#ProudLife

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9 years before...

A girl with light brown eyes which had yellow speckles in them peered from a grimy window onto a busy, bustling street.

"Madame Clarence, when can I go away like Maria?" The small girl asked a tall, imposing woman.

"You mean to a house with the people who will adopt you?" The kind matron replied smiling.

"Yes, I do want a home Madame...."

A month later, a lively, cheerful couple entered the Clarence Adoption Agency and took young Amber with them to their home.

"I'm Alice. This is Craig. We're your parents now." The lady said to Amber warmly.
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"My mother died...Mrs. Deys... two months after my dad left us. She couldn't buy food for both of us, so she sent me away to my aunt's." Amber said a week after she had been adopted. "I never even got to say goodbye, the pneumonia took her."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Amber dear." Mrs. Deys said hugging her adopted daughter.

Amber went on, "Then my aunt had to move to Australia for her job and one night as she was taking me to my grandparents' house to stay, she got..."

"Yes, honey?"

"My grandparents said that some bad people took her...they didn't want to get caught by my aunt, she was a CIA spy, you know, so they took her. I haven't seen her since, Mrs. Deys."

"Yes...Amber. Mrs. Clarence told us about that night...you had to sleep on the street that night didn't you, sweetie? I can imagine, it must've been so horrible, all of it."

"Mrs. Clarence took me in then, she is so kind, Mrs. Deys. I never knew what happened to my grandparents though..."

The first thing Alice Deys did was hug her daughter tightly. She wanted none of what happened to Amber to affect what was to come in her future in any way. She wanted to try and heal the scars in Amber's mind and she swore to make life much better for her adopted daughter, not only by buying her nice things but supporting her emotionally too.

"Life has been bad for you honey, but now it has changed hasn't it? You will get whatever you want, and most importantly, love. You can call me mother, Amber. I'll make sure nothing bad ever happens to you again and that you always stay happy." Mrs. Deys said looking into Amber's unique brown and yellow eyes.

"Thanks, mum..." Amber finally felt as if she had some stablilty in her life. Her home and her new parents were caring, and though they weren't rich per se, but they always made her feel cared for and loved, which was what Amber needed.
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Now looking back to those years, Amber felt a bittersweet emotion. She couldn't imagine what it would be like without her parents and of course, the person she couldn't take her mind off, Taylor.
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Taylor was sitting on her bed in pyjamas and with a hot chocolate, looking through hers and Amber's pictures when they had gone to Spain together. She missed her best friend's brilliant laugh and loving arms which took her in them whenever she felt alone.

"It feels so calming and nice to have a beautiful as well as sweet friend like Amber,' Taylor thought. "She has always been with me whenever I needed her and she has always been the person I always turned to whenever I was in a bad place...She healed me and made the person I am today...I don't think I could live without her..."
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"I demand you tell me what's going on mom, and you better fess up! Since I already know everything, it's better for you to come out clean is what I'm saying!" Anthony's voice echoed in the Peterson's kitchen where he had confronted his mother after planning to do it for weeks.

"What do you mean, honey?? I've no clue what you're on about!"

"I've seen your phone."

"Anthony- I -"

"Mom...how could you?!" Anthony broke down in angry tears, resting against the kitchenette and sliding down to the floor. "I've been denying that- this, any of this was real but- I can't anymore!"

"Anthony, son, you must understand, your father and I, we weren't right for each other and-"

"So you go cheat on him?? Mom- honestly, I don't have time for your useless banter." Saying so, Anthony walked out of the kitchen, banging the door on his way out.
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It was some time before he had recovered and could think properly again.  He wiped the tears from his face and took out a small bottle from his pocket. His hand shook while holding it but took a deep breath and took two pills from it. Looking back into the bottle, he took out two more and had them too. He then rested back on his bed frame and tried to take his mind off things. It wasn't easy, but the pills were certainly helping. His mind now blissfully silent, Anthony curled into his faux fur blanket and tried to sleep, but he didn't know what was coming next
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Hey guys I'm SO SO SORRY for not updating this story but I've been in a bad place since sometime and you could say I wasn't a functional human being back then but...I'm back to updating this story regularly and I plan to update it every week at least. Cheers, guys and thanks so much for your support!