I consoled her worries for some time and took Amy out for food after.
I planned to buy some daily necessities along the way too.
After a whole day of tormenting, Amy fell asleep. When she woke up, she followed me around, so I asked, “Amy, do you have something you want to tell me?”
She looked at me with her bright and adorable eyes. “Ms. Stanhope, could you help to find my sister? I’ve been waiting for her for a long time. She told me she would come and get me, but I had not seen her for several days already.”
I had almost forgotten about Ann. For a fleeting moment, I looked at Amy, didn’t know how to answer her. After a moment’s silence, I said, “Amy, maybe Ann didn’t come to the city. She’s married.”
“No. Ann said she wouldn’t marry that idiot. So, she will definitely make an effort to escape. Ms. Stanhope, will you help me to find Ann?”
Amy sounded very insistent on finding Ann. It seemed like she was sure that the latter would escape from her husband.
Unwilling to strike Amy with the truths, I nodded in response and replied, “Of course. I will get someone to look for her. And, I will bring her here if I find her.”
Amy nodded when she heard my words. “Yay! I don’t need to worry that Ann will get lost when she comes to the city anymore,” said Amy as though she had gotten a load off her mind.
She was so sensible that it made me feel sorry for her. Holding her in my arms, I said, “Amy, we have to go to your hometown to visit your parents. Can you go with me?”
At that, she looked at me with her eyes wide opened and queried, “Ms. Stanhope, are you trying to send me back? Am I not good enough?”
I shook my head. “No. You are not registered as a citizen yet. So, I want to bring you back and ask your parents to help in this matter. After you’ve registered as a citizen, you can have the surgery legally.”
Upon hearing that, Amy nodded with a clueless face. The way she looked at me told me that she couldn’t understand much of what I had said. At that, I smiled at her while thinking about Hailey.
The next day.
I had told Cameron that I wanted to drive myself to Amy’s house, which was located in the countryside, beforehand, and she was worried after knowing that. In the morning, just as I stepped out of my house, I saw Boris standing beside the car in the yard.
He was an old man, but his appearance was well-maintained, so he looked middle-aged. When he saw me, he flashed me a faint smile and said, “Mr. Moore was worried about you. He wanted me to bring you there.”
I shrugged. “I should have known this.”
Without giving more thought to it, I got into his car with Amy. When he realized I brought many clothes and shoes, he frowned and queried, “Will we be gone long?”
I shook my head. “No. These are the clothes that Anthony bought for me every season. I rarely wear them. When the season changes, he will ask his men to send them to the recycling centres. So, I am thinking of giving them to Amy’s mother so that the clothes won’t go to waste.”
Then, he started up the car and said, “You’re so attentive, but that woman doesn’t deserve it.”
Upon hearing that, I frowned slightly and asked with a tone of disapproval, “Do you think that she is by no means a good person because she is cruel to her daughter?”
He nodded as he took a peek at Amy and replied, “She treats her children so badly. She is not fit to be a mother.”
Sighing slightly, I said, “When I was a kid, I lived in an alley in R Province with my Grandma. In the alley, there was a family of four. The man of the house was very hardworking. At that time, people in R Province relied on farming to make a living. Every day, the man left early for work and returned home late. Maybe because he had overstrained himself and his body became weak, one day, he fainted at the lake that supplied water for farming. That lake was not very deep, but he drowned. After his death, his wife left with their son, leaving their daughter at R Province. Back then, I didn’t understand why that woman did this. The little girl was more thoughtful than the little boy, but why didn’t that woman bring the former along? After that, the little girl lived with her grandmother. Her grandmother was a harsh person. She always beat and scolded the girl and starve her. I had seen her crying under the bridge a few times. My Grandma always asked me to bring her some food. But, that was not a good idea because sometimes, she would still have nothing to eat.
“One day, she borrowed some money from me. I gave her all the money that I had, just the two coins. I thought she wanted to buy something that she really wanted. But, never would I have expected that she had bought pesticide with it. She brought the pesticide to her father’s grave, drank it, and lay in front of the grave. I remember that she said this to me back then, ‘Some people are born without a choice. Everyone wants to show their best side to others, but to some people, life itself is a struggle. They can’t even make the effort to put on a show.’“
Hearing that, Boris remained silent. However, after we got on the highway, he suddenly spoke up, “Your parents didn’t stay by your side these years. Did you hate or blame them before?”
I was shocked when I heard his question because I was under the impression that he wasn’t a person who liked to ask about people’s internal affairs.
Then, I smiled faintly and replied, “It’s impossible that I don’t hate them at all. But more than the hatred is gratitude. I’m grateful that I was raised by Grandma, and I’m glad that I can marry Anthony. Although our lives are not the best, I am willing to strive hard to live. For these reasons, I should thank them for giving birth to me. Humans are no saints. I think they abandoned me for a reason. Maybe they faced some difficulties back then. So, I don’t blame them anymore.”
Staring at me, he said with remorse, “I am responsible for the incident that happened back then. I shouldn’t keep it from Mr. Moore. If he learned of your existence, maybe he would bring you back to the Moore family.”
To me, that was all in the past now. Hence, I let out a faint smile and replied, “Boris, there is no such thing as ‘if’ in this world.”
Smiling, he took a quick glance at Amy, who was sleeping on my legs, and said, “This child will have a different life after encountering you.”
I shrugged in response and remained silent. It was too early to jump to conclusions now. No one could tell if this was a good or bad thing.
After about eight hours, we arrived at the village. At that time, all of us were exhausted. Although we departed early in the morning, it was late when we reached the destination.
The cold spell hit the village in December, causing a drastic dip in the temperature. Just as I got out of the car, I shivered because the cold wind blew toward me. After a while, Amy woke up and opened her eyes slowly. Looking at the environment that she was familiar with, she said, “Ms. Stanhope, we’ve arrived.”
I gave her a nod and grabbed hold of her as we walked toward her house with the bags. Her house was not too far from our car, but the road was not easy to walk. Luckily, there was no rain recently. The soil was dry and hard, so it wasn’t that bad.
By the time we reached Ronald’s house, the sky was already dark. Hence, I couldn’t find the entrance. Looking at the dark house, I was a little worried. It’s already nine! Why there’s no one here? Where did they go?
Luckily, Amy was familiar with this place. She stood outside the door and called out to her parents. Not long after, someone opened the door slightly. A meek voice was heard coming from the inside, “Amy, is that you?”
After a short pause, Amy replied happily, “Ava, it’s me! Ms. Stanhope brings me back.” At that, she rushed into the house happily.
There was no light in the house. Hence, Boris turned on the torchlight. When he saw a seven-year-old child, he furrowed his brows unwittingly and queried, “Where are your parents?”
Ava held onto Amy’s hand and replied, “They work at the farm and haven’t come back yet.”
At that time, the light from the torch lit up in the house, and I could see a pot of vegetable stew on the cement floor. The dish looked like it had turned cold. Besides, the fire in the coal stove that provided heat to the house was almost extinguished.
I turned to look at Ava, who was trembling from the coldness, and asked, “It’s so cold, and you’re only wearing so little? Why don’t you burn more coal?”
She tugged on Amy’s arms and touched the latter’s clothes in envy as she replied, “Mom told me not to waste the coal when they are not home. I just need to cover myself with the blanket to keep warm. I will start the fire after they come home.”
Hearing that, I was overwhelmed by an inexplicable feeling. I think that doesn’t seem appropriate, but I did not say anything else. Then, I asked Boris to take all the food from the car and bring her a heavy jacket. After putting on the jacket for a while, she took off the jacket and kept it.
I was confounded. “Why don’t you wear it? The weather is cold. You’ll catch a cold if you don’t wear a few more layers.”
She shook her head and answered, “I want to save it for Christmas. If I have new clothes for Christmas, no one will make fun of me anymore this year.”
At that, Boris stood up and passed her the jacket again, and said in a serious manner, “Just keep it on. Ms. Stanhope will give you some new clothes too for Christmas.”
Upon hearing that, Ava was excited and put on the jacket as instructed.
About half an hour later, a sound came from outside. Ronald and his wife came back from work. Seeing that, Ava started the fire to heat the dishes up while Amy helped the former to add the firewood.
On the other hand, Boris and I walked out of the house. At the sight of us, Ronald was stunned before he could react. After that, he wore a wide grin and nervous expression on his face and queried, “Ms. Stanhope, what makes you come here? Did Amy cause trouble to you? Don’t worry. Everything can still be discussed!”
I frowned at what he said. It seemed that to them, the children were always wrong. Looking at him, I said, “Don’t think too much. Amy didn’t cause any trouble to me. We are here to discuss something with you.”
Ronald’s wife listened to our conversation as she unloaded the dried grass and radish from the car. The children were helping her too.
Upon hearing my words, she heaved a sigh of relief.
As night had fallen, I didn’t tell him the purpose of my visit until the next morning.
The next day, Ronald’s wife got up very early.
She brought a huge basket and left the house with her children, saying that she wanted to collect radish at the nearby field.
Ronald knew I had something to discuss with him. So he woke up early too. I said bluntly to him, “It’s like this. I knew you haven’t register Amy as a citizen. So, I want you to get citizenship for her, and we will pay for the fee. This will definitely bring benefits to you and Amy in the future.”

New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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