CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Once we were in the car, Bryan started acting as our tour guide. Our first stop was the zoo. Bella’s eyes lit up as we walked around, looking at the animals. She pointed at the monkeys and giggled as they swung from the trees. We spent like an hour there before moving on to our next stop.

We decided to go to the cinema to watch a new cartoon that had just premiered. But as the movie went on, Bella ended up crying her eyes out because the female lead, which was her favorite, died. We spent about two hours there, and I started regretting bringing her to see it. Her crying drew a lot of attention, so I had to pull my hat lower to cover my face as I carried her out of the cinema.

"It’s okay, Bella," I whispered, holding her close as we walked out. "Your favorite character is still alive. That’s just a movie, not real life." It took a while, but I finally managed to calm her down.

Next, we headed to a playground. Seeing Bella running around, laughing, and playing brought me so much joy. It