Chapter 13 - 013 ( An Orphan )

Then, out of the blue, there was a knock on the door and someone greeted them.

Suddenly, there was an unknown woman with long black hair and thin bangs. She entered the room and began to introduce herself as the girlfriend of Harry Miles, Mrs Sofia's grandson.

A grandmother who had been waiting for her grandson's girlfriend for a long time.

And after seeing and hearing all that woman's speech the first time they saw her, not only Madame Sofia was surprised to hear that. But also Daniar, widened her eyes in disbelief.

Daniar stared at the woman in amazement.

"Are you serious? Are you my grandson's girlfriend?? My grandson, Harry Miles Theodore??" Daniar asked Cleo to replace the original Mrs Sofia's words.

Madame Sofia had signalled Daniar not to reveal their identity for a while. Daniar didn't know what the goal was, she could only obey and follow.

They were lucky because Cleo did not realise any oddities from the two's attitudes.

After hearing Cleo's answer, which stated that she was her grandson's girlfriend, Mrs Sofia showed a happy smile. She immediately stepped forward and embraced her grandson's girlfriend.

"Are you really Harry's girlfriend?" she enthusiastically asked.

Cleo responded with a slight frown on her forehead.

"Yes, it is true. But, May I know who you are...?" Cleo looked confused, seeing Mrs Sofia's enthusiasm, whom she thought was someone else.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Daniar. I am Mrs Sofia's personal assistant," Mrs Sofia replied, deliberately using Daniar's name to reveal her identity.

"Ah...Nice to meet you," Cleo politely replied.

"Did you come alone here?" Mrs Sofia probed.

Cleo smiled. "Em, yes. I came alone here. And I brought some fruits...for Mrs Sofia. Can I give this to her?"

Cleo lifted a little parcel that she was carrying. Then Cleo glanced at Daniar, whom she thought was Mrs Sofia while asking for approval.

"Of course! Give it to me here! I'll put it on the table," Mrs Sofia immediately replied as she grabbed Cleo's parcel, and placed it on the table beside the patient's bed.

Then as she placed the parcel on the table, Mrs Sofia whispered to Daniar.

"Please, you ask her why she just came here now, to see me," she softly whispered and then walked away, returning to her position.

Daniar looked at Cleo while taking a deep breath for a moment.

"I'm glad that you came here. But can you tell me, what is your reason for hiding your relationship and just coming to see me now?" Daniar asked in a quiet tone but also a little angry.

She probably needed to make an effort to imitate the Madame Sofia style. She thought that she would do in this situation.

Cleo paused and thought. Since the beginning, she had expected that Mrs Sofia would ask that question. Because of that, she had prepared the answer to tell Mrs Sofia.

"I really didn't mean to hide it. Or maybe I was forced to.... I'm forced to do that because I have my own reasons. Maybe for you, it is not important. But for me, it is very important," Cleo said.

Cleo made Daniar and Mrs Sofia deeply look at her.

"What do you mean?" Daniar asked.

Cleo's face turned serious.

"I am an orphan," said Cleo.

"What?!" Mrs Sofia and Daniar were shocked at the same time.

"My parents passed away when I was a child. And the only family I had was my uncle. He just passed away about two years ago," Cleo explained slowly.

"Because of that, I don't have much confidence to show myself in front of you. Just as many people look at me with one eye, I'm also afraid that Harry's family will think of me like that, " repeated Cleo.

Although Cleo spoke very naturally and fluently, Cleo's heart was beating fast.

She knew that she had started some lies. But regardless, part of what she said was right.

So far, she had indeed been underestimated by some people because of her status as an orphan.

In the neighbourhood where she lived by many neighbours, in her former school environment by some friends and some teachers she knew, or even in the environment where she had worked.

Many of them looked at Cleo lightly because she didn't have parents.

Meanwhile, the other children, those with complete families, tended to get more attention and more positive responses from others.

"I hope you don't blame Harry. He did all this because I asked him to. If it weren't for making me feel safe and at ease, Harry wouldn't be keeping it a secret from you. This is at my selfish request. Because of that, I apologise to you very much," Cleo continued with a sad face full of guilt.

It wasn't the guilt because of asking Harry to keep a secret; of course, it wasn't true.