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πlex Stone, a tall, dark-haired, amber-eyed man, alighted from his silver Lexus, glaring in disdain at the towering shabby apartment building, frowning at the slight creaking originating from it.
"What do you think?" a chubby man in his mid-forties asked nervously
"It's pretty large" he replied thoughtfully, "But it's rather...unstable...don't you think?"
He gulped "But the plot is of fantastic quality! Although the building is a bit shabby, we could demolish it and construct another one, or a mall or an amusement park! Anything you want!"
"What of the residents?" he asked, leaning indifferently on his car. "What happens to them?"
"Th-they would be granted the appropriate compensation"
Alex said nothing and rolled his eyes towards the building, scrutinizing it seriously.
All of a sudden, there was a loud cry, then a sound of a door being broken open and yelling. Lots of yelling.
Confused and curious, Alex made his way into the building towards the source of the racket.
"Mr Stone!" The chubby man exclaimed after him "You can't just waltz in there! It's dangerous!" He ignored him.
To his surprise, there was a small crowd of people, mainly elderly, passing a whimpering baby among themselves, each trying their luck to soothe her cries.
"What's going on here?" He inquired
"We were woken up by Scarlett's cries" one of the elderly, a woman replied "We're not exactly sure what happened to her"
"Where are her parents?" He asked
"Died a few months after she was born. In a freak accident" she sighed "Her uncle and aunt have been taking care of her since then, but then she lost her aunt a few weeks ago"
"Where's her uncle?"
"He left for the cemetery a few hours ago, he was to be back by now"
"I see" he frowned, his mood dark. Suddenly, Scarlett's cries slowed, and then stopped. The crowd looked at him in appreciation. "What?"
He looked down at the slight weight in his arms, his eyes widening at the gurgling baby. She giggled and tugged at his tie, her bright blue eyes sparkling.
"Looks like she likes you" an old man said with a smile, Alex didn't reply, instead watching transfixed at the little girl slowly drifting off to sleep.
"Do you think you could wait here with her until her uncle gets back?" Another old woman asked
"Of course" he nodded and when the crowd dispersed, entered the apartment with the broken door. He sat himself on a worn-out but comfortable armchair, adjusting himself so Scarlett could sleep properly and called one of his men to find her uncle.
In the process of waiting, he too fell asleep.
The next morning, he received a message that her uncle had been found dead in a cemetery. He frowned and glanced at the baby, Wonder what he would do with her.
He decided to adopt her, so he ordered his men to pack up everything in the apartment that belonged to her and her family, then went baby shopping.