c52

"What did that good-for-nothing do to our daughter?" asked Cassandra, a glacial expression on her face as she got out of bed, Harmonie following her.

Harmonie tried to calm herself again, sitting down on the carpet, "So they located the bastard's position. But they couldn't act because where he was hiding, which was an old warehouse, he wasn't the only one there. Several people were trapped inside. This animal and his minions had their eyes on the police and special forces, knowing they were on to them."

Harmonie crossed her legs, wrapped her arms around her legs, and rested her chin on her knee.

"Their main mission was to rescue the victims. Saving everyone was the priority... So they formed a team of 15 to 'normally' save 10 people. 10 people from the special forces and police, and another 5 from the company."

Tears flowed from Harmonie's eyes, she sniffed and sat between her arms for a few seconds, then raised her head.

She wiped away her tears, "Nothing could have prepared us for the horror we saw that day."

Shocked, Cassandra gasped and whispered, "Were you there that day?!" She sat down beside Harmonie.

"I had to be there..." Harmonie said quietly.

Flashback

"Captain, I have the underground plan of the building," Red said, turning back to Valérie with two other women at her side and two other people opposite her, a muscular, dark-haired man with an imposing build and a blonde woman with an icy stare, sitting opposite a table whose technology allows a hologram of the building to be displayed.

"Send it to us for further study," replied Valérie, typing on a visual keyboard on the table.

The man and woman in their black military uniforms and all the others present wore black trousers and T-shirts of different colors depending on the person, but we knew they belonged to the same group because they all had a pattern of three claws and the word "HOPE" embroidered on the left side of the polo shirt.

"Are you sure and certain of the location of the victims, Mr. Charles?" began Valérie,

"Affirmative, our agents have confirmed it."

Valérie nodded and stared at the dot on the map.

"What worries me is the number of people we have to save..." one of the women next to Valérie began.

"What do you mean, Lucrecia?"

"We need to save 15 people, but are we really sure there are 15? I think it would be best to have at least one more team on our side to help."

"Sorry, guys, but I think it's better to be safe than sorry on this one. I'll join my colleague and we'll add another team. Now, let's discuss the unfolding of the plan."

The woman next to the man finally spoke up, "I think it would be wise to have two of our best undercover agents..." she began.

....

"Okay... fine, let's do it that way. Dratia, can you ask Ryan and Chloé to form a team of 5? Tell them it's an urgent mission, and they need to choose their teammate carefully." Valérie said, looking at the other woman next to her.

Dratia nodded and complied.

....

"Ryan? Chloé? The Captain is calling you, and it's urgent."

The two looked at each other, then rose from their chairs.

"Let's go," Chloé said, picking up the black bag next to her, and Harmonie did the same.

....

The building was surrounded by a barbwire fence and there were guards at every turn.

A truck pulled up to the gate, the man showed a badge to the guard, and the guard let him in.

They all had serious faces, fear in their eyes and something more inside.

A young woman, her face covered in dirt, raised her head, unlike the others, her green eyes showing no fear, only determination.

The van door opened, and the young woman quickly lowered her head.

Then they heard a man speak, "They're all here, boss. Some of them tried to escape, but we found them very quickly."

1 hour earlier

"Red, Chloé, come take a look at this," Valérie called as the other two moved closer to her, and she showed them the plan they had in their hands.

"As I'm sure you were told earlier, the truck will be arriving in about 10 minutes..." she said looking at her watch, "We're going to rescue the 10 people inside and you and your teams would take their places."

"What about the guards who have to transport them, ma'am?" asked Chloé,

" There's a Special Forces person among the guards, and he'll help us neutralize the rest. Then the special forces will take their place."

"Captain, the van will be here soon," said one of the security guards in battle gear.

Valérie nodded, "Very well, set up the accident scene and make sure all lanes are blocked after the van passes our lines of action."

Valérie turned back to Chloé and Harmonie, "When you get there, we'll lead you to the victims. Then your priority will be to rescue them. Have you memorized the plan?" she asked.

"Yes, and we have a miniature of the plan under our sleeve, just in case," Chloé said, and Valérie nodded.

"Very well, I trust you, and be careful."

"Madame! They've crossed the line."

"Get all teams ready, make the change quickly."

In the van

"Team 1, what's going on? Why did you stop? Over." said a voice on a walkie-talkie.

One of the men picked up the walkie-talkie and said, "There's been an accident up ahead, and the van can't bypass. Over."

"Seriously, this had to happen to us today," the man said, turning back to his colleague, but before he could understand what was happening, he felt a pain in the back of his skull before passing out.

The man who had just neutralized his two companions took out an earpiece, put it to his ear, pressed it down, and said, "Chief, this is Alpha 1. I've neutralized 2 people and there are 3 left to neutralize in the car behind. Over."

In a van, a few meters from the accident

"All right, Alpha 1, Alpha Team is already on it. Over."

The man then got out of the van and went to join his colleagues.

"Captain!" several people shouted when they saw him, and they greeted him in the same uniform Alpha 1 was wearing.

"At ease, soldier. Get into position, we can't be here too long."

"Yes, Captain."

...

"Okay! You can go!" shouted one of the men in uniform.

"Do you think everything will be all right?" asked Lucrecia to Valérie.

Valérie watched the car drive away and said, "I hope so. And as they say, 'Hope springs eternal'. Now it's up to us to make it happen."

"Tiger team please report, can you hear me?" asked Valérie, putting her hand over her earpiece.

"Tiger 1, 5 out of 5," said Red's voice through Valérie's earpiece.

"Tiger 2, present."

...

"Tiger 5, ready."

"End of report, Chief," said Red's familiar voice through the earpiece.

"Very well. Team Wolf, report," Valérie asked again.

" Wolf 1, received madame," said Chloé.

...

" Wolf 5, present."

"End of report, chief," said Chloé, although they couldn't see her, Valérie nodded.

"Very well then. Wolf, Tiger, you're the best team in the field. Don't let me down."

Valérie turned back to Gratia and asked, "Is the Eagle team in position?"

"Yes, ma'am. They're just waiting for orders."

"Very well, let's go. "

...

"Okay, listen to me for a second," Red asked the people in the truck.

Seeing that he had their attention, he began, "Everyone already knows their role. So I want perfect coordination between the two teams, no bad blood and no mistakes. You already know that when two teams work together on missions, we're all part of the same team. Which team?"

"The Earthworm Team!" they all said without raising their voices too much.

"Seriously, what kind of name is that," said Chloé in exasperation.

"We had between either 'Pests' or 'Earthworms'," said Red, hiding his giggle.

"Pests sounds better than earthworm!" says Chloé, shocked by everyone's lack of common sense.

"Please tell me the vote resulted in a tie, either because I wasn't there or you had to flip a coin or something," says Chloé, exaggerating her annoyance.

Everyone present lowered their heads to hide their giggles.

Chloé saw their reactions and widened her eyes, "No? Really?"

And she turned back to Red, who in turn nodded.

"Seriously?!" she said, looking around at everyone present.

"The majority voted for Earthworm."

"You're not serious? Why? And who came up with those names?"

"We thought earthworm sounded cute..." Before the teammate could finish, Chloé interrupted.

"Sounds cute? Seriously, our goal is to scare people, not make them laugh, Wolf 4. And who gave-"

"Tiger 3" said the person next to Chloé.

"Ryan?" she said, looking at the person with their head down, unrecognizable by their attire. Ryan, on the other hand, didn't raise their head, just moved their finger to indicate that they had heard.

Seeing Chloé speechless at the incomprehension she felt towards her friend. Red decided to speak again.

"Right, I'll finish what I started before I was interrupted. You need to show fear, the people we saved a few minutes ago were understandably scared. We're not going to barge in completely zen in the face of the situation. Understand?"

And everyone nodded except for one who hadn't left their hiding place.

"And for those wondering why we didn't debrief before the mission. The Special Forces informed us today. They thought they had time to get everything organized. But at the last minute, we learned that we had to go into action. The enemy has seen some movement on the police side, and they are trying to speed up and finish what brought them here.

...

1 hour later

Jack nodded and looked into the truck.

"That explains the chains," he said as he saw that each of them had both hands and feet shackled.

Alpha 1 nodded to confirm that this was indeed the case. And waited for orders. Meanwhile, the man in the white jacket and glasses watched each of them, a smile gradually forming as he watched their fear. In a way, this was his guilty pleasure.

He came to when he heard someone clear their throat next to him and turned his head towards Alpha 1.

Seeing that he finally had his attention, "Your orders, sir."

"Take them to Zone C and put them in their prisons. "

"Very well, sir."

...

The Earthworm team, accompanied by the agents, walked along the corridor before reaching Zone C. They paid special attention to the surveillance cameras, as they were positioned to be in the blind spots of the cameras.

When they finally found themselves in the Zone C prison, everyone heard someone speaking into their earpieces.

"Okay, the cameras are completely at our disposal."

"Alpha 2 in position, I've neutralized those responsible for the control room," said another voice.

The entire eathworm team straightened up and went into action. The Alpha team members just handed them the bag with their equipment.

"It's a good thing they're in a hurry because security here isn't exactly top-notch," Chloé said as she loaded her weapon.

They hadn't changed clothes, as they all wore bulletproof vests underneath, and their clothes didn't hinder their movements.

They had different types of equipment, depending on the person.

"Okay, let's go in a few minutes, the guards will be here."

They entered the prison, which was visibly poorly maintained; every cell they passed had at least three people inside, and the condition they were in was deplorable.

The fear in their eyes was heartbreaking.

No one had been spared the abuse they had suffered, and several people bore marks and signs of torture.

"Fuck," Chloé whispered, now clearly afraid because the number of people to be rescued exceeded what had been planned, and she didn't know if they would be trusted.

Helplessness, pain, fear, and worry could be read on her face, like that of anyone discovering the place for the first time.

Red turned back to them, "Well, we have to be quick. However you do it, get these people to follow us, but don't hurt them. Is that understood?"

And everyone nodded, "Be careful, Tiger 3 with me, we'll try to open the trapdoor that leads to the sewers.

Chloé entered a cell and those inside looked at her warily.

"Hello, my name is Chloé, and my friends and I have come to get you out of there," Chloé said softly, trying to smile a little.

None of them spoke, still as cautious as ever.

"We're not out of the woods yet," she whispered, lowering her head.

Despite the resistance of some people, they were able to get things under control quickly.

However, some people had to be tranquilized before they could approach them.

"Okay, let's get out of here."

They moved very quickly into the sewers, and Alpha 1 said, "In 5 minutes, the operation will begin while we get them to safety."

Harmonie's eyebrows furrowed as she remembered what one of the victims had briefly mentioned to her.

...

"Eagle 1, this is Tiger 3, I have a question. Did you do a thermal search in each area?"

"Shit! I thought we'd missed something. Hang on, I'll do it right away."

A few seconds later

"Uh-oh ... guys, there's a group of five people in Zone B and one person in Zone A."

Harmonie raised her head and looked at her teammates, "I'll take Zone A, Eagle 1 will guide me through the tunnels."

As Chloé tried to stop her, they heard noises coming from behind them and realized the danger of the situation.

Harmonie, listening to Eagle 1's instructions, had already left.

Chloé wanted to go after them, but they had to take care of the victims while Alpha Team went to rescue the rest.

...

"Turn left, and the hatch should be about 200 meters above you."

" Okay, thanks," Harmonie said before ending the transmission, a few minutes later she found herself in front of some stairs before going up, she quickly caught her breath while checking that her gun was well loaded and putting on the silencer.

She tucked it under her arm and began to climb the stairs, arriving at the hatch, she turned the lever on top until the hatch opened.

"Okay..." she whispered, blowing lightly, putting a finger on her earpiece.

"Eagle 1, is there anyone on top of me?"

10 seconds later came the answer, "No, but be careful, there are guards in this area. 

Which is strange since the other areas weren't guarded...anyway, be careful."

"Okay, thanks," Harmonie said before jumping into action. She carefully opened the hatch and noticed that the area she was in was unlit. She took some glasses out of her bag, put them on, activated the night vision, and took her weapon.

...

She looked around and saw nothing but empty jails. Suddenly she stopped, saw something out of the corner of her eye, turned her head, and saw the prison in front of her.

Her intuition told her that something was wrong in this prison, and she remembered that these glasses also had infrared vision.

But all she saw was a red light, which was strange. She took a quick look at the other prisons and her doubts were confirmed. She put her night vision back on and entered the prison.

She inspected the prison and soon realized that there was a room next door. But not knowing how to open it, a biometric handprint door lock in red appeared where her hand should have been.

"Fuck..." she whispered and reached into her bag for something that might help.

She grabbed something that turned out to be a flashlight and smiled as she inspected it.

"Bingo!" she said as she manipulated the other end of the object, which had a cover blocking the laser. If you didn't remove the cover, a mechanism inside made it impossible to use the laser, even if you pressed the button designed to activate it.

She aimed the laser at the handprint detector, not sure if it would work, but willing to take the risk. And activated the laser.

Sparks flew, but Harmonie continued, then stopped when she realized she'd pierced the wall.

There was a click, then several more, and the wall finally opened. And Harmonie was shocked.

"Wow..."

She quickly regained her senses as an alarm sounded, and she felt her heart quicken even more.

"Tiger 3, hurry up! The special forces are in action."

Harmonie entered the room with her weapon in front of her. And as she stepped forward, she noticed a switch on the wall next to her, she then lit up the room and deactivated the night mode.

Harmonie's footsteps suddenly stopped and she froze. Her eyes were wide in shock.

The room wasn't large, there was very little furniture, it was better kept than the prisons. But her eyes were on the thing in front of her, not on the child in front of her. And the tears began to show their presence.

The child was clearly a victim of malnutrition, and the wounds on their body were...

Harmonie closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tears. She took several deep breaths before opening her eyes again. She felt like she could have a panic attack at any moment, but she couldn't afford to leave the child.

She slowly approached the child, who was clearly encased in some kind of transparent box. She quickly found a way to open the box.

And the child was startled by Harmonie's movements, their eyes opened, and they were clearly on full alert.

When they caught sight of Harmonie, the fear was clear in their eyes, eyes Harmonie was used to seeing every morning. Eyes empty of light. And full of fear.

Without realizing it, the tears began to flow. She approached the child, who whimpered in fear.

Harmonie placed her weapon in her saddlebag and reached out to the child, who obviously wanted to fight back, but was clearly very weak. The child did not even have the strength to raise their hand, only their eyes could speak. And what we learned through those eyes was horrifying.

Trying to calm her emotions, Harmonie suddenly turned around as if searching for something, and her eyes landed on a blanket on the chair next to the cot.

She turned back to the child and gently scooped her up and covered her. She tried to watch her movements carefully. The child was crying, helpless in the face of the situation, but what was strange was that Harmonie had the impression that the child was trying to hold back those tears.

The fact that she could feel the baby shaking and her shirt getting wet gave her the slightest clue. Unfortunately, Harmonie didn't have time to calm the child down, as she sensed a door opening.

Quickly reaching into her bag, she found what she was looking for, pulled out her mp3, unwound the earphones with one hand, and placed each end of the earphones on the child's ears, all the while soothing her. It had a cancelling sound fonction.

And put on a soft song, which was all her playlist consisted of. She took a blindfold from her bag and covered the child's eyes, who whimpered even more.

"Shhh... I'm here. Don't worry," she said in a whisper as she patted her gently.

What she didn't know was that the child had never been held in the arms of a person since birth.

As soon as the child found themselves in Harmonie's arms, they were terrified, of course, but the warmth of her body and the comfort she brought them melted them completely into her arms. But Harmonie was too focused on getting out of there.

And the child's cries were due to the fact that they felt separated from the comfort they felt for the first time.

Harmonie heard footsteps approaching, put her glasses back on, activated the night function, and drew her weapon.

She turned off the lights in the room and stood against the wall next to the door.

'About two people...' she thought, paying attention to the sound of footsteps.

She looked at her watch, '2 minutes.'

When the men in white coats stood in front of the door of the room, which was obviously open. They pointed their flashlights at the child's bed and saw that she wasn't there.

"Shit, she's gone! You search the room! I'll look around."

As the man entered and turned to turn on the light, Harmonie took the opportunity to hit him from behind. His fall didn't bother her.

Making sure no one was around, she went to the trapdoor she'd closed and opened it with some difficulty.

Then she heard footsteps again, this time from several people.

'Shit,' she finally climbed down into the trapdoor, she didn't have time to close it again. 

She quickly walked down the stairs, putting her hand on her earpiece.

"Lead the way, quickly!" she said as she began to sprint, trying to keep the child in place as much as possible.

Shots rang out behind her, but she continued along the subway tracks without stopping.

...

"Seriously, what the hell were you thinking going back there?" said Chloé as she watched Harmonie get her upper arm treated.

Harmonie shrugged slightly so as not to disturb the doctor treating her, "I don't know, it just feels like something's wrong. And you know I'm trying to avoid collisions, but at this moment it's like something was pushing me to act despite the danger."

Chloé sighed, then said, "At least everything went well on our side..."

Harmonie frowned, "What happened?"

"They managed to capture several people, even those who were chasing us, but alas, several were killed, and the main target somehow managed to escape, so it's considered a successful mission for us, but only half successful for the Special Forces."

"What I'm wondering is why there were more people than expected. We were told there would only be 15 people, but there were 33, twice as many as expected."

"That's why I'm saying that luckily everything went well and that the bullet only scratched you," Chloé says, helping Harmonie to put her shirt back on.

"By the way, what about the little one, how is she?" Harmonie asked the doctor suddenly.

"We had to anesthetize her to take care of her wounds, and I'd be lying to you if I said she wouldn't suffer from PTSD," the doctor said with a frown.

"They're scumbags. Picking on a child... they disgust me," Chloé said.

"Me on the other hand, there's one thing I find odd, how come they treated her like that when the place they locked her up looked like some kind of hiding place as if they wanted to protect her? In a way, it shows how important she is, but the fact that there are physical traumas on her body shows otherwise, which I find strange," Harmonie said, remembering the room.

The other two presents remained silent, also thoughtful.

...

2 days later

"She still won't eat..." one of the people in scrubs said with a sigh of helplessness. "And even when she sleeps, she's not peaceful. She's in a constant state of stress; this can't go on."

"Her weight is also appalling for her age... We're going to have to put a nasogastric tube in her. We need to nourish her metabolism. On top of that, she's always trying to remove her IV!"

One of them raised his head, "I have an idea!"

He looked at his colleagues and told them what he was thinking. They were stunned by his idea.

"Are you sure this can work, she doesn't want to be touched and even getting close to her is too much for her," one of them asked.

"It's an idea worth trying..."

...

"..."

"I think that's how we were told it was going to happen."

"Oh, you think so? I thought they were going to spare us."

"That's what you think will happen. The instructors never spare us."

Harmonie, accompanied by 3 other girls in uniforms consisting of black combat pants and blood-red polo shirts, walked through the corridors talking about their missions and the next exam.

Harmonie didn't really pay attention to what they were saying to each other; she seemed lost in thought, thinking about who knows what.

"By the way, am I the only one who had a problem with my glasses?" she asked suddenly, and the others turned their heads to her.

"What problem?" asked one of them, as Harmonie explained the problem she had with her infrared vision during the mission.

"Maybe the room was well heated," suggested one of the girls.

"But with her drone, Eagle 1 was able to see that someone was in the area."

"Well then, take it back to the experts for repair."

Harmonie nodded and remained silent, wondering how the little baby was doing.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and her eyes turned to the culprit.

"We called you earlier, and you didn't answer..." the person said with a smile and removed the hand from her shoulder.

Harmonie nodded, "What's wrong?"

"Chloé has been calling you."

Harmonie looked up to see Chloé waving at her from a few feet away, wearing the same uniform as her except that her polo shirt was royal blue.

She said goodbye to her group and went to join Chloé.

"What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she was beside her.

"The mad scientists from the S Block are looking for you."

"Don't call them that." Chloé looked at her incredulously, taking on an offended look.

"I'd like to point out that it was you who gave them that nickname."

"Oh really!" Harmonie said with a look of astonishment, "I don't remember."

"Well, anyway, they need your help with the little one."

Harmonie understood which little one she was talking about and nodded without question, and off they went to the academic hospital of the campus.

...

"Well, have you figured out what to do?" one of the doctors asked.

"Hmm." Harmonie hummed, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Okay, good. You're good to go. Oh... here, take this." He handed her a small bowl with some kind of purée and a small spoon.

She entered the room and approached the child, who was curled up on the bed, hidden in the sheets, the bed had bars on each side to keep her from falling out.

Harmonie's heart clenched, she unconsciously put her hand over her heart and moved closer.

Then she noticed that the child was shaking, and she was sure that she was awake.

Harmonie didn't know why she was being asked to help, but she was happy to try.

She took the bedside table and set it up, trying to frighten the child as little as possible. Leaving the bowl on it, she took a chair and placed it gently beside the child's bed and waited, since, she told herself, she'd been given all day to get some kind of reaction from the child.

She crossed her legs and arms and leaned back in the chair.

20 minutes later, the child finally began to move from her hiding place and Harmonie, seeing that she was about to stick her head out, suddenly closed her eyes in panic.

She tried to calm her breathing as much as possible, as her heart was racing.

Her ear caught a small sound from the child. And Harmonie froze completely.

Meanwhile, the little baby had slowly lifted her eyes from the sheet and froze for a moment when she saw that someone was beside her, but instinctively calmed down somehow when she saw that it was Harmonie.

A small sparkle could be seen in the child's eyes. For the past few days, she had been terrified of the people in white coats who had done so much harm to her, but finally she felt safe in the presence of the person who had offered her warmth and affection for the first time in her short life.

She moaned softly, wanting that warmth back.

Then the child noticed that Harmonie had opened her eyes and was looking at her. She was startled and hid herself once more.

Seeing her reaction, Harmonie smiled, got up from the chair and had the reflex to reach out and touch her through the sheet, but she stopped suddenly, unsure if she was going too far or not.

She took a deep breath and gently placed her hand on the child's back. Sensing that the child remained frozen, she neither moved nor withdrew her hand.

After a few minutes, little by little, she felt the child relax under her hand.

Then she withdrew her hand for fear of doing too much for the child.

The child, having lost the source of warmth on her back, felt lost and finally popped her head out of her hiding place.

Harmonie smiled when she saw her little face again, so the child hid again. Then she poked her head out again.

Harmonie didn't understand the child's reaction, but she soon realized that she was shy.

"Hello," she said in a low voice, smiling when she saw the child's eyes. She gently held out her hand, afraid that the child would be surprised by her gesture. Unfortunately, the child had hidden again.

And she couldn't help but giggle. Hearing her laughter, the child was puzzled and stuck her head out again.

She saw Harmonie, her hand still outstretched and smiling.

Harmonie tilted her head slightly toward her and said, "Hello, my name is Ryan."

The child looked at her blankly, but that didn't bother Harmonie, who hadn't lowered her hand.

...

When she decided to withdraw her hand, she was surprised by the small hand that had come to rest on hers, her heart began to race again, but she controlled her excitement and her smile widened.

The child, seeing her smile again, had a grimace on her face. At first, Harmonie thought she was displeased, but quickly dismissed the idea when she saw that she hadn't removed her hand from hers.

An idea came to her. Then she smiled and when she saw that the child had her grimace back, she understood that she was trying to smile.

Then she had a bold idea: she gently removed her hand from the child's and gently stood up. The child had covered herself again, except for her eyes.

When she saw that she had gotten up, she was afraid that she would leave. She followed Harmonie with her eyes and saw that Harmonie had gone to the foot of the bed.

Harmonie unlocked the bar with one motion, then the other, and gently lowered it. Then she slowly and carefully took off her shoes, placed one hand on the bed, and gently lay down on it so as not to frighten the child who had moved to the other side of the bed.

And she closed her eyes, not realizing that she had fallen asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow, which was completely unexpected on her part. She had underestimated how tired her body was.

Subconsciously, she knew she had someone next to her so she could stay put during her nap.

About 1 hour later

Harmonie woke up and felt something on top of her in her arms. She opened her eyes a little more, and when she lowered them, she noticed that the child had her whole body on top of her, and that she had unconsciously wrapped her arms around the child.

She looked at the infant attentively and was completely captivated by her adorable little face.

A few minutes later, she decided to wake her up and feed her. To do so, she gently sat up with the child in her arms, who had a firm grip on her polo shirt.

She leaned the baby into her arms as she sat down completely. She knew that the child was beginning to wake, and she gently kissed her on the forehead. It was in the hope of calming the baby.

When she saw that the baby's eyes were open, she kissed her forehead again. And the child laid her head against her, determined to go back to sleep.

But Harmonie gently straightened her back. She looked up and saw that someone had covered the plate. She took the spoon and removed the lid, the child watching her movements, the tiredness still present.

Harmonie took a spoonful of the strange purée and brought it closer to the child, who turned her head away, she planted a kiss on her head and said softly, "You have to eat, sweetheart.

She brought the spoon closer to the child again, but not closer, "You can do it, love," she said gently, stroking her arm with her other hand to encourage her.

The little girl then slowly opened her mouth and moved closer to the spoon, closing her mouth on it before she leaned over Harmonie again.

Harmonie waited before taking another spoonful of purée, waiting to see her reaction.

The child didn't find the food as bad as the others she'd been given before, raising her head to look at Harmonie, who gave her a smile and then lowered her head to look at the food, having understood her action, Harmonie took another spoonful of the purée.

End of Flashback.

"And so we grew closer, day by day, mouthful by mouthful. After she was discharged from the hospital, they agreed to leave her by my side with the promise of offering her a new family and reuniting her with the family that had been taken from her. And to this day, she's done nothing but fulfill my life with joy," she said as she kissed the child on the cheek, then straightened and looked at Cassandra, who was smiling with tears in her eyes.

"I also promised myself that no matter who her family was, I would stay with her to make sure she was safe and that the family in question gave her all the love she deserved."

...