Chapter 4

After agreeing to her stepmother, Lee went back to her room to change and go meet Lynn. She wore light blue jeans and a white T-shirt with white sneakers. This outfit was one of her best, the ones she bought. She saw a few nice clothes she liked among the ones prepared for her in the closet but she had already decided not to use any of those things. It sort of made her feel indebted to them if she used any of their things. She was already used to depending on herself.

Deep within her, she was hoping the days she spends here move fast. On her eighteenth birthday,she planned to disappear from their lives. By then,she was going to be an adult and her father could no longer control her.

Everything was well planned in terms of money as she saved a bit from her old job and she was looking for a new job. Her old job was another burden in her life.

Sitting by herself,she suddenly remembered the beautiful smiling face of her stepmother. Something about her wanted to be close to the lady. She seemed at ease around Lynn and had started seeing a mother in her. Lynn, in this very short period seemed to care for her, something she hadn't got in a long time.

Her loneliness had to be doing the trick, she thought. How could it be that she didn't know Lynn that well but already become attached to her, there's a part of her that wouldn't even bear to leave her when time comes

.

Before, Lee would go to school in the morning without breakfast because she didn't want to eat alone. This breakfast today was one of those she ate enough and with company.

After school,she went straight to work and came back home tired because of the nature of her job plus the time her shift began and rarely ate dinner. She just prepared instant noodles and coffee or ordered takeaway if she was tired of the noodles.

Their apartment before with her parents took a couple of dollars at the end of the year as rent. She also payed for that using her salary while managing to save for food, clothes and other necessities. Having a scholarship saved her from paying for her education.

You could wonder where the money Fanny sent went to. Well, Lee surely had inherited a very bad trait from Ze Li and that would be self pride. She was so reluctant to use even a penny her mother sent. Though that wasn't possible in the beginning.

Back then,she was caught off guard when her mother had just disappeared so she had no job. She had to spend the money Fanny sent to her account monthly but afterwards,she never used the money again. To her, if at all Fanny still had a conscience and loved her as a mother,she will feel guilty about all of it and probably return. Her mother would understand that what she needed wasn't the money.

Lee was going with her stepmother to God knows where in a while after she was done dressing. Though she was busy most of the time,she knew of the stories and movies where the evil stepmother killed their step daughter or did something ontoward. She brushed off such thoughts while taking glances at Lynn who was walking ahead of her. She thought they will either drive or be driven to where they were going but Lynn said they would walk. It meant the place was near.

"Do you like the house?" Lynn asked casually as they walked.

Her father's house was really big, they had been walking for about five minutes but weren't outside yet.

Today was like a chance to look around the place and see it in detail.

Trees with flowers were planted in the compound alongside the natural grass . It gave the place a more natural feel. Also, around the place were mostly roses, white ones and red ones.

There were also wooden benches around, they were more than four,the one's she saw so far.

The natural look made it look like it was some house in a forest theme.

It looks good,she replied.

Lynn had a huge smile plastered on her face. She also couldn't help but notice how comfortable she was with Lee. The girl looked comfortable around her too. She was happy with this result since Lee could be the daughter she always wanted to have.

After a short walk, Lynn and Lee arrived to an old cottage. After arriving,they were received by an old lady who seemed to have been waiting for them to arrive.

Lee thought Lynn was bringing her to a place like a garden or park but not to a "friend". They seemed familiar with each other that's why she assumed so.

Anyway it was too early to jump to conclusions so she waited patiently as Lynn talked to the lady asking about her well being.

"Welcome both of you, come in,"she told Lynn and Lee to enter her house.

"We are going to be here for a while first," Lynn said.

Lee nodded but felt uneasy because she didn't know this place.

The house was not that big inside and had only furniture and picture frames.

The pictures in the frames included Lynn's friend and a certain old man who Lee assumed was the husband and another photo of the old lady and a youth who she concluded was the son of the lady because he looked like a younger version of Christine's husband.

"My name is Christine young lady,you are," the cheerful old lady asked.

"My name is Lee,"she replied. The lady appeared to be kind probably because of her cheerful look and smile. Despite the gray strands at the edges of her hair and her wrinkles on the face,it all paled in comparison to her shinning face and smile. In general it was like looking at the sunshine shinning brightly with a permanent looking smile.

Lynn usually visited the old lady since she was a former worker without a family. The lady was reluctant when it came to asking for help but Lynn didn't stop trying to help either financially and even providing her with a home and money after her retirement.

Through the conversation going on between Lynn is the old lady,Lee got to know that Lynn helped this lady.

She didn't know what to think of this because she felt like Lynn was directing to something. It's like Lynn was showing her she was a good person who helped people.

"Did Lynn pity her too,"she thought. She remembered her neighbors who pretended to pity her and help her because she was abandoned.

"Did Lynn care for her or take her as a pitiful case?"