Chapter 257

“At that time, you should have been born not long ago, very small, with your umbilical cord still attached. By the way, the clothes you were wearing, which seemed quite expensive, were all kept in the old house,” Frederick said.
Grace’s gaze brightened slightly.
“If you want to go look for them, go ahead,” Frederick added.
Grace didn’t know what to feel. Was she abandoned? Why would they abandon her if they were from a rich family and raising a child wasn’t difficult for them?
Was it because she was a girl?
What were their feelings when they abandoned her? Did they feel sorry when they heard her cries?
As Grace pondered these questions, tears fell uncontrollably.
“I know you’ve suffered a lot in the Sherman family over the years, and your mom always feels that you’re a burden and hasn’t provided you with a good life since you were a child. But I also hope you can understand, our family really doesn’t have much money…” Frederick then said.
“Don’t say it. You guys raised me, and I am naturally grateful to you from the bottom of my heart. In the past, I felt that my mom didn’t deserve to be a mother, but now I realize I was wrong. If it weren’t for you guys, maybe I wouldn’t have survived more than a week at all,” Grace replied.
Grace returned home, dejected.
Carson was teasing Austin in the living room. When he saw Grace return, he put down the rattle in his hand. “You’re finally back. I’m exhausted. I’ve tried my best to make this little one laugh, but she’s like her father, cold and out of the ordinary, looking at me as if I were a big fool.”
Grace couldn’t help but smile at his words.
“It’s not as exaggerated as you make it sound.” She walked over and picked up Austin, who waved her little hands in excitement at the familiar scent of her mother.
“See, that’s the difference between a real mom and an uncle. She doesn’t give the slightest reaction even when I, her dear uncle, barked like a dog or snorted like a pig, but you, her own mother, she’s instantly happy as soon as you hug her.” Grace’s expression darkened slightly at the mention of “uncle”.
She looked at Carson and said, “Carson, thank you for taking care of Austin.”
Carson was taken aback by Grace’s sudden gratitude. “Huh? What’s this all about? It’s a real shocker.”
Grace cast her gaze downwards, and Carson sensed that something troubled her.
“Grace, what’s wrong? Did Brian know about Austin? Are you considering giving the baby up? You can’t do that! She’s my niece, and I won’t allow it to happen.”
Grace met his eyes with a smile, “What are you thinking?”
Even as she chuckled, tears streamed down her cheeks. “Carson, you know what? She’s not really your niece.”
“Huh? What are you saying?”
“Remember when you had leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant? It was clear I was your sister, but why wasn’t my bone marrow a match?” Bewildered, Carson asked, “What do you mean?”
“Because I’m not even your biological sister. I’m not related to anyone in the Sherman family at all. I was adopted, and no one knows who my birth parents are.” Carson furrowed his brow, finding it preposterous, “Who told you this nonsense? And who said that bone marrow always matches between biological siblings?” Grace produced the paternity test reports.
Carson’s eyes widened in disbelief. He was momentarily speechless.
Pushing the reports aside, he looked at Grace and said, “It doesn’t matter if there’s no blood relation between us. What matters is that I’ve considered you my sister since I can talk. You’ll always be my sister, and Austin will always be my niece.”