Chapter 58 The Dove and the Magpie
Sam’s name was written on her phone screen. Madeline let out a sigh of relief. Great. Now I don’t have to think of what I have to say to Sebastian. “I’ll pick a phone call up,” she told Sebastian with a smile. He nodded.
“Hello? Sam?” Madeline placed the phone by her ear as she walked to a quieter spot.
“Madeline…” Sam started on the other end of the line before pausing for a long while.
Madeline noticed how he sounded rather odd. “Yes, Sam? Is anything the matter?”
“Um… I heard about your birth parents…” Sam muttered.
“Oh… That…” she muttered. “The DNA test results aren’t out yet, so I’m not sure…” She kept telling herself the same thing. She didn’t want to get excited over nothing. If things didn’t turn out the way everyone expected them to, she would be extremely disappointed.
“Dan told me about most of what happened. If it’s true…” Sam paused for a moment. “I’m sorry for all these years, Madeline…”
“It’s no big deal…” Madeline smiled. “It was hard in the past, but now that everything is over, it all feels like a dream now that I look back at it. Once I got through it, it no longer seems that hard anymore…”
“Well, then… Angie…” Sam hesitated for a moment. “If you’re really Aunt Crystal’s daughter, and if Angie is Cameron’s daughter… Have you thought about how you’re going to interact with Angie?”
Madeline froze for a moment. “I haven’t thought about this in the past… I’m not sure that I’m Mr. Wendel’s daughter, anyway. So, I didn’t put much thought into the future…”
“Maybe you should start thinking about it… Madeline, if you’re really Uncle Michael and Aunt Crystal’s daughter, would you agree to them treating both you and Angie as their daughters?”
Madeline frowned. “Why are you asking this question, Sam? Did one of them tell you to ask me about this?”
“N-No, Madeline. Don’t misunderstand me. They weren’t the ones who told me to ask you this…” Sam muttered.
“Who asked you to ask me, then? I know you well, Sam, and I know that you wouldn’t come up with this question on your own. This doesn’t sound like you at all,” Madeline uttered. Sam was a gentle and calm man who could contain his temper. He was the type to plan things out before taking action.
Since the DNA test results weren’t out yet, it was unlikely for Sam to ask her such questions. “It was Cedric who told me to ask about it. He’s too impatient,” Sam replied exasperatedly.
“Cedric?” Madeline was stunned. “Young Master Cedric?”
“If things are as they seem to be, then he’d be your brother,” Sam replied.
“So what?” Madeline scoffed. “The bonds built through time are firmer than the ones built through blood. Although I may be his sister, Angie was the one he grew up with. Relationships aren’t exactly formed through biological connections—they’re built through the accumulated time spent with one another. It seems like Cedric is already starting to get worried about Angie before the results even come out…”
Sam sighed as he knitted his brows together. “That’s not what Cedric meant, Madeline…”
“I don’t want to talk to you about this, Sam,” Madeline uttered. “I don’t want to think about it until the DNA test results are out. If the results come out to be something unexpected, all of this will turn into a joke… I’m sure you know what I mean, Sam.”
“Okay…” Sam sighed. “I know what you mean. You take care. Don’t think too much about it.”
“I got it, Sam,” Madeline replied. She responded with a few more words of care before ending the call. When Sam heard the dial tone on the other end of the line, Sam frowned as he felt a headache coming. He gave Cedric a call.
The phone only rang once before its owner picked it up. “How was it, Sam? Did she agree to it?” Cedric’s worried voice sounded in Sam’s ear.
“Madeline said that she doesn’t want to talk about this matter until the DNA test results are out,” Sam replied. “You’re too anxious, Cedric. It’s too early to talk about this. The DNA test results aren’t even out.” About ten minutes ago, Cedric had just told Sam the huge secret—that Madeline might be Crystal and Michael’s biological daughter. Since then, Cedric had been pestering him to give Madeline a call. Cedric wanted to know if Madeline was okay to have Angie living under the same roof. Sam felt like it was more appropriate to ask Madeline after the DNA report was out, but Cedric eventually convinced Sam to ask her immediately. In the end, Sam gave in and called Madeline to ask about it.
“It’d be too late if we wait for the DNA results to be out,” Cedric uttered worriedly. “Sam, Jonathan says that someone like Madeline might not necessarily agree for Angie to stay with her. If that really happens, what’s going to become of Angie? Are we going to chase her out? We watched Angie grow up. Even though she may not be my biological sister, we’re talking about 20 years of living together. How could we end this relationship just like that?”
Sam frowned. “What do you think you can do, Cedric?”
“I was thinking…” Cedric bit his bottom lip. “I want to convince my parents to say that Angie and Madeline are actually twin sisters and that Madeline was stolen from the family at a young age. Then, my parents can claim that they thought she had passed away and that they recently found out that she was still alive…”
Sam sighed. “Do you think everyone’s an idiot, Cedric? Your lie is full of loopholes. Who’s going to believe it?”
“It doesn’t matter whether others believe it or not!” Cedric uttered. “What matters is that others don’t find out about the fact that Angie is Cameron’s daughter. Cameron is the illegitimate child of the Taylor Family, and she has a horrible reputation. Angie’s at the age where she should be getting married. If her birth parents are revealed now, how’s she going to get married? Who would ever be willing to marry a woman like her? This affects her entire future!”
“Stop getting too hopeful about this, Cedric,” Sam advised. “Based on my understanding of Aunt Crystal, I’m sure she won’t agree to your idea. You know how much Aunt Crystal hates Cameron. In the past, if it weren’t for Cameron and her mother’s evil plan, my paternal—your maternal—grandmother wouldn’t have died with regrets. Aunt Crystal hates Cameron too much. She wouldn’t help her to take care of her daughter.”
“But Angie is innocent!” Cedric protested. “Angie isn’t Cameron’s daughter—she’s my parents’ daughter! My parents watched her grow up. She’s my sister!”
“She’s not!” Even though Sam’s voice wasn’t loud, it sounded firm. “Cedric, have you heard about the fairytale of the dove overtaking the magpie’s nest? The evil magpie intentionally killed the dove’s offspring to get the dove to care for its offspring. When the dove found out about the truth, do you think it could continue caring for the magpie’s offspring?”
