He Faked His Death And I Came For Our Daughter’s Ashes Chapter 07

He Faked His Death And I Came For Our Daughter’s Ashes Chapter 07

Brandon started studying because I wanted to go to school.

At first, he was always ditching class, getting into fights, smoking, and whistling at girls on the street.

He did all kinds of annoying teenage boy things.

But he never let anyone mess with me.

“Mandy isn’t strong. One wrong move and she falls apart. If any of you scare her, I’ll beat the hell out of you.”

His friends said he definitely liked me.

I blushed and hid behind a book, mumbling a weak denial.

Then, even quieter, I admitted, “I already knew. He never tried to hide it.”

Very few kids at Hopeville Children’s Home went to college. For children who never got adopted, the usual path was to learn a trade and get by.

Brandon had never thought about studying.

He figured no matter how well he did in school, no one was going to adopt him.

But once you aged out, you still had to eat.

I told Brandon I wanted to go to college.

He handed me the roll he had snuck out of dinner. “We don’t have money.”

“There are scholarships, donations from people who want to help. There’s always a way. But school is the only way out. The only way to change our lives.”

Brandon didn’t say anything. The next day, he started walking me to and from school.

Ever since those guys dragged me into that alley, he never felt safe leaving me alone.

When we moved on to higher grades, school got farther from the children’s home. I could only come back once a week.

One day, he noticed my uniform stained with ink and my hair unevenly cut.

His face went dark. “Who did it?”

I didn’t want him to worry, so I said some boys in my class were just joking around.

That night, his light stayed on until morning.

The next day, he started going to the library to study.

When he didn’t understand something, he asked me or Margaret.

The other kids made fun of him, saying the troublemaker was trying to play the good student.

He didn’t care.

He just didn’t want me to be alone in a place where he wasn’t.

The world was full of bad people, too dangerous for me. He had to be there.

One problem at a time. One word at a time. One test at a time.

Back then, he woke up before sunrise and went to sleep long after dark.

Even Margaret was curious. “What got into that boy?”

Even he was surprised that someone with such a poor foundation could keep going.

Day by day, through talent and sheer grit, he got into the same high school as me.

Right before the SATs, he asked me, “Where do you want to go?”

I tapped my pen on the desk. “Milton State. It’s close to the children’s home.”

He nodded.

“Good. I’ll go there too.”

“Brandon, don’t you have anywhere you actually want to go? Besides, Milton State isn’t easy to get into.”

He smiled and suddenly took my hand. “I’ll go wherever you go.”

My face burned. I forgot to pull my hand away.

Later, if it hadn’t been for Professor Weber taking an interest in him, Brandon would have ended up working in a factory.

“The professor and his wife were good to me. On holidays, they worried I wasn’t eating well and would send me extra money for groceries.”

“I was an orphan. Until I married Mandy, I had never known what a family felt like. So I did think of Professor Weber as a father.”

Brandon sniffled. “But that doesn’t mean I have to give up everything I am to make your fantasy come true.”

“Celeste, I thought of you as a sister. I’ve never had a sister. Maybe in how we acted around each other, you got the wrong idea. But I never liked you that way. The only person I have ever loved is Mandy.”