AS FOR THE INTERLUDE, I'M STILL WRITING THE CHAPTERS BEFORE THIS ONE

She sipped the drink, the chatter of the bar in the background. Every now and then she still needed it. When she had nightmares again. When she was torn. Damnation. She shouldn't have. It all started with a glass. She put her hands over her eyes. They were now old enough to understand that something was wrong. That went out secretly. That didn't go out at night simply to do the shopping. They would not have wanted, nor should have seen her there, in that place, in her state. And not even HIM. She rubbed her temples. She didn't have to think about it. She didn't have to think about it. But she kept doing it. She took a sip, deep in thought. "May I sit here ?". The usual nuisance. There was always someone who, seeing her there alone, thought she could do something with it. She rubbed her eyes, "Can I possibly stop it?" she asked ironically. The annoying man chuckled. "What is a beautiful young lady doing in a place like this?". M/C was about to retort but she stopped herself. That voice... she recognized it. No. It wasn't possible. She didn't turn her head, but just looked at him sideways. Years had passed but, aside from the bags under her eyes and his sharper face, he was as she remembered him. He wore his years well. He had his black Trilby half pulled down over his eyes, the only feral part of himself that he couldn't truly hide. She had always liked his eyes, that sparkle... no, she shouldn't think about it. How had he tracked her down? She tried to stay calm and think. Ren wasn't stupid. If he knew where she was, he most likely knew where her children were. Their children. Maybe he had already taken them. "how did you find me ?" "I thought that after so many years you would be happy to see me." She giggled at this, but it was a soft, sardonic laugh. She slowly nodded her head before replying, "I know why you're here." Ren grabbed her hand and covered it with his. For a moment she thought that he would drag her away from there, among the people, but he had limited himself to shaking her hand, without scratching it and to murmuring to her "I missed you". She finally looked at him, he had taken off his hat. Her hair had taken on some streaks but was well kept. She still found it beautiful. Damnation. "I'm sorry," she said again. She didn't even know why she was apologizing. The bartender came and asked him what he wanted, but he only replied that he was offering it to the lady, handing over a large denomination banknote. M/C had the terrible suspicion that he had drugged something she had already drunk but he, with a soft laugh, reassured her "I just want to help you. You have a lot of expenses to deal with". Ren slid a photo across the table. She was in the photo. And her children. She recognized the shot. They were at the awards ceremony of a competition. Inari, who had mostly inherited his father's vulpine characteristics, had made him the most suitable for sport. That day he had won the competition. At first she didn't even want any of them to do this kind of thing, after all they moved all the time, but after much insistence she had given in. "they grew up strong." M/C couldn't hold back any longer "what did you do to him ?" "me ? Still nothing. How could I? I wasn't the one who kept them away from their father" "don't play games with me. You know very well why I did it. And don't think it was easy for me" "I would have taken care of them. And of you too." She knew that last one was a hint at what he was doing. "How did I know ? From the little you told me about your family.... no matter how much time we spent together you were always so unpredictable Ren. " But she was certain of one thing. He attracted more than a few glances, especially given the location, but M/C didn't count on it too much. Once she left the club.... she knew what would happen, and also how it would end. And also what he was telling her. It was basically 'either come with me spontaneously or it will be worse for you'. Fuck you. This man... had turned her life upside down. She made another bad decision, she no longer cared about him. Ren would have done what he wanted anyway, so she tried hitting him with the glass, or throwing the contents at him anyway. But she was too drunk, too slow. Ren blocked her hand. He grabbed her hips—"I'm taking you home. You're not well"—and as she imagined, no one stopped them. No one noticed that, once outside her, he was pressing a chloroform cloth on her airways, that she was struggling but was too weak and he was too strong. No one noticed the black car with tinted windows on the corner. The last thing she saw before she fainted.