Chapter 18
Willow didn’t try to act tough and hurried back inside, though her face was filled with worry.
“Elena, I think something fell outside just now. Should we check? What if it’s a person?”
Elena knew her mother was kind and soft–hearted, but she also understood the importance of safety. So she called the police first. Only after confirming that officers had arrived did she open the door.
Lying outside was a little
girl dressed in tattered clothes and covered in bruises. Her face was pale but delicate, though she was so thin her skin clung to her bones, making her look almost ghostly.
“Uhh… It hurts… Please don’t hit me… I know I was wrong…” The girl whimpered pitifully.
Feeling a pang of sympathy, Elena carefully picked her up and carried her to the police station. But once they arrived, the girl refused to let go. She clung tightly to Elena as if she had found
an anchor in her.
Elena felt torn, unsure what to do. Seeing her dilemma, the officers called in a doctor and also
took a brief statement from Elena.”
A short while later, they pulled the surveillance footage from the surrounding area and confirmed the girl’s identity.
“She’s an orphan from a place called Dunwich Orphanage. Her name is Mollie Pratt. She ran away once before, claiming the orphanage was abusive.
“We investigated at the time but didn’t find anything, so she was sent back. Two days ago, she escaped again and ran desperately toward populated areas. We’re guessing she finally collapsed outside your guesthouse.”
Elena’s guesthouse was located near a popular tourist destination, with people coming and going all the time–so it wasn’t surprising Mollie had ended. up there.
Judging by the injuries all over her body, that orphanage didn’t seem innocent at all. Even so, Elena suppressed her urge to dig deeper and simply nodded.
Mollie barely opened her eyes, and the moment she saw the people at the police station, she was overcome with fear. She scrambled into Elena’s arms, clinging to her tightly.
“No, not them! They’re with the bad people. I don’t want to go with them!”
Seeing how terrified she was, Elena had no choice but to take her home for now.
After two days of comfort and reassurance, Mollie finally began to believe that Elena and Willow were truly kind people. Only then did she open up and start speaking to them.
“Elena, can I trust you?”
Elena gently pulled her into a comforting hug. “Of course you can. I’ll be on your side–i believe you.”
Willow also smiled warmly as she handed Mollie a flower crown she had woven and a slice of cake. “We both believe you. Don’t worry, and just say whatever’s on your mind.”
Hearing that, Mollie finally let herself relax a little and began to recount everything she had gone through at the orphanage.
It turned out that Mollie had grown up in that orphanage. The original director was an elderly woman–kind and gentle–and the children had all lived happy lives under her care.
But everything changed six months ago when the old woman passed away due to illness. Her son and daughter–in–law took over the orphanage instead.
The daughter–in–law had no interest in spending money to care for children who weren’t related to her. The son pretended to be kind, treating each child with fake warmth–yet in secret, he would touch and grope the ones he found attractive.
Most of the children who ended up in the orphanage weren’t unattractive. But the ones who hadn’t been adopted often had issues that made them harder to place. Mollie was one of them.
She was blind in one eye, and one of her legs was shorter than the other. Though her condition was treatable, it would cost a fortune, and no family was willing to adopt a child with such a burden.
Despite her condition, Mollie had a beautiful face–which only made her more vulnerable to danger. Being adopted could have meant an even worse fate.
The old director had taught the girls how to protect themselves. But none of them expected that her son would target the pretty but disabled children.
Mollie, being clever, escaped and told the police everything. But the investigation turned up nothing as the man hadn’t succeeded in doing anything yet, so they found no hard evidence.
So she was sent back, only to suffer all kinds of abuse. Eventually, she escaped again and somehow made it to Elena’s doorstep this time around.
Listening to her story, both Elena and Willow felt a deep ache in their hearts.
“Don’t worry. If what you told us can be verified, it’s more than enough to have that man taken away.
“We’ll also make sure that the orphanage gets the proper support going forward. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
She wrapped Mollie in a warm, protective hug.
