I’m Stella’s foster daughter, and I have a history with Cameron, doesn’t she hate me?
I can’t understand her at all. I always feel like beneath her noble exterior lies something incredibly complex and unfathomable.
Ethan seemed to listen to her particularly. After taking his medicine and calming down, he exchanged a few quiet words with her before returning to his room.
Mellisa looked at me silently, her eyes filled with a gentleness.
Carter quietly reprimanded me, “You went too far!”
“Carter!” Mellisa stopped him, “Don’t blame Laura, she’s just straightforward.”
I didn’t understand why she was helping me like this.
“I know you’re a good kid,” Mellisa gently tucked a stray hair behind my ear, “Laura, you don’t need to feel pressured around me. As for that video and your relationship with Cameron… It’s all in the past. We can’t live in the past forever. Time always moves forward, and if you keep dwelling on the past, those bad memories will only hold you back, don’t you think?”
I looked at her and nodded gently.
She took my hand, “Laura, what happened between you and Cameron was his fault. I know you couldn’t have done something like that given your character. It was all because he pressured you. You can trust me, I’m a very open-minded person, and I’m willing to get along with you young people. You’ll see as time goes on.”
I became even more puzzled by her actions. What should I say at this point? Should I express gratitude?
“Do you have any other plans for this afternoon?” Mellisa asked me. “How about we go horseback riding together?”
I didn’t refuse. Firstly, it was difficult to refuse her kindness, and secondly… I had endless doubts and curiosity about Mellisa.
In the afternoon, we arrived at the horse ranch. Carter went to fetch his own horse, while Mellisa chose one for me.
She was exceptionally nice to me in every way. I thought it was probably because of my relationship with Carter, and also because of the will. Huh, she wasn’t being nice to me; she was being nice to the money!
However, while horseback riding, I made a significant discovery. I suddenly felt that Carter’s body seemed much better than before. He never used to participate in such strenuous activities, but now, his posture on the horseback was comparable to that of a professional athlete.
“It’s really strange,” I muttered softly as I returned to the resting area, “Doesn’t he have a heart condition?”
“Miss Campbell, he indeed has a heart condition.”
I was startled and turned around to see a familiar face. I was both surprised and delighted as I jumped up and hugged her. “Yasmin! How come it’s you?”
Yasmin looked at me affectionately. She patted my head, examined me for a while, and smiled without saying a word. She only managed to squeeze out one sentence, “You have lost weight.”
“I’m on a diet!” I didn’t want to let go of her hand.
It had been three years since I last saw her before going abroad.
The last time was when I drugged her and took her as a hostage to Jacob Campbell. I still felt guilty about that. I always harbored guilt towards her.
“Miss Campbell, you look better with a bit more weight.”
“Mm-hmm!” I snuggled closer to her.
It’s strange, Yasmin was just an ordinary middle-aged woman, but I always felt infinitely secure by her side.
“I’ve been with The Lynch Family all these three years,” she said. “Finding this job wasn’t easy, and I have Cameron to thank for it…”
She suddenly stopped talking.
The atmosphere became a bit awkward. I smiled and whispered to her, “My relationship with him… is already in the past. Yasmin, I have no connection with him anymore. Please don’t mention him in front of me, okay?”
“Okay, okay!” She agreed. “By the way, did you find it strange that maste Carter’s body?”
“Yes, how could he ride horses with a heart condition?”
“In these past few years, he has undergone two surgeries,” Yasmin told me. “Both surgeries were related to his heart, but I don’t understand the specifics. However, after each surgery, his body would be much better than before.”
“Oh, no wonder,” I replied.
“In addition to the surgeries, he has been very active in rehabilitation exercises over the years. So, he is different from before.”
“But it’s strange…” Yasmin furrowed her brow. “During the first surgery, maste Carter needed a blood transfusion, but the blood type of the master Cameron didn’t match his.”
“What?” I was surprised.
In theory, they were brothers, and even if they were half-brothers, they should have some similarities.
“Master has been suspicious since then,” Yasmin whispered to me. “He suspects that master Cameron may not be…”
“Yasmin!” Mellisa suddenly called her from a distance.
Yasmin lowered her head and hurriedly ran over.
My heart was pounding fiercely. Yasmin’s unfinished words just now left me with doubts.
Soon after, the coach came over to take me horseback riding. I glanced at the nearby track where Mellisa was leisurely riding her horse, as if waiting for someone.
I guessed she was waiting for me.
Sure enough, as I approached, she smiled at me. “Laura, shall we chat as we walk?”
I nodded and smiled at her.
“It’s strange,” she looked towards the distant sky. “Laura, I feel a connection with you.”
“Is that so?…” I awkwardly smiled.
If there were no vested interests, would you still feel connected to me?
“I felt close to you the moment I first saw you,” she said, looking at me. “I know you’re a good kid. Those things in the past were probably forced upon you, right?”
“Those things are in the past, and I don’t want to bring them up again.”
“Right, let’s not dwell on the past. But Laura, remember, not bringing it up doesn’t mean those things don’t exist. You must always remember your purpose.”
I looked up and saw her smiling. She gently stroked my hair. Her palms were soft, fragrant, and affectionate, and for a moment, I felt a bit dazed.
“You can’t forget the harm Cameron has caused you, and you must repay him double.”
I felt my breathing becoming rapid.
“Laura,” Mellisa continued, “Carter is my son, and he’s very important to me. I hope that after you’re together with him, you can take good care of him too.”
“Your son…” I chuckled and shook my head. “Aunt, forgive me for being blunt. If he’s so important to you, why did you let someone else raise him? I spent fifteen years in The Lynch Family, and I never knew about this secret… I never imagined that he and Cameron weren’t real brothers.”
“Someone else?” She raised an eyebrow. “That’s not someone else, it’s his father!”
“But you’re not with him.”
“What’s the difference between being with Mom and being with Aunt?” Mellisa’s eyes flashed with a hint of darkness. “Moreover, this is what Stella owed me. She tore apart my family, so she should raise my son for me!”
I was stunned. I couldn’t understand what was going on in this woman’s mind. How could there be such a mother!
“Is there anything in this world more important than being with your own child?”
“There is.” She looked at me. “Laura, you’re still young. When you experience life, when you reach my age, you’ll understand… When everything you cherish is taken away by those closest to you, when you fall from the clouds, nearly shattered to pieces, you’ll understand everything I’ve done.”
“No need to wait until your age, I understand now.” I smiled. “Well, there’s only one reason, and that’s the pursuit of power and profit. The desire for power and profit can surpass everything, even blood ties and affection! Aunt, forgive my offense, but I still want to take the liberty of guessing that back then, you were actually waiting for this day…”
“Your husband was taken by your own sister, you lost everything, you vowed to reclaim it. So you let Carter continue to live in The Lynch Family, pretending to be sickly, making everyone lower their guard, especially my mother! Let my mother think that he was weak and sickly, wouldn’t compete with Cameron for The Lynch Group, so my mother would let him stay in The Lynch Family for fifteen years!”
“But in these fifteen years, you probably didn’t cut off contact with Carter, did you?”
“You…” She seemed annoyed and embarrassed by my accurate assessment.
“For these past years, you’ve been secretly guiding Carter on what to do, which is why he’s become what he is today!”
“Laura!”
“Aunt, don’t be angry.” I looked at her calmly. “I don’t mean any harm. We’re on the same boat now, and we need to deal with Cameron together… So getting to know each other better will also help our future cooperation.”