Anthony Khan.
I looked at his distant eyes and praised him, "That’s a good name."
He narrowed his eyes and asked, "Is it?"
"It is, how old are you?"
The boy in front of him should be around five feet tall, so he should be about 15 years old. He was silent for a while and said in a cool tone, "I'll be 11 years old as soon as the new year ended."
Eleven years old. Much younger than I had imagined.
"Do you mind me asking a question?" I asked in a hushed voice.
I hadn't asked him about where he was from and it made me curious. Seeing that he didn't refuse, I asked, "Where are you from?"
"Country C." He answered, and then asked in a cold tone, "Next, do you want to know who my parents are? Why do I wander around?"
His words made me a bit awkward, but he continued, "I don't have parents. I am a refugee."
"Why is that?" I asked curiously.
"They died." Anthony grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and said in a cruel tone, "And then they left me in the forest. I prayed that night that they died a horrible death and then they did, falling off a cliff."
He should be talking about his parents. His nonchalant words made me feeling inexplicably terrified. I looked at the cold boy in front of me in a daze and didn't know what to say.
Finally, I put the bread beside him and took off my down jacket. When I was about to turn at the corner, I turned back to have a look.
The jacket and bread were still there, but he disappeared.
When I went back to my aunt's house, I felt there was something weighing on my conscience. I felt that I had made a big mistake just now.
I looked at Emy's soundly asleep face and felt sad. I should have taken him home just now. I could raise one more child.
On New Year's Eve, I received a call from Benjamin at twelve o'clock sharp.
He said, "Happy New Year, Em."
Before I could say anything, I heard a soft child's voice say, "Happy New Year, mommy. I miss you."
Ellis and I didn't spend much time together.
There seemed to be only a handful of times that we were actually together. I held back the sorrow surging up from my heart and said, "Happy New Year, my boy."
"Mom, Benjamin said that you would bring me gifts?"
"Sure. Mommy will be returning to City B tomorrow," I said with a smile.
"Then I'll wait for you, mom."
After chatting for a while, I hung up the phone. In the evening, I received a call from Benjamin again, and he asked, "Where are you"
"What?" I was a little confused for a moment.
"I'm here. Where are you?"
Benjamin literally went to the UK for me.
But it still didn't change the fact I hated him. I lied to him, "I just left the UK yesterday. Now I'm heading back home by ship."
Benjamin gnashed his teeth in anger and said, "Why didn't you tell me during the day? Is wasting my time so interesting to you?"
"You didn't say you were going to give me a surprise," I said blandly.
Benjamin replied coldly, "Do you even understand how surprises work? It involves me not telling you, for starters!"
"Any surprise of yours won't work on me. Benjamin, you and I are nothing but a deal now. Do you really think this is me showing my white feather to you?"
"You are only saying these things to piss me off," he said flatly.
"Does it matter?" I walked down the street with Emy in my arms. "I probably hate you, so I hate the three-month deal, but for the sake of the child, I am willing to bear it."
Benjamin remained silent. I kicked the snow under my feet and said, "I want to take revenge on the Dunn family, but so what if I take revenge? Even if I don't like it, the stubborn and klunky Dunn family is ultimately my son's. Since it is my son's possession, I can't touch it! So I have to let you go, but I swear that I will definitely ruin Teresa and her family. I will get the Weier project. But make no mistake, I will hold up my end of our deal."
"Why are you even saying these to me?" Benjamin suddenly asked.
I laughed and said, "I'm afraid that you've forgotten what you've done to me and think whatever you do or say to me is justified. I just want to remind you...Benjamin, you don't have the right to ask me to do anything. I have custody of Ellis. The three-month deal I agreed to is nothing but out of my sympathy for you. I pity you."
After a long time, Benjamin said, "Your tongue is so sharp."
"That's all. I hope you can take it easy from now on. Don't embarrass yourself. It's only three months. I believe I can satisfy whatever you want me to."
After hanging up the phone, I felt very relieved, as if something that had long weighed on my heart was removed.
I looked down at Emy, who was lying in my arms with her eyes wide open, "I was on the phone with your father. But so what? You are a strong girl. You got Uncle Joel, Uncle Zack, Aunt September, Uncle Bob, Aunt Laurelie, your brother Ellis, Neil, and a lot more people that love you. You don't need a father who is not even willing to save you."
Emy giggled, and I happily held her in my arms and went to a bakery. Then I walked around in search of the boy.
Just when I was about to leave in disappointment, I saw something wiggling in an alley. Out of curiosity, I walked over to take a look and was surprised to see it. I bent down and asked, "Are you alright, Anthony?" His body was as cold as ice, stiff like a corpse. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around his body, then tied my scarf around his neck and asked, "Why are you doing this?"
He must have stayed out for the night these days. The snowy weather was freezing and he must have not eaten for a couple of days.
I handed him a bottle of milk. He gulped it down, said in a low voice, "I haven't eaten anything for three days."
"Sure," he said, and I closed the door and left.
An hour later, he came out of the bathroom. My nephew was a few years older than him, but Anthony was very fit in his white hoody and jacket.
I complimented, "You look good."
Not because of the clothes, but because he was handsome himself.
Then I took the ointment and applied it to his hand and said, "It will take some time for my frostbite to heal."
He lowered his head and asked after a long time, "Why do you want to raise me?" His tone sounded like he still couldn't believe what was happening was real. How should I explain this to him?
I thought for a long time and said, "Emy needs a brother."
Anthony said determinedly, "He has a brother."
Yes, she had a biological brother and a cousin, Neil.
"How did you know?" I asked with a smile.
Anthony said lightly, "There are boy's clothes around the house."
"Then maybe I just like you."
When packing up in the morning, Anthony looked at Emy in her cradle for a long time. He didn't say anything until we got to the plane, "She doesn't want you to leave."
I asked with a smile, "How's that?"
"I just know," After that, he explained no more.
After returning home, I tidied up a room for Anthony and called Kayla to find a junior high for Anthony. Hearing this, Anthony said seriously, "I was already in senior high before being abandoned."
I looked at the eleven-year-old boy and asked in surprise, "What?"
But on second thoughts, he really did look tall and mature.
Anthony said, "Tenth grade."
Knowing Ellis's situation, I was not that surprised with Anthony being another prodigy. So I asked Kayla to deal with it and Anthony would be back to school in March.
Anthony could use some time to adjust to a normal life.
After two hours, Sean called me, "Let's get together for the New Year. Do you have time?"
"Who's gonna be there?" I asked.
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