Chapter 21

Kia I raised my palm as asking for the keys, "I'll drive her to the school," I said to one of Vivian's men who seemed like Harley's bodyguard.

He frowned, "Boss doesn't allow anyone near her except us."

I crossed my arms over my chest, "Now I'm her caretaker too. If you have any doubts, ask your boss."

The other one came next grabbing his shoulder, "Give her keys, Caleb. I've talked to the boss. She's right," Caleb didn't take a second to give me the keys.

"But it does not mean that we will not take care of Harley. She is our responsibility too, so we will follow your car," another man said.

"I'm enough for her. You don't need to follow us," I said simply, hating being followed.

Both of them raised their eyebrows and didn't agree with me but before they could say anything else. Harley stormed out with an annoyed face, "I'm not coming with you!"

"Come on, Harley. It's not like I'm going to eat you. I'm just giving you a ride, that's it. Nothing big deal," I didn't understand what her problem was.

"Caleb and David will drive me," she demanded.

I clenched my hands into a fist, annoyed, "If you're not coming willingly then I'm capable of forcing you into the car. Now move your ass before I could do something unreasonable..." I bit my lips to keep my mouth shut. I looked down at her and she was on the edge of crying.

I quickly approached her and sat on my knees, "I'm sorry."

She stepped back struggling to control her tears, "You scared me. I hate you!!" I reached her shoulder, but she quickly brushed away my hand, "No one talks to me like that," and she began to sob.

God!!

I hate children crying.

"I'm sorry, Harley. I didn't mean to yell at you and please don't cry," I lifted her in my arms, "Can you open the door," I said to David, and he scowled at me before opening the door for me.

"You can't force her like that," he said through teeth.

I sat her in the car before giving him a cold glare, "Just mind your own business."

He clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes, "It's not more than two days you have been here, and you are ordering around us!!"

It seemed like he went wrong. He was messing with me, "Do I order you? Do I order him?" I pointed to Caleb, "Do I order Harley? I'm doing what Vivian has asked me."

"Just leave her if she doesn't like you."

She doesn't like me?? Somewhere, these words pierced my heart. She liked Alice so much, why didn't she like me? I did nothing wrong with her?

"I won't," I snarled and climbed into the car before my hand hit his ugly face. In these four years, I had forgotten my patience. It became harder for me to win over my anger and sometimes it ruined my whole plan. And if I hit him right here then it caused me a cost.

"Come on man, let her go," Caleb said and took his friend away from the car. I was still glaring at him until he disappeared out of my sight.

I heard Harley sniffle and looked at her. She was watching something on her tablet and was trying to ignore me. I should not have yelled at her and scared her. She did nothing wrong with me, she was innocent. I should try to make her happy because she would become completely orphaned after her father's death. I turned to that little girl, why I was feeling pity for her, why my heart didn't want her orphan. Vivian truly loved his daughter a lot, love wasn't a word, I could express what Harley meant for him. It seemed like she was everything to him. His beginning and his ending. I had won the golden chance to hurt him, but I was too weak to torture an innocent little girl. He was a different man around his daughter, the man every girl dreamed of, charming, loving, and caring.

********

It had been fifteen minutes, we were waiting in the car and the traffic jam became even worse. I looked out of the window, finding another way to get out of here. I turned to Harley, "Do you know another way to your school because it's suffocating me."

Her eyes were fixed through the window, she was watching the children who were playing in the park with their parents. Even though she didn't realize her game was still playing on the tablet, "Hey, where are you looking for?" I shook her little shoulder.

She quickly looked at me with sad eyes and didn't say a single word, "Harley, I'm sorry," I said while looking into her eyes, "I've never apologized more than one time to anybody else. You are the first one who is breaking this record. You've earned my three apologies within an hour."

This sentence caught her attention because she was gazing at me with her big blue eyes, "Really?" She turned toward the window watching those children again, "Those children are very lucky to have both of their parents playing with them. How happy are those people looking together? How much fun are those people having together? I'm missing all those things. I also want Viv to take me to the public park and play with me. He does not allow me with other children, he says that I'm not normal like other children. I'm not allowed to play with other children, I'm not allowed to eat with others, and he doesn't even allow me to my friend's house except Ashton."

I frowned in confusion, wondering all this because of his mafia business, "Why make him think you are different from others?"

She dropped down her gaze, "He said I'm special, I'm not like the rest of the others. And a special person like me should be treated specially. That's why he has arranged everything for me, including the swimming pool, garden, and playroom in our house."

I didn't realize when my grip loosened around the wheel after feeling her sad words, "Would you like to play with them?"

Her eyes widened with surprise, "But what about school? And those two?" she pointed to the car of her bodyguards which was behind us, they were sticking us like a magnet.

"Answer me first?" I clutched the steering wheel getting ready for my next step.

She nodded to me, "Yes, but dad would get angry when he comes to know about this."

I ignored her dad's topic and asked, "Do you know the other way?"

"Yes, dad used to drive me to school and when we got stuck in traffic jams then he used another way. First, you need to go back."

I nodded to her and started the car taking back slowly, "I must trick them before they can realize our plan," I murmured, and Harley was watching me curiously waiting for my next step, "Harley, you will do what I ask you to do, understood?"

She hesitated before giving me a nod, "I'm going to park the car beside them, and you'll tell them you need to go potty urgently," blush crept across her face when I said these words, "What? Don't tell me you are shy?"

Oh God, she is only six and she is behaving like sixteen.

"Then I'll tell them. I need to go potty??" I said and she laughed out loud, "I'm serious, Harley. I don't feel ashamed while asking for this thing."

She shook her head, "No, I'll ask them."

As per our plan, I stopped the car beside them, and Caleb was the one who poked his head out of the window first giving me a questioning look. But before I could say something, Harley said loudly, "I need to go potty urgently!!"

Caleb glanced at me before Harley and turned to David murmuring something to him. After a few seconds, he turned to us, "We are waiting here."

And I smiled with triumph.

********

I pulled the car into the parking lot, "I'm very excited," Harley said with a wide smile, "This is my first time."

"This is your first time??"

She climbed out, nodding to me, "Viv, always takes me to a formal place and it is rare we go to a public place and the public park never crossed his mind."

We entered the park where a group of little kids were playing together, some of them running and some of them crawling on the grassy land. The weather was warm, "Do you want to join that group of girls?"

Harley looked up and gave me a shy smile, "I don't know if they would like me or not?"

"How would you know unless you join them?"

She looked at those girls for a few seconds before walking toward them. She tapped one's shoulder and murmured something to her like 'Can I play with you?' And last they accepted her. I sat on the bench and was watching that group of girls.

After an hour she came back to me with a happy face, "Did you enjoy them??"

"A lot. This is the first time I've played with children. This is an amazing experience I have never experienced before," she said joyfully and grabbed my hand, surprising me, "Thank you, Kia."

My heart puffed with joy, somewhere I felt happy too, "It's my pleasure."

"I'm hungry."

She had been playing for an hour and it was obvious she got hungry. I looked around searching for the food stall and found it, "What would you like to eat pizza or burgers?"

For a moment she looked confused, but finally, she replied, "What do you think is tasty?" She was talking like she had never eaten pizza or burger before.

"I think pizza suits best," I said, and we walked towards the small stall. We bought a pizza before climbing in the car. I took one slice and then Harley next. She hesitated a bit before taking a pizza into her mouth. I frowned at her strange behavior, but I chose to ignore her and focused on the road. I didn't know where those two were, but it seemed like I was in trouble.

"I want to throw up," Harley said while gasping for breath. I immediately stopped the car, unclasping her seat belt and helping her out. She sat down clutching her stomach and threw up the whole thing that she had eaten. I rubbed her back slightly and gave her water. But before she could drink a single sip, she threw up again.

I sat down, worried, "What happened, Harley? How are you feeling?"

When she threw up a third time I felt panic in my chest, "I need to take you to the hospital."

"Take me home, please," she coughed. I carried her in my arms and sat on her before sitting by myself. I immediately sped up the car and her condition became worse as time passed by. Her face was red, her eyes were tearful, and her body temperature was increasing.

"Harley, you are scaring me, baby. Please don't close your eyes, we are almost there," I pulled the car through the giant gate and sighed in relief when I saw Vivian in front of the fountain.

"Where the fuck you....." Vivian lost his voice when he saw his daughter's condition. He turned pale and it scared the hell out of me, "Harley," he immediately opened the door and carried his daughter in his arms caressing her hair. "Get the doctor," he ordered one of his men and took her into the mansion.

I followed after them, but someone caught my hand, "What the fuck did you do to her?" David asked through his teeth and his eyes narrowed full of accusation.

"Let me go," I snatched away my hand and ignored him because all my attention was on that little girl, "I need to see her."

"Don't pretend to be worried, bitch!!"

And it froze me, I immediately turned to him and slapped across his face as hard as I could, "Don't ever call me that!! And I'm not pretending!!" I gritted. He didn't say anything because he was too shocked to realize that I had just slapped him.

I glared at him before walking towards Harley's room, "Excuse me, Ma'am," a man said from behind, he seemed like a doctor. I nodded to him and stepped back giving him the space to enter Harley's room. The door closed right on my face, but I didn't protest it and waited outside patiently.

One and half an hour passed, but I didn't get any information about Harley's condition and my head was throbbing due to migraines. I went into my room and sat down, worrying about that girl. Shouldn't I feel happy after seeing Vivian's expression? It was the same expression as mine when I used to worry about my father.

The door slammed open, and Vivian stormed into the room. His eyes burning with fury, "Where the fuck did you take her? What the shit did you feed her?" He shouted angrily.

I stood up trying to mask my face fearlessly, but his eyes were terrified. "Public park," my voice came into guilt even though I didn't do anything wrong.

He stepped towards me without taking his eyes off, "And what did she eat?"

"Pizza."

And his nostril flared with anger, "Do you know the shits about her? Do you know what you brought to her??"

"I'm just trying to make her happy..." my voice died when Vivian grabbed both of my shoulders and his clutch became tighter that it almost hurt me.

"Don't ever trick my men, Kia. It would cost your life," his jaw tightened, and his eyes flashed a warning.

"I just tricked them because I wanted to make your daughter happy, Vivian. What did I do wrong?"

Something flickered in his eyes, and he loosened his grip, "Harley was born seven weeks premature. She is not as normal as other children. Her immune system is weak, she is suffering from hypertension and her one kidney doesn't work properly," he drew a deep breath like these words were the most difficult thing he had ever done before.

Before he could withdraw his hands, I grabbed him, it was the first time I was consoling him, "I'm sorry, Vivian. I didn't know that" I was genuinely sorry at that time.

For a moment his eyes softened but they turned into ice before I could notice it. He turned around and left me without another word.

*********