Chapter 81


    The little girl watched the man speak, trying hard to understand his words.


    Finally, she got it.


    Fearfully, she stood up from the chair, quickly hid under the bed, and crouched in the corner.


    “Whoa, what just happened?”


    “Eileen! Eileen, sweetie,e out!”


    Despite theforting words from outside, the little girl remained under the bed, refusing toe out.


    Eventually, they moved the bed.


    With nowhere to hide, the little girl cried for the first time in front of everyone. Her body shook, tears


    streamed down her face, soaking it entirely.


    “Eileen, don’t cry, Eileen don’t cry.” The man hurriedly picked her up, wiping her tears. Seeing her


    trembling, he was more nervous than she was.


    The little girl clung tightly to the man’s sleeve, her fingers turned pale. After a long silence, she let out a


    hoarse child’s voice, “…no.”


    “No to what?”


    “…no to going…”


    The man fell silent.


    Then someone behind him said, “She might be waiting for her mom. The police have found her


    biological mother, who might being to pick her up soon.”


    “She won’te.” The man’s voice suddenly turned cold.


    He seemed angry, but quickly regained hisposure and spoke tenderly to the little girl in his arms, “I


    will take care of you like a dad. Or maybe, Eileen, would you like to see a picture of your new brother? I


    will show you, he’s a cool guy.”


    The man took out his wallet from his pocket, in which he kept a family photo of three.


    In the photo, a stern man stood on the left, a beautiful woman on the right, and a handsome little boy in


    the middle.


    The man pointed to the people in the photo and introduced them to the little girl, “This is your uncle,


    your aunt, your brother.”


    The little girl looked at the unfamiliar boy in the picture, her small lips tightly bitten, and tears streamed


    down her face.


    She remembered that her dad also had a picture like this, with her dad, her grandpa, her grandma, and


    herself in the middle.


    “Oh, Eileen, sweetheart, my sweet girl.” The man seemed flustered, rushing tofort her.


    The little girl lowered her head, tears streaming down, and she stopped talking.


    At this moment, someone picked up a phone call and came over to say, “Sir, Sarah has agreed to take


    the child back.”


    “Why did she suddenly agree?”


    “Not sure, perhaps the police’s persuasion worked. But after all, this child has a mother who is the only


    guardian. From a legal perspective, if the biological mother does not give up her custody, you might not


    be able to adopt her.”


    “I will talk to her mother myself.” The man’s voice turned cold again.


    People behind him seemed troubled, “Can’t you ask the child what she wants?”


    The man was silent for a while.


    After some time, he finally asked softly, “Eileen, do you want toe with me, or do you want to go


    with your mom?”


    The little girl looked down at her hands, and after a moment, she replied softly, “I want to go with my


    mom.”


    The man sighed.


    Before leaving, the man stuffed a note into the little girl’s hand, “This is my phone number. If things are


    not good with your mom, call me, and I’lle to get you.”


    The little girl quietly nodded, holding the note tightly.


    The next day, the little girl’s mother came.


    The little girl had only seen her mother in pictures, and the mother in front of her was somewhat


    different from the one in the picture.


    The mother in the picture was smiling.


    The mother in front of her was not.


    The nurse introduced, “Eileen, this is your mom.”


    The little girl looked at this strange woman in front of her, remembering what her dad used to say.


    “How could your mom not like you? She left because she didn’t like your dad, of course, she likes you,


    you’re dad’s treasure, and mom’s


    too.”


    Grandma said, “If your mom were here, she would surely love you very much. You’re such a good girl,


    the best little treasure in the world. You’re grandma’s favorite granddaughter, right?”


    Grandpa said, “Everyone has their own choices. If there was no opportunity to be together in the first


    ce, we wouldn’t forcefully keep someone. But Eileen, you shouldn’t let others’ gossip deny your


    worth. You’re great, you haven’t done anything wrong. If your mom were to see you now, she would


    surely like you as well.”


    Your mom is not a bad person. She likes you, she didn’t abandon you.


    Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.


    Now, your mom is here to pick you up.


    The little girl took an uneasy step forward.


    She approached the strange woman and said faintly, “Hello…”


    “Where do I sign.”


    The woman didn’t answer her, only asked the medical staff in a cold tone.


    Someone handed her documents to sign, she did, and then she turned and walked away.


    After a few steps, she stopped, frowned, and looked back at the frail little girl, saying irritably, “Aren’t


    youing?”


    The little girl clutched the corner of her dress in horror and cautiously followed along.


    In the elevator, just the two of them, the woman looked at the little girl and said irritably, “You don’t look


    like me at all, I wonder who you take after, but you’re certainly a beauty in the making. Maybe you’ll be


    useful when you grow up. What’s your name?”


    The little girl looked at her timidly and said softly, “Eileen Howard…”


    “Tomorrow I’ll take you to change your ID information along with yourst name. From now on, you’re


    Eileen, and when you see your stepfather, you call him dad.”


    The little girl was taken aback and immediately shook her head.


    At that moment, the elevator reached the first floor.


    The woman grabbed the little girl’s cor harshly and dragged her out, saying, “If not for not wanting to


    leave a bad impression on your stepfather, do you think I’d care about you? Better get it straight,


    otherwise, you’ll suffer. What’s that in your hand?”


    The little girl tried to hide the note in her fist behind her back.


    But the strength of an adult prevailed, and the woman forcibly opened her hand, throwing away the


    crumpled paper she couldn’t see clearly, saying, “So dirty, nothing like Hedy. I don’t know how your dad


    educated you. Why do you look like a vagrant? Let’s go!


    The little girl was dragged forward by her, looked back in panic, only to see the note getting further and


    further away from her.


    The scene in the dream twisted again.


    Eight yearster, the cruel woman suddenly raised her hand and pped the beautiful young girl hard


    on the face


    The young girl’s face was knocked sideways, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.


    “Military school? How dare you secretly apply to military school behind my back! If it weren’t for Hedy’s


    discovery, I wouldn’t have known that you had such guts! Eileen, do you think you’re a grown up now


    and can do whatever you want? I’m your mom, and you’ll have to listen to me all your life!”


    “What’s with that look, you wanna hit me? Go ahead! I know you’ve been secretly practicing boxing, so


    why not give it a shot? Hit me now, kill me, and you’ll bepletely orphaned! You won’t even have a


    single rtive left in this world!”


    The girl lowered her head, her fists clenched, but eventually, they slowly unclenched.


    The woman sneered, as if she had anticipated that the girl wouldn’t dare to fight back. She raised her


    hand again, and p after pnded on the girl’s face and body.


    Her eptance letter was torn into countless pieces. The woman casually swung her hand and the


    whole room was filled with scraps of paper.


    “Take some time to reflect on yourself at home!”


    The woman left, and the door was locked from the outside.


    The girl stood in the room, looking at the mess on the floor.


    After a long time, she bent down and started to pick up the pieces little by little.


    There wère so many scraps of paper that it seemed like no matter how much she picked up, it would


    never end…


    The scene before her eyes twisted again, bing terrifying.


    Time seemed to be infinitely prolonged.


    Many faces shed before her eyes.


    “Eileen, it’s your birthday today. I have never spent a proper birthday with you, I’ve neglected you.”


    “Sister, have some water.”


    “Eileen, don’t be mad, Hedy was young and didn’t know better, that’s why she upset you. Now that


    she’s grown up, she’s even gotten you water. Why not take a sip, okay?”


    In the end, under the persuasion of a handsome man, the girl picked up the ss of water on the


    table…


    “No, don’t drink, don’t drink…”


    “Bang!”


    A loud noise suddenly sounded outside the tent.


    Eileen abruptly sat up from inside the tent.


    She sat there a bit dazed, and after a while, she remembered where she was.


    There was a foul smell of earth on her body.


    This was the Amazon rainforest.


    Something itched on her face.


    Eileen reached up and touched her face, finding traces of tears that hadn’t dried yet.


    “What the hell? Did I cry?”


    She murmured to herself, but no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t remember what she had


    dreamed about.


    Then, there was another noise from outside.


    “Bang! Bang!”


    Eileen frowned, she casually wiped her face with her sleeve, crawled out of the tent, and asked


    impatiently, “What’s up now?”