“Yeah. Her eyes are a carbon copy of yours.” The manager forced a smile onto his face as he watched his arm turning red under Julia’s grip.
Tears welled up in Julia’s eyes immediately. “It must be Rina. It has to be her! She isn’t dead! She’s still alive! Where’s that girl now, sir?” Julia’s cheeks were soaked with tears as she questioned the manager in a trembling voice.
“She left just a while ago, so she might still be in the mall,” the manager replied. Right after the manager answered her question, Julia sprinted out of the store without even bothering to take her handbag with her. She ran around in search of a girl who might be her eldest daughter. After hunting around the entire mall, she couldn’t find anyone who wore the necklace or shared the same eyes as her. Julia eventually returned to DT Jewelry with a dejected look on her face.
The manager quickly brought her a glass of warm water. “Did you find her, Mrs. Gray?”
“No,” Julia said while shaking her head.
“Don’t give up just yet. I’m sure you’ll be able to find her since she’s in Seafield.” The manager offered her some words of comfort. He wasn’t sure how Julia and the other lady Julia referred to as ‘Rina’ were related, but he assumed they were close since Julia seemed to care for Rina a lot.
“Thank you.” Julia tugged her lips to give him a smile. She pulled her card out and paid for her bracelet before she rushed back to the Gray Residence. “Honey!” Julia cried once she stepped foot into the house.
Titus hurried down from upstairs. “Didn’t you go shopping at the mall? Why are you back so soon?”
“Rina’s alive, honey!” Julia cried as she looked up toward Titus, who was descending from the stairs.
Titus nearly slipped when he heard Julia’s words. “What did you say?” He grabbed onto the railing on the stairway as he met gazes with Julia.
She clasped her hands together as she repeated her words. “Rina’s alive! Our eldest daughter is still alive!”
“Nonsense.” Titus frowned as he continued to walk down the stairs. “You must have encountered some swindler. In the past, there’s been a number of them who attempted to convince us that our daughter’s alive, but they’re just saying all of that to scam our money.”
“It’s different this time. Rina had the necklace. It was this one…” Julia quickly held her necklace up. “Rina brought the daughter’s necklace and asked about it at DT Jewelry, and the store manager told me that Rina has my eyes. I have a feeling the girl that the manager saw is Rina, Titus.”
Titus was utterly dazed by her sudden statement. “How could that be possible? Rina drowned because of Henry—we all saw it with our eyes.”
“We saw it happen, but didn’t the police tell us that they couldn’t find Rina’s dead body in the end? Perhaps she didn’t die after she was thrown into the river. Perhaps someone jumped in and helped her out. A girl who has my eyes and owns the daughter’s necklace showed up—how else can we explain this?” Julia clutched on her necklace as she spoke.
“Give me some time.” Titus pressed a palm against his forehead.
“Mom, Dad. What are you guys talking about?” Tina came down from upstairs and stumbled upon Julia and Titus’s flustered expressions. Tina was too curious to stop herself from asking.
Julia held onto Tina’s arm immediately. “Your sister isn’t dead, Tina. She’s alive.”
“What?” Tina froze for a moment before she widened her eyes. “Did you just say that Rina’s alive, Mom?”
“Yeah. She’s alive. She’s somewhere in Fredburg.” Julia nodded excitedly.
Tina lowered her gaze as a threatening look filled her eyes. I can’t believe it. Rina’s not dead. Judging by the look of joy on my mother’s face, it seems like she’s ready to get Rina to come back home. Rina will get Mom’s full attention if that happens, and I’ll be practically invisible in this house. No. I can’t allow Rina to return. My inheritance, the Gray Family’s wealth, my parents’ love… All of that would be halved if Rina’s back. I can’t let that happen.
Tina bit her lower lip and plastered a smile on her face as she looked at her mother. “That’s great. Where’s Rina now, Mom?” she asked in a careful tone. Tina wanted to know her sister’s whereabouts so that she could get to her sister before her parents did. Tina wanted to get rid of Rina first.
However, Julia’s expression dimmed when she heard Tina’s question. “I only happened to find out about this today. I still don’t know where Rina is for now.”
“I see.” Tina nodded slowly as she squeezed her brows together. Mom and Dad couldn’t have been scammed, could they? Regardless, I’ll still have to get to the bottom of this matter. Of course, everything would be fine if all of this was just fake news. However, if it’s true, then I’ll have to chase Rina off. I don’t care about this ‘sister’ of mine, anyway. Tina continued to question her mother. “How did you find out that Rina’s still alive, Mom?”
“This necklace.” Julia began to explain the incident that occurred in DT Jewelry.
Tina balled her hands into fists as she listened to her mother’s story. It seems like that woman might really be Rina. I can’t believe Rina’s so lucky. How did she not die after all of that?
“I’m having dinner at the Fullers tonight, Mom. I’ll be leaving now.” Tina lowered her gaze as she relaxed her clenched fists. She had to find Rina before they did—it’d be too late if her parents were to find Rina first.
Julia nodded. “Alright, off you go.”
Tina planted a kiss on her mother’s cheek before she strode off toward the exit.
Julia turned back to her husband once Tina left. “Let’s try to find Rina as soon as possible, honey. I don’t know how she has been in the past 20 years. My heart aches whenever I think of how she might have suffered during that period.” Julia pounded a fist against her chest.
“Don’t worry. I promise to find our daughter, and I promise that she’ll be back with us soon.” Titus felt his heart aching at the sight of his wife’s sorrow, and he quickly pulled her in for a tight hug.
“But… I’m worried that Rina might not want to return to us. What if she thinks that we didn’t want her? What if she hates us because she thinks that we abandoned her?” Julia felt both excited and fearful to see her daughter.
“That’s not going to happen. I’m sure that Rina must be looking for us since she brought the necklace over to ask about it,” Titus replied.
Julia shook her head. “According to what the manager said, it seems like Rina already knew that you were the one who hired someone to design the necklace. In that case, Rina must know that we’re her parents. I’m worried that she might not wish to approach us at all.”
Titus sighed. “Let’s give her a few days. She might approach us by then. We can just look for her otherwise. We can use your necklace—we’d just have to upload a picture of it online. Rina will know that we’re looking for her, and she’ll understand that we didn’t abandon her. She might come to us after that.”
“That’s true.” Julia nodded.
…
Sonia had no idea that the Gray Family knew about her queries in the jewelry store. After she left the mall, Sonia drove to the hospital to meet Rose. She wanted to ask Rose for information regarding matters between the Reeds and the Grays 20 years ago. However, things didn’t go as planned—Sonia’s car broke down on the way to the hospital, and the tow truck took a long while to show up. She ended up waiting by the roadside in the cold weather for nearly two hours.
“That’s Miss Reed, President Fuller!” Tom was in the car with Toby, and he exclaimed when he saw Sonia by the roadside. The elegant, classy man in the back seat opened his eyes to glance out the window. He knitted his defined brows when he saw the girl waiting by the side of the road. What’s she doing? It’s freezing cold out there; why is she squatting by the side of the road?
“Make a U-turn,” Toby ordered. Tom immediately nodded and spun the wheel to turn back to where Sonia’s car was stopped. The Maybach came to a halt in front of Sonia, and Tom rolled the window down to call her. “Get in the car, Miss Reed.”
