Inside the house, Ximena looked around. It wasn't a big room, and there weren't many things in it either. Nearly everything visible was a basic necessity of life. Ximena noticed an old worn desk with a rusty table lamp on it in the corner. The desk and table lamp would only be kept and used by someone who had lived very poorly.
She walked to the desk and slowly pulled the drawer open. Inside the drawer was an old tin biscuit box that was just as rusty and worn as the table lamp.
Ximena carefully removed the box from the drawer and opened it. The biscuit tin was filled with many receipts. "QF Orphanage, SY Shelter, XX Orphanage, XX Orphanage..." she mumbled as she sifted through all the receipts. All of the receipts were of donations that Freya had made to many different orphanages. It seemed that she had donated money every month for many years, so the tin box was full of them.
Ximena's heart filled with sorrow and pain while her eyes became moist. Although she didn't know the reason why her aunt donated money to orphanages regularly, she had never felt so grieved as she did now. She was hurting so much that it was suffocating her as if her whole body was being twisted.
She raised her head slightly and blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks and swallowed the lump in her throat. After heaving a heavy sigh, she composed herself before walking out of the decrepit house. Ximena strode directly towards her car with her eyes fixed in that direction. She completely ignored the flattering smile on the woman's face who had been waiting outside for her. She got into the car and accelerated hard, leaving a trail of dust behind her.
*
Meanwhile, at the International Airport of QY Island.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Flight QW7832 to A City, will close the boarding channel in twenty minutes,"
the pleasant voice of a ground service staff came through the broadcast. Dressed in humble clothes, Freya looked out of place amongst the crowd. She hung her head down low as she looked miserably at the first class ticket in her hand. The mixed emotions that she was feeling right now were too complicated to be described. Freya had a feeling of helplessness, hesitation, entanglement, bitterness, and unwillingness.
Ken stood in the periphery and watched Freya, who was standing in line waiting to board. His face was cold and expressionless, void of any emotions. If he had known that things would go the way they did from the beginning, then he would never have agreed to find a private detective for Ximena. Such a result was totally beyond their imagination.
"You don't need to worry about Miss Mo, she is by His Highness's side, and he will take good care of her," Ken said, offering some solace to her. "When you arrive at A City, you will be picked up by somebody at the airport and everything will be arranged for you. Don't refuse this offer. It's what Miss Mo wants to do for you, and His Highness is acting on her behalf."
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