The CEO's Seductive Doll-Chapter 86: The World Isn’t a Safe Place for the Doll

"That’s it for today’s class!" Olivia announced, stretching her arms upward as if she were the one who got drained with all the information driven inside her brain in a matter of an hour and a half.

"Thank you for today’s literature class, Olivia," Eternity said before confessing to the tutor. "Though I honestly thought we’d be discussing Shakespeare and not..."

"Rick Riordon?" Olivia finished for her, giggling.

Eternity hesitantly nodded.

"Well," Olivia began her explanation. "The ’Percy Jackson series’ is a literary masterpiece of its own. Plus, this series also talks about Greek mythology, so we’re hitting two birds with one stone."

"Oh!" Eternity exclaimed. "So that’s the logic behind it being our first lesson."

"Another plus," Olivia added with a child-like smile. "I loved reading Percy Jackson when I was a kid."

"Aren’t you technically still a kid?" Eternity raised an eyebrow.

Olivia gave a shrug, saying, "You know what I mean."

Eternity could only chuckle in amusement.

"So," Eternity drawled. "About the field trip..."

"Oh, yes," Olivia said. "Is there any particular place you have in mind?"

Eternity expressed her lack of preferences with a shake of her head.

"I don’t know much about Berlin." Eternity confessed. "Much less its attractions."

"Well, lucky for you!" Olivia said it with a grin. "I happen to know a few places that might pique your interest!"

***

"I’m back." Evan returned to his apartment, half-expecting Eternity to be by their doorstep, waiting patiently for him like she usually did.

But much to his disappointment, she wasn’t there.

"Maybe she’s still on her field trip with that Wilde girl Freiheit recommended to me," Evan muttered as he glanced at his watch.

It was already 18:38.

’Her field trip should’ve ended by 15:00. Was an hour and a half not enough time for a field trip?’ Evan thought before realizing that his question was stupid. ’Of course it wasn’t.’

Heading inside, Evan was about to head to the kitchen-dining room to get something to drink when he saw down the hallway that the light in Eternity’s room was on.

’She’s here?’ Evan frowned as he headed to her room instead.

Her door was wide open; that’s why the light from the inside was seeping out of it. Evan peered inside her room, only to see Eternity sitting on her bed with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Eternity?" Evan called out, entering her room.

This seemed to have snapped Eternity out of her daydream.

She spoke in a tone that was missing the joy she usually showed whenever Evan returned home: "Oh, Evan. I did not realize you had already arrived."

"I can see that," Evan said, sitting beside her on the bed. "You okay?"

Eternity didn’t know how to respond to his question. Instead, her body grew tense.

"Eternity?" he repeated, his anxiety growing with each passing second. "Did your tutoring session not meet your expectations?"

Eternity shook her head.

"No, it’s not that." She assured. "My tutoring sessions with Miss Pracks, Mrs. Morales, and Olivia went perfectly."

"But?" Evan probed, noticing that she was on a first-name basis with the tutor Freiheit specially recommended to him.

With a heavy sigh, Eternity let her shoulders droop as if the world were pressing down on them.

"It’s the field trip."

"Was the field trip uninteresting?" Evan probed. "Or was your guide, that Wilde girl, not good at her job?"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Eternity vehemently denied. "Olivia did amazing with guiding me around Berlin! It’s just that..."

Evan’s brows furrowed with concern as he listened to Eternity’s words. He had never seen her express such distress before, and it worried him deeply.

"What do you mean, Eternity?" Evan asked softly, reaching out to gently place a hand on her shoulder.

Eternity took a deep breath, trying to compose herself before she spoke again.

"During our field trip, Olivia took me to see various landmarks in Berlin, like the Berlin Wall Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, and the East Side Gallery." Eternity started. "Everything was going well, and I was enjoying learning about the history and culture of the city."

"But then..." Evan probed again, sensing there was more to the story.

"But then, as we were walking through a busy street, a group of men started catcalling and making inappropriate comments towards us," Eternity said, her voice trembling with unease. "Olivia told me to ignore them and kept walking, but they followed us, getting closer and more aggressive with their remarks."

Evan’s jaw clenched in anger at the thought of anyone harassing Eternity. "What did you do?"

"I... I didn’t know what to do," Eternity admitted, her eyes filled with guilt that should’ve been there in the first place. "I felt scared and helpless, like I was being violated just for existing as a woman."

Evan’s heart ached at the pain evident in Eternity’s voice. He wished he could do something to protect her from such harassment, but Evan knew that his attitude towards women was promoting such actions in the first place.

Even if he wasn’t the one who did the harassing, he was as guilty as those scums.

"I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Eternity," Evan said before pulling her into a tight embrace. "I’m really sorry."

"I feel like a fool," Eternity scoffed at herself, and Evan slowly felt his shirt growing damp from her tears. "I knew this world wasn’t a safe place for women, but I only found out about its severity 𝘐 when was the one experiencing it myself."

At the last word, her voice cracked, and she broke down in a fit of tears.

"I just don’t understand why some people think it’s okay to treat others with such disrespect and cruelty."

"I wish I had an answer for you," Evan replied, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "But all I can promise is that as long as I’m here, I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe and protect you from harm."

Eternity looked up at Evan, her eyes shining with gratitude and tears.

"Thank you, Evan."