Aurora had spent a delightful Saturday with Julian, sleeping in until the sun was high in the sky. When she awoke, she found herself alone. She had grown accustomed to seeing him upon opening her eyes. Not seeing him now felt odd, as if it wasn’t just the bed that was empty, but her heart as well.
A wry, helpless smile curled the corners of her mouth. She realized how terrifying habits could be. For so many years she had been alone, and yet, in the short time she had been with him, she had grown accustomed to his embrace.
Aurora glanced at the clock and was surprised to find it was nearly eleven. She hurriedly got out of bed and started her day. When she came downstairs, she found Julian playing chess with Oswaldo, which explained why he hadn’t woken her. He had gone to keep her grandfather company.
A faint smile touched her lips. “Grandpa, wasn’t playing all day yesterday enough?”
“Julian’s chess skills are exceptional. I refuse to believe I can’t beat him,” Oswaldo declared.
“Julian, it looks like you’ll have to lose a game, or else you won’t be leaving this place,” Aurora joked from the side.
She had always longed for such a harmonious family environment, something she hadn’t felt since her mother’s death. Not long after her mother passed away, Genevieve moved into the Montgomery family’s villa with her two children, and Aurora was left to live an unhappy life.
As a child, those two were like little demons, following Genevieve’s bidding and scheming against her. Eventually, Aurora was driven away from the dining table, forced to watch the happy family from a distance.
Magnus, who once adored her, turned cold, never believing her explanations that she was not at fault. Over time, Aurora became more withdrawn, no longer expecting anything, merely observing everything as an outsider.
Even when she had resigned herself to her fate, they were relentless, pushing her to her current state of misery.
“What are you thinking about? You seem so lost,” Julian remarked. Although he was playing chess with Oswaldo, his attention was fully on Aurora. He was keenly aware of even the slightest change in her expression and felt a deep pity seeing the desolation in her eyes just then.
“It’s nothing. Lunch is almost ready. Come over once you finish this game,” she said with a smile, then turned to leave.
Just then, Aurora’s phone rang. It was Asher. She remembered the photo she had sent him earlier.
“Got any news?”
“Hmph, could you be any more heartless? Not even asking how I am?” Asher snorted.
She could almost picture the expression on his face through the phone.
“So how are you going?”
“Save it. I know you don’t care. After all the overtime I put in to restore that photo for you, I even consulted a technical expert to get it done with precision. I’m about to send it to you. Check it out if it’s the person you’re looking for.”
“Thanks. You can send it over now,” Aurora urged, eager to find out who it was.
Was it merely someone who looked similar, or was it indeed the person she was looking for?
“Alright, I’m hanging up now.” Asher had wanted to chat more, but sensing her urgency, he decided to end the call and send the photo.
As soon as the call ended, Asher sent her the photo. The moment she saw the face in the picture, she was stunned.
“Mom…”
Although that person had left her world many years ago, she had never imagined that one day she would see her again! The face etched in her memory slowly merged with the photo before her. Though still somewhat blurry, it was much clearer than the original photo. She was certain this person was her mother, or at least someone who looked exactly like her. Regardless of the reason, she was determined to find her! Her vision gradually blurred with tears, and all her memories of her began to resurface.
“Aurora is the cutest, just like a little princess.”
“Someday, Aurora will meet a prince who will give you the best things in the world.”
“Aurora, if one day I have to leave, don’t cry. I will still be by your side to protect you.”
“Aurora…”
The woman’s words echoed in her ears, and Aurora looked at the photo as her tears fell one by one. If there was any chance that she could see her mother again, she would trade everything she owned for that chance.
“Aurora, why are you crying?” Julian had just finished a game and came out smiling.
Seeing Aurora in tears, he immediately panicked. “What’s wrong?”
Aurora was strong now. She wouldn’t look like this without a significant reason.
Oswaldo, seeing Aurora in such a state, became anxious. “What happened? If anyone dares to upset you, I’ll beat him to death!” he said, raising his cane.
Aurora pulled away from Julian’s embrace. “Grandpa, look at this photo.”
When she handed her phone to Oswaldo, his face changed dramatically upon seeing the person in the photo. “Victoria!”
“Grandpa, you think it’s Mom, right?” Hope surged in Aurora’s heart.
“It looks just like her. I remember your mother had a mole under her eye, but unfortunately, this photo is too blurry to see that mole.” Oswaldo tried to zoom in, but the photo only became blurrier.
The woman was originally in the background, and the DSLR photo had a blurred background due to the chaos at the scene, even though the technicians did their best to restore it.
“Grandpa, I remember Mom died of a heart attack, but this car accident occurred two years ago. Mom has been dead for so many years. Could there have been something fishy about what happened back then?”
Aurora was too young at the time and didn’t understand much, only remembering that her mother never returned after leaving one day.
Later, Magnus told her that her mother had gone to heaven and become an angel watching over her. It was only when Aurora grew up that she heard from others that her mother had actually died from a sudden heart attack, triggered by shock and pronounced dead after unsuccessful resuscitation at the hospital.
She never saw her mother take her last breath. Was there still some truth to uncover about what happened back then?
“When your mother passed away, I was on a business trip in America. By the time I got back, she had been cremated. Normally, no one would fabricate something like this.
Even if Genevieve was audacious, it’s impossible to keep everyone in the dark, right? But this person in the photo looks exactly like Victoria.”
Oswaldo was also deeply puzzled, wondering what was really going on.