The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Chapter 818
Joey was struggling too much, so Corinne had to put him down again. “Okay, then. We’ll stay here for a bit longer.”
As soon as Joey’s feet touched the floor, he immediately backed into the corner, squatted, and curled like a scared animal with
his arms hugging his knees.
Corinne frowned at how pitiful he looked. “You do know I’m going to have to leave this room sooner or later, right? How long do
you think you can hide in here then? What if you got hungry or thirsty? The people in this house will find you eventually.”
Joey started trembling violently when he heard he was going to be found eventually. Seeing this, Corinne could not help but feel
sorry for him. She was once like him, too-all alone and helpless.
Even though her mother entrusted her to Marvin, that good-for-nothing man was quick to send her off to live with his relative in
the countryside as soon as the opportunity presented itself. She was a bona fide outsider in that house, and the only reason
Marvin’s relatives would take her in was because he promised he would send them money every month as payment for taking
care of her.
However, he only sent them money twice, and ever since then, his relatives treated her even worse. They would not even allow
her to eat at the same table as them. Word soon spread that she was a child nobody wanted, and the kids there started to bully
her for fun.
The bullying happened so frequently that she got used to it. It was not like anyone would do anything if the bullies beat her to
death. This one time, the son of Marvin’s relatives pushed her into the well as a prank, and for three days and three nights, no
one came to save her, no matter how much she screamed for help.
The fear, the despair, and the sense of powerlessness were not something she would ever forget. She would still break out in a
cold sweat whenever she thought back to that time. Not one came to look for her, even though she went missing for three days
and three nights. It was as if they wanted nothing more than for her to die so that they would have one less person to feed.
In the end, it was a photographer who had an interest in collecting folktales that saved her. He was passing by the well and even
took photos of her stuck in the well so he could turn them over to the media for an expository article on current social problems.
After that, Marvin’s relatives were slammed by their neighbors and social media users alike, and that only made them hate
Corinne even more. However, they could not do anything at that time since it would only attract more criticism, so they simply
waited until the scandal died down before sending Corinne off to live in a convent.

The convent was a quiet and serene place. Although the food there was bland, it was far better than the spoiled leftovers
Marvin’s relatives gave her to eat. Plus, no one bullied her there.
Mother Cathrina, especially, was very good to her. She taught her some self-defense skills and even borrowed money from the
convent to send her off to school. It was only because of her that Corinne managed to grow up well.
After high school, she secretly started her business with the scholarship money she got. When
her business became successful, she gave Mother Cathrina back all the money she had given her for education, renovated the
convent, and taught her old bullies a lesson.
As she looked back on this, she thought herself lucky for coming out of her unlucky life at winner. Not only was she saved by a
photographer with a strong sense of justice, but she also got to meet Mother Cathrina who took her in and borrowed money to
send her off to school.
Joey, however, was much younger than her when she was shipped off to live with Marvin’s relatives. Not only was he powerless,
but he was stuck living in a golden cage. No media would ever dare to write a story about him no matter how badly he was
treated.
What was even more pitiful about him was that he could not express himself fully yet. The only words the others had to go on
were what Anya told them. He had nowhere to run to or hide. After all, how could a toddler escape from the Riveras, or even
Anya for that matter?
That was why Corinne took it upon herself to be the one who saved him from this hellhole. She would be to Joey what Mother
Cathrina was to her.