Hearts Disguised

Chapter 11

What is Your Answer?

Note: Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying the story. I hope you all had a great summer. As for me, summer was alright. With everything coming back to normal, I'll be able to focus more on my writing. So I hope you enjoy this update and more to come.

"Why hello there, Yang. You know who am I, yes?" Yang was too scared to answer. She just backed away slowly. "Oh, there's no need to be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. I've actually taken an interest in you and I've been searching for you for a long time." All Yang could do was take a big gulp.

"H-How do you know me?"

"You don't recognize me?" She shook her head nervously. "We met back at that horrible orphanage. I'm just glad I got to see you away from there." She examined Yang's face and noticed that she was starting to slip away. "Anyway, I've come to get you."

"Get me? W-What are you saying?"

"I've come to offer you a home." At that moment, Yang's face lit up. "How does that sound?" Yang was simply speechless. She didn't know what to say. At that moment, the woman took some another step towards her and knelt down in front of her. "My name is Cinder. I know I may not seem like the guardian type, but I can promise that I can give you what you want most: A place to call your home." Out of nowhere, tears fell from Yang's eyes and she jumped into Cinder's body. She bawled without restraint and Cinder wrapped her arms around her to try and calm her down. "It's alright. Just let it out." Her crying continued for quite some time until everything slowly calmed down.

"So… Can I come home with you," she asked as she pulled away to look her in the eyes.

"Of course you can." The two of them stood up as Cinder wrapped her arm around Yang's shoulder. "You two, grab her stuff." Without saying anything, they followed her command as they headed towards the car. They got in and they quickly drove off.

In the car, Yang felt like it was Christmas. The car drove through town as if she was some kind of celebrity. It's definitely been a while since she's been in a car so this feeling was kind of new to her. There were no stops at all. The car kept on going until it finally reached its destination. Yang poked her head out of the window and saw a huge house surrounded by those typical walls that every rich person had around their house. The car pulled up to the front door and one of her guards opened up the door. Everything looked so big that Yang couldn't even speak.

"Well, don't be shy, go on in." Yang turned around and saw her approval. Without wasting any time, she ran towards the door and pushed on through to a huge entrance hall. There was a giant chandelier hanging on the ceiling and there was so much room to walk around. Yang skipped around the main entrance, taking in everything as it came to her.

"This is incredible." Cinder smiled.

"I had a feeling you would like it. Come on, I'll give you a tour of the place." Out of nowhere, Cinder grabbed Yang's hand and guided her through the house. Surprisingly, her hands was very warm, almost to the point of comforting. She did a good job of making Yang forget about how she killed one of her guards so easily in front of her.

The door started out strong and continued that way for the entire time. There were so many rooms and Cinder told her that nothing was off-limits to her which was a little surprising since some of the rooms looked pretty important, but Yang didn't argue. She was in no position to anyway. After a while, they arrived at Cinder's room, but she didn't go inside. She told Yang that this was one place where she was not allowed inside. Yang totally understood since it was her room. More rooms were shown to her and yang started to get the feeling that she would get lost in this place. She needed a map to this labyrinth.

As they finished up the tour, there was one last place and it was another bedroom. They didn't go inside which was kind of odd. However, Cinder stressed that this was another room that she wasn't allowed in. Yang didn't question, but wanted to with all of her heart. This woman was being so nice to her and yet, there were some restrictions. It just didn't seem to match up.

"Excuse me, Ms. Fall." She turned around to see one of her butlers waiting for her. "Your tea is ready."

"Thank you. Yang, would you like anything to drink?"

"Um, can I have some hot chocolate?" Cinder laughed softly to herself.

"There's no need to shy about it. Could you whip her up some hot chocolate?"

"Of course madam." He bowed and left their presence. Yang was in awe yet again. She knew about how rich people lived, but seeing it in real life was just something else. Her butlers was so proper and she treated him so generously. The longer she spent time in this house, the more she was starting to like it.

The two of them headed back downstairs and into the dining room where there were two cups sitting all alone. One of them was Cinder's tea and the other was Yang's hot chocolate. They sat down next to each other and sipped their drinks.

"Oh my gosh! This is incredible!"

"Is it? I'm glad you like it." Yang wasted no time in drinking her drink Cinder took another sip and turned her chair to face Yang. "Okay Yang, it's time to get serious."

"Huh?" She turned her head to see Cinder looking right at her.

"I'm willing to take you in, but I have one condition." She paused for a second. "I can't be your mother and you can't be my daughter." Yang was confused. "My job prevents me from fulfilling that family role, but I can promise to protect you. By you living with me, my guards are your guards. They'll sacrifice everything for you. That is a promise. You won't need to be sad anymore. You can start your life all over again." This was exactly what yang wanted to hear. Tears immediately filled her eyes as she leapt into Cinder's arms. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. Thank you! Thank you so much!" Cinder returned the hug as the two of them remained in that position for quite some time. For Yang, it felt like it's been so long since she's felt this sense of safety and security. However, this woman was proving to be the perfect image of it so she couldn't argue with it. After a few minutes together, Yang finally broke their hug and resumed looking at Cinder.

"May I make a request?"

"Sure, go right ahead."

"I don't want to go back to school. Is it alright if I don't?" Cinder couldn't help but smile at this little request.

"Of course you don't have to. School is optional and if you don't feel the desire to go back, I'm not going to force you. However, if that's how you want things to be, I'm not going to let you lazily spend your time around this house. You'll have to do some chores."

"Of course. Anything, but school."

"Perfect. During the weeks, I'm mostly gone during the day so I'll leave a note for you." She stood up from her chair. "Let's show you to your room." she guided Yang to a room not too far away. When she walked inside, she saw that the room was already prepared for her. The bed and everything were perfect. She ran to the closet and saw that her clothes were hung up and everything. She then jumped on the bed and immediately melted into its softness. It's been so long since she's slept on a bed. "How is it?"

"I love it."

"Good. All I ask is that you obey the rules I've laid out for you. You do that, and you'll absolutely love it here. I can guarantee it." Yang smiled. On the inside, there was a sense of recollection in her heart. It felt almost as if she was in the presence of her parent's. This feeling was sweet, comfortable, and everything else relating to a family. Obviously, there wasn't much of a family going on here, but Yang thought that this could be the start of something.

End of Chapter 11