Bound by Justice

-CHAPTER 27-

XAIDEN

The ride to the orphanage is excruciatingly slow. It's not exactly that slow, but the more seconds tick by, the worse my anxiety gets. And because of it, I'm in no condition to drive so Dominic is the one on the wheel. I would have probably caused an accident if I was driving while feeling this way.

It's making me think of that one time when Dominic broke his leg because of me. It was during college and I was late for an important exam. I'm someone who loves punctuality so being late made me super anxious at the thought of missing such an important exam. I'm not a bad driver, but when I feel intense emotions, it makes me act recklessly.

"How much time do we have left before we arrive?" I ask Dominic.

"30 minutes," he replies simply.

I sigh, and decide to catch up on some much needed sleep. I didn't sleep much during the flight, my mind was running with so many different possibilities that the thought of sleeping flew out my mind.

Closing my eyes, my mind falls in a memory I'd rather not relive.

I had just landed in Spain, and I was anything, but excited. Though the city looked beautiful through the airport window, I wasn't in the mood to admire the view. Normal kids should be happy about the thought of traveling to another country for the first time, but for me, it was just a reminder that my father was sending me away.

I knew that he was abandoning me, but I didn't want to believe it. I was just a kid, and kids are known to be hopeful so I was hopeful. I wanted to believe him when he said that he was sending me away for my own good, but the back of my mind was whispering the word 'lies'.

I followed my bodyguards out of the airport, and into the car. I was very tired from the flight, and I hadn't slept much since Mom died 2 months ago. I let the car lull me to sleep, and woke up hours later when we arrived at my new home. Well, not exactly a home, but it would be the new place I would live in.

The mansion was huge, but looked kind of old. The garden was empty, and the flowers were wilting. It looked as though the place hadn't been taken care of for a long time. In front of the grand double door, there was a strict looking woman. Her almost gray hair was tied in a tight ponytail, her eyes were as sharp as the edge of a knife, her posture was straight and her head was held high with confidence.

I gulped inaudibly as I stared at her. She was definitely not happy to see me. Scratch that, she wasn't even trying to hide her resentment. In my mind, I thought, are we in the wrong place?

"Good evening, young master. My name is Josefina and I'll be your governess. Please follow me," She said with no expression on her face, and turned to enter the mansion. I wanted to enter the car, and go back to the airport to take the first flight to America. It felt scary to be here, but with a brave face, I followed her in. I had promised Dad that I would not cause any trouble so I stayed quiet and did as I was told.

We walked through many sets of corridors before we arrived in front of a dark wooden door.

"Here will be your room. The maids have already put your luggage inside. Freshen up and come downstairs for dinner," She left as soon as she said that.

My heart felt heavy as I felt more lonely than I'd ever felt in my entire life. No one here was welcoming, it was as if they were doing it just because my father told them to. But as the child that I was, my hope quickly soared again. I was trying to convince myself that everything would go fine, and that everyone would grow to at least respect me. That they would get to know me, and we could get along together. I wasn't expecting friendship from them, but I wanted to be treated with a little bit of human decency. Not as some kind of delinquent kid who needed a strict nanny to set him straight.