Chapter 101

Ethan left after I told him who my father was. He wanted nothing to do with me, or he needed time to think it over. I didn’t know, he didn’t say anything.

I didn’t see him for days. He avoided me every chance he got, and it tore apart my heart each time I woke up to an empty bed. He started sleeping in his office.

I tried calling his phone, but he always let it fully ring out until I was sent to voicemail. Tristan was the only point of contact I had when it came to Ethan - even Mars was avoiding speaking to me.

Anger flared in me, as did despair. I understood why Ethan was upset at me for hiding things from him, but I can’t control who my father is. I didn’t choose to be born as Andrew’s daughter.

After a week of being ignored by Ethan, I gave up on waiting around at the house for him to come around and forgive me. At that point, it didn’t seem like he ever would.

I wrote a note out for him, asking him to call me so we could talk. Three days went by, but I received no word from him. That’s when I decided the relationship was over.

Tristan printed out divorce papers for me. I laid them on Ethan’s desk in his office after he went to work as well as the necklace he bought me from the charity auction that belonged to his mother.

If he wanted nothing to do with me, then I was ready to let him go.

My mom was ready to be picked up from the hospital and discharged, and I started working at the children’s home full time. Mrs. Hudson and the children were my only real company while I worked through what to do next.

Baron was a friend to me, too, whenever he was around, but most of the time he was taking groups of children on camping trips for three or four days at a time. He was fun to talk to at the home when he was there, but unfortunately, he almost never was when I was.

A few weeks into my stalemate with Ethan, I was working at the orphanage, reading bedtime stories to the children and doing what I could to make them comfortable.

I was tucking one of the little girls into bed when I noticed a deep dark bruise poking out from the collar of her shirt. When I tried to move the fabric so I could see better, she started crying and begging for me to stop.

“Micheala,” I put my hands up to show her I wasn’t going to hurt her, “What happened to you?”

She refused to speak. I looked around at the other children in the room and asked if anyone knew what happened to her.

“Was there a fight in here that you didn’t tell us about?” I announced loudly over the several beds of children. They cowered under their covers though, neglecting to make any eye contact with me at all. They didn’t look guilty, they looked terrified.

Something was going on.

“Michaela, if someone has hurt you, you need to tell an adult. Nothing will change if you keep your feelings inside,” I cooed and sat on the edge of her little bed. I wondered which of the children would have the strength to cause such a bruise, but whoever it was definitely needed to be punished.

Especially if Michaela was so scared of them.

“It was one of the men at Baron’s camp sleepovers,” One of the little boys across the room spoke up. Michaela’s eyes widened, but she nodded in agreement with his words.

“What men?” I asked, getting up from Michaela’s bed and rushing over to the little boy that spoke.

“Baron has been taking kids to parties instead of camping,” He sat up on the bed and grabbed my hand desperately, “There are men there and they- they do awful things to us while Baron just lets it happen.”

A watery feeling started in the back of my mouth, like I was going to throw up. My hands started shaking as I listened to this child recount the horrible things that Baron and his men allowed to happen to him.

The children were hit, used as servants for the parties, and their bodies sold for pleasure. Baron was making money off child predators by giving them exactly what they wanted.

Tears formed in my eyes, adrenaline shook through my entire body. I wanted to hunt Baron down at that very moment and tear him apart with my bare hands. The rage that I felt was comparable to nothing I'd ever felt before.

Baron needed to pay.

I assured the children that they would no longer be forced to go on those camping trips, and that I would talk to Mrs. Hudson about it immediately. Baron would be fired as soon as possible and they would be safe once again.

I tried to figure out who was throwing these parties, but the kids didn’t know. They knew it was a man, they knew he was rich, but other than that they didn’t know his name or anything.

It didn’t matter, though, I’d figure it out.

The next morning, I was watching the television in the small apartment I was able to afford with my mother. Sarah and Ethan’s pictures were on the screen, the news reporter was blabbering on about how they might be the new ‘it’ couple.

“Ethan Velasco seems to be in hot water this week, as he has just attended his fourth red carpet event with Sarah this week. The crowd, and myself, are left wondering what’s happened to Ava? Has our golden couple finally left the honey-moon stage and broken up? Stay tuned to-”

I turned it off and got up to get ready for work in a huff. As far as I knew, Ethan hadn’t signed or acknowledged the divorce papers I served him. Maybe he never would. He could take his revenge by keeping me married to him and having an affair while I was stuck to be legally bound forever.

I shook the bitter thoughts from my head. Ethan wasn’t like that.

I went to the children’s home extra early that morning and cornered Mrs. Hudson before she could get too busy taking care of the children.

I told her everything the kids had told me the night before, and she had a similar reaction to myself. Her wrinkled eyes filled with tears, her face paled as though she was going to throw up, and anger evaporated the tears and replaced the look of horror on her face.

“I will ensure that Baron never steps foot in this building ever again!” She assured me and shuffled off to her office to make a few phone calls.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and Michaela came up to me, her bruise was hidden, but her eyes were still hollow and sad. She gave me a hug, thanking me for protecting her, when the door to the lobby opened and a large man entered the room.

Michaela gasped, horrified, and pointed to the man.

“That’s him!” She whisper shouted at me, panicked. “He’s the one that throws the parties.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Andrew standing in the lobby with a bouquet of flowers. He didn’t hear Michaela’s words and he had the audacity to smile innocently at her.

Andrew was Baron’s accomplice.