Chapter 13
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Miranda called her daughter Nina as soon as she got home. She could tell right away that the man who came to the clinic earlier was someone important, but she wasn’t worried.
She had already tampered with the medical records back then, so there was nothing for anyone to find.
Claire had been pregnant with twins, but by the time she was rushed in, she was already losing a lot of blood. The boy didn’t make it, but the girl survived.
If Claire hadn’t saved her daughter, Nina, back then, Miranda wouldn’t have gone out of her way to help her. She was just returning a favor.
Claire and Nina had been in neighboring classes back in high school. Claire was a bit chubby, and Nina had acne. Both of them were often bullied and left out by their classmates.
The students in Class 2 would call Nina “Zit” behind her back. Since they were both from the same small town, they stuck together and always had each other’s backs.
Nina’s parents had split up, and she took her mom’s last name. It wasn’t until high school that she moved to Sonisburg to live with her dad.
In the first semester of Grade 11, Nina finally worked up the courage to confess her feelings to Stanley, but he turned her down.
After that, a group of girls who liked Stanley locked her in the bathroom and started bullying her. That was when Claire rushed in and saved her.
Claire looked all soft and harmless, but she was actually pretty strong. She shoved the girls out of the way, grabbed Nina’s hand, and dashed out with her together.
Nina was always grateful to Claire, and the two grew even closer after that. During summer break, when they went back to their hometown, Claire would visit Nina’s house and see Miranda often. After a few visits, they all became pretty familiar with each other.
That night, Nina called Winifred right away. “Don’t worry about it. My mom already fixed the medical records.
“But it really seems like Humbert still cares about you. Otherwise, why would he to that small town just to check on you? Do you think he still-”
go
all the way
“No.” Winifred cut her off, taking a deep breath. She knew exactly what Nina was about to say.
She added, “Nina, he has a girlfriend now. It’s my boss. Their families are a perfect match, and they’ll probably get married soon. Even if it’s not Sylvia, it’ll just be someone else like her.”
Chapter 13
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Winifred would never let her daughter become Humbert’s hidden child. She finally built a new life for herself and loved the peace and stability it brought. She could never forget that Humbert once said, “It was just a fling. I’m leaving the country soon.”
She also couldn’t shake the memory of the way Vivian Pierce had looked at her back then. Vivian’s gaze had been full of contempt, like she was nothing more than an insignificant ant. That moment still stung with a mix of shame and humiliation.
*****
Later that night, Winifred lay in bed, gently patting Rosalind’s shoulder.
She was reading a book of folk tales to Rosalind, but her mind wandered far away. Everyone has someone unforgettable from their youth, and for Winifred, that person was Humbert. But it all happened during a time when she was really struggling as Claire.
Back in Grade 10, Claire was temporarily living at her uncle Jack’s house. Jack was kind to her, but it wasn’t like how he treated her cousin Joanna, who always got some pocket money to spend.
One day, she got her period. Jack worked at a distillery far away, so he couldn’t help her in time. It was Joanna who helped to buy some boxes of tampons, and Claire only took a few.
Claire and Joanna shared a bedroom, with just a curtain separating them for privacy.
Now at 27, Winifred had a steady job and a daughter, and money wasn’t a concern anymore. But back when she was sixteen and living under someone else’s roof as Claire, even basic things like tampons had to be rationed.
One evening, after self–study in Grade 10, Claire waited until the classroom was empty before getting up slowly. She wiped away the bloodstain on her chair and then tied her school uniform around her waist to hide it.
On her way home, Claire was still thinking about a math problem when she noticed a delinquent trailing behind her.
Girls in this world would always feel unsafe. Even being chubby and plain really didn’t make one less likely to get harassed.
Though Claire was a fat girl at the time, it felt like the strange, lingering stares followed her even more–especially the ones that lingered on her fuller chest.
Back then, Claire wore nothing but a basic training bra with little support. Her chest had already developed, and with every step, it bounced.
She couldn’t stand the way people stared–especially the girls, who would whisper and gossip
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Chapter 13
behind her back. It left her feeling utterly ashamed.
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She couldn’t afford a better bra, so she wore a simple white cotton tank top under her summer
school uniform.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Claire got scared and hurried ahead. The footsteps sped up, too, and she was almost in tears.
Her stomach was cramping hard, and the sleazy street punk was still tailing her. Jack’s place was still a long way off. That was when Humbert showed up.
Winifred couldn’t remember if she hid behind him first, or if Humbert had stepped forward to shield her.
Before that, she never imagined Humbert as someone who smoked or hung out at internet. cafés. It just didn’t fit with the guy standing in front of her.
Humbert was the school heartthrob, the golden boy of Sonisburg High School, always at the top of his class.
He didn’t smoke like those street punks. His white school uniform was buttoned neatly all the way up. His clothes were neat and spotless. The only thing out of place was the faint trail of smoke coming from his lips.
He didn’t smoke to look cool or because he was addicted. He smoked simply because he felt like it. He could quit whenever he wanted, as if he were always in control of himself and everything around him.
Beneath that cool exterior was a defiant and rebellious heart. He didn’t care who would see or
if he would be in trouble.
He gave Claire a look, pulled a hundred–dollar bill from his wallet, and handed it to her. “Take a cab.”
But Claire still ended up walking all the way home. She slipped the hundred–dollar bill between the pages of her diary.
It wasn’t a dramatic knight–in–shining–armor moment, but it was more than enough to stir her teenage heart. Besides, Humbert was insanely good–looking.
By Grade 11, Claire found herself in the same class as Humbert. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Things got even better when she ended up sitting next to Humbert’s niece, Cheryl
Pierce.
That was when Claire learned that Humbert was the youngest heir of the Pierce family, the richest family in Sonisburg. He also had an older brother who was already middle–aged.
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Cheryl would call out in a sweet voice, “Uncle Humbert!”
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Claire noticed that even with his family, Humbert kept his usual cool, distant demeanor. Cheryl just smiled at Claire and said, “That’s just how Uncle Humbert is.”
Cheryl was the spoiled princess, always bossing Claire around and telling her to move desks. or carry her bags.
However, Claire never refused Cheryl. She was strong, so she just treated it like helping out. Besides, she was practically alone in the class, with no real friends to talk to.
No matter how hard Claire tried to blend in, there were always kids who went out of their way to exclude her. They would whisper behind her back, calling her “fat pig.”
So Claire buried herself in her studies, working harder than anyone else. With every exam, her scores climbed, little by little.
Humbert’s name was always at the top, while Claire slowly made her way to second place. But when it came to the whole grade, she was still far from the top.
Luckily, Claire took a photo with Humbert as one of the top three students in the class.
Cheryl, the spoiled girl, was always making trouble. She signed up for the 800–meter run, but the day before the sports meeting, she claimed she was on her period and asked Claire to run in her place. “Claire, we’re friends, right?”
As Claire struggled to catch her breath in the running race, Cheryl joined the others in calling out, “Fat pig, last place!”
After the race, Cheryl handed Claire a bottle of water with a completely different attitude. She grinned and said, “I didn’t mean it. Everyone else was yelling, so I just joined in. Don’t be mad, okay? We’re still friends.”
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
