“If you’re unhappy, just tell us. Don’t keep it in your heart. No matter what happens in the end, we’re still family.”
At the start of all this, Johanna wanted to take the initiative to comfort Lila. But after thinking it over for a while, she thought it would be better to let Lila digest the matter by herself. Lila was no longer a child anymore. She should be able to deal with it by herself. Lila nodded while tears streamed down her face at the same time. She embraced Johanna tightly and said, “Mom, I don’t want to leave you. Even though I now know I have my biological parents, I haven’t seen them for over twenty years. We don’t know each other and I don’t want them back. I’ve always regarded you as my biological parents. I’m crying because I really don’t want to leave you.”
Beal got up and walked over to her. He patted Lila on the back and tried to comfort her.
“Your mother and I never want you to leave us either. If you want to stay, then just continue to live with us. You’re still our daughter no matter what.”
He believed in his heart that Lila’s biological parents were not good people. If she really went back to them, she wouldn’t be able to live a good life in that kind of family.
Lila peered up at them happily. She sniffled and turned to look at Natalie with tears all over her face.
“Then we’ll be sisters from now on, Natalie.” Natalie smiled and said, “Yes.”
“That’s really great.” Johanna was happy to hear that now they were going to be one big happy family. She held
Natalie’s hand and said affectionately to her, “Lila was born a little earlier than you were. That means she’ll be your elder sister from now on.”
After pausing for a few seconds, Natalie opened her mouth to say, “All right.”
Lila smiled and promised Johanna, “Okay, Mom, I’ll go on to take good care of Natalie in the future.”
At first, Natalie thought that this was going to be a happy ending for them, but out of the corner of her eye, she found that the way Lila looked at her didn’t seem to be as friendly as what she showed on the surface. However,
Natalie didn’t say anything in front of Johanna. The last thing she wanted to do was make her sad.
Peal pushed his round-frame glasses back on his nose and had a gentle smile on his face. He placed his arm around Dhanna’s shoulder and said, “Well, it looks like our family is finally reunited.” ohanna turned to look at him, with tears glistening in her eyes. Finally, their family was complete now.
Natalie had just returned to the White family home. Johanna didn’t want her to go back to Seacisco so soon so she vehemently insisted that Natalie stay in Barnes.
“I’m going back to the company for work tomorrow. If you’re bored, you can go shopping with Lila. She has many friends in
Barnes. This is the supplementary card of my credit card. You can buy whatever you’d like.”
Before Johanna made her way to the company, she gave a card to Natalie to use as she pleased.
“Thank you but no, I can’t accept this. You have bought me innumerable things.”
Natalie felt embarrassed to accept such a grand gesture.
Johanna pressed the card into Natalie’s hand and hugged her again, feeling reluctant to leave.
“You’re being too polite with me. Well, I really have to go now. I’ll give you two the time to bond with each other today.”
Lila was positively green with the jealousy that consumed every fiber of her being. She had been longing for a supplementary card for as long as she could remember. However, no matter what methods she tried to employ, Johanna didn’t agree to it.
Now Natalie had made little to no effort yet she was gifted the card. How could Lila not envy her? Lila had a catch-up date with her best friends to enjoy afternoon tea. She had no desire whatsoever to take Natalie along with her. However, since Johanna had asked her specifically to do so, she had no choice but to let Natalie tag along
The place they patronized was a restaurant in a five-star hotel. The desserts of this hotel were well-known, which made it a popular place for many wealthy ladies to spend their leisure time.
“Lila! You’re finally here! Do you know how long have we been waiting for you?”
As soon as Lila and Natalie entered the restaurant, a woman in a sexy slip dress with leopard print pattern stood up and waved to beckon them over. Lila quickly walked over and kissed the woman on the cheeks. She smiled and asked, “What made you stay abroad so long?”
When the woman was about to speak, she saw Natalie standing behind Lila. She raised her eyebrows and smiled,
“Who is this? Why don’t you introduce her to us?”
Lila took a glance at Natalie. She walked behind her and introduced her to her best friends, “This is my sister,
Natalie White. You must have heard of her in the newspapers.”
Of course, these women knew full well who Natalie was. They had read the news about her in the newspaper over and over again. Lila led Natalie to their seats to sit down.
The young ladies made conversations with Natalie from time to time about some mind-numbingly boring topics.
From these conversations, Natalie could tell that these young ladies were all from rich families and had no ambition to strive to make progress. They lived a comfortable life and were waiting for their parents to arrange husbands for them in the future.
Johanna looked into Lila’s eyes meaningfully. “I could see that Natalie was quite nice to you. Did you happen to misunderstand her?”
Lila felt wronged right then. “I have no idea what happened. My best friends and I went shopping together with her.We treated her very considerately. I don’t know why that happened.” Johanna knew Lila very well. Though she was a little spoiled, with regard to morals, Johanna thought she and Beal had taught her a great deal.
“Well, it’s getting late, why not go upstairs and have a rest first? I’ll deal with this matter.” Johanna didn’t bother asking any more questions. She decided she would talk to Natalie first.
The next morning, when Natalie woke up, the servants were preparing breakfast in the kitchen. In Seacisco, she had the habit of getting up early in the morning.
Johanna returned to the house from a morning run outside. Sweat was pouring off her body. The habit of morning exercise gave her a perfect figure even though she was nearly fifty years old.
“Good morning, Mrs. White.” When Natalie saw Johanna walk in, she nodded at her. Even though Johanna and Beal were her biological parents, Natalie still felt a little awkward around them and could not make herself call them Mom and Dad for now.
“Mom” and “Dad” were both unfamiliar and awkward phrases to her still. When she lived with the Quinn family, she seldom called George and Lauren Dad and Mom. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Johanna was startled.
“I’m not your boss, why are you still calling me “Mrs. White”?”
She then glanced over at the empty table, covered her stomach with her hands, and winked at Natalie.
“Breakfast has yet to be served. Why don’t we go to the kitchen to check? You haven’t had the chance to try my cooking, right?
