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“Didn’t I ask you not to involve me?” The person on the phone sounded irritated.
Sasha’s voice carried a trace of panic. “What do we do now? I suspect Gordon wants to
investigate further into our affairs. If he finds out about us, that’s going to be disastrous.”
“I already guessed as much. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him!” The mysterious person
hung up the call after that.
Meanwhile, Gordon had just driven over to the orphanage in the county.
Back then, during that terrible incident, he had found Sasha there.
When his daughter had gone missing, he had sent out a city-wide missing person alert,
and the director of the orphanage had contacted him, saying that they had found a girl by
the riverside.
When Sasha was found, she was already injured beyond recognition and covered in blood.
It was a terrible sight. There were limited medical facilities at the orphanage, so the
personnel there were only able to treat her more superficial wounds, but not the injuries
on her face.
Gordon and his wife had taken the girl for a paternity test after that. They had only given
permission for her to be treated at the hospital after they had confirmed that Sasha was
indeed their daughter.
All these memories kept drifting through Gordon’s mind. Before he realized it, he had
already arrived at the orphanage.
It had been almost a decade since he last visited this place. He was shocked to discover
that it was even more run-down compared to how he remembered it from ten years ago.
The orphanage gate itself was already pretty dilapidated. When he opened the door and
went in, there were only a few people there. The entire atmosphere was depressing.
“Someone’s here! Someone’s here!” A few children came running to the door, shouting
excitedly. They were dressed in shabby, worn-out clothes and their faces had an unhealthy
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtsallow tinge. They looked as if they had not eaten properly in quite a while.
Several other children emerged after that, followed by a woman in a blue uniform.
“What on earth are you yelling about? Are you trying to bring the house down?” The
children scattered in fright at the woman’s stern voice.
Gordon knitted his brows together as he watched the chaotic scene in front of him.
When the woman saw Gordon, her stern, forbidding expression relaxed considerably.
“Good day, sir. Are you here for an adoption?” She asked eagerly.
Gordon shook his head. “No, I need to see your director about something important.”
“Our director?” The woman sighed. “Didn’t you know? She’s passed away. It’s been quite a
few years already.”
“What? She’s passed away? What happened?” Gordon remembered that the orphanage
director had been fairly young. Ten years ago, she had been around forty. She would only
have been around fifty or so now.
“Yes, she’s been dead for about ten years. A fire suddenly broke out in the orphanage. The
director tried to save the children and perished in the flames,” the woman explained
quietly with yet another sigh.
“I see.” Gordon nodded slowly. At the same time, a trace of suspicion surfaced in his mind.
Why did it seem almost too much of a coincidence? Right at the time when he had
adopted Sasha, the orphanage director had died. Furthermore, she had perished in a fire,
which would have had conveniently destroyed any records kept in the orphanage.
“In that case, do you know if the orphanage doctor from ten years ago is still around?”
Gordon asked.
“Oh, it’s Dr. you’re wanting, is it?” The woman chuckled. “Dr. Fenton’s fine. He took early
retirement, and he’s just passing his days at home now.”
“Do you have Dr. Fenton’s address?”
“Yes, I do. Hold on, I’ll write it down for you.” The woman reached for a pen and a slip of
paper, then wrote an address down and handed it to Gordon. “This is where he lives.”
Gordon ran an eye over the address. “Thank you.”
He took his leave after that. From the orphanage, he drove to Dr. Fenton’s residence.
When he finally reached the place, Gordon parked at a run-down block of residential flats
and went up the stairs after consulting the address the woman had written down. He
came to a dilapidated door and knocked on it.
After a little while, an elderly voice called out, “Who’s there?”
“Good day Dr. Fenton. I’m here to see you because I need something confirmed,” Gordon
replied courteously.
A series of rustling sounds came from behind the closed door. Not long after that, the door
cracked open, and an old, hoary face peered out, fixing its gaze on Gordon’s face.
“Hello, Doctor. My name is Gordon White,” Gordon said. “Is this a convenient time to
speak with you?”
Dr. Fenton eyed Gordon suspiciously, weighing him up, then opened the door fully. “Alright,
come in then.”
…
Leah went back to her room, buried her head in her pillow, and went to sleep. Her slumber
was uneasy, however, and she drifted into a bizarre nightmare.
In the dream, she was in a garden. The faces of the people around her kept changing. One
moment, it was Jane, the next moment, it was someone else. These people all addressed
her as “Ms. White” and smiled pleasantly at her.
Suddenly, the scenario changed. A wave of water surged toward her. She could hear
shrieks and screams for help coming from beside her. Right after that, it seemed as if a
man had come to her rescue, but she was dazed and could not open her eyes. However,
she was faintly conscious that there seemed to be a woman crying, and a man speaking
next to her.
“It’s a girl.”
“Leah, don’t worry, I’ve got a plan, we’ll…”
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLeah jolted awake in a cold sweat. Slowly she sat up, staring dumbly at the window.
The rays of the setting sun illuminated the exterior of the White family mansion, but it was
dark in the room as the lights were off. Leah’s gaze was distant, her expression half-
hidden in the shadows.
In her dream, she could not open her eyes, so she did not know the identity of the man
who spoke. Nonetheless…she somehow felt that he sounded very familiar. Her head
began to ache with a dull, throbbing pain. It felt as if something wanted to break free from
the confines of her brain and force its way out.
Someone knocked on the door, interrupting her thoughts. Leah pulled herself together and
called out, “Who’s there?”
“It’s me,” Jane’s warm voice called. “It’s time for dinner, Leah, get up now.”
Leah got out of bed and opened the door. “I’ll come down now.”
Jane studied her worriedly. “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly so pale?”
“I had a nightmare, that’s all.” Leah shook her head and followed Jane downstairs. She sat
down at the dining table.
There were only three people there, herself included.
Leah asked, puzzled, “Where’s Dad?”
“He had to go out for a while,” Jane replied, spooning a mound of stew onto Leah’s plate.
“You need to eat a bit more meat; look at how skinny you are now.”
Sasha watched as Mrs. White scooped food onto Leah’s plate. However, even though she
waited for a while, Mrs. White did not serve food to her. Suddenly, she lost her appetite
and put down her spoon. “I’m full,” she said abruptly, then left the table at once.
“What’s the matter with Sasha?” Leah asked, looking rather confused.
Jane merely shook her head. “Perhaps she doesn’t feel like eating. Ahh, yes, I have
something to tell you.”
“What is it?” Leah asked curiously.
“Mrs. Sanders has invited me to tea tomorrow, so I won’t come home to eat. If you’d like,
you can invite some friends out for a meal,” Jane replied, smiling warmly.
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