Read Online Arranged by the Stars by Kamy Chetty - Free Book Online Page A

“I
don’t mind you helping her out. I worry that you’re not doing her
any favours.”
    A billionaire could never
understand life from the other side. “You think it’s okay for
family to be apart? The two of them are all they have. I would have
thought you would understand that.”
    She saw him flinch at her
words. “Shelley is a drug user and an exotic dancer. Do you really
think this child will be better off with her? She needs medical
treatment. Did you ask her why Sara got to this stage?”
    Ash placed her finger on
her lips. “Ssh. I wouldn’t want to wake her. What are you talking
about? Sara had an asthma attack. Do you have a magic ball that
tells you this could be prevented?”
    Kieran ran his fingers
through his hair. He was frustrated with her. She was beginning to
figure out his signs. His little tell tale signs. Did he have a
magic ball? He looked down at his shoes and she followed his
gaze.
    “ Shelley
could have prevented this. At the very least she could have
prevented this from getting to this point. I checked the clinic
records. She was given medication to give Sara. Medication I
suspect she sold for drugs.” Kieran lifted his chin.
    A mother wouldn’t really
harm her child like that. Would she?
    Ash blew out a slow
breath. “What is the alternative Kieran? I leave her to go to a
group home?” The thought took her back to a time she’d stowed away
into the dark recesses of her mind. The traumatic time that she
didn’t often visit unless she wanted to remind herself of how harsh
life could be.
    His gaze swept along the
room and landed on her. “It’s not as bad as you think. She might
end up with a good family, someone who would love and take care of
her.”
    Somehow she doubted that.
She clutched Sara’s hand. “Or she could end up with someone who
wants to use her. Ten years from now you would see her in one of
those exotic dance places her mother works in.”
    The vein at Kieran’s
temple was beating at a rapid rate. A rate that frightened her.
There had to be a way to make him see reason. Make him see that
this child’s fate lay in his hands.
    She went to him and took
his face in her hands so he could see she was serious. In his eyes
she saw surprise more than anything else. “Kieran, please listen to
me. I know what the future can hold for an innocent child like her.
Don’t do this.”
    His gaze narrowed and she
had to drop her hands and look away. How could she explain her life
to him? The last twenty years of what she had to endure was
something she had never said to anyone.
    He lifted her chin. His
finger grazed her chin and she felt little beads of energy run
across her skin. “Tell me.”
    “ I was six
when my parents died in a car accident. I was in the car with
them.” She hadn’t remembered much except it being dark. She
remembered blood and her mother’s screams.
    Kieran pulled her into
his arms. “I’m so sorry Ash. Do you remember what
happened?”
    It was so easy to tell
him things she wasn’t willing to say to anyone else. “Blood. A huge
truck had hit us and both mama and papa were gone.”
    “ No one
claimed me.” She sniffed. “Makes me sound like I belonged in
baggage claims.” The laugh sounded false even to her. “We were on
holiday at the time and it was harder for anyone to find out who to
call so I had to go to a group home.”
    She pulled away as she
relayed the last part so she could look into his eyes. As the
pieces fell into place he nodded. “You can’t fix this Ash. At some
point she needs to be taken care of. If you had a bad experience in
the group home it doesn’t mean she would go down the same
path.”
    She shook her head. “I
was lucky. My aunt came for me. She took care of me. I got out. It
could have been a different future for me if she
hadn’t.”
    Kieran could never
understand what the other side lived with. He was a billionaire who
could do what he wanted. People like her were forced to do things
to survive. It was only