CHAPTER 10: HER ABODE

Walking towards her abode, the place she meticulously prepared for in the past year, Darica couldn't help but feel very proud of what she had achieved.

It wasn't easy for her to buy the land that she built her house on. She had to show a lot of skin, do a lot of crazy promotional events for the school, and force her beloved kids into doing crazy things that they didn't want.

To think that four years ago she wasn't a fan of social media. Darica found this very funny indeed.

For it was social media that managed to do this for her. Although she couldn't per se say that the money all came from there, as Darica had several sources of income, she was confident to say that at least half came from there.

And now, she was a happy influencer who was very happy to show some skin as long as people were willing to pay for it.

And it wasn't like she was getting fully naked and doing inappropriate things. What she did was very legal, and she wasn't ashamed of it.

With a family to feed, what things can't she not do?

Looking at the place she had been building secretly without her family knowing. Even the F5 weren't even aware of that. She felt very proud.

She wanted all that to become a surprise for them and since she wasn't planning on hiding it forever as in a few months more people would be staying with her on that particular land, Darica wanted to make sure that everything was done perfectly first.

In front of her were twenty identical vans that were painted differently to provide that variety of feeling among the same species.

And next to these vans, was a shipping container that had been turned into another house and was one of her favorite houses. For it happened to be her abode, the home that she had been meticulously preparing for herself in the past few months.

In the middle of the twenty-one tiny homes was a brick building, a unique building found in such a setting but one that was done that way for a specific reason.

At the back of the vans, there were other several buildings as well.

As she walked towards the shipping container house, the man who had opened the gate for her suddenly caught up to her.

And sensing another person's presence behind her, Darica who was trained for years for that, turned her head without stopping with a smile on her face.

"Uncle, why does it seem you are getting naughtier the more I see you?" Darica asked teasingly the older man as she walked.

The man, hearing that question, hatefully glared at the little girl who made his heart ache in so many ways, and yet his love for her still increased with each passing day.

"Hmph, do you think that taking care of such a troublesome child like you is easy?" the man retorted, making Darica chuckle with amusement.

"Uncle, if you say this one more time. I will report you to small uncle. I dare you to repeat it?" with a sly smile on her face, Darica who was never the one to accept defeat no matter how bad her circumstances were, threatened the man.

Looking with a baffled expression at this shameless person, the man gritted his teeth and angrily pointed at Darica several times, but still failed to say anything.

Seeing him getting defeated without her doing much, Darica felt happy for no reason.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Uncle Travis. I will not report you, otherwise, both of us will suffer. I still want to spend my vacation in peace," Darica decided to let go of the issue as she thought of her small uncle.

That man was terrifying when he was angry and she didn't want to get on his bad side when all she needed was some good rest.

Travis looked at this god niece of his and felt a headache approaching, 'why do I fall for this silly trick all the time?' he just wanted to beat the girl for fooling him again.

"Fine, you win again this time," Travis said smilingly as he walked side by side with Darica.

"And thank you for letting me win, uncle," with a cheerful smile on her face that people at school would be very surprised to see, she said teasingly.

Travis, seeing Darica smiling freely like that, his aching heart quickly got soothed, 'At least she still remembers how to be happy.'

As an elder and one of the people who somehow raised Darica, Travis wanted to see her happy. He wished so much for her, but he also knew and understood that Darica was stubborn.

It was going to take time, but he had hope. They all had hope that one day, that light would shine and all those barriers she shielded herself with would fall apart.

They have done their part as partial guardians and it seemed that someone was slowly trying his best to do what they failed in doing.

As he walked towards her house, Travis couldn't help but think of the young man he had seen on social media. The one that had become too famous for chasing after Darica.

Looking at Darica again, he couldn't help but wonder what that boy was seeing in his ruthless and cold niece. Was love truly that blind?

But when he thought of how he found his love, he shook that depressing thought out of his head.

'I guess what they said was true. Love is indeed the eye of the beholder.'

As they reached the house, Darica turned to look at her uncle, who had somehow gone quiet but seemed to be checking her out now and then, and posed a question.

"Uncle, when are you men coming?"

Hearing that, Travis turned to face Darica as he threw away his thoughts and answered seriously, "They will be here in four days. By then you will be gone to that vacation thing you told me about," the scar on his brow, scrunching.

Hearing that, Darica nodded her head before saying, "If the money is not enough, just tell me. I will get it for you. We need to get everything done before February," in a serious way.

Travis nodded his head too, acknowledging what she was saying, and responded, "Don't worry. Those guys owe me and they will be doing it for half the price. They will be done in less than a month," in an assuring manner.

Hearing that, a smile appeared on her face as relief washed over her, "That's good then. And don't forget to tell small uncle to get that woman here when it is time. I want to see this place blooming with greens. Life is just too difficult; we can't be buying even vegetables too."

Listening to his stingy niece, Travis wondered whether the lessons they taught her were wasted or she was just simply pushing it aside. But thinking about it rationally, her words made sense.

Things were indeed too expensive recently and if one was reckless, it was easy to live on the streets.

And if you could grow your own food, then that was the best thing to do. It was better to save when there was a chance. They were not rich, so every single cent counted.