𝕯𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕶𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙

𝖂𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝕬𝖗𝖊 𝖄𝖔𝖚

A little girl stood at the top of the stairs, smiling and jumping before running downstairs. "Uncle Maxwell! You're back!" I watched as Mr.Rivers knelt just as she ran into his arms latching onto him like a spider monkey. He stood and smiled at her. "Hello, my little Thea." She smiled brightly at him before noticing me out of the corner of her eye.

"Uncle, who is this?" He looked at me before setting her down. Mr. Rivers moved his head to the side once causing the bodyguard behind me to shift. Cold metal pressed against my back. A gun. "Leo, why don't you tell Thea why you're here?" I looked at the door from the corner of my eye.

Go ahead, run, and get killed. That's what your parents thought would happen. Holy crap, that is right, they knew I would be in danger even if I wasn't dead. Show them they're wrong..Survive, live. I turned to look at Mr.Rivers before turning my attention to the little girl in front of me.

My face plastered a smile on it. "I'm a new family friend, and soon I'll be your bestie." Thea jumped up with her eyes sparkling, looking at me as if I was a fairy. "Yay!" She hugged me by my legs with a bright smile.

"Thea, Darling. Where are you?" My gaze moved to a woman walking through a wide doorway to our left. Maxwell turned his full attention to her with a bright smile."There's my beautiful, glowing wife."

She stopped in her tracks looking at him with a curious expression before noticing me. "Um, Max, who is this?" Thea skipped over to her Aunt after freeing my legs. "She's a family friend and my bestie!"

Mrs.Rivers looked at her husband with an eyebrow raised in suspicion."Oh really now? Max, where exactly did she come from?" He put a stern look on his face. Maybe he is thinking of something.

"I'm just a family friend. My parents were friends of Maxwell but they recently passed." Both of them looked at me. Mr.Rivers was glaring at me, probably because I called him by his first name.

His wife was looking at me with a soft, sad smile. "I'm very sorry for your loss." I smiled back and shrugged. "It's fine, life moves on." I feel bad for lying to her. Yet it's honestly the half-truth, your family got rid of you. They're dead to you. Well, my parents are at least.

"Leo will be staying with us, it was her parent's wishes." Rachael nodded. "Thea, she'll stay in the room beside yours." Thea smiled at her Aunt in such a loving way, it made my heart melt. "Sebastian, go inform Derek of Leo's presence."

A bodyguard nodded to him giving me a look, not a bad one, more like sympathy. I watched as he went around the corner then disappearing from my mind completely. "Now you, Leo." I faced Mr.Rivers. "I'll let another one of our guards take you to your room."

I bow my head slightly with a fake smile plastered on my face. "Of course, Maxwell." Okay, that time it was on purpose. He was annoyed by it but let it slide. A man had grabbed a hold of my elbow, leading me upstairs. "Consider yourself lucky, girl."

I watched the guard look straight ahead while speaking. "Why is that exactly?" He smirked. "You're alive aren't you?" I gulped as a lump grew in my throat. He has a point. He did. We stopped in front of a bedroom door before he opened it
for me.