Chapter nine: The girl is gone

"What's your name?" the woman asked the girl who was quiet all of a sudden.

"I'm Irene," she said with a little smile, the name was given to her by whoever left her at the orphanage, maybe there's a reason they left her with a name tag.

"Irene, that's a beautiful name, I'm Tasha and he's Dylan," the woman said pointing toward the man " We have two sons, Raymond and Scott, Raymond is 13 while Scott is 9 " Tasha added and the couple left the girl, she seemed to be in her own world and she needs time to process and accept what just happened to her.

After driving for some distance, Dylan drove into an apartment. The couple along with Irene came down and they led her into the house.

Dylan and Tasha's apartment

A guy was playing a video game while the order was wrapped up in a blanket.

Raymond paused his game and his gaze wandered from his dad to his mom, the girl, and back to his dad, giving him a questioning look.

"I'll explain things later" Dylan mouthed to Raymond and Raymond nodded.

Tasha dragged Irene to a room and sat her on the bed, she took out a first aid kit from the drawer and applied treatment on her wound, engaging in small talk, watching Tasha treat her wound reminded Irene of Evenly, she wondered what her friend is doing now.

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Back at the hospital

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Where's the girl?". The guy in a black leather jacket asked the hospital staff and his tone was not helping issues.

After meeting the managing director he left the hospital only to get a call the next day that the girl he left under their care was gone.

"Mr. Tyler please come with us" the man in charge of the CCTV camera called the guy in a black leather jacket.

He lead Mr. Tyler to a room full of screens and played a footage for him. The footage showed a girl with red hair and blue eyes leaving the hospital on her own accord. His inky black hair fell over his face his brown eyes became darker as he watched the footage, and a sinister smile appeared on his lips. ". I should have known" he said and left the hospital building. He hopped into the car prepared for him and zoomed off from the hospital. " You better disappear and never let him see you," he said visibly angry.

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At the orphanage

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Everyone woke up late and started the activities of the day. Viola still couldn't find her roommate or hear any news about her disappearance but she could care less as she was getting adopted today.

She walked over to where the managing director was talking to her soon-to-be parents with soft steps and a graceful smile.

Evelyn looked over at Viola from where she was standing. She doesn't understand why her adoptive parents dragged her here. if they want to be with their friend when they are adopting Viola then they should leave her out of it. She looked around if she could see Irene anywhere but she couldn't. She found out from someone that Viola is sharing a room with Irene and she vowed to kill Viola if she laid even a single finger on her baby.

Miss Mata walked toward the managing director with a pale face. " Sir!, they've checked everywhere, there's no news on Irene, we can't find Irene," she said. She tried keeping down the volume of her voice but failed miserably as everyone heard her " and your safe is empty" she added and a smile curved on Evelyn's lips. She knew Irene would leave the orphanage but she never thought it would be this quick. Now the only problem is how to find her. She knows how forgetful Irene could be so she hoped she opened the envelope before her adoptive parents change countries.

The managing director looked over to Evenly, who gave him a broad smile and shrugged her shoulder.

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At Dylan and Tasha's apartment

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The sunlight pecked in through the curtain waking Irene from her sleep.

Irene's eyes fluttered open and she panicked when she realized she was not in the restaurant and was in an unfamiliar environment, she stood up and was about to rush out of the room when the past event recap in her mind and she sighed.

She took off her clothes and entered the bathroom. The previous day Tasha told her this was her room and to feel free, never hesitate to ask for what she needs and she's going to do just that not like she has a place to return to.

She switched on the shower and the feel of warm water coming in contact with her skin was divine. She came out after spending some time in the bathroom, She put on a worn-out hoodie that was just above her knee, and left her hair wet before leaving the room.

She looked around the house but couldn't find the couple so she assumed they left for work. She saw a plate of food with her name on it and decide to pick it up since it was kept for her .she heard noises and walked in that direction. She stood behind a door and pecked at what the guy in the room was doing.

Raymond sat on his bed playing a video game and Irene was awestruck at what he was doing. She has only heard of it at the orphanage but has never seen one and now she can't take her gaze away.

"Are you going to keep standing there or you're going to come in?" Raymond asked the statue-like girl standing behind his door. His father briefed him on the incident with the robber and how she helped them along with their offer to her and he's grateful that she helped them, so now he got a big sister. Raymond smiled helplessly he knew his mom always wanted a girl she could doll up and Irene just fell into her trap.

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