Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 40: Memories

Anne didn’t know how long she waited for.

One hour?

Two?

Time just seemed to skid slowly by, and as it did, her mind drifted back to a time quite long ago.

...

"Are you kidding me? My own kids are having a difficult life as it is, yet I’m being given an extra mouth to feed? So what if they’re my brother’s children?" A middle-aged man with a protruding beer belly bellowed within the living room of a humble-looking home.

A brown-haired girl was cast aside in the room. She looked to be around fourteen to fifteen years of age.

A horrid accident had been the very start of her misfortune. The accident that had taken her parents away, leaving her with her little brother all alone in this world.

She watched her uncle with solemn eyes as he rejected the idea of taking her and her little brother in after their parents’ death.

Instinctively, as if to protect her brother from her uncle’s hostile eyes, the girl pushed him behind her.

"Honey, let’s think carefully before rejecting this. I heard news the other day that elder brother has quite a hefty amount of savings for his kids, and only the kids’ guardians can have control over this money."

Mark Thompson didn’t look convinced despite his wife’s convincing words.

"So what? You think a meager amount can convince me to take in kids that aren’t my own? I’m not their only remaining relative, doesn’t that mother of theirs have a sister? They can go to her instead."

"Honey, listen to me first. Don’t push away luck meant for us, these kids could be our good luck charms sent from heaven." As Hannah Thompson said this, she smiled sweetly at the children. That was because the kids in front of her weren’t just kids, they were a potential money chest.

"Annelise and Kristen will live with us from now on." The woman turned her gaze to the children. "Annelise, why don’t you take your brother inside? Go settle in your new room with your cousins."

Anne had lived a life filled with care and deep familial connection until this very moment. Behind her aunt’s kind smile, greed shone evidently.

Anne grabbed her brother’s hand and slowly led him towards the stairs.

"Anne, I don’t want to live here." Eleven-year-old Kristen had said, eyes gleaming with tears as he looked up at his sister.

"Everything will be alright, Kris." Anne put a smile on her face, patting the boy’s hair dotingly. She showed him a reassurance she herself didn’t feel.

In the past, she would usually see her mother conceal a worried frown on her face while giving her a smile and telling her things would be fine. Anne had never understood why her mother used to do that back then, but now she did.

Responsibility and love—those were the reasons one would choose to carry a heavy weight while lifting it off someone they had to look after and protect.

That love and responsibility had now been passed to her.

If Kristen were to see her fear, he would fear too. If he saw her uncertainty, he would be even more uncertain. She would have to put a smile on her face and endure any hardship that would come their way for both of them.

At the time she led Kristen into the room, she could hear her aunt’s excited voice from below.

"It’s about ten thousand in total. If we let their mother’s sister have them, she’ll keep all the money for herself. We don’t have to raise them forever, that girl will turn eighteen eventually and by then we can shove her away from our hands."

Her uncle seemed to have gotten on board with this idea as she heard his voice next. "Where is this so-called money?"

"Your brother has been saving the money ever since the kids were born in some investment platform. Once we sign the legal papers to become the guardians of these kids, we can have access to every penny."

"And how do you know about this?"

"Your brother’s wife told me all about it. Of course, she didn’t expect to suddenly die in an accident. She was bragging to me about how virtuous her husband is and how he’s kept the savings for their kids without once touching a dime out of it."

Mark snorted, "Greg has always believed he was better than me all our lives. He made others see me as a waste while he always put himself through too much trouble working too hard. Now look, I might be the one enjoying the fruit of his labor after all. Call the lawyer, we’ll sign up as official guardians for the kids."

Back then, she had felt extremely powerless. Despite knowing all the bad intentions these people had in their hearts, Anne had had to accept her fate.

What would a fourteen-year-old do out in the world without support from adults? She’d fallen into a state where her brother’s well-being was solely on her shoulders.

For him... she would have to accept her fate, so he would get a roof over his head, so he would get three square meals.

The next day, when the legal parties had asked if they would like to be kept under these people’s care, Anne hadn’t voiced a single protest.

A single nod from her had sealed their fates.

Though she knew these people who called themselves their relatives were bad, the only other person the court would want to assign them to was their mother’s sister, and she was even worse.

"Oh cupcake, you’re beginning to grow ripe in places that matter. I wonder how much money men will pay to taste this sweet little cherry."

The last time Anne saw her, these were the words she’d said to her. Anne feared what the woman would do with her, so she chose the greedy couple over the person who would put her on display to men and sell her away.

When the investment firm had been called over a few weeks later, however, the couple who were eager to get their hands on cold cash were given a completely different news than they expected. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Mr. Thompson’s funds had been invested into the cheapest stocks back then. We were actually waiting for him to come back and check in with us, but he never did; he merely continued to input more money into his account over the years."

The couple who were sitting in their living room exchanged glances.

Hannah clutched a notepad where she’d written an extensive list of things she planned to buy once the money was released.

"What do you mean by that? What happened to my brother’s money?" Mark asked, slightly feeling panicked.

Could they have signed themselves into big trouble? Yesterday they’d wholeheartedly accepted to be the guardians for these kids.

If the money was lost, then...

The young man, dressed in a working suit, smiled kindly.

"That is not what I meant, sir. We were waiting for Mr. Thompson because we would have happily informed him that his savings have yielded fruit."

When the man noticed his words didn’t seem to have been understood, he patiently continued. "What I meant to say was that the stocks Mr. Thompson’s money was invested in blew up years ago unexpectedly. And coupled with our company’s generous interest schemes, naturally due to that, his investment funds have grown into generous returns. Everything is still in his account with us until he’s ready to retrieve them."

Hearing that the expected money had increased, the couple’s eyes lit up instantly.

Mark leaned forward in his seat with an eagerness that made him tremble as he asked quickly:

"How... how much are we talking about exactly?"