The Devil's Secretary

Chapter 138: One apple

"I don’t know where you heard these things from. They are not true. You don’t need to pay attention to them,’’ he did not want his children to come closer to any of the skeletons that he had buried in the closet over the years.

"You still want to keep things from us at this point?"

Daisy nodded and took out her phone before she opened a picture and turned it towards Helian Chen.

In the picture, there were four men standing in a half circle. Their clothes were dishevelled. Out of the four people, only one man’s face was partially visible as he had bent his body forward and clutched the hair of a little girl who was kneeling on the floor, in a half naked position.

The moment Helian Chen saw the picture, his nose flared, veins popped up on his forehead. He snatched the phone from Daisy’s hand and clutched it tightly.

’Crack’

Faint cracks appeared on the glass of the phone.

Daisy’s face paled slightly.

Maxim’s expressions also changed.

When they showed the picture to Helian Chen, they were still testing waters. They did not know what was the story behind the picture but from how it was portrayed, it could not be anything good.

So, they hoped it was just some made up rumours.

But the man’s reaction cleared whatever doubts they could have had.

"I removed it from everywhere...’’ the man’s voice was low and his breathing was shallow, his voice tinged with rage. The rims of his eyes turned red.

The phone was hurled towards the corner of the room and it shattered into pieces with a startling sound.

’’Why is it still there?"

’’The picture has stopped circulating a long time ago. I happened to keep it before it was gone,’’ Maxim whispered.

A fleeting relief crossed Helian Chen’s face when he heard Maxim’s words.

He looked at Maxim and Daisy quietly, the rims of his eyes turned red as he walked towards the the window in the room and glanced out at the grey skies.

’’A long time has passed but it feels like yesterday...’’

When Helian Chen was young, his father, Old Master Chen would keep him by his side. As the future heir of the Chen Family, he would accompany the man to all or most of his business meetings, events and sometimes, he would be a part of his private schedule as well.

Back in that time, the Chen Family built many charitable institutions. According to Old Master Chen, they were blessed with much more than they needed hence it was only right for them to help the needy as much as possible.

Hence, he had taken up non-profitable projects and built countless orphanages over the countries where there were any branches of Chen Corporations.

Old Master Chen was not an active participant in the creation process of those institutions usually. But when one of the largest orphanages in US was built with the abundance of financial aid from the Chen Corporations, they invited Old Master Chen to inaugurate the orphanage. And young Helian Chen tagged along.

As the only child and the sole heir of the Chens, the little boy was grown under strict trainings that he had undertaken ever since he was 3. He knew his responsibilities and he knew the risks that came with his identity so wherever he went, he was surrounded with bodyguards and he left by himself.

But that night was an exception. Maybe it was the warm reception or the crowd of children that the security around Helian Chen was not as tight.

While wandering in the orphanage, he did not realize when he ended up in the backyard. One moment, he was still observing the place and in the next movement, something fell on him from one of the branches of the tallest tree.

The two bodyguards who had accompanies him caught the culprit within a matter of a few seconds, considering them a threat to him.

He also thought the same until he got up to his feet and turned to face the "culprit’’.

And there he saw her for the very first time.

She was small. So small that she barely reached his chest. Long golden locks that was tied in a braid, strands of her hair sticking to her mud smeared face and emerald eyes that were sparkling with unshed tears. She was wincing softly under the tight grips of his guards.

"Let go," Helian Chen’s said in a resolute voice.

The bodyguards did not hesitate in carrying out his orders. Under his gaze, they retreated a few steps but they still remained in a close distance so they could take over the situation just in case anything went wrong.

The girl looked at him, eyes full of tears. Just when he thought she would start crying, she raised both her hands.

His gaze landed on the two apples that was holding in each of her palms.

’’I climbed the tree and worked very hard but I only managed to get these two,’’ she spoke softly as she glanced at the apples she was holding, "I will give one to you.’’

"No need,’’ Helian Chen rejected her without a second thought.

But in the next moment, he froze as a drop of tear escaped her eyes.

He remained rooted in spot for a second as he had never encountered such a situation before.

’’Were you scared?"

The girl did not say anything, only extending one of the apples in her hand towards him as if she was waiting for him to take it.

Her eyes briefly widened and a small smile bloomed on her face the moment he took an apple from her hand.

He stood there and watched as she sprinted away like a happy bunny.

He could not help but find the view of her silly.

He glanced at the apple and then at her back, not knowing the small token was going to entangle them for their whole lives, for better and for worse. freewёbnoνel.com

Over the period, whenever his father visited US for business purposes, Helian Chen found himself tagging along and sneaking out to Hope Orphanage with the guards.

Maybe it was part curiosity and part happiness that she made him feel. He had not had a friend before, a person who did not think of who he was and what identity his father held. It made him happy every time he visited her and she gave him the apples from that tree with that same carefree smile.

It also rendered him curious. What made her so optimistic about everything? What made her smile so bright?

Two years passed by and the two people who were unfamiliar became each other’s safe haven. To Helian Chen, Alice was the comfort that he never had in his life. And to Alice, he was her best friend, her solace, and the person whose visits she started looking forward to.

Helian Chen visited her once or twice in every three months and even more when it was possible for him.

But as he grew up and started getting more involved in school and learning business, his extra classes, trainings, the visits became more distant until six months passed with him being unable to go to US.

At the first chance he got, he flew there to meet her but what awaited him in the orphanage was a disappointment.

’’Mr. Chen, Alice has been adopted by a family,’’ the manager who was familiar with him informed.

The young Helian Chen went back to Beijing, lost and confused. He was happy for her, she always talked about having a family, more people around her who loved her and cared for her, talked to her so that she would not have to be alone in the orphanage when he was not around. But still he felt weirdly suffocated inside at her abrupt departure from his life. And that confused him.

He could go back and visit her and she would still be there, looking at him with twinkling eyes. And the realization of her absence made him feel lost.

In the end, he went to his father.

’’Help me look for her,’’ he said straightforwardly.

Old Master Chen reprimanded him, ’’You little brat, you went sneaking around behind my back. Do you think I would not know and now you even have the audacity to ask me to look for that little girl’s new family?"

"Yes.’’

The old man was so angered that his face turned red, ’’You.. Do you think it is that easy? If you keep loitering around a little girl like that, do you think her parents will let you go just because you are my son?"

"Yes.’’

"You...’’

When he could not talk reason with his son, he had no choice but look into the matter. And much to his surprise, the family where Alice was adopted into was an old acquaintance of the Chen Family.

They were an aristocratic military family who were situated in US and they were Old Master Chen’s friends. His friends did not have a child for a long time after their marriage so it made sense to him that they had adopted a little girl.

Knowing that his son was not going to budge on this matter no matter what, Old Master Chen ended up finding a way to get in touch with his old friends.

And just like that, Helian Chen found his way back to Alice once again.

...

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