant secretary. But tell him, I don't plan to come back anymore."

So please, do not search for me.

William and his father sat inside the office and he was ready to tell him everything- maybe to give Isabella a chance to reconcile with everyone, or to maybe... Maybe give her hope.

But before the haggard man could open up the topic, his phone rang in the silence- he pulled it out from his pocket and immediately saw Arista's number on the screen.

A bad premonition roused from his stomach as he excused himself and stood near the window, answering the call.

"Sir! Miss disappeared! I could'nt find her anywhere!"

"What? How can she disappear? Were you not guarding her?" The other person explained the series of events that led up to this- while William hurriedly ran out of the room albeit his father's calls for him to tell him what was wrong.

".. You told us to help her with whatever she wants, and so I went out to buy what she needs. I didn't know she would ask Lizt to ask the downstairs pharmacy for some pain reliever- which should've been asked from the nurse's station just a few meters from the room. Master, we are incompetent, we... Failed you."

" I don't want to hear this right now. I know her, she would surely have a lot of back up plans- but she would still need to go through a lot of proceedures if she wants to leave. Send people to all of the airports in or nearthe city- as well as seaports, piers, land transportations and to the company. "

" Yes, Boss. I will call Ten right now. "

" Seal off all the exits and entrances that she could use- she should be using her car- that's the fastest thing she could ride in, so place a look out for that too. "

" I will connect to the authorities. "

" Also, track all of her digital footprints- if we miss her, we can find her using her digital footprints. "

" Yes Boss. "

Isabella, don't do this! William drove down the road faster- he felt as if she would never come back to them alive if she leaves now.

Clack! The phone that had been paid for in thousands of cash was crushed by a heeled shoes and thrown down a bridge. Isabella walked towards the mall just infront of her and got a minimal haircut, even dyeing her hair an absurd cotton candy pink, had her ears pierced three times, wore studs, and had her nails painted in red. She bought a new back pack, filled it with her new passport, new identity cards, her new debit cards, and new make up supplies which she used in the mall bathroom.

She threw the scrubsuit earlier on a nearby garbage area, before changing into a hoodie and selling her car. She knew they would track her vehicle, as well as her phone. She also reformatted her laptop, ipad, and sold them in a second hand store.  Then, she broke her phone under her heeled boots, and went to have a make over.

The rerason for not selling the phone is to confuse them.

Blood red lips, a foreign way of dressing that seem to follow mainstream cute and youthful style, and the movement which was lax and absolutely unsophisticated, the tall woman walked out of the store and garnered a lot of gazes- some of them even told her she was pretty.

Ah, that was the first tme she heard someone say she was pretty... Isabella smiled and thaked them- before going into a pharmacy to get her medications.

The woman on the counter shook her head-

"A family member is very sick?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

"It's going to be fine, don't look so lost dear." Ah. Did she look lost?

"Yes, thank you so much." Isabella walked out of the mall, and leisurely walked towards the subway stations as series of police cars passed by, their lights blaring. She entered the underground station, walking through the flow of people.

"... So cute isn't it?! I got them there!"

"I didnn't know Xiao Xiao opened a store in the subway?! I absolutely love their products!" Isabella stopped in her tracks and looked at the group of little girls gushing about newly brought cute rabbit charms tied and decorated in red strings- it seems to come in pairs as the other was gushing that she would give it to a boy she liked.

'Mom! I like that!'

'Rabbits? Okay, you can buy them, but take good care of them okay?' It's been a few years, and she thought she had let go of her love for rabbits. However, her body moved on it's own, and she was already standing inside the store, looking at the shelves of phone charms and charm bracelets- as well as necklaces. There were a pletora of styles, and colours that seem to shine and glimmer at every glance you give it. There were cat themes, hamsters, butterflies, mousies and rabbits.

She held a pair of yin-yang rabbit bracelets in her hand and smiled.

"Maybe, if I hook up with someone, I can give this to them." Maybe, as a thank you for making her happy as a woman who is about to die? Isabella grabbed a necklace with red and white beads, interlocked with delicate silver chains and decorated by rabbit and carrot charms that should have been made from clay. She also took a rabbbit and carrot earring set, rabbit head headphones and a rabbit plushie backpack.

Hahaha, a six foot woman in her late twenties and a rabbit plushie bag... What a sight.

After paying, she finally entered the subway gates, got her ticket and waited for her train with the crowd of passangers- listening to some music in her new headphones. In whichever way you look at her, there was no resemblance to the woman that she was before- it was not easy even if the police forces and some of William's subordinates combed through the people.

With her new phone covered in a green case where a rabbit charm dangled, cutely smiling at anyone who looks at it, the woman was busily listening to music- as well as logging in to the popular online platform WUWU- creating an account under the name- Soft White Rabbit.

[Hi! I'm a soft white rabbit- I'm new here and only has four months to make new friends. I'm currently travelling, so I'l be posting a lot!]

With a smile, the woman posts a picture of the subway tracks, as Arista passes by her- looking through the crowds.

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