Chapter 27

RIEL’S POV I opened the door, only to see a group of little children. They looked like they had not eaten for days, with messy hair and pale faces. They were even wearing torn clothes, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. They seemed to have no one to take care of them.

“Good afternoon, miss,” one of the children greeted, her tone low and soft. She was the one standing close to the door, while the others stood behind her.

“Afternoon, sweetheart.” I squatted with a huge smile. “What is your name?” I gently touched the little girl’s cheek.

“Chloe,” she answered.

“Okay, Chloe. It’s nice to meet you.” I took my hands off her face, still smiling at her. “May I please know why you all have come to my house?”

“We’re really hungry, miss,” she answered softly. “We have no food to eat, so we thought if we came to you, you might find us something to eat. You don’t have to give us that much. Even if it’s just one piece of a cookie, we would appreciate it so much.”

“One piece of a cookie? How is that going to satisfy each and every one of you?” I asked in wonder.

“We’ll share it among ourselves, miss.”

“Wow,” I whispered to myself, absolutely surprised. “Do you guys have parents?”

“No, we don’t. We’re all orphans wandering around the streets,” Chloe responded.

I felt so sad for them; it was really touching. I couldn’t let these children starve; I just couldn’t. I wasn’t even going to scold them or whatever. I’d make sure they eat until they are full. And I could also let them live in this house. Andre wouldn’t get angry with this; he was a kind-

hearted person, so I knew we were on the same page.

“Okay then.” I got to my feet. “All of you, come inside.” 1 opened the door wide for them.

“Really, miss?” One of the children brought out so much happiness in his tone. “You want all of us to come inside your house?”

“Of course,” I answered promptly. “Is that a bad idea?” I raised an eyebrow at him..

“No, no,” he replied.

“If so, then come in, all of you!” I stepped back. With a clamorous shout of glee, they all rushed inside the house.

I closed the door, unable to stop smiling at them. I adored little children since I ery much. So was given the opportunity to take good care of them, why should I reject it?

LUKE’S POV “What did you just say?” My grandfather quizzed me, and trust me, that tone didn’t sound nice. “Are you still pursuing that lady?”

“Yes, grandpa, I love her so much, and she loves me too. If I’m going to get married to someone, it’s definitely her.”

“Over my dead body!” He shouted right away. “You shall not marry that woman!”

“But why, grandpa? What wrong did she do to you?”

“Enough!” He snapped. “That girl will never be welcomed into the Reynold family as long as I’m still alive!” He continued shouting, and he gasped all of a sudden, placing his hand on his heart.

“Grandpa?” I exclaimed. “What’s wrong?”

My grandfather collapsed on the ground, and I rushed down to hold him, as did Tim. It was as if he was being choked to death. He blacked out immediately.

“I think he had a heart attack,” Tim told me, placing his hands around my grandfather’s chest. “But he’s not dead. We need to take him to the hospital as soon as possible.”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Both of us carried him to my car, and we drove off. When we arrived at the hospital, the nurses assisted us in taking him to a room. Tim and I stood outside, worry creeping all over my face.

This was all because of Ariel. If he hadn’t brought up this discussion, I was pretty sure none of this would have happened. I didn’t know what he saw in her, but his blindness for her had translated into his hatred for Harriet, which I was not happy about.

“Do you think he’s going to be okay?” I asked Tim.

“I don’t know, Luke. But if I were you, I’d do what he says if he recovers from this. I’ll see you later,” Tim left.

His words were still revolving around in my head. He was advising me to sacrifice my happiness all because of my grandfather. If I decide to follow my grandfather, I’ll only end up breaking Harriet’s heart.

And if I decide not to leave Harriet, I’ll only be going against my grandfather and breaking him. Just take a look at what happened today; who knew what would. happen next?

ARIEL’S POV I stood, watching these little children enjoy their dish, all seated on the couch. There were nine of them, actually.

The smile on my face was just too much as I continued to watch them relish every bit of the buffalo wings I had prepared for them. Of course, I was a great cook, all thanks to Elizabeth. But don’t get me wrong; she only took my cooking skills to the next level.

“so, how’s the food?” I asked with a beam, even though I knew they were loving it.

“It’s delicious,” one of them replied. She was wearing glasses, “This has to be the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” she added.

“I wish I could just stay with you forever, so I can continue to enjoy these delicious meals,” a boy said, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Exactly, she’s obviously the best cook in the world!”

“Okay, okay. There’s no need to praise me too much,” I gently interrupted their highly–rated comments.

“There are thousands of people who are way better than me.”

“That’s a lie!” one of them exclaimed and continued with his food.

1 clapped my hands. “Okay, can I please know the names of each and every one of you here?”

“Sure, why not?” The little girl in glasses spoke. “My name’s Emily.”

“Peter!” one of them shricked.

“Kelvin!” another yelled. That was how they all started telling me their names, like students presenting things to their teachers.

So their names were like this: Chloe, Emily, Peter, Kelvin, Daniel, Mandy, Piper, Josh, Kendall, and Mark. Yes, these were all of them, and they were all so cute and adorable. I just needed to give them a nice bath and put on some good clothes. We’d work on that later.

“What the hell is going on here?” Mason exclaimed loudly the moment he entered the house.

LUKE’S POV