I was not young anymore.

I did not remember how I felt at that moment. All I remembered was that we had one of our worst fights that night.

I cried and lost my temper. I destroyed our photos. I turned the house into a mess.

Harry was not angry. When I grew tired of crying, he hugged me. He kissed away the tears on my cheeks and said, “Aurora, you’re a good girl. I love you. I only love you…”

His heart ached for me, and the emotion in his eyes was real. I decided to trust him.

But the suspense in my heart only intensified.

I started to pay close attention to his behavior. Once again, I saw him staring at the photo.

I felt bitter. My eyes welled up. Suddenly, the figure of a young man appeared in front of me.

I was only four years old when I met Harry.

As far as I remembered, I was an orphan.

My mother got pregnant out of wedlock. She insisted on having me. But she had a hard time during labor and died of a hemorrhage.

Everyone said that I killed her because I was cursed. Since no one knew who my father was, I was practically an orphan.

Everyone stayed away from me. My uncle was the only one who carried me in his arms and made me happy.

The others warned my uncle. “No woman would want to marry a man with a child.”

My uncle just laughed. “No worries. I only care about my little girl. When I grow old, she’ll take care of me.”

When I was a few months old, I started to babble. My first word was “Uncle!”

My uncle giggled. He lifted me high in the air. “You’re so smart! You can talk already!”

When I was three years old, my uncle lost his job. We had no choice but to cram ourselves inside a dilapidated house.

Nonetheless, my uncle did not give up. He took me to buy lottery tickets.

He said, “After every storm, there always comes a rainbow.”

Unfortunately, I failed to bring him good luck.

We did not win the lottery.

My uncle chuckled. “It’s okay. We’ll win one next time.”

Later, our hardship finally ended. My uncle married my beautiful aunt, and he bought a mansion.

But they left me inside the dilapidated house.

I cried and went after them. “Uncle! Uncle!”

My aunt glared at me. “David has been kind enough to raise you up to this age. You need to move on with your life on your own in the future.”

I became an orphan again.

There lived a strange young man near the dilapidated house. He was a loner. His face was always dirty, so I could not tell what he looked like.

I was so scared of him that I stayed really quiet at night.

The night my uncle left me, I sobbed inside the dilapidated house.

The strange man gave me a box of pizza the next morning.

I froze as I stared at him. I was aware that pizza was not cheap. My uncle and I had only eaten that pizza twice.

But the strange man pushed the pizza into my hands. “I bought it just a while ago. Eat it while it’s still fresh.”

His voice was a little hoarse.

I was very reluctant to accept his food. But hunger pangs made my stomach growl.

I noticed that he looked a little blush on his dirty face. “Use the cutlery. It’s clean.”

How could a child resist such temptation? I licked my lips and ate the pizza.

“Why did you cry last night?”

Upon hearing this, I sniffled, and tears streamed down my face again. “My uncle abandoned me.”

The strange man looked stunned for a second. He felt helpless and wanted to wipe away my tears. But he paused for a moment before touching me.

He raised his voice a little and said, “Don’t cry. You’re not abandoned. I’ll adopt you!”

“Really?”

“Yes.” He promised. “So long as I’m alive, it’s not a problem for me to provide for you.”

His voice was loud inside the shabby house. But it somehow soothed my fear and anxiety.

When I was in my most helpless state, it was the same strange young man, whom I was wary of, who offered me a helping hand.

Little did I expect him to provide for me for more than two decades since then.

How did a teenager provide for a four-year-old child?

At that time, I was too young. Harry was a tall guy in my eyes. But he was, in fact, thinner and shorter than most of his peers.

No employer wanted to hire him. He had no choice but to work illegally inside a fast food restaurant.

He received a dollar per day. So, he earned thirty dollars a month.

At night, he was a scavenger and collected discarded items. When he returned, he would often bring me candies.

When I grew older, I got into the best high school in town with good grades.

I happily showed him the offer letter. He trembled and repeatedly wiped his hands on his shirt before taking the letter shakily.

“Aurora, you’re awesome! Look at your excellent grade!”

He looked around the house. He wanted to find something to celebrate the occasion. In the end, he went out with his money box. “Aurora, wait for me to return.”

I was stunned for a moment. My joy vanished within an instant.

The breeze moved the old wooden door, and it made a rattling sound. The window was covered with old clothes. Harry slept on the floor. We did not have any extra beds. He always slept on the floor.

High school education required a huge sum of money. Harry was already working so hard, but we could barely make ends meet.

I was practically a grown-up. I could work and share his burden.

Harry pushed the door open and entered. He brought in a colorful box and said, “Aurora, I told the boss that you earned good grades, so he gave me a fifty percent discount for this!”

He put the cake on the table. Then, he happily took out a candle and put it on top of the cake. “Aurora, quick! Blow the candle!”

My nose stung. “Harry, I want to quit school.”

His hands froze mid-air. “Aurora, what are you talking about?”

The table became shaky because of the weight of the cake on it.

“I’m serious.”

“Aurora, did someone mistreat you in school? If something happened, I can help you—”

I interrupted him. “No! I want to give up on school. I want to make money with you.”

His lips curved into a smile. “You’re still underage. How are you going to make money?”

“You were underage, too. If you can do it, why can’t I?”

“My case and yours are different!” he said. “Aurora Twilight, all you need to do is study hard!”

I felt as if something was stuck inside my throat. I held back my tears, but they streamed down anyway. “We can’t afford it. High school education requires a lot of money. I don’t want to burden you.”

Harry fell silent for a moment. Then, he clumsily wiped away my tears. “You don’t need to worry about all that. I’ll find a way. As long as I’m around, nothing is a big deal.”

My face stung when his rough hand rubbed against my skin.

The next afternoon, he took out a stack of hundred-dollar bills. “Use this for your school fees. I’ll give you extra money for your living expenses monthly.”

The white light inside the shabby house was blinding. Harry looked pale, but his eyes shone bright.

I gritted my teeth. I swore to excel in my life to provide him with a comfortable life in the future.

Later, I got into one of the world’s top ten universities. But that became a nightmare, and it haunted my days and nights.

I heard Harry breathing lightly.

I carefully moved out of his arms. He was a light sleeper. There was a crease between his eyebrows.

I touched his eyebrows. We had been through hardships. We should not end up like this.

Maybe we needed to talk.