“Kidnapping is illegal! Let us go now! Otherwise, my grandfather will bring the police and have all of you arrested!” Patrick involuntarily straightened his back and chest, trying hard not to look at the dog.
To his surprise, the men laughed even more recklessly upon hearing his words. In their eyes, Patrick was just a kid who hadn’t grown up yet. His words were nothing but a joke.
“Kid, do you know where you are? Who do you think you’re scaring with your baby talk? Let me tell you, even if it’s your grandfather or the emperor himself, it won’t work here! You two better behave yourselves, or else-” Ron’s smile disappeared from his face, his voice lowering menacingly, the scars on his face twitching as he spoke.
The little girl hid behind Patrick, showing half of her face, gripping Patrick’s clothes tightly, looking very frightened. The large wolfhound panted heavily, and suddenly let out a vicious bark.
Patrick’s shoulders trembled involuntarily, but he still stood tall, trying to appear unafraid. He had been bitten by a dog when he was young, leaving a lasting fear.
The little girl hesitated, pursed her lips, and slowly let go of Patrick’s hand. She knew that the big brother might be afraid of the dog.
Ron didn’t miss any of this. He immediately grabbed Patrick’s collar, deliberately running his hand over the wolfhound’s fur.
“This dog grew up on raw meat. You two better behave, or if it gets hungry and wants to eat you, I won’t take responsibility.”
The wolfhound seemed to understand its owner’s words and let out two more fierce barks. Ron, as if deliberately, slowly released the leash.
Patrick nervously closed his eyes.
In the instant the wolfhound lunged towards them, Patrick instinctively shut his eyes tightly. The next moment, he heard the little girl’s voice.
“Don’t bite big brother!”
Patrick opened his eyes to see the little girl standing in front of him, showing no fear, facing off with the wolfhound.
Candice, initially worried that the wolfhound would attack Patrick, felt relief seeing the little girl protect him.
Ron chuckled, motioning for the wolfhound to come back. “Since you two are scared, remember what I said and behave!”
After they left, Candice, once again, observed the situation inside the small dark room.
“Thank you for earlier,” Patrick said, relieved, looking at the little girl gratefully.
“It’s okay, big brother. You protected me, too. Don’t worry, I won’t let the dog bite you in the future,” the little girl said in a tender voice, smiling sweetly at Patrick.
Patrick looked at her intently, suddenly determined, and said sincerely to the little girl, “You’ve been so good to me. If we can make it back home, I will definitely marry you when I grow up, you’ll see!”
They shook hands, both looking very serious.
Outside, Candice, seeing this, clenched her fists, feeling very jealous, staring fiercely at the little girl opposite Patrick.
Why should the big brother say he’ll marry that girl in the future? She refused to accept it; the big brother belonged to her!
From that day on, Candice would secretly bring food to Patrick and the little girl every day, although most of the time she was with her stepmother, who couldn’t care less about what she did.
Candice was always waiting for an opportunity to set Patrick free. If she could set him free, he would remember her!
Finally, one day, Ron and his cronies didn’t come to the small wooden house. At lunchtime, her father lay on the kang in the main room, quickly falling asleep, and her stepmother was nowhere to be seen.
Candice heard her father snoring.
She sneaked into the main room and saw her father lying on the kang. The key to the small dark room was peeking out of his pocket.
Candice cautiously approached her father, took the key from his pocket, and, seeing he was still asleep, hurried to the small dark room, turned the key in the lock, and opened the door.
Patrick heard the noise and abruptly turned his head, looking at Candice warily. “Who are you?”
“I’m here to save you. My dad is sleeping in the next room, and those men didn’t come today. You… you should leave now!” she said, picking up an empty bottle from the nearby cabinet and deliberately dropping it on the ground.
The little girl jumped in fright, looking at Candice in confusion. Meanwhile, Candice picked up a sharp piece of glass and tried to cut the rope on Patrick’s wrist.
But the process took too long. Just as the rope was about to be cut, a furious voice suddenly came from the doorway.
“Little brat, what are you doing!”
The man had been sound asleep in the next room, but he suddenly woke up upon hearing the sound of something breaking, instinctively reaching for his pocket where the key was supposed to be.
Empty.
Candice was startled too. She turned around and, upon seeing her father, panicked and began to stutter as she tried to explain. “Dad, I, I was just-”
Before she could finish her sentence, Mr. Dillon stormed over and slapped her without a second thought, “You ungrateful child! I’ve raised you all these years, and this is how you repay me?”
Candice fell to the ground, a bright red mark appearing on her face, close to where the broken bottle lay. Her wrist throbbed with pain, blood oozing from a cut caused by the sharp glass. She winced, feeling both physical and emotional pain, unable to hold back her tears.
Underneath her wrist, a sharp piece of glass was stained with blood.
“Get out of here and cry somewhere else!” Mr. Dillon yelled in disgust, ignoring Candice’s injury.
From that day on, Candice never had contact with Patrick and the little girl again. Her father and stepmother became increasingly wary of her.
…
“Someone! Quickly, someone! Those two brats have run away!”
That night, Candice was fast asleep when she suddenly heard Ron’s furious voice coming from the main room. Soon after, she heard her father and stepmother cursing.
“Quick, search! Find them! Damn it, even a cooked duck can fly-”
Candice rushed to the main room, seeing the frantic adults rushing out to search for the two children.
Candice’s heart sank. Had the big brother and the little girl really run away?