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"Ana!" Grace screamed from the foyer when she saw me appear from the living room. I don't think I have ever seen her run so fast in the all the time I have begun to know her. I met her halfway and felt so much comfort and piece when her motherly arms wrapped around me. She smelled like honey and medicine and I couldn't help but to let out a small laugh, loving the familiarity of her presence. Just like Christian, she was my home. "Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick! We sent the police after you and they couldn't find anything! Ana, where were you? Don't you ever do that again!" I smiled at her and pulled her in for another hug.

"It's a long story."

She let out of heavy sigh. "Well you better get comfortable because you're going to tell me everything. Why didn't Carrick tell me you were home?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise, so I asked him not to say anything."

Her eyes grew in acknowledgement and amazement. "Ana, you're talking fluently. There are hardly any hesitations in your speech." She put her hand to her lips and covered a smile and a sob.

"While I was away I had a little help." I said in response. "Can we go to the library to talk?"

"Of course."

We walked up the stairs and went straight to the library and once we entered I told her to wait here. I hurriedly walked to my room and grabbed the black bad I hid in the back of my closet. I dragged it with me to the library and was worried if telling her the truth and showing her all of this was the right thing. I didn't want them to take the money from me. It was meant for me and there was so much I already wanted to do with it. But this wasn't something I could keep from them. When I told Christian everything that happened, he was angry, sad, and wished he was there to protect me. At first he hated my mom, but as I got to the end of the story, he practically praised her for saving my life. He didn't know what would have happened to me if the next step were to bury me six feet under the ground. It was his favorite thought and thinking about it only made him angrier and more thankful that my mother was there to protect me.

"What's in the bag?" Grace asked with a look of puzzle on her face.

"I'll show you after I tell you what happened to me."

"Okay, sweetheart." She took a seat on the small chair for two and patted the area next to her. I sat next to her and placed the heavy bag next to my feet. "Tell me, everything."

I took a deep breath and exhaled, starting from the beginning. "Christian and I were out one night." I didn't elaborate because I didn't know what he told them and I didn't want the conversation to stray over a topic like that. "Some of the details are fuzzy since it happened month ago, but he left to go do something…." It was a lie; I knew exactly what he went back for and knew exactly what we'd been doing. It was the best night of my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. "When he left, I was alone for a few minutes until my door was swung open. I was scared and had no idea what was going on, but when I saw her face, I was no longer scared but confused…" I looked up at Grace and saw her eyes wide in anticipation and worry, as if she were listening to a scary ghost story.

"Who was it?" She asked frantically.

"It was my mother." I heard her small gasp. "She told me that I needed to go with her, she may have threatened me with Christian safety, but I went with her willingly."

"That is absurd! We need to call the police!"

My heart started to beat fast and I began to panic. "Grace no. Wait. Let me finish."

She calmed herself than relaxed and gave me a nod. "I went willingly, I could have just called her bluff, but I didn't. Maybe I should have but I didn't. Anyways…." I sighed. "I got in the car with her and there was a guy there, his name was Jack and he was her boyfriend. I immediately didn't like him. We drove for hours…" I said, "We weren't in Seattle anymore. We stayed in an apartment and that's when they explained to me why they needed me." I paused, wondering if I should really do this, tell her every last detail.

"And?" She probed.

"It was about my dad." I sighed, not wanting to get into everything. "Long story short, my dad left me a bunch of money. He never put it in the bank and it was all cash. He hid it. They needed me to find it."

"But, why would they need you?" Grace demanded in a motherly overbearing tone.

"Because, he left the money for me. It was supposed to be mine." I looked at her. "They thought that he would have left some clue to the money with me." I let out a small smile. "And they were right."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

I pulled out my locket from my shirt and opened it.

"It's empty." Grace pointed out.

"It looks that way doesn't it?"

I peeled back the fabric and she let out a small gasp, her hand rising to her throat as she read the words out loud. "'My precious daughter, everything you could ever want lies within your childhood.'" Her face showed confusion. "What does it mean?"

"It took me a while to figure it out. It's the last four words that are important. I racked my….brain for a while trying…to figure out what they mean. At first I thought he was meaning my books. I always read, whether I was home or…at work with him. I searched every…book I had with me and there was nothing. When we went to the house, we looked everywhere and….that's when I decided to think deeper." I took another breath. "The money was hidden in the walls of my bedroom."

She gasped even louder. "You found the money?"

"Yes, and Jack decided to be selfish and he want the money for himself. He tried to kill me." I shuddered at the thought of Jack holding a knife to my throat. Grace was about to speak and before she could I continued. "But my mom attacked him…and told me to run. I did. I ran but I heard her scream and when I looked back he…was on top of her with his hands around her throat…I couldn't let him hurt her. So I went back and kicked him in the face so my mom could get away. We were almost out the door…when he grabbed….me by the leg and pulled me toward him….My tried to stop him but he ended up knocking her unconscious and it was just me and him. He choked me…said a few words and slowly started to take my life….I remember the darkness….the lack of oxygen…everything. And then…nothing." Grace had tears fill her eyes and her hand over her mouth. She wanted to speak, to yell, to do something. Her eyes showed desperation, anger, and sorrow. She didn't speak or she couldn't and I continued. "I woke up in my mother's arms. She was crying and cradling me, saying how she needed me to be alive…that I needed to wake up…I did and she was so happy, but something was haunting her. I looked around…and there he was, Jack, lying in a puddle of his own blood with a knife in his side."

"Oh, Ana…" Grace leaned in and held me.

"I'm okay, really." She let me go. "We called the police, we were taken down to the station, answered a few questions and that was that. My mom still there though."

"Are they going to arrest her?"

"I hope not." Her head tiled in confusion. She understood that my mom had left years ago and that I didn't care for her anymore but the truth is, she's my mother and I love her. I will always love her. And what she did for me told me just how much she loved me. I didn't want her arrested; I didn't want her in jail. I wanted her to be free and live life without having to please a man. She deserved that. "She saved my life. She might not have been perfect, but she loved me and that was enough."

"Ana, dear, you are so very mature for someone who has been through some unimaginable situations. I admire you."

I smiled at her, looking down and noticing I still had the bag. I grabbed it and slid it in front of me. "Open it." I told her.

She did. "Books?"

"Look under." I told her. She lifted the two layers of books I had placed over the money and gasped when she saw the good stuff.

"Ana…that's…."

"Five million dollars." I stated as a matter of fact.

She looked at me. "Ana, you are way too young to have all this money."

"I'm not that young. I'm seventeen and will be eighteen in a few months." I replied. "That's mine and you can't take it away from me." I had a goal to reach and that was going to get me there.

She smiled and placed a hand on mine. "I'm not going to take it from you. I'm going to place it in your bank account. Your savings account."

I shook my head in confusion. "But I don't have a bank account."

"You do actually. I created one for you just like I did for Mia, Christian, and Elliot when I adopted them. Of course I started them off younger because I got them at an earlier age than I did you."

I was shocked and stuck on the one word that made me tune out the rest of her words. "Adopted?" I said.

"Yes Ana. We had the papers filled out and filed the day before you went missing." She stood up from the couch and walked over to a desk area that was to the far right and hidden by a wall. "Which reminds me." She grabbed a few papers and walked back to me and took a seat. "This is your fathers will. It was made five years ago." I looked at her and thought….why would he have a will for me? After everything he did…but then I immediately thought it was a dumb question because it was five years ago. I guess he didn't think he needed to change it or didn't even think about it seeing as he was too young to die and thought it wouldn't happen so soon. "He left you the house, another building that was used for his business, his classic 1967 Chevelle, all items were passed down to him by his father. And also everything else that was included. There was also a note for you." I was speechless, my mind reeling. She handed me the note and I took it still frozen from what she said. He had left everything to me. Everything. I was in complete shock. I knew he loved me, before the abuse, he loved me so much. Could drugs screw up a person that bad? Is it even possible? I had a Doctor sitting right next to me.

"Grace?"

"Yes?"

"How bad can drugs mess up a person?"

She looked at me and knew why I was asking. "Drugs can do a lot of things and the people who use them repeatedly have a horrible outcome then the ones who don't. They cause people to change, to become dependent, and to turn into a person you can't even begin to recognize."

I nodded, hoping she doesn't get to scientific with me. Not my best subject. Thank goodness she didn't and when the silence consumed us my thoughts turned to our previous conversation, before the will. "You adopted me?"

"I did." She smiled.

I returned the smile and I couldn't help but to feel joy. I was adopted my someone who cared for me and made me feel like I was important. It was an amazing feeling and I don't think I could be any happier…That is until I thought about….

"Wait." I said. "You can't adopt me!" I almost yelled it.

Now she looked confused, and stunned. "Ana, what do you mean? I want to. You're a part of this family."

"I know and I'm so happy that you think so, but…." Oh, god, this was becoming a disaster already. How could I possibly tell her why I can't? What if she gets disgusted or she gets mad, or…or….worse, she gets rid of me and wished she never had let me in? No. She wouldn't. Grace was the sweetest, the most considerate, and she was understanding. More understanding then I could ever have imagined. I couldn't think ill of her now, not when she took me in and cared for me like I was her own.

"But what Ana?"

I didn't know what to say, or where to even start, but I guess any place was as good as any. "You can't adopt me, because…Christian…"

She scrunched her eyebrows together and pursed her lips in misperception. "What about, Christian?" she asked and then her face lit in understanding. At least I thought that's what it was until she said her next few words. "Ana if you think Christian will object then you're wrong. I know he likes you." She smiled reassuringly.

Oh, I know he likes me. "That's not what I mean." I replied.

"Than what do you mean?"

"I…I love him."

Her eyes grew. "You what?" It was a whisper, but I could tell she was shocked.

"I love him." I repeated. "And not like a brother. I love Elliot like a brother, but…I think I'm in love with Christian." It felt really good to get that off my chest. There was a lift that had been lift off my shoulders and I only hope that Christian would be upset with me after telling Grace about us.

"I really don't know what to say." She said.

"Please don't hate me." I said frantically. "Don't be mad."

"Oh, honey I could never hate you and I'm not mad either. Yu can't help who you're attracted to or the way you feel. Of, course, I wish it were under different circumstances, but it's not and I can't hold that against you."

"Than what are we going to do about it?" I asked. I really didn't know how any of this was going to work out.

"Ana, as you stated earlier, you're almost an adult and Christian already is one, I can't control what he does. The school year ends next month. He'll be out of the house and going to college. Of course you have one more year of school, but I suppose there isn't anything wrong with the two of you dating, besides you'll then be out on your own too."

"That makes sense."

"As for now though, I don't want the two of you dating, at least not when you live under the same roof. You two can still hang out, of course and do what teens do, but there will be no dating. I don't want to see displays of affection. Just act like friends in the presence of your mother and father." My mother? I smiled at her words. "Don't worry, it will only be for a month or two, after that Christian will be heading to Harvard." Harvard? That was so far away. "I would make you and Mia switch rooms but seeing how she'd throw a fit and that a month or two wasn't long, I see no point. Just be careful."

I nodded. "Thank you."

She smiled and kissed my cheek. "Now about this money…" I wasn't going to tell her that it was illegal money. I didn't want her to know that because it might be take away or whatever. I had an early start on my future and I felt like I deserved it. I also didn't mention to her that he wasn't my biological father. That was a story for another time.

"I know what I want to do with it." I said.

"And what just might that be?"

"Now that I own my dad's building, I want to turn…part of it into a library. The other part I want to turn into an auction house for classic and antique books. I already have a few myself…that are worth more than five thousand dollars combined."

"You do have a love for books. What better way to spend your life than by doing something or being around something you love. What about the house?" she asked.

"I'm going to sell it…there were good memories, but there were too many bad ones."

"And the car?"

"I…I don't know. I may keep it. I'm not big into classics, but…that car held good memories. Memories I do want to remember."

"Well it seems that you have your future already set in motion." She smiled. "Are you going to go to college?"

"I…no." I said.

"Why not?" She looked disappointed.

"I don't…think it's my thing."

"I won't push you, but you might want to look at least two years to get a business management degree."

"Yeah…" I sighed. "I'll see." The truth was I never really even thought about college. My dad didn't go…and before I found out what his real business was I thought he was the inspiration I could look up to. I guess I was wrong, but the idea of college never crossed my mind.

"Well, I think I'm going to make a run to the bank and get this all deposited. I might be a while since there is a lot of it. Where is everyone else?"

"Carrick took them out." I said. "I wanted it to just be me and you." I gave her a big hug. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you as well, Ana." Her arms circled around me and she tightened her grip, holding me close. I took in her scent and reveled in the idea of her being a permanent part of my life.

I was a Grey.

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