Chapter 682

Livia:

I was already carrying a lot of guilt, and after listening to my mother’s story, I felt even more emotional.

We cried together for nearly an hour before I finally sniffled and took her hand, shifting forward in my seat across from her.

“I have to confess something,” I said, finally able to speak without hiccuping.

My mother listened attentively.

“The two people Father brought here—”

I paused, took a deep breath, and forced myself to say it.

“They’re father and daughter.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, my mother closed her eyes and smiled, looking almost relieved that a family had been reunited.

“It makes sense now, Mother. That’s why he brought the father here. Daddy must have realized Gina wasn’t related to us and that she needed her father.”

I smiled through my tears as I finally understood why he had never attacked me.

“So no, I won’t call him a monster. I’ll call him a hero. The hero saved-“

My voice broke, and I pressed both hands against my chest.

My mother nodded along with me.

“But, Mother, I made a mistake,” I whispered.

The moment I admitted it, tears spilled down my cheeks again.

“I fell in love with the stranger.”

This time, I broke down completely.

“Oh, my sweet child.”

My mother immediately rose from her seat and wrapped her arms around me.

I buried my face against her stomach and cried.

“And I became so jealous and vindictive that I never told that little girl her father was alive. He doesn’t remember anything, but I still should have told her.”

I didn’t need to explain any further.

My mother already understood why I had done it.

She gently pulled away from the embrace and sat back down, cupping my face in her hands.

“Separating families is the greatest crime, Livia. We’ve been victims of it ourselves. You need to let them reunite.”

She spoke softly, her expression full of warmth.

“You’re right,” I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“I’ll do it.”

This time, I didn’t cry.

“In the morning, the first thing I’ll do is reunite Gina with her father. I’ll help her. I’ll help him remember everything about his life so he can return to his family.”

I lowered my gaze.

Even though the thought of him being with someone else felt like a burning ache in my chest, it was the right thing to do.

“I’ll be proud of you when you do that, Livia,” my mother said. “Because loving someone doesn’t mean stealing them. It means respecting them. It means making their life easier. And you already know that man must have been looking for his daughter for a very long time. Otherwise, how would he have ended up in the same place as the monster on the mountain top where your father lives?”

As my mother said that, I shifted slightly in my seat.

“What about you?” I asked.

She immediately looked away and leaned back.

“What about me?” she asked sharply.

“Why haven’t you gone to see Daddy? Did you never return to the mountain top, knowing he might come there?”

I couldn’t understand it. I wondered if she still loved him.

“It’s not easy for me to see him like that. We couldn’t be together, Livia. It was painful for both of us.”

She paused.

“Besides, I haven’t even mourned my two daughters yet. I feel like a failure as a wife and a mother. I didn’t even realize my daughter was going through so much she fell in love with a forbidden man, and she faced her father again while believing he was a monster. I really am a failure.”

She started crying again.

These were genuine tears, genuine sobs.

“No, Mother. You’re a good mother,” I said, holding her hand.

“And I promise you-” I sniffled.

“We’ll be a family again, and I’ll find out what happened to my sisters. I promise.”

My voice was firm with determination.

We hugged for a few minutes.

Afterward, I helped her get ready for bed.

I knew

for her,

to of this had been

gave her

sleeping pill

to help her rest for the right wnovels

I stayed awake.

Holding my phone, I typed a message to Daniel.

Me: I’ve made up my mind. In the morning, I’m bringing Gina to meet her father.

After sending the message, I set my phone aside.

No matter what happened, I was going to find my sisters.

I fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up, it was to the sound of my alarm.

I got ready while my mother helped Gina get dressed and fed her breakfast.

I didn’t know why, but watching my mother interact with Gina stirred something

inside me.

It felt almost as if Gina were her granddaughter.

Or maybe my mother was simply missing her daughters.

Once Gina was ready, I walked her to the front door.

The moment I opened it, I found President Sawyer’s right-hand man and best friend standing outside.

“I’m sorry for showing up like this,”

he said. “I just wanted to let you know that we need you at the hospital. President Sawyer has started to…”

His voice suddenly trailed off.

He lowered his gaze and narrowed his eyes at Gina.

Gina looked up at him.

Both of them frowned in confusion.

Then his expression shifted into a smirk.

“That’s Gina,” he said, pointing at the little girl.

“Uncle Rob?”

Even Gina recognized him.

I stared between them in confusion.

“What’s going on? How do you know her?” I asked, quickly pulling Gina behind me.

“Come on, you don’t know who she is?” he asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

His reaction made me feel as though I was the one who should have known.

Who was she?

Was she someone important?

“That’s Gina. President Sawyer’s stepdaughter.”

The moment the words left his mouth, goosebumps spread across my skin.

It felt as though the ground had vanished beneath my feet.