Chapter 13
she opened the things Kate had left behind.
She remembered Kate had come to pack up her things once, so she should have taken everything with her by now.
What else could have been left behind?
With a sense of curiosity, she flipped open the box and froze when she saw what was
inside.
It contained several worn–out cloth dolls
and a notebook.
Slowly opening it, the crooked handwriting caught her eye.
The date at the bottom marked it as a diary entry written when Kate was ten years old.
“Mom lied to me again and my sister took my doll…”
Flipping further, the diary entries stopped at the age of fifteen of Kate.
“Dad and Mom don’t trust me anymore, but I am their real daughter. Why don’t they
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Chapter 13
like me?”
“I also understand why Leona deliberately asked about my childhood. It was to make Dad and Mom believe her…”
She read the lines, feeling the bitterness and the pain that Kate had expressed. It felt like the first time she truly understood Kate.
Looking into the box, there was also a small safety lock. Melanie’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, her fingers trembling as if struggling to hold onto it.
Memories rushed in. When her daughter was born, she had personally placed the safety lock on her daughter.
If it hadn’t been for seeing it with her own eyes today, she might have almost forgotten.
She remembered how Kate would often stand in front of her, trembling, wanting to bring things to her, only to be interrupted countless times.
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Melanie clenched the items tightly in her hand, realizing that the daughter she had abandoned all those years ago was, in fact, her biological daughter.
At the age of eighteen, she stopped providing Kate with living expenses. Every penny was earned through her own hard work.
She remembered seeing her return home at 3 a.m. and also witnessing her finish her
work at 5 a.m.
But back then, she hadn’t felt a thing.
Now, as she recalled everything, a sense of suffocation gripped her throat. The suffering Kate endured was all caused by her, the mother.
She suddenly collapsed to the ground, tears uncontrollably streaming from the corners of her eyes.
Every time she thought of Kate‘ s
hesitation, of the times when she wanted to speak but held back, Melanie regretted not
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Chapter 13
asking that one question at the time, just
one.
“I’m sorry…
She composed herself before heading upstairs, where she saw Leona, as usual, throwing herself into her embrace.
“Mom, did you find Kate?”
Melanie looked at her coldly, shaking her head.
Leona immediately showed a disappointed expression. “How many days have passed? Kate purposely ruined me and left. I won’t let her get away with it!”
She muttered to herself, wishing she could
find Kate right away.
“Why do you hate your sister so much?”
Melanie coldly questioned her.
Leona froze, never having seen Melanie. with such an expression before.
“It’s Kate who hates me! She actually
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Chapter 13.
asking that one question at the time, just
one.
“I’m sorry…
She composed herself before heading upstairs, where she saw Leona, as usual, throwing herself into her embrace.
“Mom, did you find Kate?”
Melanie looked at her coldly, shaking her head.
Leona immediately showed a disappointed expression. “How many days have passed? Kate purposely ruined me and left. I won’t let her get away with it!”
She muttered to herself, wishing she could
find Kate right away.
“Why do you hate your sister so much?”
Melanie coldly questioned her.
Leona froze, never having seen Melanie with such an expression before.
“It’s Kate who hates me! She actually
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