10
540words
"We can't afford two kid wuth our salary!"
My kind foster mom became a totally different perosn."Let's...abandon her."
"Abandon her?On what grounds?"
"Say...she's a thief.Where's that necklace you gave me?Find it!Slip it in her bag with some cash..."
I slipped back to bed.
When they crept in,I opened my eyes in the dark.
In the faint moonlight,I saw them hiding the necklace and money in my bag.
I was abandoned,as expected.
Back at the orphanage,the director called me a shame.
I could still recall his disappointment."Orphan kids get abandoned for personality flaws,but you...stealing?"
I told a friend,but she didn't believe me."You made that up,right?The director said you stole money and a necklace.That's why you were abandoned!"
"I won't play with you.You're bad!"
If I'd never tasted happiness,I wouldn't chase it,accepting fate.
But I had.
Staring at the faint moonlight outside my ward,I recalled that night they framed me.
Looking at the copper coin bracelet,a memory suddenly surfaced—one absent from my mind.
Evan's words,"Lucy,learn to protect yourself,"overlapped with a young boy's voice perfectly.
I remembered my lost childhood memories.
I'd been gravely ill,burning with fever in the hospital.
The director brought Evan to visit.
Evan said the bracelet was his talisman,never to be removed,or bad luck would follow.
I teased him,daring him to take it off to prove it.
But he cried,removing the copper coin bracelet and placing it on my wrist.
"You love this,right?It's yours now.Get better..."
"Lucy,learn to protect yourself."
He gave me his talisman.
I could only nod weakly,I was in too much pain from the fever
He insisted on buying me medicine but never returned.
I recovered,but the illness erased my memories.
I forgot Evan, the person who gave me my bracelet.
I only recalled police swarming the orphanage,asking where I last saw the boy in the photo.
I shook my head."I don't know him."
The director wept."If I hadn't taken him out,he wouldn't have been abducted..."
I didn't understand what happened then,only sensing his grief.
Now,I did.
I crouched,throat dry,tears unstoppable,burying my face in my arms.
Fate was so cruel.
I couldn't sleep,wanting to call Evan but fearing I'd disturb him.
Closing my eyes,more memories began to come back to me.
At dawn,I discharged mmyself.I couldn’t wait another second
At Evan's company,he was in a video meeting with clients from all over the world.
Seeing me,he paused,startled,said something in a language I didn't understand,and ended the meeting temporarily.
His handsome face held its usual faint smile.
He checked his watch."Up so early?Had breakfast yet?I'll take you downstairs after the meeting.If you're starving,I'll have my secretary bring something for you..."
I cut him off."Evan."
"I...I remember everything."
His puzzled look met my gesture to the copper coin bracelet."This."
He froze,tears welling up in his eyes.
Years after our marriage,I never dared ask what he had endured after being abducted.
His success let my imagination fill the gaps.
I hoped that kind people saved him.
But if so,he would have came to find me sooner.
Our reunion after so long shattered those hopes.
My hesitations sparked his guesses.
As if he could see through my thoughts,he said,"Only after wading through the swamp,standing in the sunlight feels so good."
