CHAPTER 1

Audrey Brosnan squinted to the rays of the morning sun.

She slowly sat up in bed and yawned lazily.

Her stomach growled then she realized she had forgotten to eat last night because of a very interesting novel she had wanted to finish and at the end,she did.

She walked into her bathroom and brushed her teeth.

After that,she sauntered into the kitchen, opening the cabinets,she was quite surprised to see that they were all empty.

She heaved a sigh of frustration.

Should she go out?

She really needed to go to the grocery store but then it's morning and usually,there are more people moving about at this time of the day.

'People' She thought, alarmed.

She grabbed her cellphone and quickly ordered Chinese then she sat on a stool in the breakfast bar.

Was she going to be like this forever?

Was she ever going to overcome this social phobia?

She quickly shook her head and reminded herself that no one can hurt her if she's indoors.

When the delivery arrived,she took the food in and locked her door, firmly.

She sat down and started eating.

She was clearly forcing herself to eat.She preferred preparing her meals herself.

She had to go to the grocery store....at night.

Yes!Then people would barely noticed her.

No one would criticize how ugly she looked.

Being indoors for Audrey is quite fun.She really sees no use in having friends or mingling with people.

She's always following up all the latest movies and novels and she works from home.

She worked for a Toy company,all she had to do is design a toy or a stuff Teddy and get paid.

Though her salary wasn't that big but it was enough for her feeding and accommodation so that was okay for her.

She turned on her laptop and logged into social media,the first update she went through was from Tristan Montgomery.

"Wow!He keeps getting cuter each day"She murmured.

Had he really forgotten about her?

Of course he has.

Why did she ever hold on to his promise?

He was just eighteen then but now, he's twenty-five and would've met women of all shape and sizes.

Why would he still want to look for her?

She was always called an ugly duckling.

She felt pretty sad now going through all his pictures.

He looked so rich now.

Even if they would never see each other again,she was okay seeing that he has made it big in life.

Dante Baroncini alighted from his limo and slipped his arms into the sleeves of a knee-length jacket that Tristan was holding behind him.

"Mrs Delucca is at the conference Hall"Tristan announced.

"Andiamo

Let's go

"With that,he walked into the company with his men trailing behind him.

He barely acknowledged the greetings of any of the employees who walked by.

He got into an elevator with Tristan.

His men stood back to get into another elevator.They knew better than anyone that he hated getting into an elevator with more than one person.

While Dante looked as cool as a cucumber.

Tristan was busy with his iPad arranging all the business trip, meetings and schedules for the week.

Alyssa Delucca stood up on seeing Dante walk into the conference room.

"Buongiorno,Mrs Delucca"

"Good morning to you too"Alyssa replied with a smile and sat down.

Immediately,they got down to business.

Dante knew she would surely want to work with them.

Forgetting the fact that he was friends with her daughter, Rosalie.He had to earn her partnership because he was a great businessman.

"I can already see the light in this project at hand, and it'll be great working with you"Alyssa said, standing up.

Dante stood up too and shook hands with her.

"Likewise"

She nodded, curtly and turned towards the exit.

Tristan who was close to the door bowed slightly then saw a picture fall from her bag.

He quickly bent down and picked it up.

"Ma'am,you dropped something"

Alyssa turned around, abruptly.

As soon as Tristan registered the face on the picture,he was shocked.

Audrey!

He had all pictures of her when she was five to fourteen in his house.

They were taken before he left the orphanage home.

"Tristan"Dante called, harshly breaking him out of his trance.

He realized that Alyssa was waiting for him to hand over the picture.

"Do you know her?"Alyssa asked,half hoping and half doubting.

Tristan stared at Dante discreetly asking for permission to talk about something personal.

Dante nodded.

"Yes,are you her......."Tristan trailed off unable to complete it.

"I'm her mother"Alyssa muttered."Do you know where she is?"She asked with tears filled eyes.

"The last time I saw her was at hope orphanage where we grew up together,she was fourteen when I left but she's twenty-one now and we have to leave the orphanage when we turn eighteen so I don't really know where she is right now"

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she slowly sat down again.

Tristan gave her a handkerchief.

"I'm sorry,I didn't mean...."

"It's fine.These are actually tears of joy,for so long, I've searched for my daughter that I abandoned in a theme park but I couldn't find her, I'm so happy that I've found someone who can recognize her"She sniffed.

"Tell me about my daughter"She requested.

"Sister Martha found her at the theme park when she was five years old. I was nine then.For weeks,she barely ate,she always cried and waited for her mother to come back for her.She was really distant and I was the only one who she talks to then.We kind of developed a close friendship,I treated her like my little sister.But it was hard to get her to stop crying.She cries when someone yells or pick on her,oh boy, Audrey could cry a river"Tristan said, suddenly missing her badly.

Alyssa smiled sadly."That was her father's fault,he was a stupid drunk and used to beat her mercilessly when I wasn't at home"

Tristan recalled the scar on Audrey's ankle,that was the old man's doing too.

"And then one night,my husband had gone out to gamble with the money he borrowed from a heartless loanshark,he lost and the loanshark's men followed him home.I wasn't at home, Audrey saw her father get beaten up to death.She became terrified of everything. I had no money and the loanshark wanted me to pay up his debt,I had to run away but I couldn't take care of my daughter who was traumatized, I heard that homeless children who are found in a theme park are taken to the orphanage so I abandoned her."

Tristan felt moved seeing the woman crying bitterly.Being abandoned had made Audrey hated her mother,she was just five,she thought her mother didn't want her anymore.

"But ever since I began wealthy, I've been looking for her but I couldn't find her till now"Alyssa held Tristan's hands.

"I'm so happy I met you,you have to help me find her, please"She begged.

"I will,I will bring your daughter back to you"Tristan swore.

Alyssa stood up and hugged him,she felt so happy.

Dante sighed,he was happy that conversation had ended,it was boring him out.

"I thought Rosalie was Mrs Delucca's only child?"Tristan began as soon as they were back in Dante's office.

He still found it hard to believe that Audrey was Alyssa's daughter.

"Rosalie isn't even her daughter, she's adopted"Dante replied and started signing some documents.

Tristan knew that was the end of any other discussion except business.

So he looked up Alyssa Delucca on social media.He found out that she got lucky and married an Arabian billionaire who probably knew nothing of her past husband or daughter.

But sadly,he passed away a year after their wedding leaving all his wealth to Alyssa.

Tristan deducted that was when she started looking for her daughter but came across an orphan whom she adopted.

His boss' phone rang,he glanced at the caller ID, which showed,"Pesky fiance"

"Miss D'Aquanni is calling"He announced.

Dante ignored him and as his fingers got busy with his computer.

His phone rang again.Tristan glanced at it.This time,it was "Rosalie"

After Rosalie,two other women called.

Tristan looked away from it.Dante rarely answers their calls but they won't stop calling.

Tristan walked into his study,he sat down on the swivel, pulled out a drawer and brought out pictures of Audrey.

He smiled, staring at her, no one can ever replace her in his life.

FLASHBACK

Sister Martha had just brought in a girl who won't stop crying.

Tristan and the other children just stared at her as she kept on wailing.Their guardians had tried to calm her down but they eventually gave up.

The following day,he was kind of feeling relieved that she must have gotten used to her new life now when all of a sudden,she started crying again.

He walked closer to her and gave her a little pack of chocolate.

"I don't want it.I want my mommy!"She screamed.

"I'm sure your mommy wouldn't want you to cry anymore"Tristan replied.

She sniffed."Then she should come for me,I don't like it here.I'll be a good girl for her,I won't cry anymore,I just want her to take me back"

"If you eat this and breakfast, I'll pray with you so that your mommy would come back"He cooed.

She hurriedly did as he said,and everyday they would pray together until she was seven and got tired of praying.

Tristan never knew his parents,he was abandoned at the front of the orphanage with just his name written on a piece of paper.

Whenever she cried,their guardians would run and call Tristan because he was the only one who could pet her.No one came to adopt Audrey but Tristan was adopted twice....and he deliberately did something bad so that the couples would return him.

He didn't want to leave Audrey.

He only wanted to get adopted when she gets adopted too.

She loved to knit and their guardians loved that about her.She told him that her mother loves to knit too.

Before she was ten,she had already started knitting socks and scarfs for the other children.The guardians gladly bought her pins and wools to work with because they were happy she was now knitting rather than crying.

When she was eleven years old,she got jealous seeing Tristan playing with the other girls.She didn't speak to him for two days.

"Audrey, what's wrong?"He had asked when he finally caught up with her in the garden.

"Stephanie is prettier than me, right? would you want to marry her?"She asked, bluntly.

Tristan frowned.He was just fifteen.Asking him about marriage seem strange.

"No"

Her face lited up."Then,am I the one you want to marry?"

Tristan scratched his head."Aren't we too young to be talking about marriage?What do you even know about marriage?"

"I heard that when people grow up,they get married and spend the rest of their lives together, don't you want to spend your life with me?"

Tristan rolled his eyes, does she even know what she's saying?

He was startled when she started crying.

"What did I do?"He asked, alarmed.

"You don't want to marry me because I'm ugly"She cried.

With the way she was crying,if any of the guardian saw them,they would surely think he slapped her or something.

He held her hands.

"You're beautiful, Audrey"He told her,and he meant it.

He never saw anything ugly about her.

"And I will marry you when we grow up"He agreed.

She smiled and hugged him.

And that was how their secret childhood romance started.

But whenever anyone turned eighteen,they are given some money,they'll have to leave and make something out of their lives.

When it was Tristan turn to leave,she was just fourteen.

She had cried so hard,she didn't want him to leave.

But he had to.

He wanted to take her along with him but he didn't have the guts to approach the director.

He was just eighteen and had nothing.

There was no way they would believe that he could take care of her.

"I'll come back for you, Audrey and if you ain't here anymore, I'll search for you and I'll find you"He had promised.

END OF FLASHBACK.

Tristan's fist clenched,he was angry at himself for not searching for her sooner.

But hell,it hadn't been easy to get a degree and look for a good job.

Working with Dante had made him so busy to even think about his personal life.

The pay was worth it.

But now,he had to look for her.....His Audrey.

Not just to make her reunite with her mother...but to make her....HIS BRIDE.