Sara was not going to work today, therefore, she woke up late or rather, a call woke her up.
When she saw it was from "Boyfriend Li", she immediately sat up and arranged her hair before taking the call.
"It"s past eight in the morning and you"re still asleep. What a nice life you"re living." He said with a laugh when he heard her crooked "h.e.l.lo boyfriend Li".
"I was just about to wake up before you called." She complained.
"Go freshen up and eat something. You"ll be free later this evening right?"
A smile appeared on her face and she began to nod, totally forgetting she was on a call and not in front of him.
"Or are you busy?" He asked when he noticed she was quiet.
"Oh I"m free. Very free. Is....it a date?" She asked shyly and tucked a few strands of misplaced hair at the back of her ear.
She heard him laugh lightly before he said "Yes....it...is...a...date." He counted his words slowly.
"Now go help your father with ch.o.r.es. I"ll call you later."
After he hung up, she squealed and buried her head on the pillow in overexcitement.
At that point, she suddenly remembered she had other things to worry about.
Fuji was still hanging around somewhere plus, she also did not know where her aunt was at the moment.
She believed they would be able to know her whereabout if she begged her father to call her and so, she left the room after tucking Joreen properly with the blanket that had rolled off her body.
She noticed the house seemed awfully quiet after moving from the sitting room to the kitchen.
Her father was no where to be seen. Neither did she see Miss Changyu anywhere.
A naughty smile appeared on her face as she imagined her father had slept in the room with Changyu.
On getting outside his room"s door, she saw pieces of shredded papers on the floor.
"What is this?" She crouched down to pick up a piece curiously.
Because she wanted to be sure, slowly, she knocked on the door but it suddenly pushed open to show it was not locked.
Her brows furrowed as the door appeared ajar.
"What is wrong? They are not in?" She asked herself before poking her head inside to take a peek.
Her eyes scanned inside and she noticed that no one was in.
She also saw some things scattered on the ground.
She entered inside the room while wondering where the both of them had gone to.
She did not waste time before placing a call across to her father who informed her that they had both gone out for a little stroll and would probably be back in the evening.
After the call ended, she thought something did not seem right.
They both went out for a stroll in this cold morning and would be back by evening? What kind of strolling was that?
He asked her to heat some food in the fridge for herself and Joreen but at that point, her eyes went to the things which were scattered on the floor.
She did not know the last thing he said before hanging up because her entire attention was on the ground.
She saw a picture and paper on the bed, two pictures on the ground with a necklace pictures. And what"s more? The very box she had been trying to unlock was opened on the floor.
Out of curiosity, she decided to take a look at it.
"We cremated your child" Her father"s cold voice.
"She was left in front of an orphanage" Her mother"s resigned voice.
"We did it for you. We are your parents. We love you" Her father"s convincing voice.
"She is mentally ill. You have to watch her properly. Put her on twenty four hours surveillance" A certain doctor"s voice.
"I did it for my family. Wouldn"t you have done the same if you were in my shoes?" Cixi"s accusing voice.
"How can you do this to your parents?" Her sister"s disappointed voice.
"You should stay away from whatever will cause you shock for the time being. Your system is still too weak. And make sure you take your medication" Her doctor"s worried voice.
"Two teenagers took your daughter from the orphanage"s gate" Hani"s informative voice.
"You didn"t know right?— I believe you" Sara"s voice.
"She is my daughter... And yours."
All the voices in her head were calm now as she paid attention to the only voice she wanted to hear.
"But do not think about going near her. She is my daughter and I raised her with all I had. Wasn"t it you who abandoned her? Even if you were angry at me, did our daughter do anything to you? I just want to know—"
At that point, she no longer heard anything he said. But she knew she had felt a sharp pain in her chest and almost fell but luckily, he was there to catch her before she collapsed to the ground.
As she opened her eyes, She saw Jianjun"s back and it looked like he was in a call with someone.
"You should heat it up for yourself and Joreen. I don"t know when I"ll be back. Probably in the evening"
"He is talking to her. He is talking to my daughter" Everything within her screamed as she forced herself to sit up.
He turned when he heard her make some noises and when he saw she was awake, he quickly said bye and hung up before moving closer to her.
"How do you feel?" He fussed. "I will get the doctor now"
Changyu did not seem to care about anything else. She did not even mind that she was currently inside a hospital. All she was concerned about was her child.
"Last night....Did you...did you mean it? Sara—"
Her eyes began to water as she spoke.
For years, she had been slowly dying of loneliness and depression. She had thought the only child she would ever have was dead.
Then, she found out that it was not even a son but a daughter and she was probably alive somewhere.
And now, not only had she met her, they had both gone out a couple of times and she was even friends with her.
No wonder she had not disliked Sara from the first time she saw her even though she had thought Sara was the daughter of the woman she did not like.
"I spoke with Miss Hani. She brought you some clothes to change into and she informed me you did not like the hospitals but I did not have any choice since you seem to be fainting a lot lately. Hope you don"t mind?" He asked for her opinion.
"I don"t care about any of that! Sara is our daughter! How... How could you keep such away from me? Do you know what I"ve gone through? How...how could you do this to me?"
Tears began to pour from her eyes as she yelled at him.
"You have to calm down. Let me get the doctor first." He pleaded with her.
Hani had informed him that the doctor had advised her and all her employees to make sure she did not get shocked because it may affect her health.
He felt bad for causing her the shock and so, he did not want her to do anything that might make her get collapse again.
Changyu punched a little bottom by the side of the bed which made a "beep" sound in turn. "There. the doctor is going to come any time soon so can you talk to me now?"
"I was worried." He said in a gentle voice before sitting beside her on the queensized hospital bed.
He had never been to an hospital that looked like this even back in the days.
When she collapsed, although he was very worried and tensed, he did not want to take her to any common hospital. So he had called Hani to ask which hospital she frequented.
Hani had asked for him to send her to her place instead since she hated the hospitals but he could not do so.
He stood by his word to take her to a hospital and she did not have any choice but to agree and told him she was going to handle the rest and all he had to do was to send her there since she could not go there because of the distance.
He stood up from the bed and said to her.
"She was a daughter you abandoned so how was I supposed to tell you about her existence?"
"A daughter I abandoned?"
Her doctor suddenly rushed in and immediately he entered, she asked him to go back because she was okay.
He had no choice but to obey and left after a bow.
"A daughter I abandoned? Who said I abandoned her? Why would I ever abandon my own daughter?" She yelled at him.
"Then how come she was sent to that orphanage on that night? For goodness sake, she was not even mature yet." This time, he yelled back at her.
Remembering the almost lifeless Sara nearly brought tears to his eyes but he tried to control his emotions.
"I feel the same way you feel now" She suddenly burst into more tears that came with gasps.
"I feel exactly the same way. I did not even see my child at all. I had no idea what she looked like. But before I woke up, she was no where to be found. My parents had already gotten rid of her. Did you know how I felt then? I was told she died! No matter what, I could not forgive myself. I could not also forgive you for causing me so much pain and agony "
"How could I get rid of my own daughter? How could you think that way of me? Am I that horrible of a person to you?"
She lifted a pillow with her cannulfree hand and threw it at him but it did not go anywhere since she did not exert much force.
"Get out! You are even worse. Did you always think of me that way? As a beast who did not care about her own flesh and blood? I said get out!"
She yelled at him again and threw another pillow.
But instead of him to leave, he moved closer to her, sat back on the bed beside her, and wrapped his hand around her in a hug.
This time, he cried with her.
Changyu did not bother to push him away and just cried with her head buried on his shoulder.
"Does she know about it?" She asked in between tears.
"She doesn"t. So take care of your health and let"s go meet her" He advised.
He was glad. Glad that she had not gotten rid of their child. Glad she had the mind to keep their daughter even if it did not go according to plan.
"I"m sorry Changyu"
For the first time, he finally apologized.
Sara had looked at the pictures in surprise because it was the first picture of her young father and Aunt that she was privileged to see. She also believed the two elders in the picture were her grandparents.
She did not recognise any one else except her mother, someone she believed was the younger Changyu and Mr Park who worked in Delight.
The only thing that actually made her surprised look turn into one of shock was the DNA test result she had seen.
"Why is this here?" She asked herself in confusion.
She looked at the piece of paper she had picked from outside the room which was currently on top of the bed.
"And why was this torn?"
Quuckly, she went outside the room and picked up all the pieces of papers on the ground. They were not torn into many pieces so it was easy for her to arrange it together.
And as she read the contents, her eyes widened further in shock and disbelief.
She looked at the DNA test result again and soon, she was becoming certain of her new suspicion.
Changyu had been pregnant, she had promised to get rid of the child but it seemed she abandoned her after birth just like Joreen had heard and her father had changed her age.
And here, there was a DNA test result.
She sat still with widened eyes as everything clicked in and realisation dawned on her.
"I am her daughter?"