A series of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the room, breaking the silence of the night. Bryan paused his recount of the past, and listened quietly for a while, his face looked a bit gloomy. He wondered who was running around at this late hour, and what kind of trouble they might bring. The rainstorm outside the window was still falling, and dazzling thunder flashes occasionally lit up the dark sky. The air was suffocating, as if something ominous was about to happen.
Harry held his breath, although he kept quiet, his eyes showed a kind of urgency. He obviously wanted to know why Professor Watson said that his birth was entirely planned by his mother. He felt a surge of curiosity and confusion.
Bryan felt a surge of pain in his head, as if his memories were too heavy to bear. He frowned and asked, "What did I just say, Potter?" He was struggling to remember.
Harry replied quickly, eager to hear more. "You said your mother was kicked out of the house, and the plan."
"Thank you–" Bryan muttered, rubbing his brow. "My mind is a bit fuzzy, well, then, it was this. Cutting off ties with my parents didn't make my mother see reason, but enraged her. She thought they rejected her because they thought she was worthless, and if she became successful, she could make a lot of money. But we all know that it wasn't that simple, especially for a girl who had little education, a lot of bad records, and had just turned of age. The opportunities for her to make something of herself were scarce. Life was hard, because she couldn't stand those dull, physical jobs that paid poorly."
There was a clanging sound in the corridor, as if someone was running with some equipment. Harry briefly left Professor Watson's story and thought about what might be happening outside, and then easily had an answer.
He guessed that it was probably the staff of the hospital, preparing for some emergency situation.
Harry looked at Professor Watson's profile, and from Professor Watson's sudden acceleration of speech and story rhythm, he obviously knew what might have happened outside. He seemed to be in a hurry to finish his story, as if he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. He spoke faster and faster, his voice becoming more and more tense and emotional.
"–She mixed in the society for some years and met many people of all kinds. From those friends, she learned about a cocktail party held by a business celebrity, and then dressed herself up beautifully, pretending to be a rich and well-educated lady.
She sneaked into the party, picked out the most graceful one in the crowd, had a short and beautiful love, immersed in it and unable to extricate herself, she secretly got pregnant, went to the door but found that her identity had been investigated by the old master of the manor. Well, to investigate these things clearly, I almost turned London upside down in the summer vacation of my third year!"
Bryan smiled self-deprecatingly at Harry, who was surprised and opened his mouth. He saw the shock and disbelief in Harry's eyes, and he felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.
The time went back to February 28, 1971.
This year's winter was exceptionally long and cold. At this time in the past, the drunk spring breeze had already been leisurely wandering on the large and neatly trimmed lawn of the Watson Manor, but now, everything was buried under the white snow. The trees were bare and lifeless, the flowers were frozen and withered, and the birds were nowhere to be seen. The whole manor looked like a desolate and lonely place, devoid of any warmth and joy.
On the straight road from the big iron gate to the majestic manor, there were more than a dozen servants clearing the snow on the road, but the efficiency was not as good as usual. They whispered to each other, and their curious eyes were all cast on the things happening at the gate of the yard. They had heard some rumors about the young master and a mysterious lady, and they wanted to see what was going on.
Clang!
"You made me feel unprecedented humiliation, Melina!"
The young and handsome young master of the manor slammed the door shut, glared at the lady outside the iron gate with angry eyes, and said viciously, "Get out of here, never show up in front of me again!"
Hearing this ruthless word, the manor steward Lawrence showed a look of pity. He looked at the lady outside the gate and wanted to say something but stopped - that was a young and beautiful lady, with clever and delicate features, but unfortunately, her messy hair, dust on her cheeks, and dried blood stains on the inside of her thighs ruined her beauty.
In the snowflakes falling slowly from the gloomy sky, even the servants working in the manor wore a thick layer of cotton clothes, but the lady only wore a thin woolen sweater, because her coat was wrapped around the baby who had just been born for a day in her arms.
That was a very strange baby. In such cold weather, even though his cute cheeks were frozen blue, he still did not cry, and his light brown eyes showed a kind of clarity that only conscious people would have, but a baby who had just been born for a day obviously would not have a clear consciousness.
He looked at the world around him with curiosity and wonder, unaware of the harsh reality that awaited him. The young lady seemed to be stunned by Claude Watson's performance. She looked at the man helplessly and fearfully, and whispered,
"But you said you would marry me."
"How dare you mention this!" Claude roared, "You are so despicable, lowly- huh, you made me a laughingstock, this shame will follow me for the rest of my life!"
"But."
Melina's eyes sparkled with tears, she looked at the baby in her arms, her expression became more fearful, "This child. he is yours-"
"Shut up!"
Claude interrupted her, he stared at the baby, his eyes of disgust had a trace of hesitation, but it was immediately crushed by the anger in his heart, he gasped and said,
"You disappeared after being exposed, and came back with a child a few months later. Oh. where did you get him from, I think, this must be another clumsy lie, right?"
He refused to believe that the baby was his, he refused to acknowledge any connection with her or her offspring. He wanted to erase her from his life, and from his memory. He wanted to pretend that none of this had ever happened, that he had never met her, never loved her, never made a mistake with her.
After saying this, Claude Watson turned and left without any nostalgia. He slammed the door behind him, and locked it with a loud click. He did not dare to look back, he did not want to care what would happen to her or the baby.
"Miss Depp–"
Looking at Melina, who lowered her head and looked at the baby, her eyes were both blank and desperate, Lawrence hesitated for a moment, he took out a check from his pocket and handed it through the gap in the fence,
"Maybe this can help you through some difficulties–"
Melina didn't even look at the check, she just hugged the baby tightly, and left silently under the snowflakes. She did not say a word, she did not show any emotion, she did not accept any help. She walked away, like a ghost, like a shadow, like a nobody.
The scene changed, and there was another equally ruthless door closing sound on the street.
"We have no obligation to be responsible for your actions!" The cold voice from the room made Melina Depp's body tremble, but in fact, her body that had been frozen stiff had long lost the feeling of cold. She had been wandering for days, with no destination, no purpose, no meaning.
She hugged the baby who was about to faint from hunger and cold and left again, wandering aimlessly and quietly on the lonely street. She did not know where she was going, she did not know what she was doing, she did not know why she was living. She just walked, and walked, and walked, until her feet were numb, until her eyes were blurred, until her mind was empty.
The snowflakes falling slowly from the dark sky covered her with a layer of white coat. Occasionally, passers-by who passed by her looked at her with pity, and she had no reaction. She did not notice them, she did not hear them, she did not feel them. She was in a world of her own, a world of silence, a world of pain, a world of despair.
The baby in her arms finally cried, the cry was very weak, but it was the only sound Melina could hear now. She looked at the baby who looked like his father, and her dead eyes had waves, but in the end, they became blank again.
She walked for a long time, from the quiet suburbs to the bustling commercial center, and then crossed the commercial center to the other side of the city. She was not going to ask anyone for help, she just didn't want to stop. She felt that if she stopped, she would collapse and never get up again.
In the yard of a dilapidated orphanage, Miss Ferrena stopped sweeping the snow and looked at the ragged lady holding a baby passing by the door, her eyes showing worry. She recognized the signs of despair and hopelessness on the lady's face. She had seen them too many times before.
In fact, as soon as the lady appeared in her sight, she had been paying attention to her. She had a keen eye for spotting those who were in need of help, especially those who had children with them. She had dedicated her life to running the orphanage, taking care of the abandoned and orphaned children, giving them a home and a family.
For an experienced Ferrena who had worked in an orphanage for a lifetime, she had seen this situation countless times. Often, young men, young women, or young couples who appeared together sneaked up to the door of the orphanage, looked panicked, threw a package and a cardboard box, and then turned and ran away. Inside the package or the box, there would be a baby, sometimes with a note, sometimes without. Ferrena would always take the baby in, no matter what.
She thought the lady would do the same, but the fact surprised her. The lady did not leave the baby at the door, but kept holding him in her arms, as if she was afraid to let him go. But she also did not seem to care for him, or for herself. She looked like a walking corpse, with no life or emotion in her eyes.
But this did not make Ferena feel at ease, but made her more worried. She knew that the lady and the baby were both in danger, and needed help urgently. After a very short time of thinking, Ferrena put the broom against the wall, carefully stepped on the wet and slippery ground and walked out of the gate of the orphanage.
She followed the lady's footsteps, and called out to her in a gentle and friendly voice.
"Hello, ma'am–" Ferrena shouted at Melina's back, "Do you need some help?"
Melina did not look back. In fact, she was silent in a world where there was no hope, and could not hear anyone's call.
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