Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 169: Memories In The Stars

The air inside the room seemed to carry a different temperature, a temperature of warmth and memories.

The space was illuminated with the warm, golden glow of a perpetually perfect afternoon sun. It streamed in from a vast, domed skylight from the ceilings of leaded glass, the whole space was the size of a huge ballroom. The polished floors reflected a beautiful sheen from the glass above.

But what made Anne’s breath catch in her throat wasn’t the awe inducing interior of the space, but the pictures on the walls as she walked, she looked at each one.

Each wall as she turned her head to look on every side looked like a tapestry of the family’s history all placed in a meticulously curated manner.

She saw a man that looked so much like elder Sterling, seemed to be around his age as well but it wasn’t him. There was a difference between them that she couldn’t put her finger on.

Perhaps his brother, or his father, she couldn’t tell accurately but he was certainly a part of elder Sterling’s family judging from the looks.

The next photograph on the wall was of someone else, this one was indeed elder Sterling but there were less wrinkles on his face, less grey in his hair and he was a much younger version of the older man she knew now. On that side of the wall, there were several pictures of him until he began to appear in the photographs with a woman by his side.

The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, and her eyes were bright with a subtle wisdom shining within them.

These images of youth continued to change, and time began to show on their features until the two people began to appear with a son in their arms.

It was evident this child was raised with a lot of love, however in his youth, when the son looked to be in his late teens, the woman Anne discovered to be his mother no longer showed up in the photographs.

There was sadness in elder Sterling’s eyes which could be deciphered even through the photographs, the sadness was evident of a man whose most precious person had been snatched away by the cruel jaws of death. That type of sadness was something Anne knew deep to the bones, she felt it, she always did ever since her parents had died.

Later, the child they’d borne no longer appeared in the pictures as if he’d disappeared. The next few pictures she saw was of elder Sterling with three young boys surrounding him.

The boy that seemed to be the eldest looked to be around twelve years old, the second looked to be around the same age, but only a little bit younger.

Anne’s gaze lingered on that second boy’s face, his eyes, young as they were looked dark and bottomless. One wouldn’t think a kid so young could hold such a deeply unfathomable expression.

Kids were known to wear their expressions on their sleeves, If they were happy, they would smile brightly, if they were sad, one would see it in a down turned curve of their mouths, this boy looked neither happy nor sad, this boy looked empty, his eyes showed a deeply rooted loneliness to their core.

Anne suddenly felt her chest tighten so much so her fingers slowly clenched on their own.

She ached for the child in the picture because she could see the black shadows of loss surrounding his figure even through the picture.

That boy, was Andrew Sterling.

The third boy in the picture was evidently Donald, younger than the first two and he had a brightly radiant smile on his face. The whole picture was filled with stoic faces but the youngest boy was like a bright ray of joy bringing light to the dim image.

"This was eighteen years ago." Elder Sterling’s deep voice laced with a husk of reminiscence sounded behind Anne and she quickly whirled around to meet the man’s gaze as he steadily walked towards her direction with a small smile on his face.

The older man noticed the glisten of tears in her eyes and immediately she saw him, her hands hurriedly wiped off the tear drops about to fall. He wondered what she’d seen in that particular picture that moved her to tears but nevertheless, the man smiled bitterly.

At that time of their lives, their whole family was shrouded in darkness that seeped into them entirely. They had money, respect, wealth beyond imagination but their hearts were still heavy.

If anyone could manage to see that darkness through this picture and feel the sorrow that the world didn’t see, then that person’s heart certainly had to be pure.

"Back then, Andrew used to be a very confusing child. I thought having to raise him alone was what caused him to become distant everyday, so I hired several female nannies to look after them, raise them instead of their biological mothers who were never here, but Andrew never opened up or allowed himself to be cared for. It felt as if anyone who showed him any alms of care, would automatically become someone he despised."

Anne glanced at him curiously, "Why is that?"

For a child that grew without his parents affection, wouldn’t it be normal for him to cling onto anyone who shows him care?

Elder Sterling sighed deeply, "As a boy, all he experienced was rejection. Maybe he didn’t want to go through that again, or maybe he just decided to close up his heart. When no one could help him, I resigned to guiding him on my own. The only time I ever saw him content was whenever he buried himself studying relentlessly until he became number one in all his academics, it continued on even after he graduated, closing deals that Sterling Enterprises has never seen in it’s history until he arrived. Many people might attribute our company’s success to me, but the truth is my grandson was the one that took the company higher till where it is now. Right from the start, he was always going to be my successor."

The old man had always known that even his own son wasn’t worthy of taking over the company, it was always going to be Andrew in the CEO’s seat, however for the longest time elder Sterling had always wondered what it would take to bring light into his grandson’s life.

Andrew would eventually become a man of power, soaring at the greatest heights but his heart would always be empty, that was why the older man had put down the ultimatum for his grandsons, but the reality was the fact that the challenge was Andrew’s alone. Many might think he favored Andrew among his grandsons but the clear truth was that none of the others had gone through as much as Andrew had.

"Come." Elder Sterling strolled around the room in a slow pace, letting Anne take in the memories hung up on its walls.

The pictures went in a chronological order, from the time his grandsons were younger, till the periods they developed into grown men. It was a window into the whole family’s history.

Till they reached the end he took in every emotion that appeared on her face, the old man becoming even more convinced that he indeed had chosen right.

"You still miss her don’t you grandfather?" Anne had suddenly asked when they stopped in front of a single portrait of his wife.

Beautiful and strict as she used to be, her personality showed through the photograph.

Elder Sterling smiled bitterly, liking the fact that he was sharing all this with Anne, the newest addition to their family.

"Every single day. Even if it has been years, there are just people we can’t forget though death has taken them away."

Anne stared at the older man’s usually strict face and saw the deep loss written all over them.

"Shall I share a trick with you that makes you miss her less?"

Elder Sterling suddenly laughed, "Many have told me to remarry so I’ll get over my late wife but even back then I never did, I would never betray her memory so if that’s the trick you want to share..."

Even at his age, there were a number of woman willing to get him into a marriage, mother’s bringing their daughters to him under the pretense of caring about his sorrows when In reality all they wanted was wealth.

When it came to money, many betray and sell off their own, not caring if the person was old enough to be their grandfather, it was twisted. Whenever those people wanted to bring their daughters to him, they usually said things similar to what Anne just did.

Something to help him miss his late wife less, they’d say.

Anne couldn’t help but laugh too, "No grandfather, that’s not what I was going to say."

"It’s not?" The old man asked jokingly, "Is this trick of yours effective?"

Anne nodded repeatedly, "I used to do it whenever I miss my parents, I lost them too." Her voice became softer towards the end.

With a touch of sympathy in his eyes Elder Sterling placed his hand on her hair, gently patting her hair caringly.

"I’m sorry for your loss, but know that we’re your family now so you don’t have to feel sad anymore."

Anne’s eyes teared up but she didn’t allow herself to be sad.

"Do you want to hear the trick now?"

The old man nodded with a doting smile. He’d always wondered what it was like to have a granddaughter, and he suddenly felt like knew what it felt like now and he quite liked the feeling a lot.

Granddaughters were so much more different than grandsons, they made one feel the urge to give them the entire world if they wanted it.

"Have you ever tried to find her face in the stars?"

"In the stars?" Elder Sterling asked curiously intriguing.

"It is said that, our relatives who are gone watch over us from the stars. Up there they miss us too just as we miss them, and when they look down at us, it makes them happy if we smile and it makes them sad if we cry, so to make them happy we stare up at the stars, find their face in the twinkling lights and smile at them to make them happy. We’ll feel their warmth, and they’ll feel ours so we’ll miss them less."

Elder Sterling looked very intrigued.

"Does that really work?" He asked.

"It really does grandfather, I’ve tried it so many times and it worked."

The older man laughed heartily, truly pleased by this conversation.

"Then why don’t you stay here till it’s dark, when the stars are out, you’ll guide me on how to do this little trick of yours."

Anne nodded enthusiastically making the older man laugh even more.

Truly, granddaughters were a lot more fun than grandsons. The older man felt even more accomplished in life.

The air in the space became quite lively, elder Sterling asking about Anne’s childhood to which she told him several stories from when she was young.

Just hearing her talk was very entertaining for elder Sterling, because people when they talked about their most memorable moments radiate a kind of happiness that others can feel.

"Annelise, I called you in here to ask for a favor." Elder Sterling began after a long while of sitting in the memory room and chatting, the light air suddenly turning serious at this grave sounding tone.

"What is it grandfather?"

Anne’s attention settled seriously to the older man as he said this, a frown on her face as she wondered what sort of favor the man could possibly ask of her.

"I’m leaving my grandson in your care Anne. I don’t know if this is too much to ask of you, but take this as the humble request of an old man."

Anne had no idea what to say, elder Sterling’s words struck with such suddenness that she didn’t know how to react.

Now more than ever elder Sterling was even more certain that if anyone could fulfill this task, it was Anne.

"Please bring happiness into my grandson’s life, please give him the joy that he’s always lacked. If you can do that, I’ll be eternally grateful to you. I want you to give me your word that you will fill the empty spots in Andrew’s life, promise this desperate old man who wants nothing more than to fulfil his very last wish."