Oh Mr General! - Chapter 231

“Little Leah…” When Sato took a look at the information on Leah, the young man’s heart trembled. Sato had a form of photographic memory which allowed him to remember faces and occasions easily. The particular girl in front of him rang his bell many times. The Sunflower Orphanage, where Sato used to visit. The young man, in the past, used to play around with her in the playground and tell her stories. He had helped the sisters in the orphanage to get her to sleep. He had fed her before too when she was a little baby.

“Big brother tell me what ‘orphan’ means?” Leah asked with a confused expression. “Everyone in family calls me an orphan. Mummy and daddy say they are not my real mummy and daddy.”

“I…” Sato felt pained when he heard what Leah was asking. It was true that she was an orphan and that the Macy family were not truly her real biological family. However, to spring such a topic on a seven-year-old, isn’t that just plain heartless? Seeing that Leah wasn’t particular distorted by the words of her adoptive family, Sato decided to come clean. “How about big brother tell you a story about an orphan? From there you will understand what it means.”

Sato recalled a book that was in the Sunflower Orphanage library. Going onto the Gateway tablet, he found and purchased the electronic book off the online bookstore. The name of the book was ‘Where is mummy and daddy?’ and told the story of a little tadpole that was lost from its parents. The little tadpole had no choice, but to explore the outside world by itself and along the way, it made friends with insects and it would always ask the question, ‘Where is mummy and daddy?’. The friends would follow along with the tadpole and eventually, the tadpole grew up into a little frog. The little frog was then able to explore different ponds and finally, it found its parents again after many years.

Although this book didn’t exactly paint the correct truth about being an orphan. However, it did explain the gist of things that the child did not have parents around them. Little Leah was more enlightened after hearing the story, “So my real mummy and daddy cannot find me?”

“Yes.” Sato nodded.

“How can I find my mummy and daddy?” Leah asked Sato with hope in her eyes.

“Well, you first have to grow up just like the little tadpole. Only when you are older, would you be able to find them, correct?” Sato smiled back. He c.a.r.e.s.sed the little girl’s head sweetly.

“Okay. I will grow up.”

“Leah, do you want to draw or watch television?”

“Watch television!”

“Okay, let me help you on the television.” Sato pressed the controller and switched to a kids channel for Leah. With that, Sato was free for the moment and went ahead to speak with Jessi who was busy typing something on her computer. “So what stage are we at now?”

“I am preparing to set up a court case with the Family Court now. They will be prosecuted properly over there. I will be needing photo-doc.u.mentation so as to appeal greatly to case. Could you get that ready for the court case, Mr Sato?” Jessi briefed Sato as to what he should do in the meantime. Within the next few days, a letter for court appearance would be sent to the Macy family. They would then be prosecuted in the Family Court and be charged for child abuse. Sato had two choices now. One, he could either hand Little Leah over to the child protection services and they would handle her accordingly. Two, Sato could take care of Leah and care for her needs. The second option was usually not available for normal family, but in the case of Sato, where his husband’s family connections ran deep, he had more choices than others.

Turning to look at the seven-year-old watching television, her engrossed expression felt extremely cute and adoring for Sato. In his heart, the second decision was more right for him as he did not want to leave it to chance again for the little girl. Who was to say that there would not be a second time for Leah and she would be subjected to child abuse once again? Moreover, it could be said to be fate that Sato had coincidentally bumped into this little girl again after four years. If that was how it was going to be, Sato was willing to raise her himself. Though, that would be subjective to the opinion of Leah. If Leah was willing to follow him and his ways of life, Sato would welcome her with open arms. If she wasn’t, then Sato would try his best to find for her a suitable family himself. The first option would never be considered.

“I will go with the second option, Ms Jessi. Thank you for your time today.” Sato thanked the private investigator.

“Noted. I will prepare the paperwork for that by tomorrow and will ask my assistant to send it to your house for you to sign. I will see you again another time, Mr Sato.” Sato sent her out of the house gratefully. The private investigator was truly good at her job. Everything went smoothly and there wasn’t much that Sato needed to do himself. Indeed, the list of names of people that Gray had sent over to him were not a joke. The loving husband had prepared different contact numbers for Sato to call if he were to ever encounter a problem in Country U. There were numbers for lawyers, private investigator, insect extermination services, a bodyguard company, a private chef, and many more. Speaking of his husband, Sato needed to call and give Gray a heads up of his decision in taking in Leah.