Chapter 42

2nd January 1998.

He was sitting on his bed with the yellow RC toy car that he received as a gift by his side. Children his age love toys like that and would play with their RC cars and helicopters all day long. But he was not like the other kids. He never felt the need or want for toys or stuffed animals. The toy car that was beside him was still inside the cardboard toy box it came in. He didn't even open it. His eyes were locked on the marble mosaic floor, but his mind was elsewhere. But where? What could an eight-year-old child possibly be thinking about so intensely?

Arabelle walked inside the little boy's room with a big smile on her face, but it faded away when she noticed his gloomy mood and glanced at the toy that was untouched.

She hesitantly walked in and sat next to him. He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice her entering the room. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay sweetie?" she asked gently. The little boy came back to reality as he heard her soft voice. He tilted his head up and looked at her. She smiled gently when their eyes met. He could not understand the sparkle that Arabelle had in her eyes. She was a beautiful young woman with bright grey eyes and light brown hair. Her skin was neither too pale nor too dark. It was a gentle sun-kissed complexity.

He didn't answer the question. He just kept staring at her.

"Don't you like the toy, honey? Do you want me to get you something else?" She didn't receive any response. He didn't nod his head or show a gesture to express his satisfaction or dissatisfaction. She stared at him with adoration in her eyes. She thought to herself that he might take a little more time to adjust. She left out a sigh.

"How about you and I go shopping? We can buy anything you like! It will be really fun, just the two of us." With that Arabelle got up from the bed and started to walk out of the room when she heard him speak.

"I can't go anywhere," he whispered in his sweet angelic voice. She turned around to him and asked, "Why not, sweetie?" He looked down again.

"Because I don't want to leave my little brother."

Arabelle felt sorry for him. She thought to herself: "He must love his younger brother a lot. Most kids his age don't even know what love is until they grow a little older. She smiled again and said, "Then we can take him as well." She left the room but not before telling him to get ready.

After reaching the mall, Arabelle told the boy to pick whatever he liked. His little brother was with them too, laying quietly in the walker, sometimes passing heartwarming smiles to the people who walked past them making them smile too. He was a happy baby. In the meantime, after Arabelle's millionth request he went inside a toy shop, but primarily for his little brother. He picked up a bag of Hotwheels.

"Li would love this..."

He thought to himself. Arabelle walked to him and asked, "Found anything?" He glanced at her with his innocent eyes and nodded his head, extending the bag to her. Arabelle smiled in victory and took the toy bag from him. She was glad that he at least bought something from there. She never expected this kid to even speak to her... no one would expect him to say anything anyway knowing everything he had been through. She went to the cashier and paid for the toy, and turned to the boy.

"Are you sure that is all you want? You can look at other toys too. How about this robot?" Arabelle pointed at the 1 feet tall robot held up against the wall. He was never a fan of robots, instead, he loved to play with normal toys like cars. He shook his head "No." Arabelle did not insist much. She wanted the kids to feel comfortable around her, she wanted to take care of them. It was strange for her as well, at her young age she never liked kids, but now at the age of twenty-eight, she was so fond of kids. Arabelle chuckled at her thoughts. But, the smile was immediately wiped away from her face when she heard noises coming from out of the shop. She looked beside her and saw that the boy was gone. Her heart raced as if she had seen a ghost when her eyes landed outside the shop.

The kid was holding his baby brother tightly in his arms and shouting and yelling at someone.

"Stop! Go away! Get away from us. I will not let you take him!"

Arabelle immediately rushed to him. The commotion grabbed the attention of a lot of people nearby. There were two people in front of him.

"Honey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" She leaned forward to him and gently put her hands on his shoulder to calm him down. But, he persistently yelled at random people around him, making the baby in his arms burst into tears.

His brother was fine and protected by the guards of Arabelle. Two of the passerby who seemed to be a couple were so mesmerized by the baby's innocent face and mischievous smile that they picked him up to coo him. But, his elder brother had misunderstood it. He was scared they were trying to take his little brother away from him, so he ran to them and thrashed and thrashed until they put the baby back in the walker. No guard could stop the child from his deranged behavior. He just held him close not wanting to let go. People were slowly leaving the area when they noticed Arabelle with them.

"Honey, no one is going to take your brother. Look he is safe with you. Please put him down." He violently shook his head.

"N-no they will take him away!"

"Please sweetie, you are hurting your little brother. I promise we will go home now and you can keep him to yourself all night." This seemed to calm him down because he did not have any chance to keep his brother to him. After all, Arabelle told him his baby brother needed special rest...

After a few seconds, he put his brother back in the walker. Arabelle sighed in relief. She was worried he would not listen to her. But her gentleness and polite behavior once again won against his stubbornness.

After they reached home, as Arabelle promised, she let the two brothers stay together in the elder one's room. She could not help but stare at them.

"How could this relationship get any better," She thought both of them were lucky to have each other.

When they reached home, it was almost dinner time. The kid refused to go downstairs, saying he was not hungry. So there she was, standing outside his room with a tray full of food. She was hesitant, she did not know what he liked so she made different types of food that children would love to eat. The tray had chicken sandwiches, freshly cut strawberries, and blueberries, cheese strings, and an omelet, with a glass of milk aside. She knocked on the door thrice but since no one answered, she welcomed herself into the room and found that the little brother was already sleeping and the elder one was sitting on his bed facing the balcony. She went to him and sat beside him putting the tray on the bedstand.

"You need to eat something honey." She patted his head.

"I am not hungry..." he whispered.

Arabelle replied. "Please baby, you need to eat a little...you cannot get sick. Who will take care of Li if you're sick?"

He didn't say anything. His heart was heavy. For a child of his age, he had, indeed, faced many things that would break any adult emotionally. He was only a child, after all...

His eyes began to water, no sound came from him as he silently let the tears fall...

Arabelle could not stop herself from feeling the pain the boy was going through. She pulled him to herself and caressed his hair.

"You can fight this, Carlos."

***********************************

Confusion was all Emma felt. It was her master, Alexander. That was his name, Carlos. No one called him by that name except for her mother. But she rarely heard Mrs. King calling him by that. Everyone knew him by the name of Alexander. She could not blame the people for calling him that. He was a devil.

It had been a whole day since Alexander left for his business trip. She managed to sneak out of her room and made it to the library. The gigantic library room was quiet as usual. She was sitting in the chat beside that table, darkness surrounded her like a thick black coat. Only a small candle was there to surpass the darkness and give her a little light, but enough to read the book. It was not hard for her to get there in the library, since she did not have to worry seen by Alexander.

Her thoughts drove back to the book in her hand, which was more like a journal or diary. The book was closed, and the brown thick cover was in the view. The bizarre book cover she had ever seen. The thoughts swam to the contexts she just read. It was indeed about her master. But, was it just a story? Or was it real and not just mere imaginary writing?

What life he had before this one?

She thought to herself. Who was Arabelle? That name did not sound familiar to her. She never heard anyone say this name. She remembered another name that was mentioned.

Li

Who was it? Li...as far as she could think of there was no one by that name either. She had been working for the Kings for more than six months now, if there were people who go by the name of Arabelle and Li, she would have known. Maybe that book...maybe it was not what she was thinking. Maybe it was just an imaginary story. Someone must have written it...but who?

Could it be...could it be master Liam?!

Her curiousness was growing as every minute passed. She wished she could ask someone. However, she made her steps back to her bedroom and fell asleep.

Morning came by sooner than before, maybe because she had a long night. She swung her legs over the bed before standing and making her way out of the room. After breakfast, the maids did their usual jobs, washing, cleaning, gardening, etc. They did not have to clean Alexander's room since he was not home. He preferred his room to be locked while he was away.

Emma was cleaning the living room along with other maids when the familiar voice made her turn around.

Ela was the one who opened the door and let Ethan come inside. They both talked for a little time.

Ela must be close to the Kings...

She thought.

"Hey Ela!" Ethan said in his regular cheerful voice.

"Good afternoon, master Ethan. How are you today?" She replied.

"I am good. Alexander sent me here to look after the house while he is away...although I thought it was not necessary."

"Yes, he went outside the country for a few days. Before he departed he told us about the arrival of yours or master Liam." Ethan nodded his head.

"I am not sure if Liam can come. That is why I am here."

After their little conversation, Ela offered him to stay for lunch and evening tea and he gladly took the offer. Emma was still dusting the couches and tables. Her eyes averted again to Ethan, he was sitting in the dining table chair and talking with Ela who was standing beside him. He did not notice she was there right behind him.

Does he know I work here?

She thought. How come he did not notice her. She was sure Ethan was aware of her working there.

He must have forgotten...

She did not worry her mind that much because she was just a maid there, she could not be expecting his master's cousin to be friendly with her. Now that she did not even work for Mr. King anymore, he could not see her. So in her mind, it was obvious if he had forgotten about her.

However, she got up to put the dirty rug back in the cleaning room with other supplies. She liked how both of the houses had a separate cleaning supplies room, it contained every necessary thing. Every maid was strictly told to put all the used rugs and buckets inside that room so that they do not lose anything.

Making her way back to the kitchen she witnessed Yuna standing inside the kitchen but her head was peeked out of the huge kitchen door. It looked like she was looking at somebody. Emma's view followed Yuna's eyes and she assumed Yuna was looking in the direction where Ela and Ethan were. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and poked Yuna's arm. It did not gain her attention.

What this girl is looking at precisely?

She poked again, but harder now. Thankfully that gained Yuna's attention and she had a horrified look on her face that made Emma even more confused.

"Oh god! Emma, you scared me!" She whispers yelled. Emma could not hide the small smile that formed on her face. Yuna looked ridiculously funny.

"I was calling your name, you did not respond but only stared in one particular direction. What were you staring at?" She questioned.

A big smile came across Yuna's face as she chirped like a schoolgirl and held Emma's both hands in a tight grip.

"Oh god Emma, just look at master's cousin...he is so handsome!" Emma sighed and slightly rolled her eyes.

How come I didn't see that coming?

"Yuna...this is master's cousin. If he finds out you think like this about him, he might get mad..." This time Yuna rolled her eyes at Emma.

"Come on Emma, it is not like anyone is going to find out... unless..."

"Unless what?"

Yuna bit her bottom lip and replied. "Unless you tell anyone." Emma smiled and shook her head which made Yuna jump and hugs her. Emma was not the type of girl who loved gossiping about other girls' crushes or love life. She had seen and heard many people doing it. But, she always thought it was better for someone to give others their private space. Besides who she was gonna tell that would get Yuna in the trouble Alexander? There was no way she was ever talking to him.

They both went inside the kitchen and after a few minutes, Ela came in.

"Girls, please get master Ethan his lunch. After that, you all can eat too. Be hurry." The other girls were back in the kitchen as well. The lunch was already cooked by Alexa and Isabella. It was time to serve the food. They all spent another twenty minutes checking everything, after that, it was finally time to serve the food.

As usual, the girls were taking the tray of food towards the dining table and placing them there. Emm6 observed Ethan was talking to someone on his phone still unaware of the people around him. She bit his lip and thought.

He really has forgotten me...

She could not be upset about it. They did not talk for months. She shifted her eyes from him to back to her feet. Everything was placed on the table.

She never had a true friend in her own life. But, she was thankful she had Vanessa and she made some amazing friends in Alexander's house too. The girls were helpful and friendly.

The day ended and it was finally their time to have some proper rest after working all day long. Before going to bed, Ela told the girls to get the guest room ready for Ethan so that he could be cozy after getting home. He was checking if everything in the house was accurate, including the electricity bill, and other daily expenses. Alexander was not the one looking after these before, he had his men doing that for him. But, in his absence, he did not want any unknown men to come into his house. All the guards were out of the house till he returned. Ethan was at least his family, he could be trusted.

However, Ela informed them he might return late at night. The maids put on new white bedsheets with light cream-colored pillowcases. The room was dusted and cleaned properly, all the necessary things were placed on the table. They only hoped Ethan would have no complaints staying the night there. By the time, everything was done, the girls were extremely tired. Emma could not hold up with the horrible shoes anymore, she wanted to get in her sweatpants and tank top and put on some slippers. Her wish came into reality when it was finally their time for returning to their bedrooms. She quickly got inside and rushed to the bathroom. She could not wait to take a warm shower.

After she was done showering, she wore what she has planned to wear. A red and black tank top with white sweatpants and white slippers. She dried her hair a few more times with the towel before brushing it slightly and letting it fall on her back. Emma always loved long hair and she was glad her hair was reaching her waist already!

She sat on her bed and rested her head a little, turning off the lights. When the clock struck 1, her eyes opened and she picked up her phone and got out of the room

quietly.

Time to read the next page.