No. 1 King Of Valor

6: I Believe You

Only at that moment did Finn snap out of his thoughts. "Ah, no uncle," he shook his head sideways and looked at the dollar notes in Kael's hand.

Bowing slightly, he said, "Thank you uncle, but my mummy told us not to accept favors from strangers. Also, we are not beggars. We have already gone to an orphanage. They will take us in soon."

His words made Kael pause. So these children were orphans after all. It's so unfortunate because they are clearly so young.

They should be just about eight or nine years old. Alas, there were several other homeless children like this all over the world.

Even though he had once dreamed of protecting everyone, he knew there were misfortunes even a soldier could not prevent.

Kael sighed and squatted down to pat Finn's hair. If he is not wrong, his and Bridget's son should be around this boy's age or just a bit younger.

Kael's eyes moved to Isla, her big eyes sparkling beautifully. And if Bridget had given birth to a girl, then she would be around this girl's age.

Perhaps out of compassion or pity, for some reason, Kael found himself unwilling to let these children go.

So he brought out a small jotter and tore off a sheet. Then he scribbled a phone number on it and gave the paper to Finn.

"This is my phone number. If you ever run into trouble, just call me. Don't lose the paper."

After saying this, Kael steeled his resolve, stood up and turned to leave. His mind was dead set on returning home.

He didn't want to waste any more time. He had already done the best he could. But when Finn saw him leaving, the little boy couldn't explain the sudden need he felt to open his mouth.

"Uncle!"

Kael halted and turned back.

"We didn't do anything bad," Finn shook his head sideways. "We didn't steal anything. We thought no one wanted the food because no one was at the table for a long time. We didn't steal..."

Hearing the boy's explanation, a warm smile spread on Kael's lips. "I believe you."

With this, he turned away and waved goodbye. Watching his departing figure, Finn's heart tightened painfully and he clutched the hems of his shorts tightly.

Why does it feel like he doesn't want this uncle to leave?

And just now, he couldn't really say why he felt the need to explain himself to that stranger...

As if he was afraid of disappointing a man he has never met before.

---

The sun was beginning to set when a young man arrived at a mountain top villa located in Skyhaven Residences.

It was the only villa located on a mountain top and it formerly belonged to the young mistress of the Sterling's family, Bridget.

The young man stood outside the villa for a minute before walking into the courtyard.

He stood at the entrance, constantly adjusting his collar, combing his fingers into his unkempt hair and checking for creases on his clothes.

He was visibly nervous. He hadn't been home for several years and it was evident that a lot had changed. For instance, the security officer who used to guard the villa was no longer there.

Luckily, he still remembered the old security code and managed to get in. But that was the least of his worries now.

All he kept on thinking was how Bridget would react when she saw him again. What expression would she have? Would she be surprised? Excited? Or perhaps even mad at him?

"She would probably be angry," Kael sighed helplessly and stroked his beard.

His wife had quite a bit of temper. She would have definitely held a grudge against him for not reaching out to her for years. He was indeed at fault.

He didn't expect to lose his phone as soon as he got to the military camp. Shortly after, he was shortlisted among special forces.

The place he was deployed to had no network signal at all so he couldn't even get a new mobile until when he was returning to Solara city.

Kael inhaled deeply and knocked on the door lightly. "Bridget! I'm back!"