Chapter 59
Haley seemed to realize what he had just blurted out and quickly waved his hands in denial, “Nope, no way, how could my own little girl be a foundling? You must’ve heard me wrong. I was saying I didn’t expect how her mom dislike her when she gave birth. I ain’t got no great talents, always busy with work, slaving away outside all day, hardly had time for her. Poor thing had to rough it out when she was
little.”
He denied it so naturally, without a hint of panic or shifty eyes, cool as a cucumber, almost making Kent wonder if he’d misheard. Kent chuckled awkwardly and poured Haley another glass of booze, “Man, my ears must be getting old before their time, I could’ve sworn you said Sophia was picked up by you guys.”
“No way, I must’ve just been tongue-tied. Drinking too much this early, can’t even talk straight,” Haley chuckled, trying to steer the conversation away.
But Kent was on his tail, “Sophia’s so lovable now, must’ve been a real sweet and cute kid, huh?”
“You bet. She was such a darling, a real heart-stealer since she was tiny, pretty as a picture, all rosy-cheeked. Back then, she must’ve been five or six years old, middle of winter, all alone outside, freezing her little face off, but no fussing, no crying. Just huddled up, knees to her chest, staring at me with those big, clear eyes full of terror, not making a peep.”
Maybe it was the booze talking, but Haley got all nostalgic, knocked back his drink, and went on, “When I walked over, she asked me in this tiny, weak voice, ‘Mister, are you here to take me home?”
Kent didn’t point out the slip-up, just filled up Haley’s glass again and asked softly, “What happened next?”
“Seeing how pitiful she was, I rushed her to the hospital. She clearly felt awful the whole way, but didn’t cry one bit, just clung to me for dear life, afraid I’d leave her behind. It was heart-wrenching, really.” Haley downed another glass, “She had hypothermia which led to a bunch of complications, ended up with pneumonia, high fever for days. When she came to, she was out of it, didn’t remember anything, just me. She’d cling to my shirt, scared I’d ditch her, sick as a dog getting poked and prodded for blood, daily shots, IVs, and through it all, not a single whimper. Tears would well up, but she wouldn’t let them fall. Broke my heart to see it.”
Haley paused, then with a sheepish grin, he looked at Kent and said, “It’s all my fault, really. She was so small, and I wasn’t careful enough, let her get lost. We searched for days and nights, thank goodness we found her.”
Kent just smiled and didn’t call out the inconsistencies, just kept the booze flowing and said, “Sounds like she had it tough, such a small kid going through so much. Breaks my heart just hearing about it.”
“Exactly. And she was so good, so obedient, such a great kid. How could her mom not love her?” Haley sighed, downing another glass, “All my fault for being so coward and useless. Her mom had a temper since I met her, always throwing fits, smashing things, making the house a madhouse. I tiptoed around her just to keep the peace.”
Kent refilled Haley’s glass and laughed, “Maybe she’s just hot-headed, but no mother doesn’t love her own flesh and blood.”
Haley didn’t bite, just shook his head with a resigned smile, “Kent, you wouldn’t understand. Every family’s got its own set of troubles.”
“True that, we all have our own battles,” Kent agreed with a chuckle, then prodded, “What happened after? Did Sophia go anywhere else after you brought her home?”
“Where could she go? Back in the day, we were skint, both her mom and I were laid off, struggling to support one kid, let alone two. Eventually, we couldn’t find work back home, had to drag the siblings here to scrape by. But Sophia’s always been understanding, helping out at home, never a word of complaint, and she did well in school too. Got into a top middle school in the city, but we were too broke to send her, though she didn’t let that hold her back, got into a top high school too. I talked it over with her mom, insisting we let her go, but she wouldn’t have it. Ended up letting her study near where we worked for a couple of years until we got transferred to the West district. I didn’t want her all alone over there, so we moved her to a school in West district. She was a stellar student, the schools were falling over themselves to have her, even the high school she ended up at, the best in West district, offered to waive her fees because of our situation. We transferred her there, and you wouldn’t believe it, her former school’s principal and teachers were so reluctant to let her go.”
Haley’s face beamed with pride as he spoke.
Kent listened, smiling politely. This part of the story sounded pretty standard, nothing too out of the ordinary, except for the bit about moving to West district high school. Kent remembered Brandon graduated from there too.
“What about when she was younger?” Kent tried to steer the conversation back, “Before you guys accidentally lost her, was she just as sweet and sensible?”
With a chuckle, Haley breezed over the question, “Absolutely, she’s been a good kid from day one, never fussy, always obedient. Neighbors, teachers, classmates-they all adored her.”.
Chuckling along, Kent added, “Pretty and smart, who wouldn’t love that? Got any photos of her as a kid? I’m kinda curious what she looked like back then.”
“Nah, back in those days, we could barely scrape together enough to eat, let alone have spare cash to snap photos.’ Haley waved his hand dismissively and took a big swig from hi glass. “You’ve taken a shine to her too, huh?!
Kent chuckled, not daring to admit outright that he was crushing on Sophia too, since his phone was secretly recording the conversation. If Brandon got wind of it, who knew how he’d grind Kent’s gears.
Kent hadn’t forgotten how Sophia phoned him to pass on a message to Brandon after sending back the money before she left. The look Brandon gave him could kill, and his snarky tone alone was enough to give Kent a rough time.
Haley didn’t care if Kent responded or not, just drowning his sorrows in booze. “She’s got a personality that everyone adores. How come her mom can’t stand her? Is there really such a thing as mutual repulsion in this world?”
Kent just smiled and poured him another glass. “Guess some people just don’t click, huh?”
Haley was getting tipsy after pounding back the hard liquor, not really caring what Kent said, just venting. “You’d think family should get along, right? Sophia’s always been the peace-loving, dutiful type. But her mother’s the drama queen, always stirring up a storm at home. Like the money they returned a while ago, Sophia insisted on giving it back to Mr. Crawley. Her mother’s been holding a grudge, ranting about cutting ties with Sophia, banning her from coming home. What’s with all that drama?”
Kent looked at him, not chiming in; he remembered the incident but didn’t realize there was so much turmoil behind it.
“Though, I know we shouldn’t have taken Mr. Crawley’s money. It puts Sophia in a tough spot, stuck in the middle. But I don’t call the shots at home; no one listens to me.” After his somber spiel, Haley reached for his glass, ready to guzzle more.
Kent stopped him. “Mr. Yearwood, have some food, don’t hit the bottle too hard. It’s bad for your health.”
While saying that, Kent casually loaded up Haley’s plate with food and chatted with him until Sophia’s brother Aaron came back. Only then did Kent hand off Haley to Aaron and took off from the Yearwood family.
On his way back, Kent video-called Brandon.
Brandon was busy at his computer.
It was the weekend, and he wasn’t at work, just grinding away in the study of his presidential suite at the hotel.
When Kent’s video call came through, Brandon casually hit accept, his gaze still fixed on the computer screen rather than on Kent’s face on the phone screen, simply responding with a curt, “Talk.”
His long fingers kept dancing over the keyboard.
Kent looked at Brandon’s serious and busy handsome face. “I went to have a chat with Sophia’s dad, Haley, today.”
“Get to the point.”
“He accidentally let slip something. Sophia was found by him in the wild.”
Brandon’s fingers, previously flying over the keyboard, suddenly paused, his gaze shifting to Kent on the phone. “When?”
“He said it was when Sophia was around five or six years old. It was winter when he found her, all alone in the wild, frozen purple all
over.”
Brandon’s eyes snapped to Kent’s. “You sure it was winter?”
