Chapter 452

Chapter 452: Chapter 452

"Is that true?" asked the little girl while stumbling all over her tongue.

Having been a slave for almost her entire life, she had learned to doubt anything good as it was bound to be something that would eventually dash her hopes like a wrecking ball razing a glass castle to the ground.

She switched between Zach and Brittany’s faces as if to ascertain whether Brittany’s thoughts were the same as Zach’s or not.

After all, what Zach believed would eventually be implemented since Brittany was his servant and no servant had the power of decision making.

"Yes, you can do as you please in this place...I still don’t know what to call you. How about you tell me your name first? We can have a talk later."

"Thirteen" answered the little girl a little apprehensively. She was still a little unwilling to believe that she had gained her freedom so easily.

"Thirteen? What’s that?" At first Zach was unable to comprehend why she suddenly said ’thirteen’ but then it clicked in his mind.

"Is that it? Your name, I mean?" asked Zach.

The little girl bobbed her head up and down in acknowledgement.

"Who gave you that name? What kind of name is that?" Zach couldn’t understand why her parents would name her like that.

In his opinion, it had to be her father. Mothers weren’t as insensitive as a norm.

"It was him...my previous owner who..." her words got stuck in her throat as she answered Zach. It was apparent that she was unable to speak of the incident easily as the man had been decapitated right in front of her eyes.

Zach nodded and patted her head in an attempt to comfort her.

"Why did he call you that?"

"Master didn’t like me. So, he gave me an unlucky number as my name."

"How do you know that?"

"He told me that he suffered a huge loss because of me but..."

"Were the others named in a similar manner as well?"

"Mm...all of us were named after numbers or animals in that place. They told us that earning a name required us to prove our worth. Only those who could be sold at a good price would earn names from their masters. Rest of us would never have a real name."

As soon as she said this, the little girl bowed her head as if unable to lift it up. She appeared somewhat downtrodden.

She appeared to be thinking something over but had no words to portray her thoughts to Zach and Brittany.

But Brittany could tell right away as to what she was thinking.

"Master, why don’t you give her a real name then? Or we wouldn’t even know what to call her without reminding her of the horrendous past." suggested Brittany in a whispering voice.

Zach understood why Brittany had suggested such a thing. Even he couldn’t withstand the heartrending scene playing out in front of him. The girl looked so pitiful that it made him want to reach out and hug her.

Since he didn’t want to startle her by doing something like that all of a sudden, he had to take up her suggestion instead.

"I like the sound of that idea." Zach acknowledged her idea in a showy manner.

As he had expected, the little girl immediately looked up brightly with her tear-stained face, her piercing gaze locked on Zach wondering if he had been telling the truth.

Zach sat down on his feet and looked straight into the eyes of the girl before muttering, "Joy".

Brittany liked the name instantly. She looked extremely excited after hearing the name Zach had come up with and her excitement was mirrored by the little girl as well.

"I like it." commented Brittany as she turned her head towards the little girl as if asking for her opinion. The smile on her face clearly revealed that she hoped the little girl would like it too.

"I know you have been living in agony and fear up till now. But I hope that you can slowly change your outlook on the world. This world has a lot to offer. I hope that you get to witness the good parts as well. Or it would be too sad if you come to hate the world based on your perspective so far. I wish that this name would become the transition point between the good and bad parts of your life and help you gather all the happiness this world has to offer in the times to come."

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For the next few days everything seemed to be perfectly fine and everything seemed to be going on without a hitch. It was perfect or so it seemed and maybe it was just a little too perfect.

But after the first few days of semblance things seemed to fall apart almost entirely as things started to change.

On one day the administrators entered into the smiths household unexpectedly. The members were startled by the sudden bombardment of their home and they were adamant on the fact that they wanted to know what was going on.

They didn’t understand why they would enter the home without warning and that they would step inside without seeking permission first.

The administrators simply gave them the excuse that they had heard that the fire protection in their home wasn’t up to code and that they needed to check it to make sure that it was okay.

They didn’t really know if they could trust them on that but they knew that there was nothing that they could do on the matter. They would simply have to deal with it and try to move on.

He didn’t like the fact that they were bombarding into his living quarters but he knew that he would simply have to deal with it.

He didn’t understand why they wanted or why they even felt a need to check the fire escape seeing as he had only just checked it a few days before.

in fact he couldn’t help but feel as though there was something that was very off about it all. He had made sure that everything in his space was up to code and he had intact that there were not going to be any hiccups or any other forms of trouble.

It was specifically do that he wouldn’t have to have any altercations with the administrators and yet it seemed as though they had found a way for them to get in despite all of his own personal efforts.

He groaned ant the thought not liking the fact that they had managed to find a way for them to get in despite his own efforts and his attempts in order for him to stop them.

Zach despite his own disdain and unhappiness about it all didn’t say anything as he stood to the side with his hands crossed over his chest as he simply chose to take in the sight.

Bruce despite the fact that he did not liking the fact that they had managed to intrude into their home decided to be quiet about it all. Instead he plastered on a fake smile and let them in. He knew that despite his own animosity and disdain towards them he would have to remain civil.

He let them in and he decided to offer the man a few coins as a sign of solidarity and for all of their troubles.

He kept to his friendly manner as he greeted all of them and when they saw his offering some of their demeanors shifted as they gave him a salute and took the coin that he had offered to them.

After they had made a thorough inspection and they had been able to look over everything properly a few of the managers decided to leave as they seemed to be satisfied with everything.

Zach was silent as he watched them leave and he couldn’t help but ball his hand into fist as he felt the urge to throw up and a slow wave of nausea slowly made its way up his throat.

He couldn’t help but feel angered by the fact that they had been forced to surrender their home to them just for a search. They had a feeling that the search wasn’t even authentic and they. Had simply been looking for a reason for them to make their way onto their home.

"You need to calm down." Zach heard Bruce say as he came up to him and he placed a hand on his shoulder.

Zach let out a shaky breath as he turned around to look at him. he gulped and he took a moment in order for him to calm himself down. He wasn’t going to allow himself to lose his temper.

"Why would they come in here unannounced and without a warrant." He said to him. "I don’t know but you c ant show them that you are angry. You are better than that and the last thing that you want is for them to get a sniff of something being off." Bruce said to him.

Zach was quiet as he gritted his teeth and he balled his hands up into a fist. He gulped sucking in a deep breath before turning around to leave. "I am done here." he muttered.

He slowly left the. Entry way as he travelled back down the hall and he began to make his way back towards his office.

He needed to get away from the place as he knew that it would do nothing for him other than to cause his anger to flare up even more.