*  There's no friend as loyal as a book. *
***
     
   “ Goodbye, Honey. ” Joseph said, leaving a peck on her lips. “ Thank you. ” 
“ Have a great day and don't forget to take care of yourself and our little ones. ” Mira blushed seeing how he looked at her.  “ I will. ” She gave a reassuring smile as he embraced her. 
“ I love you. ” He smiled before releasing her. “ I love you more. ” 
Joseph watched Mira walk into her office building safety, before getting into his car and driving off. 
  Vera, who had been watching their interactions, tightened her fist.  “ What a show off. ” She was annoyed, but the thought of what would happen later made her smirk. 
   Hours later, Mira was summoned by her boss to his office.
She found herself wondering why, because the only time she had come in contact with her boss was during the interview and it's been more than a year since that happened. 
  “ I wonder what he will say. ” She thought aloud getting into the elevator. 
  She didn't notice anything unusual until the door closed and she found an unfamiliar man staring at her with lust filled eyes.
Almost immediately, warning alarms went off in her head. “ What's going on, Lord? ” she screamed in her mind.
She checked her wristwatch and realized that, it's been five minutes and yet the lift hadn't stopped, panic filled her and she started pressing the buttons frantically, but all to no avail.
“ There's no point in doing that. ” Her hands paused hearing the unfamiliar man speak.  “ We are stuck. ” 
“ We? ” she turned to see him smirking at her.  “ You are stuck with me, Baby. ” he grinned. 
“ Who are you? ” Though her voice was calm, she was screaming inwardly.
“ Someone you don't have to know. ” He started advancing towards her and she subconsciously began taking steps backwards until she hit the wall. 
 “ Tch, tch, tch. ” He gave a mischievous smile, trapping her, between his arms. 
Mira felt uncomfortable under his hold and found herself tightening her fists.  “ God help me. ” 
“ You are beautiful. ” He tried caressing her face, but she dodged him.  
      “ Let me go. ” Her voice sounded more like a demand, than a plea.
“ Not so soon, Baby. ” He swallowed his saliva, watching her. 
“ How about we make a bargain? ” Seeing her disinterest, he continued anyway.  “ You give me what I want and I'll let you go? ” 
“ What do you want? ” Her gaze was fierce, capable of boring holes into him.  “ You. ” she felt a sick feeling in her stomach hearing that. 
“ I reject it. ”
“ It's not like you've got a choice, Baby. ” He grabbed her before she could move and she screamed. 
Her life flew before her eyes when he slapped her. Almost immediately, images flew before her… not of hers but of … in a book she read where the female lead was raped. 
*  Atonement child. *
   “ Will this really happen to me, Lord? ” Almost immediately, she felt the urge to vomit and it came all out before she could control herself. 
“ Disgusting. ” The man pushed her to the wall out of annoyance. 
“ You bitch. ” He ran towards her, aiming to hit her again when the door opened instantly. 
    Out of the corner of her eye, Mira caught sight of her husband. “ Jose. ” She called out to him, but she passed out just before he could reach her.  “ Hang on, Babe. ” He said, lifting her up in his arms. 
“ You know what to do. ” He nodded at the police men before he walked out. 
   The man was handcuffed before he could escape. “ I didn't do anything! ” he struggled. 
“ Keep quiet. ” One word from them sent chills down his spine. 
He caught sight of Vera Lynn as she tried to escape. “ Catch her. She sent me. ” He didn't realize the intensity of his words until it came out of his mouth, but it was too late. 
   The officer nodded at the security guard who Immediately got the signal and went after her.  “ Let me go. ” Vera Lynn kicked frantically on being caught. 
Why did she stay? 
She should have left and not have waited to see her plan play out.
“ You are going nowhere. ” He said before handing her over to the female officer and she was handcuffed. 
Vera saw the ambulance going out of the building and she felt pained. “ Why is she always unlucky? ” 
“ Why? ” 
The felt day she saw, Mira. 
She hated her. 
Not because she was beautiful, but also because she had Joseph.
She doesn't deserve Joseph! Not now and not ever!
 Many times, she tried to separate them but they always got back together.
And she always wondered why.
Is it because the love between the duo was strong? 
But Joseph loved her too, right? 
Why then was it so easy for him to leave her? 
Not only Joseph but Aaron too!
Her parents abandoned her.
Her siblings turned their backs on her.
Is she that bad? 
Didn't she deserve to be loved too?
She was beautiful and elegant, so why?
Why does she always have to beg for love? 
When Aaron abandoned her, she thought she could get him back if she tried to make him jealous by going out with someone to make him jealous.
But it didn't work!
Rather, things got worse as he soon began to treat her like air. 
Last time she met him, he was with a new girl at the mall.
Why is life so hard on her?
Why?
Her parents never loved her, so she tried her best to blend in with the popular girls so she could feel loved.
She had actually fallen in love with Joseph midway through their dating process. 
Then she had thought of quitting the ploy, but it was too late. 
She feared losing her friends who made her feel loved and respected.
Losing them will feel like losing everything.
But she lost them in the end, didn't she? 
  She lost everything despite all her sacrifices.
“ Maybe I don't deserve to be happy. ”
“ Maybe I don't deserve to be loved. ”
I'm probably too irredeemable to be redeemed. 
Why don't I just die? 
Why don't I just do that and end it all? 
“ Maybe I shouldn't have been born! I'm a mistake. ” 
“ You are not a mistake… I crafted you in your mother's womb. I love you so much that I sent my only begotten son Jesus Christ to die for your sin. I love you with an everlasting love. ” that deep small voice rang in her heart. 
“ Who are you? ” 
“ I am your creator, the only one of Israel, I gave people for thee, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. ” 
“ I don't deserve your love, I am a mess. ”
“ I specialize in converting people's messes into messages and I am a master at fixing broken vessels. ”
“ After all I have done? ” Vera couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her parents had hated her before she was born. They termed her a mistake. She overheard her mom talking about how her birth made her stuck in a marriage she didn't want. 
So if her parents didn't want her, who else would? 
She was heard saying that there's no love that can be compared to the love of a parent.
So if her parents didn't love her, who would? 
“ I am your God. I loved you even before you were created and I will keep loving you till the end of time. ”
   “ What do I do to receive your love? ”
“ All you need to do is to surrender your life to me. ” 
“ How? ” 
The words came to her heart before she could think. “ Lord Jesus. I acknowledge that I am a sinner and I surrender all to you. Forgive me of my sins. Accept me into your kingdom. Come and reign in my life. Make me your child. Let me experience your love everyday of my life. In Jesus name, I have prayed. ”
“ Amen. ” The moment she said the last word, she felt a kind of peace that passed all understanding surrounded her and for the first time in her life. She felt alive and free.
When you are in Christ old things have passed away and everything is becoming new. 
All of a sudden, she didn't mind that she was in a police car or what her life would turn out to be. 
The feeling she had made her feel enough and loved and it was too beautiful to be true.
How could I have missed this all this while? She thought bemused.
“ I want to use you, Daughter. ”
“ Here I am, God use me. ”
….
A/N : What a beautiful chapter! What do you think, guys?