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Chapter 40:THE CRAWFORDS

"Belle," Elisa said, addressing me to the name she took from the dictionary. It is a French feminine given name meaning beautiful or very attractive woman. She said after giving me that name, and I just rolled my eyes heavenward for the outlandish attempt to convince me I was blessed with genes to die for.

But unlike before when she called me Belle for the first time, she wasn\'t amused now. Instead, she scrunched her forehead in fear as she explained to me who the Crawfords are.

"They are the most powerful family here in Cordova, almost as powerful and influential as the royal family. That makes them too dangerous." She warned, her voice quivered by the mention of the Crawfords.

For a brief moment, as the fleeting memory of the warning faded by the sound of the bus screeching to a sudden stop, I felt the sudden urge to turn back.

Passengers rushed to the open door of the bus, it took me a moment to find the courage to get up and follow.

When I was out of the public transportation, the hustle and bustle of the city greeted me. Vehicles both private and public crowded the highway. People from all walks of life rushed past me as I stood there watching with surprising amusement at the busy surroundings under the hot blazing sun that turned my cheeks into a bright pink.

The city was so different from life at the seaside. It was more active and full of life. Yet, despite the glamour the city could offer, my heart still belongs to the ocean.

"How may I help you, Miss?" A good-natured man in his thirties called out, taking my full attention.

I was thankful for the destruction. It gave me a chance to ask the way to my destination.

"Good afternoon Sir!" I cheerfully greeted, "Could you please tell me the way to Crawford\'s Mansion?"? I stared at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

"For a pregnant woman like you, it would be a tedious journey. You see, it will take another one-hour journey from here to reach their Mansion."

My shoulders fell. I don\'t know that it was too far. I hadn\'t had the chance to ask Elisa since she will discover what I\'m up to.? I just told her that I will buy groceries and go to the park for a walk.

It\'s game over. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Thanked the man and slowly walked away. The best thing to do was to go home.

"Miss?"

I stopped walking. It was the man again. I lift my sad eyes to him.

"Would you care a ride? I will take you there, I live near their Mansion."

My eyes widened in surprise. My sunken spirit rose. All hopes I\'ve lost returned. I could do this! I cheered myself and followed him.

___

"The Patriarch of the Crawford\'s was a hardened man in his mid-forties." The man began when the old truck was peacefully traveling on the highway.

I learned that he was a farmer, happily married, and has two beautiful daughters. He was there in the city to buy some farming tools when he spotted me, standing there on the street, looking as if I didn\'t belong there.

"Oh but why? It\'s unbelievable he was that cruel when he fathered eight children from eight different women at the young age of twenty!" I exclaimed, unable to contain my surprise as he told me the whole Crawford history.

"You see, Adele was his first love. They are about to get married when she eloped with another man while she was carrying his daughter. Being jilted was so painful that it carved a scar deep through his heart. He carried the pain up to now. He was longing to have his lost daughter back."

The man smiled but it didn\'t make his eyes twinkle which gave me the impression it was forced and he was sympathetic to the Crawford patriarch.

"I couldn\'t imagine my wife running away with another man and bringing my children with her to be raised by another man. It\'s so painful. I would die of loneliness if it happens." He added and I finally grasp why he was so understanding. He had what the other man had lost and it was something which money could never buy.

"Are you sure you aren\'t related to the Crawfords?"

His tone suddenly turned accusing and I almost fell off my seat.