Richmond Ranch

The coffee had gone cold in the table where a newspaper was also laid out neatly showing off the headline for today's news—The Only Girl in Rivendell. Such a catchy headline had been flooding off not only the newspapers but also in all media channels throughout the country.

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The news of yesterday's recognition in the camp broke like wildfire and the media had been frantic about digging whatever information they could get about Xhemin Lae Dugmoch, the foreign girl who was the only one in her generation who had been so lucky enough to get admitted to an A-list school.

As of this moment, the media got nothing but Xhemin's full name and Dr. Miles suspected that it wouldn't take more days for the media to link Xhemin to him, as they have the same last name which no one had figured out until now. Perhaps he had been gone in the limelight for too long, some of the people who knew him could have only remember him as Dr. Miles and forgot his last name entirely.

The old man was standing in his office window, looking past the greenery outside the cottage. The laborers where there busy with their usual task not aware of the fact that their Little Miss whom they adored so much was hitting of the front pages. Commoners don't usually care about the news and gossips—unlike the capital where the elites were so nosy about each other's business—life in Hampshire was as simple as waking up every day not caring about anything but the thought of working for a living under the sun.

He didn't knew what to feel about Xhemin stepping into the limelight. Will he scold her for this? Will he punished her for going against his instructions? What was Xhemin thinking?

"Dr. Dugmoch !" The old man's contemplation was woke up by an unusual call of a boy. Just a second after the call, he heard a knock on his office's door.

"Dr. Dugmoch can I come in?" A boy's voice filled in, it was Ang, son on one of their stable masters.

"Ang come in" He answered and the door flew wide open revealing the young farm boy. "What is it?"

"Dr. Ang, someone was asking around about the Little Miss' strawberries in the town" The boy revealed worriedly. "Father was in Roster last night and he heard people inquiring whether it was true"

"Don't worry too much about it" Dr. Miles comforted the boy "Although fruits have sprouted and have matured, we aren't sure yet if it is sustainable. It is still an ongoing experiment after all. If news about it will spread, we will just tell them we attempted to grow some, but weren't successful of it"

"But what if the Little Miss' experiment would result to a bountiful harvest?" Ang insisted "We can't just throw the fruits away right?"

Dr. Miles gave the boy a thorough look before he answered "Let Xhemin decide on it then, it's her experiment after all. Sooner she will graduate from Rivendell and would be needing her experiment to boost her profile as a botanist"

"So everyone will know about it eventually?" Ang's eyes glimmered. As he was Xhemin's assistant on her silly experiments, of course he had this childish wish to get interviewed by the media for it. He saw the news today about Xhemin and felt proud about their Little Miss' achievements. Even if there was no picture that leaked out, he knew the name Xhemin Lae Dugmoch pretty well.

"Eventually yes" Dr. Miles answered dimly but the boy didn't notice the old man's indifference because of his excitement. "Go and search for you father. Tell him I need to see him"

"Yes Doctor. I'll fetch him now for you" The boy went in haste leaving Dr. Miles again lingering on his own thoughts.

The old doctor didn't quiet expect that the media hadn't figure out until now that Xhemin is his granddaughter, which is great by the way, but he was also sure that sooner everyone will and he had to prepare for that.

What he was not prepared to face was Xhemin herself—he was afraid Xhemin had gone too tired about his rules, his secrets and his prohibitions that she had done this thing to tell him that she isn't a child anymore and that she didn't need him anymore to tell her what to do. He knew this day would come and even thought seventeen years had already gone by, he was afraid the past will haunt them and destroy whatever what's left of him.

He had already lost his son, he's afraid he might also lost his granddaughter.

But Xhemin has grown. She's not anymore the Richmond Ranch's Little Miss, she will soon have a title on her own now that she was almost graduating from Rivendell. He knew somehow that he cannot hide her forever and that he cannot escape the past. He had been withholding the girl for too long but now that she was almost past the age of majority and soon will have a life on her own, it wouldn't go fair for her to be blind about their past. He had always wanted to tell the girl the truth but there was something inside him that holds it back.

For years he had been making ways to sway Xhemin's belief of the past hoping she won't find out. Xhemin was the only treasure he had in this life and the only thing that was keeping him live. The girl was his only family left, his only heir and blood and the only single person he can call his own.

If she finds out the truth, will Xhemin, her granddaughter be able to forgive him from what he did?

Will she understand his reasons or will she resent him for the wrong he did in the past.

He can't blame Xhemin if she would end up hating him. He after-all ruined Xhemin's mother, Xhemin's life and fortune, thus someday he had to pay for it.