Chapter 636 - 637: New Start
Suppressing his anger forcefully, Mr. Davis immediately put on a flattering smile.
"Miss, I think there has been some misunderstanding."
His tone instantly became much softer.
"This Mira here genuinely owes me money. I was simply asking her to repay the debt."
Aurora calmly crossed her arms. "How much?"
The moment she asked that question, Mr. Davis’s eyes immediately lit up greedily.
Without hesitation, he directly declared,
"Two hundred thousand dollars."
Mira’s hearing those words was so furious that she was about to shout when Aurora lightly placed a hand on her arm, stopping her.
The touch was gentle, yet firm enough to make Mira pause.
Aurora leaned back slightly and smiled faintly.
"Currently, Mira isn’t worth that much. How about this? I’ll give you fifty thousand dollars, and not a dollar more."
The moment those words left her lips, Mr. Davis realized he had encountered someone far more difficult to deal with than he had expected.
Having little choice, he lowered his demand.
"How about one hundred thousand dollars?"
Mira immediately pressed her lips together. Anger flashed across her face, and she was about to object when Aurora stopped her once again.
Chuckling softly, Aurora replied, "Fifty thousand dollars, and not a single penny more. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. We can simply call off the deal."
Aurora paused for a moment before continuing.
"You might not know this, but Mira already owes me one hundred thousand dollars. If I take her away, I’ll be losing money already."
Her voice remained cheerful, but every word carried a hidden edge.
Mr. Davis snorted.
"I’m a pimp anyway. Even if I sold her, I’d be lucky to get fifty thousand dollars. You can either take the fifty thousand I’m offering or forget about everything." Aurora neared him and whispered.
Hearing those words, Mr. Davis nearly ground his teeth together. His jaw tightened as he glanced toward Mira, who stared back at him with confusion and disbelief.
After a moment, he began calculating in his mind.
’This girl’s life is going to be ruined sooner or later anyway. Even if she leaves now, she’ll probably run away someday and return to the orphanage. When that happens, I can always invest in her again.’
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable the deal seemed.
Finally, he chuckled.
"Fine. Fifty thousand dollars."
Mira’s eyes widened in disbelief.
She had never imagined that Mr. Davis would reveal such an ugly side of himself so openly. At that moment, every remaining trace of respect she held for him disappeared.
They were truly letting her go. For the first time, she felt a genuine sense of freedom.
Meanwhile, Aurora smiled. "Since Mr. Davis agreed, let’s settle the matter."
Deep inside her mind, Aurora was already thinking of a hundred different ways to recover the money she had just spent.
Taking a deep breath, she stood up.
Mira quickly gathered her few belongings. Soon, both of them climbed into the car.
As the vehicle pulled away from the orphanage, Aurora’s phone suddenly vibrated.
A notification appeared on the screen. When she saw the contents, her lips twitched slightly.
An anonymous transfer had just arrived in one of her accounts. Rebate. She received it again.
’Hmm... interesting.’
She quickly tried to trace the source of the transfer. With her hacking skills, she was sure that she would be able to find the real sender but still failed.
The moment she finished, she turned toward Mira.
Mira immediately straightened in her seat.
Aurora tilted her head.
"What happened?"
The simple question caused Mira’s composure to crumble.
She hurriedly wiped away the tears gathering in her eyes.
"Nothing. I just never thought that I would actually be able to leave that hellhole."
A faint tremble lingered at the end of her voice.
The bitterness buried inside those words was impossible to miss.
She genuinely hated that place. Aurora looked at her for a few seconds before chuckling softly.
"It’s alright. In the future, even better things will happen."
Mira nodded quietly. After several moments of silence, she seemed to remember something.
Turning toward Aurora with an embarrassed expression, she hesitated before speaking.
"Aurora... if possible, could you lend me twenty thousand dollars?"
Aurora blinked in surprise. Seeing her reaction, Mira hurriedly explained.
"I don’t plan to use the money from your parents or the money that was given for me. I only want to borrow it from you personally."
She clenched her hands together nervously.
"I swear I’ll repay every cent. I’ll find a part-time job if I have to."
Now that she was finally free and no longer forced to hand over all her earnings to the orphanage director, Mira was confident she could earn the money.
At most, it would take her two years. But there was something she needed to do.
She couldn’t simply ignore the promise she had made to Miss Dawn.
Aurora stared at her before bursting into laughter. "No problem. In fact, I can lend you fifty thousand dollars."
Mira immediately waved her hands. "There is no need for that."
After all, Aurora had already spent fifty thousand dollars to secure her freedom from Mr. Davis. Even though Aurora had never mentioned repayment, Mira had already engraved that debt into her heart.
Seeing the determined look on Mira’s face, Aurora seemed about to say something. However, she stopped herself before smiling.
"Anyway, when you become a talented architect and start earning a lot of money, won’t it be easy for you to repay everything?"
Mira fell silent. Aurora continued.
"Just think of it as an investment."
Eventually, Mira let out a long sigh.
"If that’s the case, then please remember the fifty thousand dollars you gave Mr. Davis as well. I promise that I’ll repay every cent."
Aurora raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat amused.
This cousin of hers possessed far more backbone than she had expected.
Still, if it truly was the backbone, then it needed to be guided carefully.
Not everyone in the world would appreciate such stubborn honesty.
Soon, they returned to the apartment. After having dinner together, both of them retired for the night.
For Mira, it might have been the most peaceful sleep she had experienced in nearly twenty years.
The next morning, Mira slowly opened her eyes, she sat upright on the bed with a dazed expression.
For several seconds, she simply stared blankly at her surroundings.
The room was beautiful. The furniture was elegant. Everything felt clean and warm.
For a moment, she wondered if she was still dreaming.
Eventually, she stood up and walked toward the balcony.
From above, the city looked breathtaking.
Buildings stretched into the distance while sunlight reflected off countless windows like scattered pieces of gold.
Mira quietly took out her phone and began scrolling through her gallery.
Soon, she stopped at a familiar photograph.
It was a picture of her mother. Looking at the image, her expression softened.
A gentle smile appeared on her lips.
"Mother, I’ve been trying so hard to live a good life here."
Her fingers lightly traced the photograph.
"Your sister is taking very good care of me."
The moment those words left her mouth, tears began gathering in her eyes.
Her vision gradually blurred. "Mother, even though you’re gone, it feels like you’re still protecting me."
A tear slid down her cheek. "I truly don’t know what to say."
Her voice trembled. "If you were still alive, maybe things would have been even better."
As she spoke those words, a painful lump formed in her throat.
The grief she had buried for years finally surfaced. Her shoulders trembled. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
"Mother..."
The word came out as a broken whisper.
Unable to hold herself together any longer, she covered her mouth as sobs escaped her chest.
"Mother, even though you are not here anymore, your sister is showering me with so much love. It feels as though she is trying to make up for all the motherly love that was never mine... all the love that I never had the chance to receive."
A faint smile appeared on her tear-streaked face.
"Because of that, I’ve made a decision. I will treat this family as my true family."
The morning breeze gently brushed against her face, carrying the scent of flowers from a nearby balcony.
"They care about me so much, and for the first time in a very long while, I actually feel alive."
Her fingers tightened around her phone.
"I just hope that I can repay all the money as soon as possible. Then one day, I want to stand in front of them as a real family member and not as someone burdened by debt."
As she spoke those heartfelt words, she failed to notice that her phone was recording everything.
Someone was quietly listening to every promise she made.
Meanwhile, inside her room, Aurora leaned back in her chair while holding her phone.
A warm smile slowly appeared on her face. ’Hmm... what a good girl.’