Caden's exposed skin was bruised. His little face was still swollen. Serenity could imagine how it must have been worse over the past few days. Unable to help feeling pain for him, Serenity crouched down, leveling her eyes at the child. "Does it hurt?" she asked, but Caden acted like he had not heard her and continued staring at the school gate. All he cared about was when he could see his sister after school. Nothing else mattered to him. Serenity wanted to touch the boy's face, but the little one avoided her hand warily."I just want to see your injury. I don't mean any harm!" Serenity hastily said.The little boy stared at her for a long moment before finally enunciating slowly, "I don't like you touching me!""Then… Shall I take you to the hospital and let the doctor take a look at your wound? Once your bruise heals, you'll feel better," Serenity coaxed. "It doesn't hurt," the little boy said coldly. Then, he turned his head away and stopped talking to Serenity. Serenity
The seven-year-old Cynthia behaved like an adult and showed signs of a mature child. She knew there was no such thing as a free lunch and knew how to protect herself. "My kids are about the same age as Caden. When I see Caden hurt, I can't resist wanting to help. Taking Caden to the doctor is something I can do to help," Serenity explained in a matter-of-fact tone with no intention of intimidating the little girl by getting too close.Cynthia fell silent. She turned around and looked at the little boy, still hesitant and unsure.Caden said, "Sis, it doesn't hurt." "I know it doesn't hurt, but you're still injured. Look at how you walk! You're still limping!" Cynthia said and finally made up her mind."Aunt Serene," Cynthia glanced up at Serenity, "Please wait for me. I'll be back in a while. We'll go to the hospital with you." Cynthia said something to Caden after that and told him to wait for her in front of the store.Caden grabbed the hem of Cynthia's shirt, refusing to let
"Who knows? Adoption for unusual reasons can be pretty common. I've heard about some families that adopt children for pretty strange reasons," Lisa said, pouting.Serenity pursed her lips, pondering something. Just then, Cynthia came running back carrying a small satchel instead of a school bag this time. She took Caden's hand and said to Serenity, "Aunt Serene, let's take Caden to the hospital.""Alright. Let's go," Serenity said, smiling. Lisa shrugged. When everyone got into the car, Serenity asked Cynthia, "Did you talk to your parents when you got home?""Well, I left a note," Cynthia said, but she knew it did not really matter. Her father would not care if she and Caden were out all night, let alone her stepmother. Besides, her stepmother would love to see her and Caden gone.Lisa drove the car to the hospital. While they were on the way, Serenity saw Cynthia holding Caden's hand tightly. The siblings were very close, and it seemed like they only had each other to rely on.
After the doctor's consultation, the group went to pick up the medication. The doctor prescribed a couple of ointments and a pain-relieving spray for Caden. Serenity handed the medication to Cynthia. "Here, these are Caden's medicine. You have to apply the ointment a couple of times a day. There are instructions written on the label. Can you read them?""I can!" Cynthia agreed readily."From now on, I’ll have to trouble you to help Caden with his medication," Serenity said."It's no trouble! Caden is my brother!" After putting the medications into her small satchel, Cynthia pulled out several crumpled rolls of money ranging from a dollar or two to as much as fifty dollars. "Here is 93 dollars. I know it's not enough for the bill today. Once I've saved enough, I'll give you the rest!" Cynthia said, behaving like a grown adult. She took out her stash of money all at once, giving Serenity all her savings.Serenity smiled at the stash of crumpled money but refused to accept it. "No
Cynthia tried stuffing the pile of crumpled money into Serenity's hands again. Serenity accepted the 'special' money this time. "Okay, I'll take this. You can pay me back the rest when you have enough. Now, let's get you two home."Lisa drove and took the kids to their home. When they arrived at their destination, Lisa and Serenity dropped off the kids at the door. Cynthia's stepmother, Yara Jenkins, opened the door. When she saw the kids, she immediately yelled at Cynthia, "Where have you been? If you don't like staying in this house, take this leech with you and get out of there!""I left a note. I took Caden to the hospital," Cynthia said calmly."You left a note? Hmph! The hospital? The both of you must have been fooling around! Did you damage someone's property? Do you need me to pay for it? I'm telling you, the family's money has nothing to do with your short-lived mom. It all belongs to me and your father!" Yara scolded, assuming that Serenity and Lisa had come to their house
Jackson stared at Serenity, feeling puzzled. "Why are you suddenly thinking of adopting a child?""Remember that boy I met when we were at the amusement park? I went to Clara's place today, and I saw the kid again. His name is Caden..." Serenity then told Jackson about what had happened in the day."The boy isn't blood-related to his current family. He was adopted, and his adoptive parents were unkind to him. I think they'll continue to abuse him, maybe frequently." Serenity had talked to Caden's parents earlier, but she did not think they would stop after what she had said. After all, it would be hard to change when abusing the kid became a habit."The kid was adopted by his current family. If that's the case, can we get his current family to dissolve the adoption and let us adopt him?" Serenity suggested.Jackson smiled. "You seem to care about the child a lot. Do you like him that much?""Maybe because he's about the same age as Micah and Jackie," Serenity explained and hesitat
"Yeah. I’ll never get back together with him. Not now, not ever," Clara said frankly. "We'll never go back to how we were before.""Is it true you'll never love him again? He was wrong, but he's trying to make up for it. Will it never change your mind?" Jackson asked straightforwardly."Jack!" Serenity exclaimed, worried Jackson's questions would make Clara uncomfortable. Wanting to hear Clara's answer, Jackson continued staring at Clara uncharacteristically. "Yes. I won't love him again, even if he spends the rest of his life making up for his mistakes, even if he lives in regret," Clara answered in a calm and decisive way.Jackson furrowed his brow. "But why? He hurt you because he was blinded. He didn't hurt you on purpose." "No. He was the one who approached me in the beginning and intentionally made me fall in love with him. He had many opportunities to investigate the truth, but he never did. He was wired to believe what he wanted to believe and preferred to treat me as
Caden saw no difference between a wound that healed quickly and one that healed slowly. The pain never bothered him, after all. "You should get your injuries treated even if it doesn't hurt. If you don't, it may affect your health in the future. I know you don't feel much pain this time, but what if you hurt your bone? If you don't get it treated, you'll walk with a limp forever," Serenity explained as simply as possible.Caden remained silent, pondering Serenity's words. Serenity added, "Do you want to live in a different home? Would you like to come and live with us? No one will hurt you again, and you won't get these injuries again."Caden grew wary, showing a defensive look on his face. The way he looked at Serenity changed. He was full of hostility, like a small animal ready to fight back, attacking its predator. Serenity's heart ached at the change in Caden's eyes. Was Caden treating her like an enemy? Jackson took a step forward and stood between the little boy and Seren