Chapter 45: Chapter 45

I thought everything would be easy, but in reality it was getting harder and harder for me to go through without Adrian. What hurts more than missing someone without being able to say it to that person?

Crying until my eyes were swollen didn't describe me, but that's what I did. Some days I didn't want to leave my room. My heart was so broken. The people closest to me crushed me in one beat. I didn't know how much harder it would be to forget than to forgive until that day.

After knowing what happened and what Rainy did to me, Sarah kept apologizing to me for the disgraceful treatment of her daughter. I became uncomfortable around her because of her apologies for mistakes she didn't even commit. The door of forgiveness was indeed as wide as the ocean, but forgetting all the painful things was very difficult for me.

I kept avoiding people, my father, Sarah, and even Ashton. Nothing was the same for me anymore. And I just needed to kill my time alone. Because of that, I found something new for me to do. For the past two days I had often visited the Orphanage: Angel's Home. I found happiness there. And today I intended to go there again and of course all by myself.

The smiles and joy of the children when they greeted me really gave me a feeling of peace. They were so eager to queue up to pick up the snacks and toys that I brought for them. I could sit for a long time, just chatting and playing with them without thinking about all the sadness that was currently plaguing my life. They really healed me.

It was already three o'clock in the afternoon, I had to hurry home. I felt like I wanted to be there longer, why does time have to move so fast?

Sighing, I got up to say goodbye when suddenly all the children came running towards the main door. I was curious and followed them to find out what was behind the sudden commotion. Two middle-aged men came and brought them more snacks and more expensive and modern toys. I smiled at the sight while grateful that there were still so many good people willing to share their fortune.

I then said goodbye to Mrs. Clarissa, one of the sisters at the orphanage to go home when the two middle-aged men suddenly fixed their eyes on me.

"Good afternoon, Miss." said one of them.

I smiled and greeted them back politely.

"You want to go home already?" he asked again as he saw me take my car key out of my bag.

"Yeah, I've been here since this morning. Now I have to go home or my parents will be worried," I explained, smiling at him and then at the middle-aged man next to him who I believed was his brother. The difference was that he was more reserved than the middle aged man I started chatting with.

With my answer, the two exchanged glances. I was waiting for their response when Alia, one of the children living in the orphanage, pulled the hem of my shirt.

"You don't want to be here a little longer? At least for today. My beloved cat has not been seen for a few days. I got so sad,"

"Oh Alia, come here." I took Alia into my arms. We shared a warm, comforting hug. "I'll help you find your cat, okay?"

"We will also be happy to help you, Alia. Where was the last time your cat was?" asked the middle-aged man who was still standing where he was. "Oh well, we forgot to introduce ourselves to you. I'm Danny, and this is my brother, Andre. A few days ago we found out about this orphanage and immediately wanted to come visit,"

"Hello Danny. Hello Andre," greeted Alia kindly. I smiled and nodded at both of them.

"Okay, let's go look for it now. What do you think?" asked Danny who looked eager to help Alia.

Alia nodded and immediately took the lead towards the exit. That made Danny speed up his steps to walk hand in hand with her. While I just walked behind them along with Andre. He was very quiet, which made me think about being the first to start small talk with him.

"So Andre, how many children do you have?"

My question got an answer beyond my expectations. Andre suddenly coughed loudly at my question. Is my question wrong? Doesn't he have children yet?

"He's not even married yet," chuckled Danny as he continued walking.

"Gosh, sorry. I didn't know. I just wanted to chat with you," I said to Andre while rubbing the back of his shoulder to relieve his cough.

"It's okay," replied Andre. To be honest his voice sounded pretty weird, but I put that aside. At least he finally said the word.

I smiled to find Andre just staring at me afterwards. It made me wonder what was in his head. It was the first time I met Andre and Danny, but I had a feeling they were good people.

We finally arrived at the park near the orphanage according to what Alia said the last time she saw her beloved cat. The search began.

Even though they had just known each other, Alia and Danny quickly became friends. They searched together while playing together in the park. I was even more doubtful that Alia really wanted to find her cat, because instead she was focused on playing catch-up with Danny.

I chose to sit on a park bench while Andre just stood next to me.

"Sit down," I patted the empty space on the bench where Andre could sit. "Today's weather is beautiful, isn't it? The last few days it's been raining continuously in the city,"

Andre just nodded then sat next to me, giving distance so he wouldn't get too close to me.

"You don't seem like the talkative type, do you?" I asked again, somehow I became curious about Andre. Even so I was not ashamed to continue to invite him to chat with me. He was older than me, so I guessed he could understand my attitude.

Andre just gave me a look before finally clearing his throat. "You won't give up until you can make me talk to you, huh?"

I chuckled in affirmation of Andre's question. "I only talk to people I think are good people,"

My words made Andre look back at me, this time his gaze was familiar. Someone once looked at me the same way, and it hurt to know that person was gone from my life. I immediately turned my eyes away from him, towards Danny and Alia who were now playing on the swings.

"You can't conclude that someone is a good person in just one meeting. That person could have become a killer in a police chase,"

"That's creepy," I teased then smiled while Andre's eyes were still on me. "But I believe you and Danny are not bad people,"

Andre again said nothing. He just put his hands inside the fur jacket he was wearing.

"It's getting dark, I think they are busy playing instead of looking for the poor cat."

I was about to stand up when Andre's voice stopped me. That made me turn back to him. He looked at me, but what I noticed was discomfort in his eyes.

"Your name, you haven't told us your name yet."

My mouth hanged open at Andre's words, but after that I smiled. He didn't believe me, moreover I even forgot to tell my name. How could I forget to introduce myself?

"Gosh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm sorry. Mabel, my name is Mabel."

Andre nodded slowly. "Are you coming to the orphanage tomorrow? Me and Danny intend to come again,"

"We'll see," I replied with a sweet smile, finding that finally Andre wanted to start a conversation with me.

We ended up going back to the orphanage without finding the lost cat. Even so, Alia was very happy and ended up falling asleep due to exhaustion. I myself felt relieved, at least my day was not wasted like when I locked myself in my room and felt almost crazy with everything that happened.

Visiting hours for the orphanage was also coming to an end, I decided to say goodbye to everyone and headed straight to my car. I sighed softly, unprepared to return to the mansion and wrestle with my thoughts in the darkness. But I had to go home, or my father would bombard me with a thousand over questions.

"See you tomorrow, Mabel." said Andre, making me realize his car parked right next to mine. He waved his hand then closed his car window. Danny also said goodbye then got into the car and their car just drove away.

It was great to be able to spend time with positive vibes people like them.

Coming home, I thought I would be struck by silence, but I guessed wrong. Ashton was already leaning against the door waiting for me.

"Where have you been?" Ashton asked, taking off his sunglasses. He looked at me full of interrogation.

"I just finished calming my mind, getting some fresh air, and shaking off my fatigue." I replied, taking a step past Ashton when he spoke again.

"You keep dodging everyone and sneaking off somewhere and God only knows what you did,"

"At least I didn't commit a sin, Ash." I replied while giving him a sharp look. His indirect accusation was clearly dangerous if my father heard it.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to be there for you in these difficult times." Ashton sighed, his gaze on me softening.

"Thank you, Ash. But this time, I just need myself. I appreciate your concern and kind intentions, but really, I just need to get back to my old self. I need to recover,"

My explanation made Ashton nod as he approached me. He tapped me on the shoulder. "But if you need someone beside you, know that I will be the first to come."

I just smiled to find Ashton, my childhood friend back to how he used to be. We were back to each other. Isn't this what I originally wanted before everything changed drastically?

"Can I accompany you for dinner tonight?"

"Of course, let's cook our favorite food." I said, immediately leading the way to the kitchen. "Go get the ingredients from the refrigerator, I need to take a quick shower."

"All right, boss."

I chuckled as I climbed the stairs and accidentally ran into Sarah.

"Hi, Mabel."

When was the last time I saw Sarah? I kept avoiding her as much as I could. She also only knocked on my door to bring food and of course always apologized.

I just nodded to Sarah and wanted to get past her, but I couldn't. She was still my stepmother and no matter how hard I tried to avoid her, I would still meet her because we lived under the same roof.

"Me and Ashton will be cooking for dinner tonight,"

"That's great," Sarah smiled gently. "Can I join you guys? I can help,"

I nodded and ran straight to my room. Taking a shower made my head feel cold. I knew tonight would be a different night since what happened. There was nothing I looked forward to, other than the return of my family together.

I had already let go of what happened, but my mind was still wondering why did it have to be Adrian who hurt me? Why should it be him? If he never had that terrible plan I bet he would still be with me today. Such a painful thought.

I shook my head, letting go of anything about Adrian. I didn't want to think about him anymore, miss him anymore, even dream of him in my sleep anymore. I had had enough of everything.

I needed to move on.