CH 2

"Come. Come. I have made all your favorites. You must be Hungry. "

With each word they got closer to the pair of eyes.

The dark green wooden door opened with a creak. Out came a small boy in a wheelchair. His blonde hair shined in the sun and his clear blue eyes reflected the image of the young woman in front of him.

With a frown, Sofia looked from the young boy to her mother. Confusion could be clearly seen in her blue eyes.

"Mother? What is happening?"

Looking back at her younger brother, Sofia's eyes filled with tears. "Sammy? What happened?"

A pregnant pause took over the small courtyard. No said anything.

At that moment, the sound of hurrying footsteps could be heard getting louder. James McAne, Sofia's father and Rose's husband, entered the house.

"Rose. It is time to pay him back."

A panic took over the whole family except for the confused Sofia. As the sentence entered her ear, she felt a sense of foreboding.

"Pay who back?" asked Sofia.

James realized what he had just done. His daughter had no idea what had happened at home for the past two years. How Sam had been in an accident and needed money for his expensive treatment, or how he still needed money for his rehabilitation.

The family had tried their hardest to keep this incident a secret from Sofia. She had finally got the freedom to go to France for her studies, and with her own money and hard work.

"It isn't that we did not want to tell you... but we did not want to worry you." said Rose in a soft voice.

"Worry me? Isn't this worrying enough? why didn't you ask me for the money? I had some saved up while working."

"We had to borrow money." answered James, "We know how important ur study is to you. That was the first thing you have ever asked of us."

His voice got softer "How could we take that away from you?"

"I... I... I"

Having no come back for that, Sofia finally asked the hard question.

"How much do we owe?"