Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“Why do you only have one gift?” Roman asked. “Do you favor one? That will make him a target.”
Millie tsked. “There is a box in the trunk, next to all the brownies and cupcakes I’ve made. Alex has been making them kids gifts for as long as I can remember. When she wasn’t studying, she was sewing. The only kid’s sweater she had left to do was Stuart’s. The only reason she is holding it is because he’s so withdrawn. He doesn’t like to get involved, and the kids know that.” Millie shook her head. “Where do they make men like you? Always so suspicious.”
Alex stared out the window, no longer caring to justify her actions. Roman was always going to see the worst in her. She didn’t know why he felt like she was this evil person or someone he couldn’t trust, but if she was being honest with herself, she was tired of it. Tired of him constantly putting her down.
The battles. It was exhausting.
The journey wasn’t long, and Millie ended up shouting at Antonio to stop when they came toward a private residence.
Millie climbed out and typed in the code instead of telling Antonio and the car full of people the access to the orphanage. The gates opened, and Millie climbed back inside.
“Does this help you to understand why Liam was happy for Alex to come to the orphanage? It’s protected. He would never put his daughter in any danger.”
Millie continued to shake her head, and Alex just stayed quiet.
There was no reason to add insult to injury.
This was her life.
Her father had told her since she was a little girl that he would do everything in his power to protect her. That she would never know fear or pain. He wasn’t accurate as she had experienced both, but each time, he’d been there to fight everyone else off.
As she climbed out of the car, the front door opened, and the moment the kids saw her, they came running. All of them wrapping their arms around her. She had spent so much time with these kids. Boys and girls. She was there when they were adopted, and she always asked her father to make sure they were happy.
She also received regular letters from kids who had been adopted, which she loved.
“Ice cream, cake, and brownies,” Millie said.
The kids cheered.
“Now, who wants to see what Alex got you all?” Millie asked.
Alex’s cheeks heated as they all screamed in delight, and the box she had spent a couple of months filling was held open. Millie started to hand out the gifts. Each one was labeled for each child.
Carla, a little eight-year-old girl, came to her, tugging at her shirt. “He’s in the dining room. Under the table.”
She smiled at the young girl and stroked her cheek. “Thank you.”
The young girl’s name was called, and Alex made her way inside the house. She found Stuart sitting in the middle of the table, underneath it.
Getting to her knees, she smiled at the young boy. His eyes went wide. “Alex?”
“Hey, buddy, can I enter?”
He nodded, and she crawled under the table. The moment she was close, Stuart wrapped his arms around her, pressing his face against her stomach. “I missed you,” he said.
She put her hand on his back. “I missed you too, buddy. So, so much.”
“They said you were taken. That you weren’t going to come back.”
“That’s not true. I … I got married to a man, and he … he didn’t know that I came here. Daddy is sorting everything out, and hopefully when it is all fixed, I can come here all the time.”
It broke her heart seeing how tired and scared Stuart was. When she came to visit him every single day, he started to get stronger, confident. All that hard work had been undone.
“I made you something.” She held out the wrapped sweater, and Stuart took it, staying as close to her as possible.
He tore into the wrapping, and without looking at it properly, he pulled it on. “I love it.”
His arms went around her. “Don’t leave.”
“Not for a few hours. We have cake, ice cream, and brownies. I know they’re your favorite.”
Stuart held her, and she smiled, not wanting to show him her sadness.
“Or we can stay right here, and just … be safe.” Being under the table always made Stuart feel safe.
Alex stared across the floor and saw several pairs of feet, and she knew they belonged to Roman and his friends. She didn’t care what they heard. They all already had a bad opinion of her based off some stupid test.
They could go and suck it, not that she’d tell that to their faces. No, she was happy to stay under the table because the truth was, she was just as scared as Stuart, but she had different reasons to be.