The Brother I Could Never Call Again Chapter 03

The Brother I Could Never Call Again Chapter 03

So it was her.

In the orphanage, she used to follow me and Scout everywhere.

Scout would try to chase her off.

But she was small and skinny, with a bad leg that made her slow.

Resources were scarce in the orphanage. There were too many kids and not enough food.

The weak suffered.

Without someone protecting her, she would’ve been bullied endlessly.

I couldn’t bring myself to ignore her. So I pretended not to notice whenever she tagged along.

Whenever I managed to grab an extra bite of food, I’d quietly share it with her.

Now she stood there in a beautiful dress. Everything about her had changed.

Grant stood beside her like a guardian. As if he feared someone might hurt her.

When Nora chose me, Grant went silent.

She insisted.

Grant pressed his lips together. Finally, he asked,

“Why her?”

Nora lowered her head.

“Because… because she shared her food with me…”

Something flickered across Grant’s face.

After a long pause, he finally spoke.

“If Nora wants her, then we’ll take her.”

“But I’ve changed my mind. You won’t become a Whitfield. Our housekeeper happens to want a child.”

He looked at me, waiting for me to jump at the offer.

Before I could respond, Scout was already nodding frantically, shoving me forward.

His eyes said it all.

[Having a mother is better than having none.]

[And the Whitfields paid their housekeeper well. Better than most college grads made.]

Looking into Scout’s hopeful eyes, I couldn’t refuse.

Grant turned away, satisfied.

Before leaving, he threw one sentence over his shoulder.

“Don’t even think about wanting what’s not yours.”

Just like that. I became the daughter of the Whitfield family’s housekeeper.

Somehow, after going in a huge circle, I still ended up living in the same house.

In my previous life, I’d slept in a spacious, luxurious bedroom.

This time, I lived in a tiny maid’s room.

But it was still far better than the moldy bunk bed at the orphanage.

At least, I never went hungry anymore.

The food was wonderful.

Mrs. Colleen and the other housekeepers all thought I was too skinny. They constantly slipped extra food onto my plate.

Mrs. Colleen bought me new pajamas. New clothes. And all my daily necessities.

She hadn’t planned to adopt me in the first place.

In my previous life, she’d had her own child later, a happy family.

Now I’d forced my way into her future. The guilt weighed heavily on me.

Just like I’d stolen Nora’s mother in my past life.

I couldn’t bring myself to call her “Mom.”

Mrs. Colleen looked disappointed but didn’t push.

At first, Nora depended on me a lot.

She wanted me to eat with her, sleep near her.

Naturally, Grant and I crossed paths a few times.

I kept my head down and said nothing.

He strode past like I didn’t exist.

As Nora grew up, she made friends at school. But I was still her favorite.

She still called me “Sister Ivy”

One day, I happened to overhear Mrs. Whitfield talking outside.

“Why don’t we just adopt Ivy ourselves? The fortune-teller said we needed to adopt a girl—”

Grant cut her off before she could finish.

“When Nora chose her, she never said yes or no. Instead, she let that other boy fight for her. That alone proves she’s far more calculating than a child her age should be.”

“If we adopted her into the family, we’d only be inviting trouble into our home.”

“Besides, letting her become Mrs. Colleen’s daughter is already more than enough. We’ve repaid the debt we owed the adopted girl.”

I didn’t stay to hear the rest.

Mrs. Whitfield must have agreed, because she never brought up adoption again.

The paperwork went through. I got a new name: Ivy Lane.

I avoided Grant whenever I could. I didn’t want anything to do with him.

My death in my previous life had everything to do with him.

But he had also been the one who’d chosen me that day in the orphanage. He’d given me years of comfort and privilege.

I considered that debt repaid.

Our past was over. Neither of us owed the other anything anymore.

This life…

We should simply live our own.