Chapter 1923
Chapter1923
As Carola mentioned the matter again, her body quivered with the weight of her anger.
Elwood’s eyes flew wide in shock, disbelief etched across his face. “The child was switched? Then what about your real daughter? Where did she end up?”
As he spoke, a sudden idea seemed to dawn on him. “Wait… Is your daughter Belinda?”
Carola nodded fervently. “Yes! Belinda is my real daughter!”
Elwood’s jaw dropped. He was speechless for a moment as he stared at her.
Lowering her gaze, Carola let her voice waver with emotion. “My poor child… forced to grow up branded as illegitimate, suffering through so much hardship and pain. Every time I think about that, I feel so guilty! I loathe how blind I was, how utterly careless! I never even realized my own child had been stolen from me before!”
As she spoke, tears began to roll down her cheeks.
Seeing Carola unravel like this stirred something heavy inside Elwood.
He rose, walked over, and sat beside her on the sofa. Without hesitation, he drew her into his arms.
“It isn’t your fault. You can’t keep tearing yourself apart over this. After giving birth, you were in no state to notice anything. No one could have guessed that someone would do something so cruel.”
Carola’s entire frame stiffened in his embrace.
After more than twenty years, the feeling of his arms around her—so familiar yet achingly foreign at the same time—sent a storm of emotions crashing inside her.
She should have pushed him away, but her arms felt impossibly heavy.
The torment, guilt, regret, and sorrow that had been gnawing at her heart seemed to pour out all at once.
Her sobs came freely, her body trembling as her tears fell in torrents.
A pang of sorrow stabbed through Elwood as he held her tighter, his hands gently patting her back in an effort to calm her.
More books uploaded on g?lnσνls?c?m
After nearly a minute, Carola pulled away from his arms. Her face carried an awkward stiffness, her whole demeanor uneasy.
Elwood wordlessly offered her a tissue.
She accepted it, dabbing away her tears and sniffing softly. “That’s why I want you and Belinda to do a paternity test.”
“Of course.” Elwood nodded at once.
After a pause, he added with quiet conviction, “I have a feeling that Belinda is indeed my daughter.”
Carola blinked at him, a bit surprised. “Why would you say that?”
Elwood met her eyes. “First, because I trust you. And second, from the very first moment I met Belinda, she seemed strangely familiar. Don’t you think she even resembles me?” He drew in a slow breath and let it out in a sigh. “I can’t explain it, but there’s this unexplainable closeness I feel toward her. Now, I think it’s because we are related.”
Carola’s eyes flickered faintly at Elwood’s words.
At that moment, she found it impossible to put her feelings into words.
.
.
.