A new beginning

Willow’s POV

A strangely familiar smell of antiseptic wafted into my nostrils, as I came to. Opening my eyes, I saw four masculine silhouettes hovering over me.

“Can you see us, Willow?” A deep voice came from the cluster of silhouettes, as I blinked in quick succession to clear up my foggy vision.

A moment later, I could see everything candidly.

Grandpa and Seth were standing over my bed, on either sides, alongside two men who he shared an uncanny resemblance with—my other brothers.

“Yes.” My voice came out in a rasp, “How long was I out?”

“Seven hours,” Seth replied, “How do you feel? Do you need food? Water? Anything?”

“Stop disturbing her with questions, Seth. She just woke up.” One of my other brothers, who was clad in a grey suit uttered, “I’m Asher, your eldest brother. It’s nice to finally meet you, Willow.”

“Come on, Asher. Willow is our little sister, not your business partner. There’s no need to be extremely formal,” My other brother scoffed, before placing his hand on my free hand, “Pardon Asher, heading our family’s chains of businesses, has made him a robot. My name is Hudson, I’m your second eldest brother. Welcome home, little sister.”

For the first time in my life, I felt loved.

I didn’t feel like a burden. I didn’t feel out of place. Even the invisible load that used to constantly weigh on my chest was no longer there.

I didn’t realize I had started crying until I felt tears streaming down my cheeks, and my brothers, and grandfather started looking at me with pity.

“Sweetheart, are you in pain? Would you like me to get you the doctor?” Grandpa asked, peering into my eyes.

“N-No. I am just overwhelmed,” I croaked out, and upon seeing my brothers exchange puzzled looks among themselves, I added, “In a positive way.”

“That’s a relief,” Asher replied, “But if Hudson gets too loud for your comfort, tell me and I will have him removed from this room, okay?”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Hudson defended himself, while Seth and grandpa looked done with them both, “You will see, I will be her favorite brother, because I have so much love to give her.”

His statement warmed my heart, and I had to press my lips into a thin line, so as not to bawl out my eyes.

“I can teach you how to drown them out like I always do whenever they start bickering,” Seth offered, “Trust me, Willow, you will need that skill as time goes on.”

All my life, I’d always been laughed at by my former family, never laughed with, so at that moment, I was beside myself with mirth.

“That reminds me,” Hudson spoke after a moment, the sudden sternness of his expression making my heart palpitate, “The doctor told us that you lost a lot of blood. She told us you barely had three pints of blood in you. What were those people doing to you?”

Only then did I feel slightly relaxed again.

Clutching my hands together, I recounted how I’d been forced to donate blood to their daughter to cure her anemia.

“So they bought you from an illegal baby farm just to treat you like that after adopting another daughter,” Seth spoke what’d been my initial thoughts after I discovered the truth, “Nefarious fuckers. That is what they are.”

“Language, Seth,” Grandpa chided before looking at me, “You don’t have to worry about those people or anything else at that forever. You have us to do that for you, okay?”

“Okay.” I said, grateful.

“They have successfully landed themselves a second lawsuit for neglectful treatment,” Hudson said, then added, his gaze fixated on me, “I forgot to add that I’m a lawyer.”

A very successful one at that. He even has his own law firm. The biggest in the entire country.” Seth revealed, as he clapped Hudson on his back.

“Wow,” I muttered, mulling over his statement as the first part struck me, “You already filed a first lawsuit?”

“Yes, for illegal adoption,” He replied, “Are there other things you want me to include in the second lawsuit?”

I shook my head in negation, my fingers burrowing into the fabric of the bedsheet.

“Could you please drop the lawsuit?” I asked, and a terse silence fell over the room.

“What?” Hudson asked, incredulity warping his countenance.

“That’s what I want please,” I said, “I really don’t want to do any form of legal back and forth with them. Can you let it go?”

“Why would you want that?” Seth blurted out, causing me to swallow harshly.

“He’s right, Willow. They committed heinous crimes against you, and should bear the brunt.” Asher added.

Pinching the middle of his forehead, Hudson sighed, “Okay. I will do your bidding, even though what I truly want is to deal with them legally. But your choice is the only thing that matters.”

“Thank you,” I said, reprieved.

“No problem, Willow. Just let me know if you ever change your mind and decide to sue them, alright?”

“Alright.” I replied, knowing fully well that it wouldn’t happen.

I had chosen to let them go scot free as my final act of kindness towards them.

“What matters most is that Willow is back to us.” Grandpa said.

And that, my brothers fully agreed to.

+

Erin’s POV

“Unappreciative lots. That is what the Crawford are!” Dad snarled, slamming his hand against the desk.

Two hours ago, his lawyer, who was present here in the study with dad, mum, Raphael, and I, had notified him that the Crawfords had filed a lawsuit against him for the illegal adoption of Willow.

I had been gleeful, thinking I’d finally triumphed over Willow, just for her to end up being the long lost daughter of dad’s wealthy guest.

Honestly, it was crazy how mum and dad had hidden it from us all these years.

“Please calm down, dad,” I said in my mellowest voice, “We don’t want your blood pressure flaring up.”

“You are right, sunshine,” He replied, with a nod, “I just can’t control my rage. We also have to start looking for other alternatives for your anemia.”

I swallowed, feigning a weak, sullen smile, “Let’s settle the lawsuit first before thinking about me. I can make do with iron supplements in the meantime.”

“You are such a considerate darling unlike that brutal wench,” Mum said, stroking my hair before focusing on the lawyer, “What is the plan to get us out of this mess?”

“Yes. We could argue that you two never knew it was a baby farm disguised as a non profit. We can also present her diary,” He replied, “That should make the judge and jury understand that she’s not innocent in this matter.”

The second part of his statement made me freeze.

If the court analyzed Willow’s diary, they would discover that I’d forged her writing, and I’d be in a cesspool of legal troubles.

Then, I realized that I could simply burn the diary. It was still in my care after all.

“I don’t think we should use her diary against her,” I quipped, feigning consideration, “Willow wrote all those things from a place of pain. She might be doing all these to us right now, but we shouldn’t forget that she was familiar at one point.”

“Oh, Erin. You are too pure for this world.” Mum cooed, cupping my face gently, “Unfortunately, we can’t do that.”

“Exactly!” Raphael inputted,“ Did you see how Willow was so quick to throw you and dad to the dogs yesterday?”

The moment was forever ingrained into my mind, not because of how humiliated dad and mum had seemed, but because it’d made me realize that Willow was no longer below me.

According to dad, the Crawfords were a major pillar of the country, and she had now become the only daughter among three prominent sons.

One of whom was Seth Crawford, an extremely popular actor, who’d been the object of my best friend’s obsession since forever.

I could imagine how pissed she’d be to learn that he was Willow’s brother all along.

“How could I forget that?” Dad grumbled, just as the lawyer’s phone rang.

“Excuse me.” The middle-aged man uttered, before taking the call, and stepping to a lone corner of the study.

After minutes of him conversing in a hushed tone with the person over the phone, he ended the call and walked back to us.

“The lawsuit has been dropped.” He announced.