Chapter 5: A New Life
A few days later, the couple that came to see me in the orphanage returned and I was taken back along with them. I didn’t have any belongings and I left the orphanage with pretty much all that I had on. While in the back seat of their car, I looked through the back window at the orphanage as the car was driving away. Somehow, I had a feeling that I would never ever return to this place. Generally, I was over the moon happy, I was able to leave without any regrets except for one: I didn’t get to say good bye to the older guy that saved me from the fire.
Goodbye big brother...we probably won’t ever see each other again...
When I thought that a single drop of tear rolled down my cheek and I secretly wiped it away so that the couple wouldn’t see me crying. Honestly, after that day I was too busy adapting and living my new life that the thought of that big brother never crossed my mind again for a very long while. He became part of the old life that I had to leave behind.
The ride to my new home was a very long one and somewhere along the journey I fell asleep in the car. When I woke up, we had already arrived. I remembered the shock that I felt at the size and beauty of the house that I would call home. The woman opened the door for me and gestured with her hand for me to get out of the car.
“Someone come here! Take his girl and shower her properly. Make sure she is clean and well-dressed before dinner,” the woman who was now supposed to be my new mother said.
Without saying anything to me the two of them left me standing there and entered the house. Soon enough a middle-aged woman dressed in a black maid uniform came and took me by the hand. She took me inside the house and directly to a very large bathroom where she bathed and cleaned me. I was amazed at the size of the house and its wonderful decoration. My real mother used to work in a house like this, but it was much bigger and much more sparkly. I’ve been there with her many times before when she worked, and I had time off from school. This house in front of me was pretty but smaller than that one and less majestic. However, it was still a nice house and much better than the orphanage. I wondered if I would have my own bed.
I never dreamt that I would get to live in a house like this. After the bath, the maid dressed me in a pretty and very soft light pink dress before clipping on a matching bow into my hair. She showed me to a mirror where I could see my own reflection from head to toe. I couldn’t help smiling a little at my own reflection. The dress made me look and feel like a little princess.
.....
The maid led me down to the dining room where a large table was set, and my new parents were waiting for me in their seat. The woman took me to my seat and helped me sit down. The food in front of me looked extremely tasty and smelled appetizing. It made my mouth water and I suddenly felt very hungry.
“We are all here so we can start eating,” mother said.
“Thank you...” I said softly.
When I began eating, I could feel her eyes on me while my father didn’t pay me much attention. She observed me all throughout the meal until I was done eating. No one said anything while we ate. It was when the maids had cleared the dishes away that my mother started to speak.
“We have to work on your table manners along with everything else but that’s ok. You have a pretty face and if nothing else that can be your saving grace,” mother said.
I didn’t know what to think about what she said. Honestly, I felt confused, but she did say that I had a pretty face, so I guess all was well and good. Whatever she said next, I just nodded my head.
“If you understand what I’m saying, I want you to say ‘yes, mother’,” she said.
“Yes, mother,” I replied obediently.
I didn’t care back then if what she told me was right or wrong. It also didn’t matter if I liked it or not. What mattered was that my new parents were satisfied so that they wouldn’t send me back to the orphanage. I heard before that children who were adopted and sent back would never be adopted ever again. Honestly, I was scared.
“From now on you will live as our daughter. I had a daughter who unfortunately passed away recently. You will take her name and live a life that would make us proud. Your name is now Elena Townswell,” she said as her eyes watched me intently.
“Yes, mother,” I said.
The years went by, and I grew up. My parents invested a lot of money into me by sending me to the best schools and the best classes. I learnt everything that was necessary to hold my place in high society from dancing, singing, playing the piano, cooking on top of regular school courses. At the age of sixteen, I successfully entered a highly competitive school for girls. Basically, it was a school famous for educating and grooming young ladies to become the perfect wives to their future perfect and rich husbands.
It was a little before that time that I had figured out that the ultimate goal of my parents was to marry me off to a very wealthy man all for our own benefit. Everyone in the school all talked about their dreams of marrying their dream husband. Their dream husband coincidentally all had the same characteristics. He had to be rich, famous, and if possible, handsome. For the first time, I understood what this beautiful face and figure of mine was made for.
–To be continued...
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