Olivia felt like she just had the most ridiculous dream ever.
She found herself dreaming of Lucas standing just right by her bed, and he was staring at her intently and with affection, as if… she was his precious.
How could this be possible?
This must be her seeing things. Hence, this must be a dream.
By the time she woke up, the high noon sun was already glaring down at her. Janet was soundly asleep, all sprawled out on the bed next to her. She lowered her head, wanting to peck on her daughter’s face, but suddenly the girl murmured, “Daddy, daddy…”
Olivia’s fingers jerked up as she couldn’t comprehend her own heart. It felt very complicated.
“Janet… you…”
She didn’t know what to say to Janet. Janet was everything to her, and she would do everything in her power to fulfil anything she wanted, but about Lucas…
She couldn’t bring herself to meet him again.
It was too cruel for her.
The pain of aggravating and reopening a healed wound from the past was too indescribably painful.
“Mummy, why can’t you guys be together?” Janet could see at a glance at her father and mother still loved each other, so why couldn’t they be together?
According to the stories her mother had read her, wasn’t being together an easy feat for two person who loved each other? Her father and mother liked and held affection for each other, so why did they have to separate?
She held Olivia’s shoulders with great strength and said with a solemn expression, “Mummy, daddy really loves you. You can’t ignore him!”
A huge turbulence was forming in Olivia’s heart. Why did she feel like her daughter’s words held more meaning than met her eyes?
She asked curiously, “Janet, how do you know that your father likes me? Have you met him?”
When did Janet meet Lucas before?
The girl noticed her slip up with great shock as she covered her mouth and shook her head. No matter how Olivia pry, she wouldn’t say anything more. As she became restless, she decided to get off her bed and head outside.
Olivia had a feeling that this child was hiding something from her, and it was not something trivial. She started to pay close attention to Janet’s demeanour ever since.
This led her to a startling realization. She found that Janet would visit a ward every day, and she would only return after a few hours. Every time she came back, her face would be full of smiles.
Olivia was really curious. What could make her so happy?
She asked the nurse about this, and they told her that there was a newcomer patient in one of the wards… However, they learnt nothing about the kind of disease that particular person had contracted.
Olivia came to a decision to talk to her daughter soon. At least, she had to make sure that the new patient was not someone dangerous.
As she gazed at the colourful flowers out there, she came to this decision.
…
On one of the days when Janet wasn’t coming back yet after two hours, Olivia crafted a fresh bunch of flowers and stood in front of the ward of her daughter’s new friend. As she was contemplating how to greet that person, the door of the ward swung open.
Janet’s initially happy face froze the moment she saw Olivia, and as Olivia frowned, the door was slammed hard by her daughter before she could think of anything more.
…
This person didn’t look like her own daughter!
She tried hard to force back the displeasure she was feeling as she started to knock on the door.
“Hi, I am Janet’s mother, and I am here to fetch her back.”
The knocking continued.
“Is anybody there? Janet?”
Olivia continued to knock on the door but to no avail. Nobody was opening the door. She started to become suspicious. Was the patient inside the type who wouldn’t want to meet anyone? And furthermore, her little rascal even slammed the door shut in Olivia’s face even though they had glimpsed each other!