Chapter 56: Revenge
Arora stared at the door of Ms. Ann's office in stunned silence, her mind reeling from what she'd just overheard.
She was being adopted.
'There's no way,' she thought, her heart hammering against her ribs.
She had spent every night since as far back as she could remember wishing for this moment. Wishing to be taken away from here. Wishing for kind and loving parents who would cherish her like their own daughter. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes, fogging her glasses as she tried and failed to control the overwhelming surge of emotion.
Mr. Raymond was saying that the time had finally come. He was saying she no longer had to wish for anything. Her dream was about to become reality.
Her brows furrowed slightly a few moments later as she remembered all the strange incomprehensible things they had discussed.
From Ms. Ann's tone, she clearly wasn't happy about Arora being adopted. Arora wasn't too surprised — Ms. Ann had never really liked her for reasons she'd never understood. But she hadn't realized the woman's dislike for her ran this deep.
'Why does this sound so complicated for them?' she thought as she pressed closer to the door, desperate to understand exactly what was in store for her.
The sound of Mr. Roger's footsteps ascending the stairs halted her thoughts and movement. Without a second thought, she bolted back to the common room, hastily wiping away the tears streaming down her face.
Most of the kids there paid her no mind.
She sat at the window, pretending to watch the various strange people passing by like always.
Mr. Roger walked to Ms. Ann's office door with a resolute expression on his face. He resembled a man getting ready for a fight.
He briefly glanced into the common room to ensure the children were still occupied, then knocked on the door loudly, announcing his presence.
A few seconds later, Mr. Raymond opened it up as Mr. Rogers pushed past him without a word, before the door slammed shut behind them.
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More time passed as Arora sat at the window in anticipation, wondering why it was taking them so long to discuss this. She occasionally heard faint shouts from inside the office, the voice resembling Mr Rogers.
After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened. All three adults emerged, their faces painted with varying degrees of displeasure. Ms Ann and Mr Rogers seemed tense and reluctant. Mr. Raymond seemed more serious than she'd ever seen him before.
Ms. Ann turned to Mr. Roger with a heavy sigh.
"Gather all the children in the common room. It's time."
She stepped into the room, scanning the noisy area with tired eyes.
"Listen up, everyone!" she shouted loudly.
Shawn and Cash, who'd been arguing in the corner, immediately fell silent. The younger children stopped their games immediately. Beth and Arora's other roommates emerged from the library as they joined the others in the common room for whatever miss Ann's announcement was.
After a few minutes, Mr Rogers returned with all the other kids that were in their various shared rooms.
Ms. Ann surveyed them all before clearing her throat.
"Listen carefully, everyone. Today... is a day of celebration. One of you is being adopted."
Most of the children in the room gasped collectively, as they began shouting questions at Ms Ann frantically.
"Which of us is it?! Which of us is it?!"
"Is it me, Ms. Ann?!"
"Of course not! No one would want to adopt you, you pig!"
Several children began shoving each other as others bombarded Ms. Ann with increasingly frantic questions. Even Beth and the older girls couldn't hide their excitement, their eyes bright with hope.
MS. Ann said nothing for several moments, her expression tense, as if she was holding in a breath.
"That's enough, children!" Mr. Raymond finally stepped forward, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"There's no need for this frenzy."
He paused, as his gaze swept over the eager and excited faces of the children, an unreadable expression etched on his face.
"....All of you will be adopted one day. You'll find your perfect home, and perfect families." He said, his tone slightly colder.
"But for today..." he said as he turned to Arora who was still sitting by the window with a nervous expression on her face.
"Arora will be the one finding hers." He continued with a slight smile.
Another wave of gasps rippled through the room, followed by a moment of stunned silence.
"Congratulations, Arora!" came the voices of a few younger children who had often teased her from time to time.
Beth, Cash and some of the older kids were visibly displeased.
"H-er? Seriously? Please tell me this is some kind of joke!" Beth shouted, her voice cracking slightly in disbelief.
"Yeah! What she said!" Cash shouted furiously. "Arora's the least likely to get adopted here! Maybe they made a mistake and picked randomly from the files. Show them the dossiers again, Mr. Raymond!"
The older kids followed in their footsteps as they refused to believe that Arora would be the one adopted.
"She's an antisocial freak, there's no way anyone actually wants her!" Shawn added.
Mr Raymond frowned slightly as he stared at the children, disappointment clear in his features.
"That's enough! There's no mistake. You should be happy that one of your peers is being adopted, not bitter about it. I'm disappointed in all of you."
Cash and Shawn immediately shut their mouths, afraid of not getting anything else from Mr Raymond in the future if they continued.
The other children followed suit, recognizing the anger in his voice.
Beth on the other hand, didn't stop.
"No, that's not fair Mr. Raymond! "There's no way someone would choose her over us if they wanted older children!"
She looked around.
"And where are they?! If someone really wanted to adopt that freak, they should have at least come for a visit like they always do!"
She paused, her chest heaving as tears of rage began welling up in her eyes.
Then continued derisively "This is your doing isn't it?, you must have left out her flaws and simply embellished her perks. This is because she's your favourite isn't it Mr Raymond!?"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mr Raymond shouted finally as he glared at Beth in fury.
"It seems you didn't listen to a single word I said during my last visit, Bethany. You're still acting like a spoiled brat when you have no reason to be. Your attitude is exactly why you're still here."
He paused to calm himself, then continued.
"You're an orphan, just like every other child in this place. It's time you started acting like one."
Beth's face contorted with rage, shock embarrassment and hatred. She noticed some of the younger children snickering behind her as her tears finally spilled over.
She ran towards the door as she pushed past a worried Ms. Ann and Mr. Roger, and headed back to her shared bedroom.
Arora watched all of this silently with a blank expression on her face. Inwardly though, she was glad.
'Finally.' she thought with a smile.
She was glad to see their frustration.
She was glad to see their disbelief.
She was especially glad to see Beth humiliate herself in front of everyone.
It felt like the ultimate revenge against every single person who had ever slighted her, dismissed her, or made her feel small. They were now forced to watch her achieve their deepest hopes and dreams while they remained trapped here, uncertain if they'd ever have families of their own.
She adjusted her glasses slightly as she finally stood up.
She turned to the few children who had genuinely congratulated her.
"Thank you"