“Nia! Nia! Where are you?!” Kendrick stood on the street and shouted to the air blindly.
Niamh could not stop her tears from rolling down.
‘Kendrick, I’m just right in front of you, but I can’t extend my arms to you.’
“Nia!”
Kendrick continued screaming while his eyes gleamed with endless worries and anxiety.
Niamh saw Kendrick’s anxious and fearful expression. She noticed just how much he wanted to find and meet her.
She recalled the kind of man Kendrick was. He was currently like a big child who had lost his sense of direction because he had lost his treasure. Hence, he ended up crying on the busy streets.
“Nia!”
Kendrick’s shouting struck Niamh hard, and she felt as if her heart was being split into half. It hurt so much that she could not even breathe.
‘Kendrick…’
The traffic light turned green, and the car started its journey again.
Niamh did not make a single sound and just stared at Kendrick as the car drove away from him.
As for his figure that was blindly looking all over the place for her, it slowly turned blurry because of the tears in her eyes.
Ryan knew Niamh was crying because of the tears that were dripping down his fingertips.
The warmth he felt from those tears made him frown.
“Wipe away your tears.” He handed his handkerchief over to her and said in a domineering tone, “Don’t ever let me see you crying over another man again.”
“You’re the ‘another man’.” Niamh looked at Ryan with a cold stare. “In this world, he’s the only man who will make me cry for him.”
“Oh really?” Ryan’s eyes were brewing with hatred. “If that’s the case, let’s head back for now. You don’t have to see the people you want to meet.”
“Hmph.” Niamh snorted and raised her teary eyes that did not seem to have any sense of fear in them. “Besides using an underhanded method to restrict and threaten me, what else do you have? Ryan, with this, you’ll never be better than Kendrick.”
She tilted her head and wiped away her tears with her fingertips. She vowed not to reveal her weak side in front of other men aside from Kendrick.
Ryan glanced at Niamh’s side profile which looked stony. He did not have any opposing ideas. Instead, his eyes were full of admiration.
He felt defeat and let out a chuckle. Perhaps he was touched by Niamh’s perseverance.
The car continued its journey, and after half an hour, the car came to a halt at the entrance of a villa that was located in the outskirts.
Ryan got down from the car and opened the door for Niamh.
Niamh walked over to the entrance and saw two very huge bodyguards guarding the place. They immediately greeted Ryan politely when they noticed his presence.
Ryan said coldly, “Where are they?”
“In the house,” answered the bodyguard.
Niamh’s heart started racing after she heard it.
Ryan smirked when he noticed Niamh’s expression changing. “You can now enter and go collect the surprise I’ve prepared for you.”
Niamh looked at Ryan and felt as if her emotions were being tied up by something invisible.
She looked at the door straight ahead and slowly walked up.
Niamh’s pulse went erratic when she started predicting what she was about to see.
Step by step, she walked ahead. Just as she reached the entrance, she heard someone pouring water and it was followed by the appearance of a face right in front of her eyes. This was the same face she could only see in her dreams.
Niamh’s eyes immediately became red. She raised her hands and supported herself on the door frame.
“Dad…”
Sean had just poured himself a glass of water. Suddenly, he heard someone calling him ‘Dad’. This voice made his heart skip a beat.
He turned around to face the entrance casually. When he saw Niamh, who was standing beside the door, Sean immediately widened his orbs as the glass slipped away from his hand.
Crash!
The glass dropped to the floor and shattered into pieces.
Eloise heard the commotion and came out of the house. She ran to Sean, anxious and terrified. “What happened? Sean, what’s wrong?”
Sean grasped Eloise’s hand. His eyes became watery as he pointed at Niamh who was slowly coming in from the doorway.
“Look, Eloise, look who’s here! Your daughter, who you keep thinking of day and night, is here!” Sean reminded Elosie with his trembling voice.
Eloise looked in the direction where Sean was pointing at. She froze up the moment she saw Niamh. Standing motionlessly, she stared at Niamh.
Niamh’s eyes had turned red long ago. She sprinted her way to Eloise and Sean. “Mom, Dad! Is it really you guys? I’m not dreaming, right?”
Sean raised his shaking hand and touched Niamh’s face.
“You’re not dreaming, Eveline. Your mom and I are still alive.” Sean choked. In the end, he was unable to stop his tears from streaming down his eyes.
“Oh dear, Eveline.” Sean extended his arms and hugged Niamh gently.
Niamh cried out in joy and leaned in Sean’s embrace. She finally got back the long-lost fatherly love.
She thought she would never have the chance to experience that warmth again in her life.
“Dad,” she called out. Her lost family was found once again, and this made her eyes sparkle.
After hugging for some time, Sean let her go. He wiped away his tears and gently pulled Eloise’s hand. “Look, Eloise, it’s our daughter. Haven’t you always longed to see Eveline? Now she’s here. Come here, Eloise.”
Niamh could not resist the urge to cry. She put on a smile and directed it to Eloise. “Mom,” she called out to Eloise. She stretched out her hand, attempting to pull Eloise’s hand, but Eloise suddenly evaded her and hid behind Sean.
“Who’s this? Why is she calling me ‘Mom’?”
Niamh felt hurt at Eloise’s reaction of avoiding her and did not expect Eloise to say such a thing.
Niamh’s heart was pumping hard against her ribs. She found it hard to believe when she looked at Eloise curiously staring back at her.
“Mom?” she tried to call out to her again, feeling heartbroken.
She did not know what was going on, but she realized the way Eloise was looking at her was very different. It almost seemed as if Eloise thought of her as a stranger.
Sean spun around and comforted Eloise like he was comforting a kid. “Don’t be afraid, Eloise. This is our daughter, Eveline. Don’t you recognize her?”
“Eveline?” Eloise snapped out of it and widened her big, pretty eyes. She examined Niamh with a critical gaze. Then, she shook her head. “This is not Eveline, no.”
Niamh felt something within her breaking into pieces when she heard Eloise denying her.
She looked over at Eloise, who was behind Sean, with a cautious gaze as tears started flowing.
Niamh composed herself and said to Sean, “Why is she this way? Why can’t she recognize me? Dad, what’s going on?”
Sean let out a long sigh and said while feeling heartbroken, “It’s all because of Lana.”
“Lana?”
Sean nodded, his eyes gleaming with a deep hatred for Lana.
“Because of her, our courtyard was burned into ashes. Your mom thought that you were in trouble when the fire happened. Ever since then, she keeps saying she wants to look for you. Day in day out, she would keep muttering your name hundreds of times, or even thousands of times…”
At that point, Sean choked. He grasped Eloise’s hand. His eyes were still brewing with the indescribable hurt and care he had for Eloise.
“Soon after, your mom became like this because she desperately misses you. Now, she can’t recognize anybody but me. Not just that, but her intelligence has declined as well. Occasionally, she can’t carry out even the most basic day-to-day tasks.”
Niamh felt her heart being pierced by a sharp blade after listening to Sean’s explanation. The hurtful feeling seeped deep into her bone marrow.
“Let’s not bother about her, Sean. Let’s go look for Eveline!” Eloise looked at Niamh calmly. She grabbed Sean’s hand tightly, her expression suddenly becoming anxious and worried. “Sean, do you think perhaps Eveline isn’t willing to forgive us? Is that why that kid went into hiding and doesn’t want to meet us?”
As Eloise spoke, she started blaming herself. “It’s all my fault, it’s my fault. I didn’t recognize Eveline and mistook that bad lady as my daughter instead. I’ve let Eveline down and allowed her to endure lots of suffering. I’m not a good mother. Eveline will never forgive me. She’ll never…”
Niamh continued crying when she heard Eloise’s muttering that was full of self-blame.
She walked to the front of Eloise and grabbed her hand. “Mom, Eveline has stopped being angry with you for a long time now. Stop blaming yourself. Eveline’s back now and will never be apart from you again, okay?”
Eloise frowned and stared at Niamh, looking absent-minded.
After some time, she once again freed her hands from Niamh’s grip and ran to Sean’s side. “This lady is very weird. She keeps saying she’s Eveline.”
Eloise kept shaking her head when she looked at Niamh. “No, this isn’t Eveline. You’d better stop lying to me. Eveline wouldn’t bother about me anymore.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.