The Ice-Cold Executive Gets A Wife Novel - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Can I Hug You?
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Olivia loved children, and among all, was one of the most sensitive people Sophia had ever met.
Whenever she had time to spare, she would volunteer at the church, spending time with the orphans.
Sophia considered herself to be a rational person at heart. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen to major in finance.
But after spending so much time with Olivia, she thought that she should keep the child in her belly.
Hmm, an angel sent by God?
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the church.
They entered, as if they had done so countless times before.
The Church of Levata was huge. Located in a remote suburb, there were no commercial establishments nearby, save for a coffee vending machine by its entrance.
It was very old, at least a hundred years old. When the city wasn’t as developed, plenty of worshippers would come for service.
Yet, it was slowly forgotten as more of the newer and more comfortable churches sprung up in the city, not to mention its remote location.
But the church was still in operation. Situated in a quiet and peaceful environment, a musician found it suitable to practice music and provided good inspiration, so, he purchased one of the buildings and turned it into a music hall. Every year, he would pay rental to the church, sufficient for it to continue its operation.
The old priest who stayed here took the money given by the musician and adopted many homeless orphans, slowly turning it into an orphanage.
After Olivia found this place, she often came with Sophia to volunteer, spending time with the children. Along with her visits, she would frequently bring little gifts for the kids,
Although there were barely any worshippers now, the church kept its doors opened on Sundays, as it had done so, for the past century.
The entrance faced the hall. On both sides of the narrow and long corridor were a few shabby wooden benches. Although the brown paint on them had been mottled, they were very clean. The sunlight shone through the colorful mosaic glass windows and the clean wooden benches gave off a white and transparent halo. The solemn atmosphere made people feel as if they were in Heaven.
At the end of the church hall was a dilapidated altar. Situated on top of it was a white statue of Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus. It had fallen into disrepair, as the old priest did not initiate any repairs as there were no worshippers present.
According to the old priest, the orphans he adopted were all God’s messengers, sent to the human world. Taking care of these messengers was much more important than spending money to repair a statue that no one prayed to.
As the entrance was a little difficult to get through, Olivia slowly led Sophia in.
The old priest came from the lectern and said kindly, “Ah, it’s Olivia and Sophia. The children have been expecting you for a long time.”
“Good day, Father Ford. We haven’t been here for a long time. I wonder how the children are doing now?” Olivia said excitedly.
The old priest smiled. “They’re doing very well, although they’ve missed you dearly. Ms. Sheila gave them two days off. Now they’re playing games in the backyard. I’ll show you the way.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“You’re welcome. It’s what I should do.”
When they passed by the altar, the old priest bowed to the shabby statue as usual. Olivia and Sophia also put their hands together and prayed briefly.
Sophia looked up. In the statue, the Virgin Mary was elegant and dignified. She wore a scarf on her head and had a smile on her face. In her arms, she held the cute little Jesus. Witnessing this, Sophia was touched by the motherly love and joy expressed on Virgin Mary’s face.
When they arrived at the backyard, there was indeed a group of children having fun. One of them noticed the visitors and immediately ran over screaming. Olivia immediately opened her arms and held him up high in the air.
The other children returned to their senses. They put down the toys in their hands and surrounded them.
“Sister Olivia! Sister Sophia!”
Sophia rubbed their heads and smiled, “Did you receive the clothes and candy that I sent you two days ago?”
“Yes! The clothes are very nice! We loved the candies. They were yummy!”
“Did you study hard after eating the candy?”
“Mmhmm, we did as Ms. Sheila told us to.”
“Awesome!”
As the church had adopted too many orphans, the expenditure had increased tremendously. With the tight budget, they did not have extra money to send their children to school, so they hired a teacher.
There was only one teacher, so there were plenty of lessons that the children missed. Therefore, not only did Sophia and Olivia come here to play with the orphans, they were here to give them lessons.
Olivia took the children who liked drawing, while Sophia taught the rest of the children some simple math.
After teaching for a while, Sophia let them rest, and she sat on the chair and touched her belly.
“Sophia.” A child ran over and said timidly, “Can I hug you?”
Sophia was a little surprised, but she gently opened her arms.. “Of course.”
