Chapter 12%
When she saw my calm expression, Sandra quickly wiped her tears, clung to my arm and pleaded, “Regan, I know I hurt you. Yet, it’s okay since we have plenty of time in the future. I’ll make it up to you and I’ll give you all my company shares.“}
“You always said you wanted to see the snowy mountains, right?” she asked. “Let’s go to Suisse Mountain and Megha Mountain to see the snow, okay?“%
“I’ve given up the company. From now on, I’ll go anywhere you want to go. If you want children, we can have one together, okay?” she added.%
Sandra kept asking, over and over. Her eyes looked at me desperately.2
I thought for a moment and made a phone call. A few minutes later, a little girl with pigtails walked in. She was holding a small pastry in her hand.
She ran happily to my side and held the pastry up to my mouth. “Papa Regan, this is from Uncle Leon. I saved it just for you!”
I smiled as I took a bite and gently ruffled the little girl’s hair.”
Sandra stared at the child in shock. Her voice stammered when she asked, “She who is she? How did you get a baby?“>
”
I let out a mocking laugh. Did she really think everyone was as heartless and amoral as she was?}
“This is my adopted daughter, Joy.“%
Back when I first arrived here, some friends and I went into town for a barbecue. I noticed a little girl in tattered clothes. Joy was curling up in the shadows while watching us with a mix of longing and fear.”
I picked up two skewers of lamb and gestured for her to come over. She cautiously approached, snatched them from my hand and ran off.”
A few minutes later, she returned and watched us again, while hiding in the same corner.
I asked the restaurant owner’s wife to make her a bowl of chicken soup. She devoured it hungrily.
That’s when I learned her story from the restaurant owner’s wife. In this impoverished region, many girls were abandoned by their families.%
I felt sorry for her, so I brought her back to the construction site and named her Joy. In just a month, the frail, malnourished little girl had grown chubby and lively.%
All the workers said she was lucky to have met me. However, to be honest, I was the one who was lucky. In my loneliest, darkest moment, I met her.%
“Sandra, I have my own life now. I don’t want to live in humiliation and to have constantly watching over my step. You should go back, I advised.
“Regan, no! No one will ever look down on you again,” she refuted. “I’ll tell everyone it was my fault, that I was the one who didn’t want children.”%
“If you’re willing to forgive me, we can have a baby as soon as we get back.“%
I did like children. A year ago, or even a month ago, if I heard these words, I would feel ecstatic. However, she never said them before. That was because she already had a child and that was the real reason she refused to have one with me.
