Chapter 8
White Cassandra was still at the police station, Aaron and I rushed to the school. Since we needed to find the answer, we spent hours combing through the past month’s surveillance footage.
However, after seeing the video, my heart sunk into a bottomless pit.
On–screen, there were several pink envelopes in my daughter’s hands. Her face filled with sympathy… and concern.
I pointed at the screen and asked the teacher, “What are those?”
The teacher hesitated for a moment, then said, “I heard they’re letters from the orphanage. Ella’s a sweet girl and she volunteers there every week. Apparently, she got really close with one of the children. Even skipped her own meals just to buy that girl little gifts.”
“They’ve been writing to each other for quite a while now. The whole class knows about it… I think her name was …”
“Cassandra?” I offered.
The teacher immediately nodded.
My body went weak and my knees buckled. If Aaron hadn’t caught me, I might have collapsed right there in the hallway.
Still, the teacher went on, “She’s really a pitiful child. Her life is so difficult. Ella said Cassandra is disabled and she had been an orphan her whole life. It’s so amazing she’s survived this long. You two have really raised your daughter well because she’s so full of compassion. Don’t worry. Good people always have good fortune. Ella will be okay.”
Her words were meant to comfort me, but all I felt was ice creeping through my veins. Since I had no idea Cassandra had already gotten to my daughter behind my back.
This was a carefully laid trap.
We followed the teacher to the classroom and searched Ella’s desk.
Inside, we found the letters and unopened gifts that my daughter wanted to give Cassandra. These were her treasure things, that she did want to use herself but she wanted Cassandra to have them.
My nose stung and tears slipped silently down my cheeks.
Aaron opened one of the letters.X
Just as I feared, they were full of manipulative sob stories. Cassandra wrote about kids stealing her snacks. She also wrote that she couldn’t get to meals in time because of her “disabled” legs.
Our daughter’s replies were full of compassion and determination. She even called Cassandra her sister and promised she would protect her no matter what.
She also said she would talk to Aaron and me about adopting Cassandra.
We had shielded her so well from the cruelty of the world that she had no idea what kind of evil she was dealing with and what evil looked like.
I did not even remember how I made it out of that school.
By the time we stepped outside, the sky had gone pitch–black.
Aaron, who was by my side, tried to comfort me, but I shoved him away and told him, “Find Cassandra’s adoptive parents. They’re in the same hell as us now. If their biological son is missing, Cassandra must’ve put him and Ella in the same place.”
“She grew up in an orphanage. She won’t take them far. This could be our last chance and they might know something.””
Aaron had no plan of his own, so he just followed my lead,
Indeed, the moment we arrived at their home, we found the adoptive couple tearing Cassandra’s room apart.
The mother was crying in a high uncontrollable sob that it was hard for her to speak.
“I only had one son!” the mother wailed. “If something happens to him, I’m done for!”
She blamed her husband, “This is your fault! Who told you to adopt some random kid? Now our own son’s gone! What kind of father are you? Our son was being beaten and you didn’t even notice? Do you even care about this family anymore?”
“The girl that you adopted? Don’t think I don’t know, that it’s possible she’s your love child with some tramp! She looks just like you, you bastard! You never cared about our boy just because he’s sick and not normal! You’ve always seen him as a burden. Well, congratulations. He’s gone. Are you happy now?” she asked.
“I’m telling you right now that if I’m still breathing, that brat will never step foot in this house again! I’ll beat her up every time I see her!”