Chapter 6 My Master

Lilly glanced around, but the room remained empty. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling. "I am your master," the voice replied calmly. The little girl frowned at the strange answer. "I don't have a master," she firmly stated. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in the chair beside the bed. The young man, dressed in a white robe, remained invisible to everyone else. He had blood-red lips, piercing grey eyes, and a prominent nose. He emitted a cold, sinister aura. The man glared at the little girl before him and thought, I thought she would be a naive and ignorant child. It seems she is not so easily fooled... "Tulip." Before he could continue, Lilly interrupted, hissing, "My name is not Tulip. I'm Lilly." The man stroked his chin and said, "I am truly your master. Your mother asked me to be your guardian before she passed away." "No, she wouldn't," Lilly protested. She couldn't believe her mother would entrust her to a stranger. The man was speechless at her denial. When Jean was on her deathbed, she saw him and pleaded for him to protect Lilly and the Crawfords. Lilly was only two years old at the time, so it was possible she didn't remember. However, the fact remained that he was her master! When Lilly was on the brink of death two days ago, she finally heard his voice. Yet, she refused to believe his words. The man rubbed his nose and stated, "Jean Crawford is your mother, and you are Lilly Hatcher. I know who you are." Lilly pursed her lips and retorted, "Everyone knows that." What an intelligent young lady. The Hatchers would never be able to bully her if it weren't for her small stature and desire for love. The man smirked and replied, "Don't overthink everything, little one. Once you are well enough, we can engage in ceremonial activities. My name is Pablo Belmont. I was a formidable man in my previous life." Noticing Lilly's confused expression, Pablo explained, "It's natural that you don't know who I am, as I was not born in your era. However, I possess great talents. I can teach you many things, including how to defend yourself against bullies." "Will great men perish?" Lilly inquired. When she realized her question received no response, she asked again, "If you are as capable as you claim, how did you die?" Pablo was rendered speechless by her challenging questions. Lilly clutched her sheets and bit her lower lip. "If you truly are my master, why did you leave me alone?" Nobody cared about her since her mother died, not even when she cried or got hurt. For the past year, she had tried her best to avoid causing trouble. Despite her efforts, her father and grandparents did not show her any affection. Debbie even beat her at times. "From now on, I will protect you," Pablo solemnly declared. His face hardened, and he offered no further explanation. Lilly turned away from him, biting her lip. Pablo patted Lilly's head and said, "Rest now. I will return later. This is my welcome gift for you." He had hurried to see Lilly and needed to attend to other matters. Lilly felt a warm sensation and noticed red threads encircling her wrist. The room fell silent once again. She looked around but saw no one. To her surprise, her aching body felt better, and her heart was at peace. After ten days, Lilly's wounds had mostly healed. Finally, she was well enough to go home. "This is a miracle. She has healed so quickly. Given the severity of her injuries, I expected it to take three months," a doctor exclaimed in disbelief. Gilbert soon arrived and observed Lilly on the bed, her eyes fixed on the red string around her wrist. She appeared incredibly lonely and frightened. "Lilly, what's wrong?" He reached out and gently patted her head. "What is this?" He pointed to the red string, curious as he hadn't seen it on Lilly's wrist the previous night. Lilly raised her head and asked, "Where is my rabbit, Uncle Gilbert?" Gilbert remembered that while Lilly was unconscious, she clung to a worn-out stuffed rabbit. In his panic, he had hastily discarded the dirty rabbit when he cleared the snow off the little girl and prepared her for the emergency room. "Was the rabbit important, Lilly? I'm afraid it's gone," Gilbert spoke gently. He quickly added, "I can buy you a brand new rabbit toy. I'll go get one right now!" Lilly bit her lip, trying desperately to hold back her tears. She squeaked, "Mommy gave me the rabbit." Daddy threw away all of Mommy's belongings. The little rabbit was all that remained. It was the only thing Mommy had left for me, and now it's gone. Mommy is gone, my so-called master is gone, and my rabbit is gone. When Anthony entered the room and saw Gilbert and a tearful Lilly, he frowned and asked solemnly, "What happened?" "It's not my fault, Anthony! Lilly left her rabbit at the Hatcher Mansion," Gilbert innocently explained. He didn't want to admit that the rabbit was gone forever, fearing it would upset Lilly. If he said it was with the Hatchers, there was still hope. Anthony said warmly, "I'll get you a brand new toy, Lilly. Don't be upset." He was more than capable of buying all the rabbit toys in the world if she wanted. "It was the only gift Jean left for Lilly," Gilbert said, shaking his head. "Let's go and retrieve it," Anthony instructed. He didn't know if the rabbit was still at the Hatcher Mansion, but if it wasn't, he vowed to search through all the bins in South City to find it. "I want to come too, Uncle Anthony!" Lilly said. Besides the rabbit, she still had something important to retrieve. At the Hatcher Mansion, Richard and Stephen sat in the living room, looking disheveled. The place had lost much of its former grandeur after the creditors seized everything of value. Stephen slumped on the couch, unshaven and weary. "Why did you accumulate so much debt, Stephen? What are we going to do?" Paula cried. The Hatchers had been declared bankrupt on the day Stephen was admitted to the hospital. Not only had their assets been seized by creditors, but the Hatcher Mansion had also been forcibly taken away. They were now without a place to stay. Richard exclaimed, "Why on earth are you crying? None of this would have happened if you had treated Lilly better." "Why are you putting all the blame on me? You weren't kind to your granddaughter either!" Paula objected. "Stop arguing!" Stephen shouted. He had spent the entire day dealing with his company's bankruptcy. Additionally, he could potentially face jail time as the court became involved in the case. Richard and Paula fell silent, regretting their previous mistreatment of Lilly. If they had been kind to her, they might have had a chance to join the upper echelons of society given her connections with the Crawfords. "That ungrateful child. She has completely forgotten about us after becoming wealthy," Paula said bitterly. After all, we are her grandparents. How can she be so heartless and ungrateful? A family is where we learn to forgive and forget. Furthermore, this wasn't even our fault. She pushed Debbie down the stairs, causing her to miscarry. Just then, Debbie descended the stairs and reassured, "Don't worry. Lilly will definitely come back."