Love and Debt

The girl was staring at him intently. Andrew was confused. He couldn't understand the reason for the girl's sudden appearance in front of him.

He stepped outside, turning his head from left to right. Then he turned his gaze to the little girl again. He could see a lot of resemblance between Nina and her daughter but couldn't see any similarity to James.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He asked with a frown face.

The little girl didn't say a word and stepped inside his apartment without a word.

"Hey! Don't barge into someone's house uninvited." He exclaimed.

Brie still didn't say anything and was looking around as if memorizing every detail of the house.

Andrew was starting to get pissed with the girl's silence. He was confused and curious at the same time. He sighed and walked towards the couch to sit down. 

"If you won't tell me why you're here, I'll kick you out." He said while looking at Brie intently.

Brie stared at her father. She wanted to scream the word dad, but she knew he would not believe him. She came to him to see what kind of man he was.

"I-I ran away!" She exclaimed.

"What? Why?" He asked.

Brie gulped. The only reason she ran away from home was to see the man in front of her. But she couldn't voice it out to him.

"C-Can I stay here, sir?" She asked.

Her heart was beating so fast. She wasn't sure about the man's personality. From what she read, Andrew Cross was serious and snubbed. He had never been in a relationship for the past four years. She tried to look further beyond that four years, but she couldn't find anything about him. It seemed someone had deleted all articles about him before those years.

"And why would I allow you to stay here? Look, we just met a while ago. Your parents might be worried." He said.

The girl pouted. Brie walked towards Andrew and suddenly jumped into him, hugging him.

"W-Wait! What are you doing?" He asked, confused.

But Brie didn't answer and started crying instead. Andrew's heart softened. He couldn't understand why he felt a sudden pain in his chest when he heard the girl sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her, caressing her back.

He let Brie cry in his arms. He didn't know her reason, but he felt the girl's loneliness and couldn't ignore it.

When she stopped crying, she sat beside him while wiping the tears in her eyes. He was just staring at her and saw Nina in her.

"You were like your mother when you cried like that." He whispered.

Brie heard it and turned her gaze to Andrew. She had a lot of questions for her father. She stared into his eyes and saw the sadness in them while looking at her.

"W-What was your relationship with mommy? I saw your Instagram post, and in the caption, you called her wife." She asked.

Andrew was shocked by Brie's question. He didn't expect someone, especially Nina's daughter, to ask him about it. He sighed and looked at the girl intently.

"Your mom's my ex-wife. That was four years ago." He simply answered.

"What happened?" Brie asked.

"I don't think I'm the right person to answer that. Anyway, I was the one who asked you first. Why did you run away from home?" Andrew questioned Brie.

Brie bowed her head and couldn't answer. She didn't prepare any alibi to answer his question.

"Mom and dad will divorce soon. I heard dad will move to another country and leave mom and me here." She answered.

Andrew frowned. He didn't comment. He couldn't possibly say something about the girl's parents. James did tell them that he would return Nina. But why? He couldn't understand the reason.

"I will let you stay here tonight. But you need to call your mom and tell her you're here." He said.

Brie's face lit up. She took out her phone then dialed her mom's number.

Nina was about to sleep when her phone suddenly rang. It was Brie. She quickly picked up the phone to answer her, thinking she needed something.

"Hello, sweetie! What is it?" Nina happily asked.

"It's me."

Nina's eyes widened. She couldn't understand why she heard Andrew's voice in the other line. Her heart started pounding like a drum.

"A-Andrew?" She stammered.

"Your daughter suddenly appeared at my front door, asking me if she could stay the night." He coldly said.

Nina couldn't believe what she had just heard. How did Brie find Andrew? Did she know about Andrew being her real father? She thought to herself.

"I will let her stay here tonight. Next time, take good care of your daughter if you don't want to lose another child." He said in a cold tone.

Before Nina could answer him, Andrew had already ended the call. She wanted to call them back, but she was so shocked that she couldn't even blink. She was just sitting on the couch with a blank face.

"What happened? Why do you look like you have seen a ghost?" James asked when he got out of the bathroom.

She looked at James, and with trembling lips, she answered.

"B-Brie. S-She's with Andrew. I-I don't know why and how. Andrew called to tell me that she had come into his house." She stammered.

James was surprised, but he seemed not worried about it. It would be better if Brie spent time with Andrew from now on.

"Let her be. She had to stay with her real dad anyway." James calmly said.

"James, what are you saying? I haven't agreed with your decision yet. Why do you have to do this?" She asked.

James looked at her intently, then rushed towards her and pinned her on the couch, holding her hands on top of her head.

"If you stay married to me, I can't guarantee that I could control myself any longer. Will you allow me to touch you if you decide to stay with me?" James suddenly asked.