She then motioned at Cameron and Zachary who were chatting nearby, and the three of them looked in our direction.
Feeling embarrassed, I quickly pushed Anthony away and whispered into his ear, “Hey, there are people watching!”
“We’re a married couple, so what’s the problem?” he whispered back.
I quickly made my way back into the house to avoid their gazes.
After taking a look around the kitchen, I realized I didn’t really know what Hannah liked to eat as we didn’t hang out that often.
I then whipped out my phone and gave her a call.
The call got through after a few seconds, and I heard her somewhat hoarse voice on the other line. “Hey, Sienna! Happy New Year!”
“We’ve still got quite a few hours before midnight, Hannah. Anyway, what do you like to eat?”
Hannah was both surprised and confused. “Huh? Why’re you asking me this all of a sudden?”
“We bought a lot of stuff to celebrate New Year’s Eve, so I was thinking of making you something nutritious since you’re breastfeeding now. I’ll have Anthony bring them over in a bit,” I said while glancing at the ingredients in the kitchen.
Her line went mute for a brief moment before she continued, “Thank you, Sienna. You’re the first person to call me out of concern so far!”
“Is John with you today? How’s your baby’s fever? Has it gone down?” I asked.
She avoided the most important question. “Yeah, it went down! Uncle Louis gave me a ton of supplements when he dropped by earlier. I’ll have Anthony bring some home with him later.”
“That won’t be necessary. We’ve got lots of supplements here too, so you can keep those for yourself! Oh, by the way, you haven’t told me what you like to eat. I want to make you something!” I said with a chuckle.
“I’m not a picky eater, so I’m fine with anything you make. Don’t make too much of it, though. I won’t be able to finish it all if you do.”
“All right. I’ll keep that in mind!”
After getting off the phone, I began looking for a lunch box to store the food for Hannah and called out to Anthony, “Hey, Anthony! Could you come over here for a second?”
I heard footsteps behind me moments later, but I was so focused on looking for a lunch box that I didn’t bother turning around. “Anthony, do we have any lunch boxes here? I need one to store the food that you’ll be bringing over to Hannah later.”
I frowned when I heard no response from him and turned around, only to see that it was actually Cameron standing behind me.
She fumbled through the kitchen cabinet and let out a cry of surprise when she found one. “Ah! There’s one right here!”
She let out an awkward chuckle when she saw the look of confusion on my face and said, “Anthony has gone for a walk with your dad.”
“Oh, I see… Thanks.”
I took the lunch box over and began putting a meal together.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Cameron asked from the side.
I shook my head and said coldly, “Nope, I’m good here. Thanks again.”
She went quiet after noticing the coldness in my tone.
After packing the food, I turned around and was surprised to see her still standing there.
I decided to ignore her and walk straight out of the kitchen, but she grabbed me by the wrist as I passed her by.
“Yes?” I asked with a frown.
“Sienna… Can we have a talk, please?” Cameron was starting to tear up. Even at her age, she still looked stunningly beautiful.
For some weird reason, I felt my heart ache when I saw her like that.
That’s weird… Why am I feeling this?
“I think it’s best if we don’t,” I muttered coldly when I finally found my voice.
It felt terrible opening up old wounds and thinking about how you got them, and I didn’t want to experience that pain ever again.
“I knew it… You do hate me, don’t you?” Cameron said while sobbing.
I looked down at the scar on my hand that I got many years ago for being a mischievous child. It wasn’t really noticeable unless one looked closely enough, but I knew it was there all the time.
I then shifted my gaze toward the door and took a deep breath as I said, “I have a very bad memory, so I don’t really remember what happened when I was ten, but… there are certain things that I do remember very clearly, like the school I attended when I was seven. There weren’t any kindergartens in R Province at the time, and the teacher at the preschool said I was too old for it, so I went straight into first grade instead.
“Grandma told me I would be able to see my parents when I grow up if I studied hard and got into a decent university. As such, I told myself I had to work as hard as I could to make that happen. That way, the kids in R Province would stop calling me an orphan…”
Those memories were incredibly painful ones, and it took me all the willpower I had in me to keep my tears from falling as I continued, “It wasn’t like Grandma didn’t love me enough, though. I just didn’t like being called an orphan, that’s all. One night, Macy and I were discussing which university we should apply to in the yard when Grandma suggested that I apply to one in J City as I would be able to find my parents there.”
Seeing her tears dropping to the ground like a broken string of pearls, I averted my gaze before continuing, “Maybe going to J City was a mistake all along. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone there. That way, I wouldn’t have met Anthony, let alone Rylee and you guys.”
“Sienna…” Cameron was sobbing uncontrollably at that point and had to steady herself by holding on to the kitchen cabinet.
I let out a sigh and shot her a cold stare as I said, “Maybe my life would’ve been a lot easier if I didn’t meet you guys and fall in love with Anthony. I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but my love for him was the reason I could tell myself to forgive everything and everyone. Discovering that you two are my biological parents made me realize how twisted a person’s fate can be, but I can’t bring myself to hate the two of you because you’re my parents. They say love makes everything pardonable, but that isn’t the case for me. I can’t bring myself to do it.”
While looking at her, I laughed bitterly. “I’ve told you that I hate you. However, when I found out the truth four years ago, I chose to distance myself from everyone. All of the clues point to the fact that I can never hate you because you are my mother, whose blood runs in mine.”
Perhaps, my words were all too much for her to bear. She fell silent, and her face turned pale. Squatting down, her tears rolled off her cheeks and fell onto the ground. Although they made a faint dripping sound, it was thunderous to my ears.
I could not bear to stay there any longer, so I turned to leave the kitchen. My heart ached, but it was still bearable.
Life is a long journey. As we trudge on and get hurt along the way, our wounds will eventually heal, and we can start anew again.
Coincidentally, Anthony and Zachary had just returned from their walk and were in the yard.
As soon as Anthony noticed the strange expression on my face, he came over to me and placed his hands on my arms. He softly probed, “What happened? Are you feeling unwell?”
I shook my head and forced a smile. Yet, there were tears in my eyes. What is the point of feeling hurt after losing my baby? I can always have another one anyway.
His face darkened when he spotted my tears. Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me into a hug and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head again. It was too painful for me to speak.
Meanwhile, Zachary grew worried since Cameron was nowhere in sight, so he headed to the living room to look for her.
After ten minutes, he helped Cameron out. Her face had been drained of color, and there were beads of perspiration on her forehead.
Sally blurted, “Are you okay? You look ghostly, and you are breaking out in a sweat. I think you should go to the hospital.”
However, Cameron waved her hand and refused, “I’m fine. I have gastric pain, but it will be alright after a while.”
“I think we should still get it checked at the hospital,” Zachary worriedly remarked.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply