"Do you like this Carla? We can play with this!" Claude showed Carla a dog stuffed toy.
Carla is in her crib and enjoying her practice on how to crawl when his father came in.
She just put herself in sideways, but immediately failed to do a plank out of shock.
Carla just indifferently looked at him. Then ignored him.
Claude was shunned.
Carla didn't bother herself with his disgruntled father.
Even though her father was a little mad about her, her father still did his best to get her attention.
"Wouwagwubish... Guhlush... (You ugly beast, get lost.)" Carla tried to say something but only she can understand.
Claude suddenly lightened up. He thought his daughter wanted to talk to him!
"Yes, yes, papa loves you! Papa will play with you. This dog is named Ruff! Try to touch it, my daughter." Claude gave her the stuffed toy.
Carla felt annoyed. She frowned and slapped his hands with her tiny hands.
'Shameless! You ruined my mood!'
With her tiny and fluffy hands suddenly touched his, he thought Carla just wanted to hold his fingers.
He put the stuffed toy beside her and hold her smooth hands.
Claude wanted to carry her but was afraid that she would cry again. He thought that maybe because he was inexperienced in holding a baby, that's why she cried all the time.
Carla felt disgusted and wanted to shake his hand away from her but felt it was useless.
If he did this in her past life, if only his attention was to her like this, if he only cares about her this much, she might even forgive him in instant.
However, those things he did can not be forgiven. She can't forget it anymore, especially the pain he brought. He ruined their entire family for his greed. And even losing more of his family members.
Carla didn't even want to accept that her father is this man. He didn't deserve the word 'father', and she didn't deserve the word 'daughter or sister' either.
She knew it well. But doesn't mean she can't felt disgusted towards this man who is touching her carelessly.
So she planned to cry instead to make him leave.
But before she could, someone knocked at the door.
Leila came in.
"Honey, I just finished reading the files. You can just sign the one on your office desk table. I put the others on the floor." Leila's voice was warm.
Claude and Carla felt cheerful suddenly.
"Thank you, Honey." Claude saw her eyes full of tiredness. He felt guilty. "Why don't you take a rest?"
He let go of Carla's hand when Claude walked in.
"It's okay Honey, I still need to feed Carla and bath her." She smiled and held Carla.
Carla got flustered hearing it.
"You know, Carla is old enough to use a bottle. And we can hire a nanny for her. That way, you can have a longer rest." Claude said in a smoky voice.
Leila was startled. She smiled and felt embarrassed when she understood what he meant.
But Carla felt disgusted.
'Excuses! You just want to Pa Pa Pa her in the bed while letting her work like a horse in your office!'
'If you truly care for her, you would let her stop working. But we all know how incompetent you are! Humph!'
Carla snorted but accidentally drool instead.
Seeing her that, Leila came back from her thoughts. "Honey, I'll let her practice to use a bottle. But, about the nanny, I can't easily trust my daughter to any stranger." She felt worried.
Carla was pleased that she can finally use a bottle and ignored the rest!
Claude knows how serious it is to let a stranger in, so he compromised. "Why not ask a close friend of yours? Just for a time being. As long as you trusted that person, he or she can help us. Besides, we have a lot of maids that can help her nanny if ever."
"I'll think about it."
After that talk, Claude went to his office and Leila fed Carla.
....
That night, it was a mysterious night.
Everyone was sleeping.
Carla slept in her crib beside her parents' bed.
Then, she woke up in the middle of the night. This was her normal routine. She just woke up at night and cry if her diaper is wet or hungry. Other than that, she won't disturb her mother's rest for a worthless reason.
Even though sometimes she felt uncomfortable, she bares with it.
In the morning, she mostly sleeps when she can't sleep at night.
Just now, she woke up for no reason.
'A baby's life is hard! Can't even roll myself, yet! Huhu, I just want to walk already!'
Carla frowned. She kept thinking of other ways to help herself move and walk fast. But she knew it would take a lot of hard work.
Instead of thinking about it, she thought she should just try it now.
She encouraged herself to roll first but still can only do sideways.
She keeps thinking of other benefits if ever she can finally walk.
'I can run away from that father. I can help my mother with her taking more rest if I can take care of myself.'
'And when the time comes, I can make my mother and brother escaped from this ugly house!'
'But now I must crawl my way first. Literally! Just you wait!'
With these thoughts, she finally planked!
But she cannot carry herself! She just realized, with these sluggish bones, she still can't support herself.
She felt suffocated. But before she could cry for help, someone helped her up and hold her like she was a cat suddenly got caught.
The person covered her whole body in silk clothes, enough to warm her.
Carla felt thankful for this person's help, even though it was a little uncomfortable how this person carries her.
Then, after these thoughts, the person carries her like a baby and walked out of the room.
Carla can't see the person's face in the dark so she just waited.
She also didn't make any noise thinking it was one of her parents.
But when they got out of the room, they also got out of the house and went straight to the forest at back the of their house.
'Eh? Eh, is it too late to cry for help?'
They were already far from the house and Carla was confused and stunned, hence she only reacted just now.
'Did I just got kidnapped?'
'But why? I don't remember anyone told me I got kidnapped when I was a baby!'
'And what happened to the security cameras? How about security guards? And most importantly, why my parents didn't notice anything?'
While having a lot of questions in her mind, they reached a certain place in the forest.
"Master, I had brought her." Said the one who is carrying Carla.
"Good."
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Written by KircheLeaf
Cover Designed by CxlxrGreg
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~End of Chapter 2~