How Dare She!

It's already late and Anastasia lay on her bed in the mansion. Due to her wanting independence, she had gotten an apartment that she stayed close to her office. But tonight, she did not return to her house because this was the time her parents needed her the most.

"I have to do something," Anastasia said to herself.

She stood up from her bed, she couldn't sleep well because she kept thinking of how to help her family out of this bankruptcy issue.

Lately, she has been unable to sleep at night. That's because she always had nightmares of herself in an orphanage and sometimes an accident scene where she was in a car with two old people but their faces are never visible to her.

She asked her mom and dad about it when the dream became too frequent but they did not tell her anything. Instead, they told her to forget about it and that it was just a dream that would go away in no time.

Although she was satisfied with their reply, she had no choice but to accept it. But the more she dreamt about it the more she wasn't convinced that it was a mere dream. She even asked them if there was a time she stayed in an orphanage, but they always tell her to forget about it.

Feeling restless, Anastasia walked downstairs from her room and sat on a couch in the sitting room. It was really hard for her to sleep these days and especially now that her family was facing a serious problem it had only made things worse.

She sighed sadly and suddenly had a craving for strong wine. Her father must have some in the wine bar. She went to the wine bar and saw a bottle of vodka. She poured herself a glass and down it immediately.

Apart from the fact that her family was facing financial setbacks, her birthday was tomorrow and she can't even celebrate it.

"Ha! What an unlucky year to turn twenty!" She said to herself, chuckling.

Anastasia heard her phone message sound and she picked her phone up immediately and it was the address to the place. She smiled when she saw the message. It was a message from her best friend, Clara.

Clara was the only friend she had for the past two years after she got a job in her father's company. They had become friends when Anastasia found out that Clara was very good at finances too just like her. She found out when she helped her dad two years ago with his company's auditing.

She already talked to her best friend, Clara, to help her with the location of the orphanage home.

Since she lost her memory, she didn't recognize Clara or the fact that both of them had memories of them in the orphanage. She heard Clara was from an orphanage so she begged her for a favor. With the little description from her dreams, she asked Clara to help her find the orphanage.

Unknown to Anastasia, her parents had already made a deal with Clara not to disclose anything to her. They even helped her with her education and after which she started working in Anastasia's father's company.

Clara kept to her promise to them and date she has never brought it up. Each time Anastasia tells her about her nightmares she always has a way of directing it so that Anastasia will not have any idea that she was from there.

When Anastasia told her to help her find the location of the orphanage she refused at first but she later succumbed to it because she thought that if she kept refusing, Anastasia would even become more desperate and hire an investigator instead.

Anastasia kept staring at the message on her phone. Finally, she had gotten the location of the orphanage.

"I have to visit this place tomorrow," Anastasia said to herself.

She hoped to find the answers to her questions.

******

"Oh my god, why can't I sleep," Vincenzo said to himself and sat up on his bed.

It's always like that every year when it's Anastasia's birthday. He always felt guilty for not coming back with her candy floss.

"She must hate me," Vincenzo said to himself as he stood up from the bed.

He never stopped blaming himself for their parted ways. If he had not gone with the Butler who came to pick him up, they would be probably married now.

On that fateful day, Butler James had taken him back to his family after the conflict had been settled.

Vincenzo had become depressed and when his grandfather noticed, he decided to adopt the little girl. Unfortunately, they got there a little bit too late as her real family had adopted her.

The matron refused to reveal the Identity of the people that adopted her, not even his grandfather could persuade her to reveal it. Since then, he had been searching for her all to no avail.

He remembered his promise to Anastasia the day before her birthday. He promised to get her candy but he never returned. He also promised to protect her and marry her but he could not fulfill any of his promises to her. He felt disappointed in himself and continually blamed himself. That's why he never promised anyone anything again.

The only person he will ever make a promise to would remain Anastasia and he was going to make sure he fulfills the promise. And also get married to her because he had promised himself never to get married to any other woman except Anastasia.

Once, he met a girl in his high school, Tracy Turner. The girl looked so much like Anastasia and she was usually bullied by the big girls in the school. Due to the guilt, he was having towards Anastasia, he decided to protect the girl.

Slowly, he started having illusions of Tracy being Anastasia. He was slowly developing feelings for her until one day he told himself that they must bear the same name and face the same problem but they are not the same person.

And after that day he stopped caring for the girl and broke off whatever illusions he had of her. He was determined to be faithful to just his Anastasia.

Vincenzo walked out of his room and headed downstairs, when he got downstairs he went to get water from the fridge then he walked to the sitting room.

He usually goes to the orphanage on Anastasia's birthdays because he had a feeling she might visit one day.

******

The next morning Vincenzo woke up very early, he took his bath, got dressed, and left the house immediately. He did not bother to greet his grandparents because he was starting to avoid his grandmother.

He headed straight to the orphanage and hoped today was his lucky day.

When he got there, he was satisfied with the preparation that his assistant had made. The matron came to greet him. She was already getting old but still looked energetic.

"Matron Kilsby, I hope everything had been arranged as usual?" Vincenzo asked, embracing the old woman.

"As usual, boy, you strive for perfection. The children are so happy, especially the abundant candies on display and of course, Anastasia's favorite Candy floss" Matron Kilsby said in her croaked voice.

Vincenzo smiled as he led her around the garden. This was the garden he shared with Anastasia whenever she was sad.

"Matron, do you think she might come this year? I have a feeling I am going to meet her today," Vincenzo said, his eyes filled with hope.

The old matron looked at the young man who hadn't forgotten that little girl he saved from bullies in the orphanage. She remembered that he almost died saving her from a fire breakage too. Was this true love?

"I hope she comes to. Your wish should be granted. My son, you have been so persistent in finding her. May I ask why?," Matron Kilsby asked.

"Should I say I love her or should I say I am patiently yet eagerly awaiting to fulfill all the promises I made to her? Could it be because of my guilt of leaving her that day without a goodbye? Matron, I truly don't know the reason but I know that I just can't get her off my mind" Vincenzo said, smiling faintly.

His assistant and best friend, Martins, who was nearby, sighed softly. Only when Vincenzo comes to this orphanage does he seem like a normal human. If the workers or even his business partners saw him smiling just now, they would have been stupefied.

Vincenzo was perfect in appearance. He was drop-dead gorgeous with full lips like a woman. His eyes were of emerald green topped with lashes as thick as the forest. He had that striking smile with deep dimples and his brows were shaped like a well-curved half-moon.

His only flaw was the fact that he never dates a girl for more than three months and all the girls have similar features. Martins guess they must have had features like the girl he was looking for. He wondered if they would ever see that girl.

"Martins, stop daydreaming and get the party started already. Are the cakes here yet?" Vincenzo asked.

Martin was surprised to see him already at his front. Wasn't he just discussing something with the matron? When did he get here?

"They are on their way. I want to go and check the lighting at the entrance. I think it's a little faulty," Martins said, concealing his surprise.

Vincenzo thought a little about it and decided to fix it instead. There are still some things Martins needed to do inside.

"Just go and handle the other stuff, I will fix the lighting," Vincenzo said, taking the tools from his friend.

Martins, who was surprised, just nodded and left him to fix it. He hopes Vincenzo can do it, "You have to put this on. Don't soil your clothes."

Martins gave him a coverall before going inside.

Vincenzo walked up to the entrance and started fixing the lighting. He was still on it when he heard a girl laughing.

"Pffft! I never knew you were just a light technician and you have the guts to act pompous?"

Vincenzo turned to see the face he had been thinking about all through last night but his face became shrouded in anger at the girl's words.

How dare she!