After finishing Olivia’s surgery, it was already very late.
Sylvia and Franklin left the hospital together, looking at the dark sky. She glanced at the time.
It was already past eight in the evening, and the DNA identification center had closed…
She felt a bit disappointed.
Never mind, I’ll get it tomorrow.
As she was feeling down, she heard a man’s magnetic voice beside her, “What do you want to eat? Are you hungry?”
Sylvia looked up to see the bustling street at night, the neon lights flickering. The man stood amidst the lights, looking at her with a tender expression that made her heart race.
She smiled slightly, “I want to eat tacos.”
“Alright, I’ll take you there,” Franklin said, surprised by her simple request for such an ordinary food as tacos.
But he didn’t mind.
So they went to a nearby bistro, ordered two servings of cheese soup, and tacos.
The tacos were filled with lots of vegetables.
Sylvia liked them a lot and also ordered a plate of fried lamb with cumin, which she wrapped in the taco and found quite tasty.
Seeing her enjoy the food, Franklin also tried some. The man, usually elegant, nodded approvingly, “It tastes pretty good.”
“It seems like it’s your first time eating tacos,” Sylvia couldn’t help but laugh. Her eyes curved into crescents, looking particularly charming under the lights. “Even the young master likes simple food now.”
Franklin gently tapped her cute little nose, “The simple pleasures of life are the most genuine and long-lasting. Haven’t you heard the saying that a plain and simple life is true happiness?”
Sylvia took a sip of soup, “Well said.”
A life filled with simple pleasures was indeed wonderful.
She glanced at a family of three in the corner of the restaurant. The couple had brought their baby girl, who had just learned to eat by herself. The baby wore a small bib and was clumsily feeding herself with a spoon, looking very cute.
A flash of envy crossed her eyes. When would she have a child of her own?
It felt like a distant dream.
She didn’t dare show her feelings, fearing Franklin would notice, so she quickly lowered her head and continued eating her taco.
By the time they finished dinner, it was already past nine. Sylvia looked at the sky and then at the time, “I need to go back. The elders of the Hipps Family have also done bone marrow matching; I need to prioritize their results and check on them.”
Franklin gently kissed her on the corner of her lips and reluctantly started the car, “Alright, I’ll take you back.”
About twenty minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance of the Hipps manor. Sylvia’s beautiful eyes looked at his handsome face, “I hope our lives won’t be like those of separated lovers for too long.”
“I know.” Franklin kissed her again, holding her small hand as he helped her out of the car. Watching her figure disappear into the dark yard, he finally turned away.
When Sylvia returned, she saw Clare and Queena in the living room. The old lady was watching TV while Clare was drafting an exercise plan.
“Uncle, are the results out?” Sylvia asked as soon as she entered.
Before Clare could answer, Queena spoke first, “Except for mine which is a six, none of the others match. Sigh… does a six mean I can donate bone marrow? Should I use mine?”
Sylvia’s heart raced. She was even more certain that Jenna might really be related to the Hipps Family.
Suppressing her excitement, she sat down next to Queena and hugged her waist, “Grandma, you’re too old. Medical regulations only accept donors between 18 and 45 years old, so… we need to keep looking.”
“Really? There’s such a rule!” Queena said regretfully, “I really wanted to save this child. Her mother-in-law was best friends with your mother; it’s only right to save her.”
“Grandma, don’t be too sad,” Sylvia comforted Queena. If all else failed, she would use her own bone marrow for the transplant. Even if it meant dealing with the side effects of Love Parasite, it was better than losing a life.
Her grandmother was too old to take such a risk.
With this thought, she made up her mind.
“My match score with her is as high as nine, so I’ll do it. My results are also out.”
“What? A match score of nine?” Clare looked up from his plan in shock at Sylvia. “Sylvia… how can our Hipps Family have such a strange match with her? So many people tested with no results, but our family has matches-mine is high, mother’s is high… yours is even nine?”
Sylvia smiled at him, “I compared my DNA with hers; I’ll get the results tomorrow. Uncle, I think she might be my sister…”
“Sister?”
“Your sister?”
Clare and Queena were both shocked. “Didn’t they say she died in a car accident with your mother years ago? She’s still alive?”
Mother and son looked at each other in disbelief. “If she’s really your sister… that’s wonderful!”
Queena burst into tears, “Heaven has not forsaken me. In my lifetime, I can see two such wonderful granddaughters… I really…”
She didn’t know what to say.
Sylvia quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe her tears, “Grandma, we need to wait for the results first. I’ll get them tomorrow to confirm.”
“It must be! It must be,” Queena said through her tears. “It must be.”
“If your sister can be found, maybe your mother is still alive somewhere unknown,” Clare said hopefully. “Sylvia, I’ll go with you tomorrow morning to get the results. If she’s really our family’s child…”
“Alright.”
The next morning, Sylvia woke up early. When she went downstairs, she saw Clare already dressed in a suit waiting for her.
Seeing her, he gave a nervous smile, “Sylvia, when do we leave?”
Sylvia couldn’t help but laugh, “After breakfast.”
Mollie came downstairs at that moment and teased him, “Oh my, he looks more nervous than when we got married!”
Sylvia looked at Clare and said playfully, “Auntie is right; he does.”
Their teasing made Clare less nervous. It was just getting some results after all.
If she was part of the Hipps Family, that would be great. If not… it would be a bit disappointing but not a huge loss.
With this thought, he felt more relaxed.
After breakfast, Clare drove Sylvia to the identification center.
The center was quite remote and not easy to reach.
They arrived just as it opened at nine o’clock.
Clare and Sylvia walked in together.
Sylvia handed over the payment receipt to the staff for verification. After checking it, they went to fetch the results.
After a while, they handed her an envelope. “This is yours.”
Sylvia swallowed hard and looked at Clare. He gave her an encouraging look, “Open it.”
When they saw the results, both were shocked.
“What is this?” Clare couldn’t believe his eyes. “Didn’t they say your sister was two years younger than you?”
Sylvia was equally stunned by the result of “fraternal twins.” “Twins? My sister and I are twins? Then why did Mom always tell me she was two years younger…”
How strange!
“If you’re twins, does that mean your sister isn’t your adoptive father’s daughter either? You share the same father?” Clare was confused by this bizarre blood relationship.
“It seems so. She shares the same father as me. Since Mom is missing now, we need to ask my adoptive father,” Sylvia said as she put away the test results and handed over some blood samples and related items from yesterday to the staff. “Please do another test for me.”
“Sure, you can pick it up tomorrow,” the staff nodded and took them away. “You can go pay now.”
“Another test? For whom?” Clare asked curiously.
“I need to keep it secret until I get the results,” Sylvia replied with a mysterious smile. “Let’s go.”
Clare wisely didn’t press further.
In the car, Sylvia asked Cody to help her make a call to Otto’s prison.
After a while, Cody replied that Otto had been called over to take the call.
Sylvia thanked him immediately. “Cody, thank you.”
Cody laughed heartily. “No need for thanks; we’re family.”
After hanging up with Cody, Sylvia dialed the prison’s number.
Otto’s familiar voice came through. “Hello? What do you want now? Are you going to get me out?”
Sylvia sneered coldly. “I have something to ask you. Why did Mom say my sister was two years younger when we’re actually twins?”
Otto wanted to hang up when he heard such irrelevant questions. “Why should I tell you? Get me out first.”
“Fine then; rot in prison,” Sylvia warned him icily. “If you tell me honestly, I can reduce your sentence by a year.”
To deal with Otto’s rogue nature required being even more ruthless than him.
Sure enough, Otto got agitated hearing this. “Sylvia, how can you be so heartless? I raised you even if I’m not your biological father.”
“So what? You harmed my sister and mother,” Sylvia lost patience. “Are you going to tell me or not?”
Otto sensed something was off from her tone. “Did you find your sister? Is she alive?”
“None of your business; just answer me!”