Estella’s wails snapped Roxanne out of her trance, and the woman found her face covered in tears. “Oh Essie, I’ve missed you. I miss you so much….”
She pulled Estella into her embrace and tightened her arms around the little girl, wishing they would never be separated again. Not a day went by in the past six years without her missing the child she thought she had lost.
In fact, the thought of that child was the reason she was motivated to wake up from her previous coma. Little did she know the child she had been missing dearly was right by her side all this while.
As she thought about everything Estella experienced in the past six years, she felt extremely guilty. I’ve missed out on her life for so many years. Yet, since the day we met, she’s been helping me recover from my hurt and pain.
“I’m so sorry… It’s all my fault…” Roxanne could not help but apologize profusely. Meanwhile, tears started to well up in Archie and Benny’s eyes.
They always knew they had a sister, but they thought she was gone. As such, they had been caring for and loving Roxanne on behalf of their little sister as well.
Now that they found out that Estella, whom they had been taking care of, was their biological sister all along, the two boys were over the moon. “Hooray! Our sister is alive, and she’s always been by our side!”
Benny wiped the tears off his face and looked at his brother, who also shed tears of joy. The latter then nodded vigorously at Benny. Yes! This is great news! Lucian’s heart clenched in sorrow when he saw Roxanne and the kids sobbing uncontrollably.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Roxanne. It was entirely my fault. I should have told you the truth the moment I found out you had no clue about Essie’s background, but I had too many reservations. If you need to blame someone, blame me.”
I never knew she thought Essie was dead all these years. Lucian tightened his grip on the ring. He could not imagine how devastating it must have been for her when she was told the baby was stillborn. I knew nothing! I even resented her for being so cruel to Essie when we finally reunited.
Meanwhile, Sonya, too, was dumbfounded. She had always assumed that Roxanne was a heartless person who abandoned her husband and child. That woman thought Essie was dead? Then, how was Essie sent back to the Farwell residence?
Roxanne kept Estella locked in her arms and wept for what felt like an eternity before she gradually regained her composure and turned to Lucian who was still down on one knee.
“What took you so long to tell me? Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed her? I’ve always thought… my daughter was dead!” Over the years, she had lost count of the times she woke up from her sleep crying whenever she thought about her stillborn child..
Guilt and self-reproach inundated Lucian as Roxanne questioned him. Why? Why did I worry so much? Why did I have so many reservations? He was dying for an answer too.
If only I had told her about this earlier, could there be a different ending to our story? Unfortunately, it was too late for such wishful thinking.
Truth be told, he had missed the best time to reveal the secret to Roxanne. If she had found out earlier, would she cry less? “This is wonderful, Mommy! Essie is our little sister!” Benny exclaimed, exhilarated as he hugged Roxanne’s thigh after he was done crying.
Archie bobbed his head in delight, whereas the mother-and-daughter duo could not stop the tears from streaming down their faces. Lucian stood up and immediately wrapped his arms around the two.
