Chapter 2

Miranda was distorted. She wished for nothing more than for things to return to normal after the misfortune. It's a shame that her life will now be filled with loneliness. But she has to be strong. And with that in mind, she went to work.

Miranda worked at Little Stars, an orphanage. Her uncle used to own this place, but she has taken over the management since his death.

She loves the place from the bottom of her heart. But, Miranda was well aware that she would be unable to show her daughter the love she deserved on the day she left. So, she spends time with the kids here. It can be described as a kind of replacement or redemption, and everyone needs one reason in their life to help them survive. And this was one of hers.

Miranda arrived at her destination quickly and entered her cabin. She needed to complete some paperwork for the adoption of one girl who was leaving the orphanage to start a new life. It always made her sad when one of the kids had to leave this place, but she knew it was for the best.

Martha, a coworker, interrupted her train of thought. "Yes, Martha?"

"There is someone who has come to meet with you. Should I send them in?" Martha asked.

"Yes, send them in." She agreed with a nod. This place was like an extended family to her because she had lost her own a long time ago, and it was the hardest decision she had ever made.

The door opened after a few seconds, and she was surprised to see the person standing in front of her.

Eric had not anticipated this. He had not expected Miranda, of all the people in the world, to be the owner of this orphanage.

When Eric came forward with Lizzy and sat in the chair in front of her, Miranda immediately flipped the photo frame.

"You are the same lady we saw at the party yesterday." Lizzy pointed it out. Her daughter wore a sky-blue dress with two pigtails.

"Yes, I am Miranda Patrick." Miranda used her maiden name instead of Liston to avoid confusing Lizzy.

"Lizzy and her two friends wanted to volunteer at this orphanage and spend time with the children." Eric explained hesitantly to Miranda. Ideally, he should have stormed out immediately with his daughter when he saw it was Miranda who manages this orphanage. However, he was unable to do that.

"That could be arranged. You only need to fill out some paperwork, and they can begin whenever they want." She told him softly, carefully handing him the papers, avoiding any physical contact.

"May I look around, Ms. Miranda?" Miranda didn't like it when her daughter called her by name, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it. So she buzzed Martha in.

"Lizzy, this is Martha, one of my coworkers. She will show you around." With a smile, she explained.

Lizzy then left with Martha. She looked excited.

"I am surprised that you work in an orphanage. When did you own it?" Eric couldn't help but ask.

"It belonged to my uncle. My cousin didn't want to handle this place on his own because he was too preoccupied with his studies. So he passed it on to me." She tried to explain everything to him as simply as she could. She didn't want to go into specifics.

"Uncle...?" Eric was confused, as he doesn't remember any of her uncle owning an orphanage.

"You have never met him. We got in touch after... after..." Miranda was unable to finish her sentence.

"... After you abandoned us. It's not that difficult to say. After all, you are the one who left. It is not the other way around." Eric retorted, and before she could respond, her thoughts were interrupted.

"I need to speak with you about something very important, Miranda." Her neighbor stormed into her cabin and sat next to Eric, completely ignoring him.

"Excuse me?" Miranda asked, baffled.

"You are excused. Can we now talk?" Benji stated.

"Benji, I am busy with someone here. I will talk with you once I get back home." She stated, trying to make him leave.

"You are not busy. Talking to some guy is not classified as being busy. Would you mind if I had an important conversation with my so-called friend in your presence, gentleman?" Benji asked Eric.

"Of course." Eric was perplexed.

"See, he doesn't have any issues. Now, young lady, tell me why your house was so messy this morning." Miranda's eyes widened as he said this.

"You entered my home without my permission." It was a statement rather than a question.

"You came here to tell me this? And this still doesn't explain why you broke into my house." She asked him in an irritating tone.

"Of course, I came here to tell you. When you became my neighbor and had countless unwanted appearances in my home. I convinced myself that I should begin treating you as a friend to make it more bearable. But you couldn't possibly honour it, could you? In exchange for our friendship, you keep your house so unclean." Benji exasperatedly told her.

"Benji, if you don't tell me why you came to my house in two minutes, I will clean you off the planet." She locked her gaze on him.

"I needed some milk to go with my cookies. But don't be concerned about your place. I cleaned it. You should be grateful to me." He smiled at her as if he had won some kind of prize.

"Benjamin, get out of here right now before I punch you in the face." She made a threat to him.

"You would never do something like that." With a frown, he said.

"But, I can definitely call your mother here, and who knows how long she will stay with you." She challenged him.

"I am going, I am going. But keep in mind that our conversation isn't over yet." Benji exited the room, but not without saying. "Thank you so much, gentleman, for not interfering with my conversation with this lady. I am sure you feel honored to be in the presence of the man with the highest IQ in human history." He told Eric proudly.

"Is he insane?" Eric asked her, dumbfounded.

"Please tell me about it. I have had to put up with his craziness for the past five and a half years. Ignore him..." Her phone rang again, interrupting her. She apologized to him before picking it up.

The constant interruptions irritated Eric.

"Yes, Roby... You know why I didn't... But, Roby, it doesn't matter... You know what, join Melissa and me for dinner, and I will explain everything to you... Sure thing, brother... Bye."

"I don't remember any brothers of your name, Roby," Eric asked, perplexed. For him, everything has turned into a massive jigsaw puzzle. Miranda was the most simple and lovely thing he'd ever known.

"He is the son of my late uncle." She explained to him.

"I should probably get going, but please do not try to come close to my daughter during my absence." He was still enraged by what Miranda had done to them, but she didn't hold it against him.

He then left, but he ran into the strange girl from the party again.

"What on earth are you doing here?" She questioned him angrily.

"That is none of your concern." He blew her off.

"When it comes to my best friend, you are my business. You have done enough to hurt her, so stay away from her." She glared at him.

"Look, I have never even met you or your best friend." He told her, annoyed.

"Does the name Miranda ring a bell with you?" With her hands crossed, she asked.

"Look, Miss. I am not sure what lies Miranda fed you, but I am the one who is the victim here, not the other way around."

With that, Eric stormed out of the orphanage with his daughter.

Whereas Miranda's best friend, Melisa, was concerned, she knew that Eric had no idea how Miranda was suffering. She shouldn't have aimed her rage at him, but Miranda didn't deserve to have her life made more difficult.