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. Stovall, 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. Stovall, 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 Ashton 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 Ashton. 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.”
