The Broken Angel & Her Overprotective Brothers-Chapter 319: Daniel & Claire

Daniel parked his car outside Annika’s house and hurriedly climbed out before making his way toward the two-storey building standing in front of him.

The sky was filled with dark clouds and strong wind was blowing, leaving little doubt about the heavy rainstorm that was soon to follow.

He rang the doorbell and waited impatiently for someone to open it. Though it was probably a couple of seconds before he heard footsteps approaching the door, it felt like ages to him as his heart was racing and ready to jump out as his anxiety was risking with each passing second.

The door opened and tge beautiful but haggard face of Annika appeared in front of him. Her tired and worried eyes made him immediately step past the threshold and pull the woman into his arms. "It’s alright, I’m here." He whispered to her as one of his hands gently massaged her back to help her calm down.

He felt her immediately wrapping her arms around him before she buried her face in his shoulder and started crying. "I... I don’t know... w-what to do... She has never acted like this before... I... What am I supposed to..."

She was crying so badly at this point that it was no longer easy for her to speak and Daniel quickly silenced her as he just rocked her from side to side and patted her on the back of her head. "It’s alright, Annika. Let me talk to Claire, I’ll try to find out exactly what’s going on with our little girl. Alright?"

The woman pulled away from tge hug slightly to look at Daniel as she asked with hopeful eyes, "Will you?" She hurriedly wiped away her tears as if she was suddenly feeling a lot better and encouraged. "Claire really listens to you. I’m sure she will talk to you if you will try."

Daniel quickly nodded his head as he brushed away the tears that were coating her soft cheeks. "Where is she?" He asked while giving her a small but warm look.

"She’s... in her room... upstairs. She locked herself inside after she returned from school. You... you can try." Annika replied while pointing at the first floor.

"It’s okay. Let me go and give it a try, I will try my best." He assured her while giving her shoulder a soft squeeze. "Everything will be alright."

Annika nodded her head before she stepped aside and watched Daniel heading toward the stairs leading upstairs. The only thing that she wished for was for him to be able to talk out whatever was bugging Claire.

-

Daniel knocked on Claire’s bedroom door but didn’t really expect the little girl to open it. "Claire, it’s me, Daniel. I’m here to meet you."

There came no reply from inside the room so Daniel just took a seat on the floor with his back pressed against the door. "Do you know, Little one, I have a younger sister and she’s just as cute as you?"

Once again, there came no reply from Claire but he finally heard movements inside the room, and then there was the sound of footsteps coming closer to the door, some more movements, and then there was silence.

"She’s so young... well maybe not so young anymore but anyway... she’s young and little just like you... She is a good child and someone me and my brother love a lot. But a couple of years ago, she was so different from what she is now. Thankfully, she has decided to trust those around her."

There was silence following his words for the next couple of seconds before came a soft voice from behind the door. "She probably has very nice people around her to take care of her."

A small smile appeared on Daniel’s lips as he spoke, "You have really nice people around you too. You have your mom... and you have me... I’m also a nice person."

There came no response from Claire for a while but then she finally spoke, "Mom is already too busy with work, I don’t want her to worry about me too. And you... you only come to visit us once in a while."

Daniel wasn’t able to speak for a while as he was taken aback by her words. "But you locking yourself inside this room isn’t helping anyone. You are eventually worrying your mother even if you don’t mean to."

He took in a deep breath and thought for a while before he spoke again. "How about I introduce you to some really good people? Then... you won’t need to worry about being alone and not having anyone to talk to... Also, you won’t need to make your mom worry if you will have good people around you who will take care of you."

Another long pause before Claire spoke again, "Who are they? The good people you just mentioned..."

Daniel’s smile broaden as he answered, "My family and friends. I’m sure you will love them."

This time, several long moments passed but there was still no response from Claire and only when Daniel almost thought that the girl probably won’t be answering, he heard the doorknob turning. By the time he moved away from the door and stood up, the door was being pulled open before Little Claire popped her head out from behind it.

He smiled warmly at the child before he dropped to the floor on his knees and opened his arms to invite her for a hug. Without wasting any time, Claire ran straight into his arms and buried her small frame into his embrace before she replied, "I will love to meet your family, Mommy has been telling me so many great stories about your brothers and sister."

"Really?" Daniel asked and felt the little girl nodding her head against his shoulder. "Don’t your Mommy say something good about me?" He asked while looking in the direction of the stairs and found Annika standing there as she looked back at him with a grateful expression on her face.

"No." came Claire’s blunt reply.