Chapter 30
As I stepped downstairs, the others looked a little surprised.”
Victor’s expression tensed with unease. “Anna, go back to sleep for a while. Breakfast isn’t ready yet.“”
Yet the dining table was already filled with food.”
Just then, a noise came from the garden, drawing my attention.
My mother quickly handed me a sandwich.”
“Anna, eat up. Victor got up at five in the morning to make this for you.“”
I glanced at the sandwich. It was stuffed with thick slices of salmon.
I didn’t take it. “I’m allergic to seafood.”
The one who loved salmon was Lena.
When I was first brought back home, every meal was filled with salmon dishes.”
They forced me to eat it and I ended up going into severe anaphylactic shock, causing me to pass out.
Yet even after five years, my mother still hadn’t remembered.”
And now, the breakfast spread laid out on the table. Every single dish was Lena’s favorite.
An unthinkable thought surged into my mind.
Was Lena just here?”
J
Had all those so–called punishments never even lasted a single day?!
At that moment, Victor hurriedly stood up.
“Anna, what do you want to eat? I’ll make something else.”}
Five years of living together, five years of him saying he loved me, yet he didn’t even remember what I liked to eat.”
I let out a self–mocking laugh. “As long as it’s not Lena’s favorite, it’ll be fine.“”
The room instantly fell into a suffocating silence.
My usually stern father’s eyes turned red as he said, “Anna, can’t you forgive us yet? We never wanted what happened back then either. We punished Lena for you. We even put down the dog that had been with her since childhood. Besides… these dishes are what your mother and I like. Lena just grew up with us and happened to develop the same tastes.“}
Of course. They were the real family and I was the outsider who never quite fit in. But did that give them the right to scheme against me and my daughter without a second thought?
As the tense silence stretched on, Bella suddenly ran downstairs.\
The moment she saw me, her little lips trembled, then she burst into loud sobs.\
“Where’s my mom? I want Mommy!”
The unfamiliarity and rejection in her eyes stabbed into my heart like a thousand needles.
Victor hurried to comfort her, but she only cried harder, her wails heartbreaking.
My parents rushed over as well, their faces filled with deep concern. It was a kind of worry I had never seen from them before my daughter was hurt.
And just then, the front door creaked open./
Bella’s eyes lit up.
She ran straight toward the person outside.Z
“Mommy!“”
Lena scooped my daughter into her arms, holding her tightly as if she were her own. She shot me a vicious glare. “How could you take care of her like this?“!
The last sliver of hope in my heart shattered completely.”
So it was true.}
She was no longer my daughter.”
All those unbelievable words they had spoken were real.”
The nanny, sensing something was wrong, stepped forward to take the child.
“Miss Lena, she is crying too hard. Let me hold her.“”
