Chapter 3 Where is Orla's father

When they arrived at her apartment Hailey held her daughter's hand and walked into their apartment with Casper following behind.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'm sorry the apartment is small." She offered her guest a seat and he sat on the lovely sofa next to Orla. Hailey could see her guest looking around.

'Of course, it's not like your luxurious home.' She thought to herself. Although small she was proud of herself for keeping the place neat even though it belonged to the company she worked for.

She placed the cake on the little coffee table in her living room and she glanced at her daughter and smiled. She remembered that her guest had come for a cake, so she went into the kitchen and got a knife to use for cutting three slices.

"Help yourself Mr. Crane." She took a slice and handed her daughter and could feel the glance from her handsome guest.

"You address an older man like my father by his first name and you refuse to address me a younger man by my first name." He remarked taking his slice. She was still avoiding eye contact and Casper's nervousness had disappeared.

"My father did not tell me much about you, only that you're not his mistress. How did you two meet and why didn't you invite your husband for the birthday meal?" She was somehow not surprised by his question.

"I'm not yet married and maybe your father can tell you how we met." She was not sure how much Edward wanted his family to know about their relationship, so the only way out was to let him ask his father on his own.

They finished eating their slices and Hailey checked the time and saw that it was time for her daughter to go to bed.

"Time for bed young lady let's go and brush our teeth." She was hoping that her guest would take his leave, but she saw that he was not going anywhere. She excused herself after asking her daughter to say goodnight to their guest.

'Why can't this man go to wherever he came from?' Hailey was cursing him internally when she followed her routine of brushing their teeth together with her daughter.

Upon finishing she took her daughter into her bedroom and helped her to put on her pyjamas. She carefully tucked her in her bed and kissed her good night. She went back and joined Casper who was walking around her living room looking at everything. He was now holding a portrait of Hailey and Orla.

"Have you lived here for long?" He asked still walking around. Hailey was not sure what he wanted as he had had the cake he asked for and she was not used to him.

"Six months now." She responded taking a seat and still watching the man whom she had known as her godfather's son.

"Where is Orla's father? I believed my dad when he said that he was not Orla's father." He had now thrown himself on the sofa and now staring at Hailey.

Beside Edward and the director of the orphanage she grew up, Hailey had never told anyone else about her ordeal. There was no way she was going to tell this man. Yes, he was Edward's son, but she was not any way close to him and this was a painful memory for her.

"It's late now, I think you need to go to your hotel. My apartment is small and obviously not luxurious as your home so I'm sorry I cannot offer you anywhere to sleep." His gaze was making her uncomfortable.

"Obviously your friends ask about your relationship with my dad. What do you tell them?" He was not moving his gaze away from her and she was wondering if somehow, he was not convinced about her relationship with Edward.

"To be honest I don't have friends or family to explain my relationship with Edward and since you insist on knowing, Edward is my godfather." She felt this was the only way she could make him leave.

"Everyone has someone they regard as their friend even not close." He said and she continued talking about her daughter being her only friend. She kept looking at the clock that hung in her living room and he could tell that she wanted him to leave.

Getting up from his seat Casper walked to Hailey who was sitting on the sofa adjacent to him. He lowered his gaze and stretched out his hand to offer a handshake.

"Ok Hailey Richmond, it was nice meeting you and your daughter and again apologies for my behavior earlier and thank you for the cake." He walked towards the door, and she just watched as he opened the door and left.

'Weird guy!' She said to herself as she locked the door, and she went into her small kitchen, and she drank some water before she went to check her daughter.

"Love you baby girl." She kissed her daughter who was fast asleep. The excitement of her birthday had tire her and that was why she slept without a fight.

Hailey went into her own bedroom and put on her blue silk night dress and picked up a book to read. She got into her bed, and she sat up and started reading, She was glad that Orla's birthday fell on a Friday which meant that she didn't need to worry about work tomorrow.

"What really happened tonight? What did Edward tell his son that made him change his assumption? So, he had been investigating his father?” She had so many questions hovering in her head.

She had always wondered why Edward chose to sponsor her. Since her placement in the orphanage Edward had been the only outside person who paid her a visit. His visits at the private boarding school were private and she would spend an hour or so talking to him in the headmistress's office.

Other girls knew that she was an orphan with a powerful sponsor and none of them dared to make fun of her for being an orphan as they were warned of the consequences of making other girl feel unsafe in the school.

They were however curious to know the sponsor, but she was warned of the danger of letting the other girls know. Some girls tried to be friends with her because they wanted to know more about her sponsor.

The only friends she trusted were the other orphans she stayed with during school holidays at the orphanage. When they were younger it was okay as the others just enjoyed the things, they got from Edward.

Things started changing in senior school years as some of the girls from the orphanage were jealous of her for being in private school and having a sponsor like Edward. She didn't really understand why as she was not even adopted, and she stayed with them during holidays.

Upon finishing university and getting a job, she pleaded with Edward that she wanted to take care of herself and her daughter.

She knew that if she wanted, he would have provided her with all the luxuries that rich girls got from their rich parents but didn't want to fool herself thinking that she was rich. She was only grateful that she had Edward and Mrs. Plum the director of the orphanage to count on.

She could not concentrate when she thought of Casper asking about Orla's father. Tears were now flowing down her pale cheeks as she remembered the day, she woke up naked in a luxurious hotel suite.

"My baby is not a mistake……my baby is not a mistake.' She was now sobbing.

Hailey vowed not to have any friends since she was betrayed by her friends when she was still in university. She vividly remembered two days after her twentieth birthday when her two best friends from the orphanage invited her out.