CHAPTER 1: The Little Girl Who Called Her Mommy
Three months earlier, Isabella had never imagined her wedding day would turn into a nightmare.
She met Adrian at a charity fundraiser for orphaned children on the outskirts of the city. At that time, she was not wearing a dazzling evening gown, nor did she have elaborate makeup on. She was simply wearing a pale blue dress, her hair tied low, holding a list of children who needed school support.
Isabella worked at a small children’s home called Starlight Home. The place was old, with peeling walls and a playground that had only a few faded metal swings. But to more than twenty children who no longer had families, it was home.
And among those children, Lily was the one most attached to Isabella.
Lily had been brought to the children’s home on a stormy night. For nearly the first two weeks, she refused to speak to anyone. Whenever a stranger walked in, she would hide behind the bookshelf, clutching an old teddy bear in her arms.
Only Isabella could get her to come out.
No one knew why. Maybe it was because Isabella never forced Lily to talk. She would simply sit beside her, read stories softly, place a warm glass of milk nearby, and then leave.
On the seventeenth night, Lily gently tugged at Isabella’s sleeve and asked:
“Will you leave me too?”
Isabella knelt down in front of her.
“No,” she said. “If you want me to, I’ll stay.”
From that day on, Lily called her “Mommy.”
At first, Isabella gently corrected her.
“Just call me Miss Isabella.”
But Lily shook her head, her large eyes filled with fear.
“I don’t have a mommy anymore. I just want to call you that. Is that okay?”
Isabella was silent for a long time.
Then she pulled the little girl into her arms.
“Okay.”
From then on, in Lily’s tiny world, Isabella was her mother.
Adrian entered Isabella’s life one afternoon in April.
He was the guest of honor at the fundraiser. The Harrington family owned the largest chain of hotels and shopping centers in the city. The media often described Adrian as cold, decisive, and difficult to approach.
But Isabella saw a different Adrian.
When the event ended and the wealthy guests were busy taking pictures and shaking hands, Adrian quietly stood in a corner of the yard, watching Lily trying to fix a toy car with a broken wheel.
He walked over, crouched down in front of her, and asked:
“Do you need an engineer?”
Lily looked at him cautiously.
“Do you know how to fix it?”
Adrian removed a cufflink from his sleeve, used it to temporarily hold the wheel in place, then pushed the toy car back toward her.
“Not perfect,” he said, “but it can run.”
Lily watched the car roll a few rounds across the tiles, then smiled.
It was the first time Isabella had ever seen Lily smile at a stranger.
After that day, Adrian began visiting Starlight Home more often. At first, it was because of the sponsorship projects. Later, he stayed longer after every meeting. He helped repair the library, replaced the lights, bought more books, and hired doctors to check on the children’s health.
Isabella once asked him:
“Are you doing this for your company’s image?”
Adrian looked at her.
“If it were for image, I would have brought reporters.”
That answer left Isabella silent.
Gradually, she realized that behind Adrian’s cold exterior was a man who had grown up lonely. His father had died early. His mother, Grace, raised him with discipline and expectations. Since childhood, Adrian had never been allowed to be weak, to cry, or to do anything that might embarrass the family.
Perhaps that was why, when he looked at the children in the home, he saw a piece of his own childhood.
The love between Adrian and Isabella came slowly.
There was no dramatic confession. No room filled with roses. Only quiet afternoons standing under the porch, watching the children play. Only the nights Adrian drove Isabella home late and waited silently until the light in her room turned on. Only the way his eyes softened whenever Isabella smiled.
One day, after Lily had a high fever and Isabella stayed awake all night taking care of her, Adrian came to the children’s home at dawn. He found Isabella asleep on a small chair beside Lily’s bed, her hand still resting on the little girl’s forehead.
He stood at the door for a long time.
When Isabella woke up, she saw Adrian placing a hot cup of coffee on the table.
“You take care of her like she’s your own daughter,” he said.
Isabella looked at Lily, who was still asleep.
“Because to her, I’m the only family she has.”
Adrian was silent for a moment before asking:
“And to you?”
Isabella turned to him.
“What?”
“What is she to you?”
Isabella smiled sadly.
“She is the reason I cannot live selfishly.”
That was the moment Adrian knew he loved her.
Two months later, Adrian proposed to Isabella.
Not in a luxurious restaurant. Not in front of the media. He proposed in the yard of Starlight Home, beneath a purple queen’s crape myrtle tree, while the children cheered around them.
Lily was the one who carried the ring box over.
“Mommy, Uncle Adrian says you have to open this!”
Isabella looked at the ring, then at Adrian.
He knelt in front of her.
“I won’t promise that life will be easy,” he said. “But I promise I will never let you stand alone again.”
Isabella cried.
And she said yes.
In that moment, she thought happiness had finally found her.
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But she had forgotten one thing.
Not everyone was happy to see her step into the Harrington family.
