جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 240

Rachel’s tears fell onto my hand as she cried and called out to me. But I just yelled, “Run!”She ran down the hill in tears, and I watched her small figure disappear from my sight. Ms. Fowler was about to give chase, so I lunged at her and wrapped my arms around her waist.She started struggling, like a fish pulled out of the water.She did not have as much strength as I did, and after spending the night outside, she seemed worn out. I used all my energy to hold her in place.Rachel should have gotten far away. Besides, she was smart. When she saw Sophie and the others, she would know to get help.Ms. Fowler screamed in my arms. I felt awful, as I might go deaf from her yelling. I was going to be both blind and deaf. What a miserable life.I held on to her for a long time. When I finally ran out of energy, Ms. Fowler broke free.I fell to the ground and panted as if I had run a marathon.Ms. Fowler did not give up and ran after Rachel. Meanwhile, I leaned against the bench a

Cameron’s call quickly followed, and Ms. Fowler snatched the phone to answer it.She was excited, so she spoke quickly and nervously. I could not see her face well, but I could tell that deep down, she knew that things were over with Cameron. She sounded desperate.“Cameron, Cassia has a boyfriend now. She’s also having her ex-husband’s babies. Do you really want to marry someone like her?”I covered my ears because I did not want to hear anymore.Cameron did not love her anymore. No matter what she did, nothing would change that.I had no idea what Cameron said, but Ms. Fowler started crying. “Cameron, you know I love you. I really love you,” she said.Love caused so many people so much pain.Ms. Fowler kept talking to Cameron. He wanted to talk to me, but she would not give me the phone. Instead, she cried and yelled, “What do you want to say to her? She has a boyfriend now!”I could not take it anymore. I grabbed the phone and hung up. “Ms. Fowler, what do you think you’ll a

“Cassia.” Cameron’s voice trembled as he called out to me. I could tell that he was scared. “Are you okay?”His face was so close that I could smell the light scent of his cologne.“I’m fine. Just hungry,” I said.“I’ll take you home for food.”As someone who had just been kidnapped, the only thing I wanted after being saved was food.The moment we stepped inside his house, I heard loud crying.“What’s going on?” I changed my shoes. Before I could move further, I saw two figures—one big, one small—rush into my arms.“Cassia, I was so scared!” Sophie hugged me tightly and sobbed. I did not think I had ever seen her cry like that before. She would always try to act tough, like a “hardcore warrior.”Well, this warrior just melted into a mess in my arms.Rachel hugged my leg and sobbed too.I sighed. “Girls, I’m fine. There’s no need to cry this much.”“Cassia, if something had happened to you, I might as well have died in Somalia.”“Madrid, not Somalia,” I corrected her.She

Cameron came back long after we had finished dinner. I was telling Rachel a story.She had become more dependent on me after what happened. She wrapped her arms around my neck while I spoke.When Cameron arrived, he picked Rachel up from my arms. “Cassia’s tired today. You need to let her rest.”“But I want Cassia to sleep with me.”“You move a lot in your sleep, and Cassia’s pregnant.”After some convincing, Rachel finally agreed to let me return to my room. Cameron said, “I’ve never seen her so attached to someone.”While it was nice, it was not entirely good for Rachel to rely on me so much. I was Cameron’s friend, and our relationship would not go further.“Rachel’s an insecure child. She tends to be hostile toward the women around me. She used to feel that way about you too, but her hostility faded over time. After what happened this morning, she sees you as someone who can protect her.”“I didn’t think much about this morning. Since Winter was after you, I was worried tha

I was not going to try and reason with a child. I knew that Hayden would not be mad at her too.However, Rachel was furious at him. She ignored Hayden as she clung to me when she ate. It was as if he was a monster that would gobble me up at any time. However, Hayden was good at making sand castles and origami. For instance, he could make paper frogs and planes. He even knew how to fold a heart out of money. These crafts caught Rachel’s attention. When Hayden folded the heart, Rachel wanted to go over and have a look. But she was shy, so she kept hiding behind me. Nevertheless, Hayden folded a heart for Rachel. “Do you want to learn how to do this?” She wanted to take it, but she did not want to change her stance. So, I challenged her on purpose. “I bet Rachel wouldn’t be able to learn how to do it. It’s so hard that even I can’t do it.” That immediately activated her competitive side. She leaped out from behind me and said, “Who says I can’t do it? It’s so simple. I can do i