I have heard this voice before

Do I really? I ask him.

He nods his head.

"Uhu, you do. So, do everything you wanted to do in your life and leave other things to me," he says.

I nod my head while crying excessively now.

He embraced me like he knew that was what I needed the most now.

But of course, stepmom had to ruin our little moment.

She gently pushes us out of each other.

"Honey, don't worry about her. If this continues, you will be late for work," she says.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," he says.

"Do you want me to stay so we can spend time together?" he asks.

"Nonsense, honey. The girls and I will spend time with her, so go before you are late," says my stepmom.

My father looks at me.

Yeah, you should go.

Don't worry about me. I smile.

"Are you sure, darling?" he asks me.

I nod my head, gesturing for him to go.

Father opens the door, and Noah looks my way before going after him.

Whenever he is near me or looks at me, he makes me uncomfortable.

I don't know why I am feeling like this.

Evelyn takes my hand and runs with me upstairs.

"Let's go shopping and eat something nice, okay?" she says excitedly.

Okay, we can do all that, but can you go slower, please? I say to her.

She lets go of me and puts her hands on her mouth.

"I am so sorry. I forgot that you didn't recover yet," Evelyn says with guilt.

It's okay.

I am feeling much better, thanks to you. I say, smiling.

"It was all Dr Charles doing. I didn't do anything. Instead, I froze when I saw you in that state and would have freaked out if it wasn't for Charles," she says.

But who would have treated me if you didn't call Dr Charles for me?

"Oh yeah, I called and told him to meet us outside so he could give us your medicine. That way, no one will get suspicious," she says.

Oh, thank you.

I really appreciate what you are doing for me.

"I am just starting," she says while entering my room.

I smile.

"Oh, by the way, mom and dad filled your wardrobe," she says while opening it.

The moment she opens it, I gasp.

Woah, is all this mine? I ask in shock.

"Of course, whose else would be?" she says while taking me inside.

There is another room in my room, and it is full of just clothes for me. I say in astonishment.

Evelyn laughs.

Why are you laughing?

"You just look soo cute," she says.

Cute? I say, touching my cheeks.

"Yeah," she says, still laughing.

But what shall I do with all this? I say to Evelyn.

"Father made all this for you so that you wouldn't feel like something is missing," she says.

Oh, that is too big of a favour.

"Why don't you prepare yourself, and I will do that too."

Okay, I will do that. I say to Evelyn.

"My room is at the end of the hall. Come to me after you finish," she says while walking out.

I look around the wardrobe storage.

It is soo big.

I don't know even know what to wear. I say, looking in awe.

After a long look, I choose a brown bodysuit with baggy jeans.

I gently put off the pyjamas that Evelyn gave me last night.

I look at myself in the mirror.

I feel much better.

My injuries aren't really bleeding anymore.

I won't have to deal with this anymore.

Now, I am in a safe place full of people that care about me. I say, smiling.

I carefully put on the clothes.

I walk to a drawer full of jewellery pieces and choose a rose gold heart necklace.

I didn't know how to do my hair, so I just put it in a messy bun.

I put on a baseball jacket and sneakers.

I go out of my room and walk to Evelyn's.

I knock on the door.

"Come in!" she says.

I open the door, and a pleasant smell hit me.

"Are you already finished?" Evelyn asks me.

Yeah. I say, smiling at her.

"You look so cool. I guess this is your style," Evelyn says, smiling brightly.

Thank you.

You look stunning yourself. I say to her.

She wore a knitted turtleneck sweater and a black skirt with knee-high socks.

"Give me a few seconds. Then I am finished with my make-up. Do you want to try it as well?" Evelyn asks.

I don't know how to do it.

I only saw girls doing make-up on TV. I have never done it before. I say to Evelyn.

"That is okay. I will do it for you," Evelyn says while taking my hand and making me sit in front of her mirror.

Are you sure? I ask her.

"Yeah, trust me. I will do your hair as well," Evelyn says while undoing my messy bun.

She looks at my wounds and gently brushes through my hair, not touching the injury at all.

What will you do? I ask her to break the silence.

"I will do a French twist half-up hairstyle for you. I feel like it will suit you very well," Evelyn smiles.

I don't know what that is, but I will trust you. I say.

Evelyn laughs.

By the way, your room smells soo nice.

What is it?

"It is a lavender fragrance. Lavender has a sweet, delicate smell. It can lift someone's mood and can reduce people's anxiety. It helps me to relax and fall asleep easier, so I tell Mila and Luna to spray my room with lavender whenever they are cleaning it."

Oh, that is why.

After a bit, Evelyn finishes with my hair.

"Do you like it?" she asks me.

I looked in the mirror, and it looked lovely.

I like it a lot. I say, beaming.

"Let me quickly do your make-up so we can leave," she says

while picking up something that I didn't know.

After a few minutes, Evelyn finishes.

"Finished. What do you think?" Evelyn asks me.

Wow, how did you do that?

How did you make me soo beautiful in just a few minutes? I asked her, amazement at the job she had done.

"First of all, you were already beautiful before. I didn't do anything. I just did eyeliner, mascara, some blush and lip gloss. That is all I did," Evelyn says.

Thank you. I say to her.

"No problem. Shall we go now?" she asks me while putting on her shoes.

Yeah, let's go. I say while standing up.

Evelyn gets her long coat, and we both go downstairs.

"Uncle Robin!" screams Evelyn.

"Yes, ma'am," Robin says.

Evelyn looks at him for a second.

"Uncle! I always tell you to call me Evelyn," says Evelyn to Robin.

"But..."

Robin wanted to say something, but stepmom interrupted him.

She waves her hand, gesturing for him to go.

"I told him to call you that. Remember, you are the oldest daughter of James. You should know where your priorities are," she says sternly.

"Mom, Uncle is like family now," says Evelyn.

"He will never be family! He is someone that works for us, and he will only stay that!" says stepmom, angry.

"But mom..."

Evelyn wanted to say something, but I gently touched her shoulder.

She looks at me, and I gesture for her to stop.

Stepmom looks at me and walks away without saying anything to me.

"Let's just go," says Evelyn, grabbing my hand and storming outside with me.

Uncle Robin opens the door for us, and we go in.

The driver comes in and starts the engine.

He looks at Evelyn from the mirror.

Evelyn looks away.

I knew she was upset at her mother's behaviour.

I didn't know how to cheer her up.

"Evelyn, daughter, don't be mad. You know that I didn't mean it," says Uncle.

I nod my head at her.

See, uncle Robin apologised, so forget what happened and let's have fun. I say to her.

Evelyn looks at me, then at uncle Robin.

"Uncle, why would you listen to her?! I told you many times not to call me like that," says Evelyn.

"You know how your mother is. What if I get fired? Daughter, you know my situation," says Uncle.

Evelyn looks down, fiddling with her fingers.

"I know. I am sorry. I must have brought you trouble again," says Evelyn feeling regretful.

"Of course not. As long as my family and I have you, nothing is too much," says uncle laughing.

I smile at their relationship.

It was full of respect and support for each other.

I really admire Evelyn.

I could see what uncle Robin said cheered Evelyn up as she was smiling when she saw uncle Robin laughing.

"Okay! Let's not think about anything and have fun!" she says while putting her hands up.

Yeah, let's do that. I say while matching her energy.

We both laugh, and after 30 minutes, uncle parks the car.

He goes out of the car and opens the door for us.

Evelyn goes out, and I do the same.

Woah, there are a lot of people. I say, amazed.

"Are you ready?" asks Evelyn.

I nod my head.

She took my hand, and we went into the crowd while uncle told Evelyn to call him when we finished shopping.

"We have soo many places to go. Shall we get coffee before we kick off?" she asks me.

Yeah, I would love that!

"Why don't you wait for me here while I get it for us?" she says, gesturing to sit on a bench behind me.

Okay. That is alright.

"Which one do you want?" she asks me.

Just get me whatever you want. I say, smiling.

"Okay," she says while walking away from me.

I look around me for a few seconds.

There was soo many people.

Couples were holding hands, little kids with their family and friends, and they all had one thing in common: the smiles on their faces.

Out of nowhere, we all heard something, and people started running.

Was that gun sounds? I ask myself, not trying to panic.

People started bumping into each other, and screams were heard everywhere.

The gun sounds were coming closer.

I don't know what happened, but I froze on the spot when I saw the people shooting at each other.

They were wearing masks.

There seemed to be two groups shooting at each other.

Out of nowhere, someone shot toward me, but I still couldn't move, no matter how much I wanted to.

I closed my eyes, letting out a tear, and at that moment, I felt someone pushing me away with them.

My head was on that person's chest.

"Are you stupid! How could you stand there like a robot?!" says that person, furious.

Wait, I have heard this voice before.