The summer in Haicheng was long and hot. The room without an air condition felt like a steamer. Anna used the hand fan for a while, but it was too hot to bear. She opened the door and went outside. When she came to the corner of the living room, she heard some noise.

"Mom, I don't want to go to school! Don't force me! "

"You're already sixteen years old. Why don't you want to go to school? Can you earn your meal with these video games?"

"I'm not just playing games. It is my dream to become a professional e-sports player! School is not a place for me! "

Anna heard the noises. She already knew that his brother must be quarreling with his mother about not going to school. She was about to turn around when she heard her brother saying, "Our family is so poor, sister will go to university this year. Our financial condition cannot afford to pay fees for both of us."

"What university? Your sister will not go to university. She will be married soon. Your father has decided this for her. After her marriage, our family can enjoy happiness."

"What? You are planning for her wedding? Does sister know this?" Aiden asked.

Anna was stunned. She thought she had misheard it. She was only 18 years old. But it was written 20 on her ID Card. It was because of the family planning regulations that after having the first child as a girl the second child can only be born after four years. Therefore, on her ID card, they reported her two years older than her actual age.

And now they want her to get married?

"She is a girl. Sooner or later, she has to get married. We don’t think that there is any need to highly educate her. We are happy, they agreed to come up with two apartments for this marriage."

Two apartments? Anna's hand tightly clenched into a fist. In her mother's eyes, she worth not more than two apartments. From childhood, her parents always favored her younger brother. She always thought that it was just a misunderstanding. After all, her brother was younger, and a child naturally needs more attention. But now, after hearing this conversation, her heart became full of anger.

Just because she was a girl, she didn’t hold the right to educate herself? She was better than her brother, but her mother was really biased.

Anna found it idle to wait and do nothing. Her mother wouldn’t give her money for admission to the university. So she decided to borrow it!

…

Anna was standing at the door of Claire Ashley's house. She didn’t control her tears when she thought about the conversation she just had with her mom.

Claire opened the door and saw Anna’s face, "Anna, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Anna quickly wiped her tears and went in.

Claire’s mother saw Anna, she smiled at her, "Oh, Anna is here. Come, Anna, sit with me."

Anna was not comfortable. Whenever she came to Claire’s house, her mother always greeted her warmly, but this time, she was here to borrow money.

Anna sat down and after a moment said, "Auntie, I… Can I borrow some money from you? "

Claire’s mother was surprised, "What happened, is there any difficulty?"

Anna pinched the corners of her clothes. Some things were really hard to discuss. "My mother… doesn’t want me to go to university, I… I' want to borrow some money from you. I'll pay you back with the interest…" She said and there was a long moment of silence. The long silence makes Anna's mood more depress and tense. She lowered her head and didn’t dare to look at Claire’s mother’s face.

Claire’s mother sighed, "Anna, it's not that your aunt doesn't want to help you, but our own financial condition is not stable and I can't help you with this matter…"

Everyone knew that Anna's family’s financial condition was not good. Claire’s mother feared that she would never get back her money if she gave it to Anna. The Ashley family can afford to lend them money, but they didn’t want to.

Anna lowered her eyes and fixed them on the ground she was sad and hopeless, the tears that were floating in her eyes finally dropped down on the ground.

Anna knew that if anyone didn’t want to lend her money, she can’t force them.

"OK… Thank you, aunt…" Anna said and stood up. She was embarrassed to stay here longer.

Claire held Anna’s arm and said, "Anna, don't worry. Talk to your mother again. Maybe she will change her mind."

Anna's heart sank, she told Claire about the conversation she heard today.

"What? Your mother wants you to marry? But aren't you only eighteen?" Claire was shocked.

Anna smiled bitterly, "That's why I came here to borrow money from you…"

"Anna, don't worry, there must be a solution…" Claire said.

"Anyway, thank you, Claire." Although she didn't get the money, she was satisfied by Claire’s concern.

They walked to the door and saw a boy wearing a white shirt coming towards them. Anna looked up. She thought he was her Boyfriend, John Peter? Why is he here? She was confused. She was very busy during these summer vacations and didn’t get the time to contact John Peter. But she was happy to see him.

"John!" She walked towards John Peter without noticing the disgust in his eyes.

John Peter also came towards her. When she was only a step away, he stopped and said, "Anna, so finally you appeared."

"What?" Anna was confused. They didn’t see each other in summer vacations. She thought John Peter would be very happy to see her but his reaction was opposite to her expectations.

"Don't pretend. If you want to break up, you can say it to me directly. Why are you trying to hide? Why are you avoiding me?" John spoke angrily.

"I didn't hide…" She was working at a place for the past two months. That’s why she canceled many dates with John Peter. She didn’t tell him about her work because she wanted to keep her dignity in front of John. But John misunderstood her. He thought that she intentionally did all this because she didn't want to see him.

Anna was nervous she tried to explain, "I really didn't hide. I was busy. If you don't believe me, you can ask Claire." Anna explained, and her gaze shifted to Claire. She wanted Claire to help her in explaining this.

Claire looked at her and said, "Anna, don't cheat John. You told me that you wanted to break up with John Peter…"

Anna was confused. When did she say that?

"Claire, what are you talking about? When did I say that?" Claire knew that she was working. But Anna didn’t know why she betrayed her in front of John Peter?

Anna looked at Claire’s innocent face, and her heart suddenly ached. She felt like she never knew Claire. She thought about the embarrassment of borrowing money from her family, and now the deceptive face of Claire.

Anna seemed to understand something.

As expected, John Peter believed what Claire said. He said coldly, "Anna, what else do you want to say?"

"I…" Anna wanted to say a lot of things, but now her words were stuck in her throat and she couldn’t utter a word…

"Okay, as you wish, let's break up." John Peter said and didn’t look back at Anna. He turned and walked into Claire’s house. Claire’s mother warmly greeted him. It was obvious, that he was not going there for the first time.

Anna kept standing and staring at his back.

Claire came closer to Anna and whispered, "Anna, John has broken up with you, now you should stop flattering him. You should understand that you two were just a mismatch. You should listen to your mother and should get married and have children. You and John are people from different worlds." Claire proudly turned around and entered her house.

Anna stood still. Although it was a hot day in September but her heart was feeling extremely cold.

After leaving Claire’s house Anna took a bus to the suburb of Haicheng. The bus stopped in front of a villa. Anna got off and walked towards the entrance of a villa. During her summer vacation, she worked at this villa. The owner of the villa was a crippled man. Anna was a servant here for nearly two months and only met him twice or thrice.

She entered the villa and was about to sweep the floor and clean the table, but she heard a loud noise from the corner of the stairs.

Anna was scared. She looked up and saw a man lying on the ground and behind him was an overturned wheelchair.

Anna hurriedly went up to help him. Although she just met him a few times, but when she saw the wheelchair, she thought that this man must be the owner of the villa.

But as Anna came closer to the man, he said coldly, "Don't come here." He didn’t like being touched.

Anna was stunned, and her hand stopped in the air. "Sir, are you ok?"

The man carefully propped his hand on the floor and tried to get back into the wheelchair. However, a pair of weak legs made him fall back to the floor. He hammered his leg hard; his eyes were filled with disgust.

Anna can't just stand and watch, regardless of the man's order she reached out to help him get back to the wheelchair.

Daniel Taylor only felt a faint fragrance running into the tip of his nose. The girl's soft hand touched his shoulders and helped him to sit back at the wheelchair. He wanted to get angry, but after seeing the innocent smile on the girl's face, his anger suddenly disappeared.

"Sir, how did you fall?"

Daniel Taylor heard the question, shook his head and said nothing.

Anna felt that he was very lonely, and her heart fell inexplicably sour to see that. She kept talking with him and told him several jokes to make him happy. Daniel Taylor didn't laugh, but his eyes were full of tenderness.

When Jack Smith came, he saw such an amazing scene. He was stunned. After Mr. Daniel Taylor’s accident, he never saw him like this.

"Mr. Jack Smith." Anna saw Jack Smith. She knew Jack Smith. He used to her wages. Anna was afraid that Jack Smith would think that she is lazy, so she immediately continued her work.

Jack Smith went to Daniel Taylor and whispered, "Mr. Taylor, Miss Brown, has already gone abroad…"

Miss Brown, Isabella Brown was Daniel Taylor's fiancé. After Daniel’s accident, she never came to meet him again. They were going to get married, but the news came that Isabella Brown has gone abroad to study. Jack Smith didn't expect Isabella Brown to be this much mean. Jack Smith feared that Daniel Taylor would become very sad after hearing this new. He was quietly noticing Daniel’s expressions.

Daniel Taylor smiled and asked, "Jack Smith, am I terrible now?"

Daniel Taylor has lost a pair of legs and can only move by wheelchair. The Head of Taylor’s Enterprise, who used to dominate Haicheng, was now disabled. He has to live on the care and mercy of others for the rest of his life. Jack Smith's heart has never been so heavy.

"Mr. Daniel Taylor, your legs will be better," he said with a heavy heart.

…

After Jack Smith left, only Anna and Daniel Taylor were left in the villa. While cleaning the villa, Anna thought of the idea that she can borrow some money from Mr. Taylor. After thinking about it, she looked at the man who was still in the wheelchair. It has been a long time. The man was still sitting near the window and was quietly looking at the scenery outside. His face looked expressionless and silent.

Anna could not help but walk forward. She wanted to ask for the money from Mr. Daniel Taylor, but she didn’t know how to say it.

After a moment, the man seems to feel Anna's approach. He softly asked her, "Is there any problem?"

Anna was nervous but she has to ask, she has no other choice. She tightly grabbed her dress. Her voice trembled, "Sir… Can I borrow some money from you?"