Stolen Heart

Chapter 1

"Your life will anew," Mrs Denver said as we watched a black BMW pull to a halt in front of the gate.

I still can't believe the fact that someone out there is willing to adopt me- I'd been told children who don't get adopted by the age of ten risk not getting adopted at all but here I am, about to be shipped off to someplace.

Fifteen years in the orphanage has made me quite used to the life there and even though we're given our freedom at eighteen, Fefe and I planned to still stay at the orphanage; probably apply to work as one of the staff.

I'll miss everyone; the laughs, the cries, shouts and even curfew. I don't know what my future holds now, everything became confusing the moment I was informed that I was going to be adopted.

Every plan I had with Fefe is in a zone of limbo. I couldn't say no because there's some other poor kid who needs to take my space in the orphanage. Some other kid who has nowhere to go, It'd be selfish of me to say no.

I promised to visit every weekend because the memories I have here are too precious to let go of.

Here I am, standing on the exact spot I was dropped off by a woman with blonde hair. I'd begged Mrs Denver to show me the CCTV footage of the day I was dropped off.

The skinny looking woman had a veil that covered half of her face, it was hard to tell what she looks like. The woman tucked barely five months old me well before walking away without looking back. I'm grateful to Mrs Denver for taking care of me for fifteen years, I hope I love the world out there.

A man came out of the BMW coming towards us.

'' Afternoon Mr West'' Mrs Denver acknowledged him.

''Afternoon Mrs Denver'' He said while they shake hands.

'Your life will begin anew' was what Mrs Denver said and now I know what she meant. Mrs Denver watched as we leave in the BMW.

********************

The car swerved to a halt in a massive compound after a long ride.

I alighted from the BMW watching the environment in awe of its beauty, fifteen years in the orphanage, there is really nothing much to see. As far as I know, Mrs Denver told me that Mr West owns a real estate company. He sells mansions, lands, commercial buildings, residential buildings, industrial buildings and resorts- he is divorced and he has a daughter.

' Let us go inside ' Mr West beckoned

The driver helped me with the items of luggage while we walked inside

'Sandy?' he called out

A lady whom I instantly assumed to be the housekeeper emerged from a room.

"Welcome Mr West," she said

'Where is Lucy? 'He asked

'She left with Emily to a birthday party an hour ago ' she said

'Ok, Please show Sophie to her room and help her with her items of Luggage ' he said.

'Follow me ' she ushered

We left the living room and went upstairs.

'Here is your room next to Ms Lucy's room' she said with courtesy

I simply replied with a nod before pushing the door open. OMG!!!

My room is nothing like that in the orphanage. The bed is a king's size and furnishings befitting for a princess.

I instantly room love everything about the room plus I have never seen a room as big as this before. I arranged my clothes in the wardrobe, took my bath and relaxed on my bed still admiring it. I hear a knock on my door and stood up to open it.

'Mr West calls for you downstairs' she said

'I'll be there in a minute ' I replied

She left and I head downstairs.

I saw Mr sitting down on a sofa in the living room.

'Do you like your room?' He asked

'yes, I do'

He brings out a package and opens it.

An iPhone stared right out the packed box.

'I figured the first thing you'll need is a smartphone. If you have any problem I've saved mine, Lucy and Sandy's contact on it so you can call any of us. Sandy will also put you through on how to operate it" he said

'thank you sir' I thanked him.

I've never had a phone in my entire life. Children at the orphanage were only allowed to operate a very old desktop three days a week.

'You can call me dad "

I hesitated. Calling him dad sounded too soon.

'I need to be somewhere, remember, if you need anything you can call Sandy, she will help you" he said for the umpteenth time.

'ok'

I wanted to wave at him but he hugged me instead and left.

*********

I played some games, got tired and stepped out of my room.

I decided to take a stroll around the compound and informed Sandy in case Mr West asks as regards my whereabouts.

I saw the swimming pool, the orphanage has one and heaven knows I was always afraid of getting inside the water.

Truthfully, I was afraid of getting drowned.

I strolled past the wide and naively scented garden and was making my way to the park by the gate when I heard a strange noise coming from the trash can.

I moved closer to see what is making the noise and saw a guy. From where I stood, he's 5.9 feet tall in height , muscular looking which means he's either a gym rat or sporty in nature. He has dark brown hair spiralling down the length of his cheeks and face like that of Adonis.

I didn't get the chance to fully access him before he abruptly turned to face me with a cold stare.

'Whatcha looking at?' he said furiously

'sorry, I was just .........'

'save it ' he said and left angrily

Quite rude, I mean I didn't do anything wrong. My feet got tired and I went back inside.

Getting inside, I see two girls chit-chatting, laughing, one has blonde hair and the other has brown hair.

Mr West is watching the news on the plasma. When did he get back? And how come I didn't see him drive in? Could there be another entry I don't know of?

He notice my presence and called out immediately.

'Lucy!' he arrested the attention of one of the girls.

'let me introduce you to someone important ' he said

The girl with the blonde hair came closer

'what is that dad?' she said

'Emily, you should head home' he said to the girl with the brown hair.

I guess the girl with the blonde hair is the daughter of Mr West, Lucy and the girl with the brown hair is her best friend, Emily.

Mr West already gave me the brief.

'yes, I will be on my way, bye Lucy"

The girls hug each other before Emily's exit.

'so dad what were you saying?' she asked

'I want you to meet.......'

Sandy came to the living room

'dinner's ready ' she announced

'let talk about it while we eat dinner

She finally noticed my presence

'huh, dad, who is she?' she asked

'Dinner?' he looked at the both of us

'ok' I said

We got to the dining table and started eating.

'Lucy, I'd like you to meet someone, your sister"

Lucy choked on her food, she drank water

'what? what do you mean?'

'I got her adopted today so I hope the both of you get along' he said while he take a bite out of his chicken sauce

'my sister?' she said confused

She stood up and left the dining table angrily, Mr West followed her.

I followed them but i didn't go inside Lucy's room. Call it bad etiquette but I couldn't help eavesdropping on their conversation.

'dad, what do you mean by my sister?, am I not enough for you, you didn't inform me that you wanted to adopt her before you adopted her?' she said angrily

'I am sorry, I wanted you to be surprised, I already adopted her so you have to accept her and stop being a drama queen, ok?'

'dad?'

'no, let's end this discussion here' he said

I went back to the dining table to continue my food, Mr West came out with a little frown.

'Sophie, you need to go bed early, you are going to start school tomorrow' he said

I took off from the dining.

'good night sweetie'

He pecked me on my head

'night Mr West"

I went to my room, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and went to bed.

I think Lucy doesn't like me, maybe it will take a little while for her to adjust.

I will just give her time and on that note, I sleep off.

CHAPTER 2

I woke up at six the morning, brushed my teeth, took my bath and wore one of the gowns I brought from the orphanage.

I hear a knock on my door and stood up to open it.

"Good morning Ms Sophie"

"Good morning"

"Mr West told me to give you dress, you should wear it to school this morning, breakfast is ready"

'I'll be there in a minute"

I closed the door and opened the bag.

A tank top, trouser and a backpack, wore the top and trousers, surprised it is exactly my size.

I carry my backpack and head to the living room.

I hear noises

coming from the direction of the living room sounded like Mr West and Lucy.

"It wasn't fair enough you brought her into our home without informing me, now she is going to my school, huh, no dad, she is not going to the same school as me, I won't allow that"

she said angrily

"What is your problem? why are you having a problem with Sophie? you don't even know her yet, once you get to know her, I assure you that she will clear your doubt about her"

"Why did you adopt a girl that is not even your blood? it's not like you don't have a daughter that is related to you"

"I don't ever want to hear that statement again"

Mr West yelled

"Dad, I don't ..............."

"no-no, I know where this conversation is going, let's eat breakfast before you get late for school"

They head to the dining room.

I followed.

"Good morning Mr West"

"Good morning Sophie, I see the dress fit you perfectly, you are using the same size as Lucy"

"Thank you for the dress, Mr West"

"you are welcome"

"I have lost my appetite, I will be in the car"

Lucy stand and leave the dining room

"Just give her time"

"Ok"

We finished eating breakfast and walked to the car

"oh, I forgot something, wait in the car, I will be right back"

Mr West left.

I entered the car, saw Lucy in the car staring at her phone, she look at me with a disgusting look.

"Hey, listen to me, we don't know each other at school, don't look at me or mention my name, am I clear?"

Lucy said in a harsh tone

I nodded positively, Mr West opened the door next to the driver's seat and sat down, we left.

**********************

The driver drove into a big building.

Lucy came down and left immediately without saying goodbye.

Hilltop high school is seen at the top of the building.

Hilltop is very different from the school at the orphanage. The students here look rich even though they are in uniform.

The girls are in a blue short skirt, a white shirt with a blue tie, the boys are in blue long trousers, a white shirt with a blue tie.

You will always tell the difference between high-class students and low-class students, most of the students here come with their private car and driver.

Mr West tap me from behind

"let's go to the principal office"

We left for the principal's office. we enter the principal's office and took our seat

"Good morning Mr Chad"

"good morning Mr West, nice to meet after a long while"

"Nice to meet you too"

"what's brings you here this morning?"

"I want to enrol my daughter in your school"

"Your daughter is already here"

Mr Chad said confused.

"No, I mean my other daughter"

"oh, I never knew you had another daughter"

"I want her enrolled"

"ok, I'll get her enrolled immediately"

"I will get going now, goodbye Mr Chad, goodbye Sophie"

Mr West left.

The Principal enter a room, he came out with the uniform I saw on the students.

"you will go to the girl's room, see maybe it fit"

"Ms ice, come to the principal's office right away"

The principal said through the intercom.

A black girl came inside.

"yes, Mr Chad"

She said politely

"I want you to take Miss West around the school, show her where she needs to know and show her where to change her clothes"

"ok sir, follow me"

We left the principal's office

"My name is Danielle, you can call me Elle for short, I hope we get along"

She said as we shake hands.

She showed me the way to the restroom, I changed my clothes into the uniform given to me luckily it's fits.

"Wow, you look nice"

"Thank you"

"Let's start the tour"

"Ok"

We started the tour.

"This is the basketball court, the bulldogs play here.In hilltop, the cheerleaders don't practice here, they have their court, I will show you when we get there"

she said as we left the court.

"in here, you just have to be yourself and if you don't want to, they will make you, we are heading to the science lab"

We enter into the science lab.

"This is where they mix chemicals for practical"

She looks at her watch.

"It looks like it's going to take a while to show you around, we are going to miss the first-class and second class, let's continue"

We left the science lab and continued the tour.

I bumped into a person and fell.

"Watch where you are going lady"

My face was on the ground so I couldn't identify the person but the voice sounds like a guy.

"I'm sorry, I......"

I said as I stood up and looked at him, he looked familiar.

"Save it"

he said and left

I remember, he is the guy from the garbage can, I didn't see his face clearly that day.

Elle tapped me from behind, the bell for class rang.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yes,I'm fine"

"Would it hurt for him to say sorry? let's go before we miss third period"

"Who is he?"

I asked curiously

"He is Jordan he is the captain of the bulldogs. His parent are wealthy, his mom died in a plane crash four years ago, his dad remarried a year later, he was not happy with his father for getting married again. Since then he had been like that, he hardly smiles or talk, let's continue"

She said and grabbed me.

We continued the tour.

"We are heading to the media room. Hilltop is bigger than you can ever imagine. I'm celebrating my sixteenth birthday, I invited a lot of people and since you are new, you will make friends there, it's going to be lit . After we are done with the tour you will give me your contact, your IG and your Instachat name so we are can follow each other'.

Elle uttered.

" I'm not an extrovert kind of person ,I don't like parties , what is IG and instachat ?"

"Are you joking?, cause if you are, it's funny"

She stopped walking and looked at me

"I'm serious"

"You mean you are not on instagram and instachat ?"

"Yes"

'Ok, I will help you with that at lunch time, you must come to my birthday party, it's tomorrow night'

"Ok"

"Let's continue"

We went to the media room, swimming pool , cheerleader's court and the cafeteria , Hilltop is bigger than I imagined .

Before we could finish the tour, the fourth period had passed and it was lunch time so we went to the cafeteria, we collected the tray of food from a lady Elle called the lunch lady, looked for an empty table and sat down.

"Give me your phone, let me teach you how to open instagram and instachat, oh, I forgot to ask, what is your name?'

"Sophie"

"Wow, cute name"

I gave my phone to her, she opened instagram account and instachat account , she taught me how to follow people, upload photo or video.

We followed each other, saved her contact on my phone, she took a photo of me and used it as my profile picture.

She showed me how to download songs, movies, and how to search and watch on Youtube.

"I'm the first person to be your friend in hilltop, if am not wrong, so feel free to tell me anything"

"Ok"

"I'm going to introduce some people to you in-case they come to you"

"Ok"

"You see over there ,she is the Captain of the cheerleaders, her name is Lucy West, she's a bully, she makes people who gets in her way pay. Mr Chad called you Miss West earlier, if she finds out about you, she's going to be mad cause she is the only girl called West"

Lucy told me not tell anybody am her new sister, I will just give her time to adjust with me ,am just going to act like I don't know her, stay out her way until she accepts me"

"You see those puppets following Lucy wherever she goes are called Lucy's minions. The girl that is sitting right side of Lucy, her name is Chloe, while the girl on the left side name is Emily"

Every one's attention went straight to the entrance of the cafeteria ,three guys came in ,the guy I bumped into the other time was at the middle.

"Oh my gosh, they are so hot"

The girls sitting at our back said

'Those guys coming in are the bulldogs, the guy in the middle, we met him the other time, he is the captain. the guy at his right side, his name is James, quarter-back one and my boyfriend, the guy at the left side ,his name is Ethan ,he is quarter – back two, the quarter-backs are twins ,those are the people you can know for now. What do you think about the food?'

"It's nice"

"You barely said a long sentence since we started the tour, we will get to know each other more so I can bring out that spirit"

I smiled

"Oh my, you look cute even when you smile, I made you smile, this is just the beginning"

We finished lunch, I went to the same class she went, she told me the teachers name.

Elle is more of a talkative but she is more lively than Fefe, I miss her , I wish she can also get adopted so that she can see what the outside world looks like.

Classes ended, Elle went home. Mr West called me and told me he sent a car to pick Lucy and I.

The car arrived, Lucy was nowhere to be found, I called dad and told him-he called me few minutes later and told me she left with her friends so I entered the car.

Elle keep texting me through instachat on my way home about which kind of dress will I wear to her birthday party.

*******************

I got home, Mr West was not around neither was Lucy.

I took a shower and wore loose pant and crop top, I went to the kitchen to take some snacks and a drink, Sandy was busy, I didn't want to disturb her, went to my room.

I was still chatting Elle.

CHATS

Which dress have you concluded on ?

I don't know yet.

Ok, after school tomorrow we are going for

Shopping

I will ask permission maybe he will let

me go

Ok, go ahead but i want to see

your reply by eight pm

Ok

She logged out , I went to the main page of instagram , I needed more followers, I scrolled through some people and added few, I did that for two hours and I got tired, went to the garden and sat there for a while and played games for some minutes.

Mr West car arrived.

I approached him.

"How is my sweetheart doing?"

He said as we make our way inside.

"Fine"

"How was your first day at school?"

"It was fine"

"How was business today?"

"Great, you look happy"

"Yes, I'm happy"

"What is the cause of your happiness"

"I'm happy to have such a wonderful forster father"

"I'm also happy to have you, is your Lucy inside?"

"No"

"Ok"

We sat down on the sofa

"I want to ask you something during dinner"

"What is that?, did something happened at school today?"

"No"

"Ok, I need to go and change"

He was about to leave Lucy came in

"Dad, you're home early, sorry I'm late Chloe and I had to do something"

She said as she hugged Mr West

"Ok, won't you say hello to your sister?"

She looked at me

"Hello"

She said in a sarcastic tone

"Hi"

"Dad, I want to ask you something during dinner"

"Did something happen at school today?"

"No! I just need something"

Sandy comes in.

'Dinner's ready'

She left.

"I will change my clothes and be down in a jiffy"

Mr West said and left.

Lucy left.

I went to the dining room and sat down, waiting for them, after few minutes they came out and sat down.

Sandy and the other housekeepers brought the food and we started eating.

"Let me start with Sophie, what do you want to ask me?"

"I made a new friend today, her birthday is tomorrow night, we are going to buy some dresses tomorrow so I need your permission"

"Are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes, since I'm new, I will get to know more people there"

"Ok, you have my permission, but be careful"

"Ok, thank you"

"Ok, Lucy, do you want ask'

"I want my private driver"

"Could you be more specific?"

"I don't want to come home with anyone"

"you are saying you don't want to come home with Sophie, I'm sorry, I can't grant that request and am done with this conversation"

Mr West stood up.

"But dad.........."

"Lucy!"

Mr West said angrily and left.

Lucy looked at me with rage.

"Hey, do you think you can come here and snatch my dad away from me, I'm sorry ,you are mistaken , am not going to let that happen"

She left

I ate and went to my room.

I took a shower, brushed my teeth, I told Elle what Mr West said, I didn't see her reply. I slept off