Chapter 76

Lake POV

I saw her fight to keep her tears at bay. She sniffed them in and wiped her eyes with the back of her palms. By the goddess, I wanted to scoop her up and take her with me, hold her in my arms, and make all her problems go away. That was a lot of fondness for a ten-year-old I had just met.

"Thank you." She replied, before fixing her eyes on the floor again.

I turned away from her and followed her directions. I walked to the end of the corridor and took a left turn, only to find Jojo seated on a bench at the end of the wall. She had her hands squeezed together. A lady beside her, one I could oddly recognize, squeezed her palm gently.

Once again, my heart squeezed in my chest. Something warm and seemingly soft gripped my heart and massaged it, I found myself swallowing hard, before docking behind the wall, ju