Chapter 1 — The Girl Who Ran Through the Rain
Three hours earlier, before the little girl walked into the grocery store, the sky had already turned dark.
Her name was Lily.
She was eight years old, but if someone watched the way she held the baby, the way she observed every alley and every passing car, they might think she had lived far longer than her age.
The baby in her arms was not her real brother.
But to Lily, that did not matter.
He was the only person left beside her.
Lily had met the baby that morning inside an old rented room behind the bus station. Her mother, Nora, worked any job she could find to survive. Some days, she cleaned restaurants. Some days, she washed clothes for others. Some days, she stood for hours at the market carrying goods.
They had moved many times in the past few months.
Lily did not fully understand why.
She only knew that her mother always told her:
“If anyone asks about the baby, tell them he is your brother. If anyone tries to take him, hold him tight. If anything happens, run somewhere bright, somewhere with people.”
“But Mom, who is this baby?” Lily had once asked.
Nora had looked at her for a long time. There was something in her mother’s eyes that made Lily afraid to ask again.
In the end, Nora only said:
“A child needs to live. And I need you to help me protect him.”
Lily did not understand what “protect” meant until that day.
That afternoon, when the rain began to fall, two strangers came to the rented room. They knocked on the door loudly.
Nora picked up the baby, placed him in Lily’s arms, and slipped a folded piece of paper into the pocket of her hoodie.
“Listen to me carefully,” Nora said, her voice trembling but firm. “Take the baby and run out the back door. Go straight through the small alley. Don’t look back. Find a place with lights and kind adults.”
“You’re coming with me!” Lily cried.
Nora knelt in front of her daughter, holding both of Lily’s shoulders.
“Lily, you are the bravest little girl I have ever known.”
“I don’t want to be brave. I want you to come with me.”
The door outside was struck again, even harder.
The baby in Lily’s arms startled and began to cry.
Nora kissed her daughter’s forehead.
“Run.”
That was the last time Lily saw her mother before everything became chaos.
She held the baby and rushed out the back door, running through the narrow alley filled with rainwater. One of her shoes slipped off, but she did not dare turn back to pick it up.
The baby cried in her arms, while the paper her mother had put in her pocket slowly became wet.
Lily kept running until her legs ached and her throat burned from breathing too hard.
When the sky became completely dark, she hid under the awning of a closed shop and unfolded the piece of paper.
The ink had blurred almost completely.
Only a few words could still be read:
Alexander Reed…
And an address, with the most important part washed away by the rain.
Lily did not know who Alexander Reed was.
She only knew the baby was hungry.
He cried until his voice became hoarse. She shook the old bottle she had brought with her, but there were only a few drops left inside. She tried asking for warm water at a roadside shop, but when the owner saw her carrying a baby in dirty clothes, he waved his hand and chased her away.
“Go somewhere else. Don’t stand in front of my shop.”
Lily kept walking.
She went into a pharmacy, but before she could even speak, the people there looked at her with suspicion.
Then she stood for a long time in front of a grocery store at the end of the street.
There were lights inside.
There was milk on the shelf.
So much milk.
Lily looked down at the baby in her arms. His lips were dry, and his cries had become smaller. She did not know how long a baby could go without food. She only knew that if he did not drink anything soon, he would grow weaker.
So she walked in.
The bell above the door rang.
Caleb looked up. At first, he thought she was a lost child. But when he saw the baby in her arms and how soaked they both were, his expression changed.
“Who are you here with?” he asked.
Lily did not answer.
She went straight to the milk shelf and picked up the smallest carton she could find. Her hand shook so badly that she almost dropped it. Then she returned to the counter and placed the milk down.
“How much is it?”
Caleb told her the price.
Lily searched her pocket.
There was nothing.
All she had was the wet piece of paper and a broken button.
She looked up, her voice as small as the rain outside.
“Can I… can I pay later?”
Caleb frowned.
“Pay later?”
“I’ll pay when I grow up. I promise.”
He sighed.
Not because he was cruel.
But because in this small store, he had seen many people try to take things without paying. The store owner always told him to be strict. If anything was missing, the money would be taken from his salary.
“No,” he said. “If you don’t have money, you can’t take it.”
The baby cried louder.
Lily held him close, tears filling her eyes, but she forced them back.
“My baby brother is very hungry.”
“You should call your family.”
“I don’t have anyone here.”
Caleb was silent for a few seconds. He looked at the milk carton, then at the security camera in the corner of the ceiling.
“Then put the milk back.”
Lily did not move.
She knew she was not supposed to take something without paying. Her mother had taught her that.
But her mother had also taught her that babies needed to eat.
She picked up the carton and gripped it tightly.
“Please,” she said. “Just one carton. I’ll come back and pay.”
Caleb stepped out from behind the counter and blocked the door.
“You can’t leave with that milk.”
And at that exact moment, the glass door opened.
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The man in the dark blue suit walked in.
His name was Alexander Reed.
