THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

Just as the head teacher awkwardly stepped forward, ready with a barrage of apology to be delivered, Shawn smiled affectionately at the young girl, to everyone’s greatest astonishment.

His next words did a whole lot by diffusing the tense atmosphere. "Thank you for the warmest welcome I have ever received and I’m excited to see all the young athletes in action today."

Not only did his words allay the fears of the teachers but it caused a broad smile like warm sunshine to spread across Eleanor’s face in unabashed happiness.

"Daddy looks even more handsome in real life than on TV, especially when he smiles so sweetly," she couldn’t help but say in her heart.

For Shawn that smile was like a warm hug around his cold heart and he couldn’t help but indulge in it some more before straightening up.

With the gentle guidance from Miss Richards, Eleanor and Sophia escorted him towards the main sports event area, where the rest of the pupils, staff and parents eagerly awaited their arrival.

As they came into sight, the pupils waved in excitement as the special guest that had just arrived.

Shawn waved at the enthusiastic children, a faint smile creeping across his usually cold face as he took his seat at the distinguished table.

When Elvis, who was sitting among his teammates, saw the tall man that walked onto the podium in the company of his sister, her friend and other teachers, he was stunned and stood transfixed for a long time staring with his mouth open.

"Is that really him?" he mumbled to himself as he cleaned his eyes several times to be sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

He only believed his eyes when he heard the head teacher say, "We are glad to have our very special guest, President Shawn Hudson of Hudson Corporations here with us today."

The rest of the welcome speech was lost to Elvis as he could only stare at the man who he had not expected to see so soon.

"He is the same man that is supposed to be my dad. He is actually the special Guest for today’s event."

He ran his eyes through the section where other guests and parents were seated and sure enough, his uncle’s head was turned in that direction also, however he couldn’t make out what his expression was.

After the head teacher gave the welcome speech, the various activities and how it will go, the events started in earnest.

Different activities were to take place at almost the same time so the guests and parents had to group and regroup from time to time for the various activities.

All the parents, understandably, went to the groups that involved their children, however the special guest for the day always found himself in the group where the cute little girl that kissed his cheek was participating.

He couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off her ever since they meet by the gate and was more focused on what she was doing than what anyone else did.

"Have you noticed that President Hudson has practically been in all the groups that involved Eleanor," Cheryl asked Jason who was beside her.

"I noticed it too," Jason replied as they waited for the moderator to announce the next events.

As there were two children to accompany, they had splitted up to accompany the children. After each activity they would switch, so they were able to observe what each child was doing.

When he had seen Shawn entering the venue accompanied by Eleanor and the others earlier on as the special guest, he knew that there was bound to be some kind of drama, especially from his adventurous niece.

As for Elvis, he knew that he would be able to handle his own end perfectly.

He only hoped that with Eleanor, things wouldn’t escalate beyond just welcoming a guest.

"I doubt if it is a coincidence. Once or twice can be overlooked, but four occurrences is no longer a coincidence. Do you think he knows her identity and that is why he had been following her around?" Cheryl analyzed, as the lawyer that she was. She had been trained to think both logically and critically, looking beyond the face value.

"I wouldn’t doubt that, considering who he is," Jason responded. "Let’s watch and see what he is up to."

When there was again another change in activities, Shawn strolled to the swimming pool where of course Eleanor was participating.

And because he had been so fixated on Eleanor’s activities all this while, he didn’t take note of the two people that were seriously observing his strange behavior, nor did he see the pair of blue eyes that kept staring at him from another part of the field.

Why has he been following his sister all these while? He would not be surprised if his sister had done something to attract his attention while she welcomed him or he had found out their identity.

The former seemed more likely to be the case, because if it was the latter, he wouldn’t be just following his sister alone.

Elvis shook his head slowly. "I hope she doesn’t end up giving mummy a hard time."

"Elvis!" yelled one of his teammates when the other team scored against them due to Elvis’s apparent distraction.

Elvis snapped out of his thoughts and saw the opposing team celebrating a goal. "I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking," he sincerely apologized to the little boy whose face was red with anger.

"Obviously," snorted the same boy who had yelled his name. "All you’ve been doing all day is mop around instead of focusing on the game. At this rate you will make us lose the game," he scolded.

The boy’s anger was justifiable but at the moment, what Elvis did not know was that It wasn’t all about losing.

The boy had actually been jealous of the special treatment Elvis always got from other pupils since the day they resumed in the kindergarten, but could do nothing about it.

Now that he had an opportunity to lash out, he did not have any scruples about it but went all out.

When their coach, who was also one of their teachers, saw that the two boys were about to take things a bit too far, he quickly intervened and the game resumed back.

At the pool side where Shawn, once again had been drawn to by Eleanor, some children were gathered in the swimming pool, ready for their friendly swimming competition.

Shawn could distinctly pick out Eleanor’s laughter which echoed among the laughter of other children.

It sounded like music to his soul as they splashed and played in the name of what they considered as a swimming competition

At the signal from their instructor to commence the race, Eleanor pushed off from the wall, her little arms flailing as she swam with determination to reach the other end.

Midway through the race, she encountered a sudden difficulty and panic flashed across her face as she struggled to stay afloat.

She instantly called for help but no one seemed to have heard her due to the noise of the playful splashing around her.

Amidst the commotion, Shawn, who had his eyes trained on her all this while, noticed the distress in Eleanor’s eyes.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, he sprang into action without hesitation.

In a swift movement, he flung his suit aside, stepped into the pool, cutting through the water with his long legs since the pool had been customized for chikdren and wasn’t deep for an adult.

With a swift movements, he reached out and pulled her into his arms, ensuring her safety before anyone else could react.

Frightened and breathless, Eleanor clung to the strong body that held her. "Daddy!" she called out weakly, her small body trembling all over. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Shawn held her close in a tight hug as the word, "daddy" exploded in his heart.

He forced back the heavy lump in his throat, lowered his head and spoke to her softly, comforting and assuring her that she was safe now.

The fear in the hearts of the teachers and other parents who had rushed to the poolside when they heard shouts of concern from those that were present, faded into relief as they witnessed Shawn’s quick and heroic act.

He gently carried Eleanor out of the pool, holding tightly to her and refused to hand her over to the waiting teachers.

His concern shifted from the girl’s immediate safety to her well-being, when the head teacher cautiously explained that they needed to keep the child dry or she might catch a cold.

It was then that he finally released her to the teacher who immediately wrapped her in a towel and took her directly to the school’s little clinic.

Jason, who had just arrived from where he was cheering for Elvis in his game, was shocked to see such a scene.

"What happened to my niece?"

"President Hudson just saved her from drowning, but she will be alright soon," the head teacher explained as she hurried over to the clinic.

Shawn, who was still dripping with water, followed after them in long strides.