Hired for the Billionaire [✔️]

Chapter 38

Recap: Anna and Daniel talk about the past and her son. Anna and William have a (sort-of) baby talk. Anna relives the moment she told Ryan she was pregnant and runs off.

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It was snowing.

I breathed in and felt the rattle in my lungs. I breathed out and saw it float out and away. I stepped cautiously through the forest, branches and leaves cracking beneath me. I huffed and looked around. I was in a never ending maze of trees and shrubs. I regretted running away.

I sniffled as I trudged through the cold snow. My fuzzy socks, and now my pant legs, were soaked and muddy. The hood connected to my pajama shirt kept the snow off my head, but I could feel that getting damp too.

I caressed the photo in my pocket and looked ahead. There had to be a tree or some type of shelter to cover me from the snow.

I bright red something caught my eye. I walked faster till I reached it and noticed that it was ribbon tied to a tree. I touched it and noticed some smudged handwriting on it.

May you live in peace with the angels and may God give you the highest place among them.

                        Rest in Peace, Elisa, my love. I promise to take care of our children.

                                                                         January 14, 1995

                                                                                      DW

I gasped. Was this Elisa Winters' memorial tree? I looked up at the tree and noticed that it was different than the other trees in the forest. The others were normal forest trees, but this...was not like the others...

There were no leaves and its branches spread out, maneuvering around trees and wrapping around others. It was huge.

"It's a 桜."

I shrieked and turned around to the new comer. I caught blond hair and blue eyes and I relaxed. It was Mr. Winters, again.

"I'm sorry," Daniel said, a little smile on his face, "I seem to be scaring you a lot these days."

"I...yeah...What did you say before?" It sounded like Japanese.

Daniel turned to the tree and said, "It's a 桜. Sakura... ah... cherry blossom."

"A cherry blossom tree? Is it...dead?"

Daniel chuckled and shook his head. "No. It only blooms in late March or early April. This one though...blooms at random times of the year."

I looked back at the tree and at the ribbon. Despite it having no flowers, it was beautiful.

Daniel cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He touched the ribbon and wiped off some of the snow from the tree. "Elisa always loved cherry blossoms. She loved them the minute she saw them in Japan on our honeymoon. She said that she loved the beauty of it and how calm it made her feel when she looked at it, especially when the flowers started falling. I made sure we had one planted when she...died...so that she could always be at peace in the afterlife..." Another deep breath and Daniel continued, "With her death coming up...please...make sure to be there for my son. William took it the hardest when she passed. He was only eight and saw her die right in front of his eyes."