CLAIMED- By Romano Brothers.

29. A Girl.

~We're only gettin' older, baby
And I've been thinkin' about it lately
Does it ever drive you crazy
Just how fast the night changes?
❤️
Everything that you've ever dreamed of
Disappearing when you wake up
But there's nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
It will never change me and you~

The clock struck midnight but sleep was far from her swollen eyes. Faith was wide awake sitting beside the window gazing at the crescent moon hiding in the clouds. The chilly wind brushed against her reddened cheeks, her body urging her to just close the window and lay on the bed, but her mind was far from compiling it.

Everything that happened in the past three days played in her mind like a loop. She talked with her father about Chris. She confronted him about the distance that crawled between them. She cried if he is also planning to leave her like Chris. She thought, he'll console her, he'll call Chris and order him to come back, she thought he'll scold Chris for not talking to her these many days but all her father did was just pat her head with a weak smile and walk away.

That one smile made her heart drop. It was so forced, so sad that it felt as if she was indeed a burden to them. She ran up to her room and cried for a whole day. She didn't leave the room since then. She didn't eat properly.

Almost two months passed and not a single message from Chris. She wanted to scream, yell, cry but she was damn tired. Every single thought stopped when a question hit her.

Am I being selfish?

The cold feeling started to sink in but it wasn't because of the weather, rather it was the feeling of being left alone.

Her heart raced. Maybe Lucian was right. Chris left her for being a crybaby. How can she be selfish and want him to be with her every second? He had his own life. He cannot just look after her for all his life!

Maybe I- I'm being bad.

Maybe, after some days, dad will leave me too...like...like they d-did before.

Am I being a bad girl?

• • •

As a kid, Faith thought her father and Chris left her at Ivanov's because she was being a mischievous, bratty, bad child. Her little mind couldn't think of any other reasons as to why they had to leave her with those bad, bad people. So, when she was brought home again, she never crossed a rule, she never uttered a word, she never complained about anything for the fear of them leaving her again. Poor girl always lived up to be a good girl for her father and Chris.

These thoughts haunted her every night. She locked herself in her room without any interaction with anyone. Emily would come and beg her to eat but would return with untouched food. Emily tried to inform Mr. Anderson about this, but he wasn't in town.

•

Emily stays at Anderson's whenever faith had to stay alone. Although it was midnight, Emily stayed up talking to her husband in another country. The time difference allowed the couple to talk at this hour only. It was a routine for her but what Emily didn't expect was the front door to open and three well build, muscular males to step into the house.

Emily stood up wide-eyed, scared of the intruders, the Romanos. The trio halted for a second and gave her a stern look before making a beeline to Faith's room.