"Mom? What did you just say?" Emline couldn’t believe her ears.
No, it was more accurate to say she refused to believe it.
She stared into her mother’s eyes and realized they were staring at her with uncharacteristic coldness. It was as though Emline was nothing more than a piece of garbage on the floor.
"Get out," Annalise repeated without hesitation. "Now."
"You heard her," Aiden said with a sigh.
He half-expected this to happen. Emline had not seen how Annalise Hawthorne had broken down into desperate sobs at the reveal of her true daughter’s disappearance, and the mournful wailing when she heard of her death.
Now, the person Annalise wanted to see was her real daughter. Not Emline, who unknowingly took her place.
"No, that cannot be, Mom, it’s , Emline. I’m your daughter, rember? It’s !" Emline exclaid in shock. "You sang lullabies, read stories, bought dresses... You’re my mother!"
Annalise closed her eyes as if she couldn’t bear to look at her a mont longer. However, the heart monitor continued to beep relentlessly as her heart rate shot up. Emline gave a desperate cry of pain. Aiden couldn’t stand it anymore and dragged her out of the room.
In their ensuing chaos, no one noticed the small tear that rolled out from the corner of Annalise’s eyes.
"Are you trying to give her a second heart attack?" Aiden asked as he closed the door to Annalise’s ward with a definite bang. "She’s clearly not in her right mind! Co on, go back and rest. We’ll think of sothing later."
"I..." Emline didn’t seem to be all that rational either. Her eyes were wide with loss and she didn’t have much resistance to Aiden tugging her along like a doll. Her entire world had overturned itself, and when they arrived back into her ward, she sank to the floor, hugging her knees.
Her mother didn’t want her anymore. Tears filled her eyes.
Then, Aiden’s phone rang. He saw, with great surprise, that it was Alia. So of course he hurriedly picked it up, hoping that this was a dinner invite. Or at least so good news.
"Aiden, is Emline still with you?" Alia asked without even a hello. "Can she be discharged?"
Aiden’s heart sank. Clearly, this was a business call.
"Yeah, she’s right in front of now," Aiden said reluctantly. "I’m not too sure about her discharge as she’s not in the best state ntally. What’s the matter?"
"Our grandfather wants to et us," Alia said apologetically. "He found out about the affair, and he’s determined to get to the bottom of this."
"Fuck," Aiden groaned out. "Is his heart alright?"
"It has seen better days," Alia said frankly, after a long pause. "But that’s also why he’s all the more frantic to resolve this... before he can’t anymore. Bring Emline back to the mansion. We’ll see all of you there."
With that final note, Alia hung up the phone.
"What is it?" Emline asked, not liking the pinched expression on Aiden’s face. It almost seed like he felt sorry for her, a fact she found incredibly grating. How low must she have fallen for Aiden, scummy playboy to feel sad for her?
"If you’re feeling up to it, let’s leave the hospital. Good old Horace Hawthorne."
Emline’s face paled, but she hurriedly went to change out of her hospital gown.
***
anwhile in the Hawthorne mansion...
Alia could only look at her poor grandfather, who was poring over her mother’s old diary with tears beading in his eyes. She highly doubted he could read a word with how fogged up his vision was, but the sight of her writing must have hurt him hard. She had handed him the diary after he had heard about Benjamin’s affair with Catherine.
The news had spread all over Sol City, and Alia could barely warn him about the affair before news that Catherine got shot had hit the airwaves. Alia herself was shocked at how quickly things unraveled. After that piece of news, she received a pleading call from her grandfather, asking her to make sense of matters for him.
The blow to Horace Hawthorne was severe. Things had escalated too quickly for him to make sense of, and no one around him dared to give him the unfiltered news. He could only turn to Alia and Matteo for help.
"Alia, take this book away. I... have no need for it any longer," Horace Hawthorne groaned weakly into his hands.
"Grandpa?" Alia asked hesitantly as she took the diary back. "What are your plans now?"
"I’ll let you know when everyone is here," Horace Hawthorne said tiredly. "Is Emline coming along?"
Alia nodded and hurriedly helped him to lie back down. "According to Aiden, they are on their way. Emline is distraught over the news that Annalise is not her real mother."
"Who wouldn’t be?" Horace could only smile bitterly to himself. "Annalise had treated her like she was her own flesh and blood for so long. If anything, I wished Annalise would have treated her more unkindly― that would have at least prevented Emline from growing up spoiled and pampered, and it would have made this blow easier to bear."
Alia could only sigh and wait quietly with her grandfather for Aiden and Emline to appear. Thankfully, Matteo had arrived before them and he made his way to sit next to her, dropping a quick peck on her cheek.
Emline arrived without fanfare, but her voice was as shrill as it was pleading. Alia noticed that her eyes were swollen as though she had cried on the way here.
"Grandpa! Can I still call you ’Grandpa’? Or did you call Aiden to bring back here so you can throw out for real?"
"Emline, please take a seat," Horace Hawthorne said, closing his eyes. "I have sothing to say to all of you."
Emline sat down, her body trembling.
"As it stands, Emline, I have disinherited you from the Hawthorne family for your past behavior," Horace began, and Emline shifted as if she got struck. "But I cannot fault you for the cris of your parents. It was your father who chose to have an affair with a woman I deed unsuitable for the family. You have the blood of the Hawthornes running through your veins, even if Annalise was not your mother."
"Annalise is my mother!" Emline burst out, upset, her hands clenched into fists. "I have no other mother!"
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