Lydia could only recall the drowning incident, as that was all she knew. Belle was a case of mistaken identity. She is not the real daughter of the Roberts.
Before Belle was rescued, Lydia and Raymond’s real daughter fell into the sea. It’s been a week. She fell from their fishing boat and wasn’t immediately found, even with the help of the Coast Guard.
A week later, Raymond saw a little girl floating near Bree Port. It was Belle. He immediately took her to the hospital before letting his wife know about it.
When Lydia got to the hospital, she started crying over Belle, calling her Lottie, their lost daughter. For Raymond, Lottie was already dead, but it wasn’t the same case for his wife.
As she was not in a good mental state due to their daughter’s incident, she mistook Belle for her. A woman then approached them, asking what had happened.
Lydia told the woman that they had finally found their daughter. She was saved from drowning after a week. The woman who approached the couple was Esme.
After asking them a couple more questions, she left. Although Raymond was confused as to what Esme’s real intentions were, he put the thoughts aside, as he was worried about the child he had just saved and about his wife.
After two months of staying with them, no one looked for Belle. He hadn’t heard of any news about a missing girl so he decided to just let Lydia think that it was their lost daughter.
However, when Belle woke up, she kept telling Lydia that her name wasn’t Lottie, she was Belle. Unfortunately, that was all she could remember about herself. She doesn’t know her last name nor the name of her parents.
Thankful for the incident, Raymond convinced Lydia to just switch their daughter’s name to Belle instead of Lottie. He used the idea of a miracle that they still found her, so Lydia readily agreed.
Looking at his daughter now, Raymond feels heartbroken for the girl. If she was with her real parents, then she wouldn’t have to work hard just to support the family.
Raymond knew Belle was from a rich family. When he rescued her, she was wearing an expensive-looking necklace that he took off before taking her to the hospital.
Raymond took the necklace to the pawnshop but he was rejected, as the shop couldn’t afford its price. According to the owner, the jewel in his hand is a limited edition necklace that was auctioned for almost a billion dollars.
Knowing the value of the item, Raymond decided to keep it. It was enough for him that he stole her identity. In time, he would return the valuable item to her.
Back at Bree, “Where is she?” Tristan roared. It was already past nine in the evening when his last meeting ended. He and Jacob went straight to the hospital, but when they got there, they were told that Belle was already released.
“What happened? How was she released in that condition?” Jacob asked the terrified nurse calmly. However, she cannot give them any answer.
“What is going on here?” It was Dr. Stephen Langley, Belle’s attending physician.
“Doc, they were asking about Belle Roberts, the car accident patient,” the nurse informed him.
Dr. Stephen tapped the nurse’s shoulder, “You may go,” then he turned to Jacob and Tristan. “Miss Roberts asked to be moved to a hospital in Dale.”
Tristan turned to face him, brows knitted, “Why would she want to be moved?” he asked irritatedly.
“I’ve no idea sir, but since it’s the patient’s request and she’s of legal age, we can only follow and process the necessary documents. It’s not dangerous for her to travel as well, so there’s no reason for us not to allow it.”
“Call her,” Tristan ordered of Jacob, as soon as the doctor was done with his explanation.
‘Is he her boyfriend?’ Dr. Stephen couldn’t help but think. When she was treating Belle earlier, he got attracted to her rare beauty. If this was Belle’s boyfriend, that would be heartbreaking for him.
“I’ve been trying to call her, Nathalie too, but not one of them is answering my call,” Jacob reported. He, too, was nervous, as they saw Belle’s situation earlier. He can’t understand why she decided to be transferred to Dale.
Tristan pressed on his nose bridge, frustrated at the current situation. “Book me a flight to Dale,” he instructed him immediately before turning to Dr. Stephen. “Do you at least know which hospital in Dale she was admitted to?” he asked, sarcasm evident in his voice.
Dr. Stephen noticed, he let out a chuckle before shaking his head. “I’m sorry Mr. De Clarion that is confidential information.”
The young De Clarion let out a harsh sigh, ‘This doctor is good-looking but useless,’ he mumbled to himself. He then proceeds on taking his leave with Jacob trailing behind him.
“Isn’t that Tristan De Clarion?” the nurse who was scolded earlier asked. Dr. Stephen nodded at her, then he turned on his heel and headed for the direction of his office. The nurse who was interested in Tristan quickly followed. “Is he in a relationship with that patient?” she asked again.
Instead of getting an answer, Dr. Stephen just glared at her. “You’re too nosy,” he snapped, before turning to leave again.
The nurse who got scolded for the second time in a matter of minutes smirked before rolling her eyes. She then went straight to the nurse’s station to get her phone before heading out.
“That Belle Roberts was moved to another hospital. But that Tristan De Clarion came here looking for her, I guess he didn’t know of her plans,” she informed the person on the other line.
Joyce was irritated after hearing the news. ‘That bitch is really lucky,’ she whispered to herself. When the call ended, she dialed another number.
“Can you check the hospitals in Dale and see if there’s someone admitted there with the name Belle Roberts?” The person she was talking to immediately accepted her order after they agreed on the price. ‘This time I’ll make sure you’re dead,’ Joyce thought with a wicked smile slowly creeping on her face.
Lucas, the person Joyce asked to search for Belle, was able to find her. However, she was already released an hour before he got there.
He immediately reported it and out of rage, Joyce ordered him to track them down. “Kill them!” she ordered.
Fortunately, Belle, her family, and Nathalie decided to stay in a hotel in the meantime. It would take them three hours to reach their town, as she was confined near the port of Dale, so they decided to spend the night in a hotel instead.
Lucas, on the other hand, reached the Roberts residence in as short as two hours. No one was there when he arrived and when he informed Joyce, he was asked to ransack the place and burn it down.
Lucas ordered his men to do as Joyce ordered. They climbed the fence and kicked the main door open, going thru one room after another.
“Sir, we found something!” one of Lucas’ men called. In his hand is a small velvet box with Belle’s name engraved on it. Inside is a precious-looking necklace.
Lucas immediately took a picture of the necklace and its box and sent it to Joyce. His phone rang in a matter of seconds. “I’ll add fifty thousand more to your payment, bring that back to me.”
As the man is unaware of the necklace’s true value, he agrees. Carefully putting the necklace back into its box, he smiled widely. ‘Looks like a hit a jackpot!’ he muttered, slipping the box into the pocket of his leather jacket.
“Anything else?” he asked his men, but after a few more minutes of thorough searching, they all came back empty-handed. “That’s enough, let’s go,” he told them.
He decided not to burn down the house as it would attract too much attention and Dale’s police force is known for their excellent job of apprehending criminals. He doesn’t want to end up behind bars before getting his hand on the payment Joyce promised. He intends to become rich by getting paid by these rich people for doing things for them. He can’t do that when he gets caught.
Back at his hideout, he called Joyce to let her know the job was done. The vicious woman sent him fifty percent of their agreed amount.
He was told that she would send him the remaining fifty percent once she received the necklace. Lucas readily agreed as he trusts Joyce.
The next day, Lucas sent one of his men to Bree. His man met with Joyce but he only handed her the necklace once Lucas confirmed that he had already received the rest of the money.
Joyce went straight to her apartment after receiving the item. She called Esme to come over, as she wanted her to confirm if it was indeed Belle’s necklace.