Chapter 380 Never known

Agnes felt moved. She never expected Alana to have been such a credit to the family all these years.

And yet she had never known any of this.

She had thought she knew her daughter well from what Miranda had told her, but little did she know that Miranda had been feeding her nothing but lies... not a single word was true.

She truly regretted not having taken the time to truly get to know Alana, nor having been a part of her life.

Jamin seemed to have a thought and couldn’t help but ask Agnes, “But Mommy, you said the pretty sister is my real sister. Why didn’t I know that before? And if Pretty Sister is my real sister, why doesn’t she live with us?”

Agnes’ heart skipped a beat. She glanced nervously at Alana, her eyes betraying her embarrassment.

She didn’t know how to explain to her son that Alana and he were half-siblings... sharing the same mother but different fathers.

An awkward silence fell over the hospital room.

Agnes hesitated to answer. “Jamin, Mom will explain it to you when we get home.”

“Okay.”

Although Jamin was a little disappointed, he didn’t dwell on it.

Grandma glanced at Alana and sighed softly.

She wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to say.

This was a matter between Alana and Agnes, mother and daughter, she felt it wasn’t her place to get involved.

Agnes brought Jamin to visit his grandmother, and the old woman was visibly much happier.

Elderly people always loved children.

Jamin happened to be exactly that kind of sweet-talking, charming child people easily liked.

“Grandma, Mom said you had a very serious illness. You have to get better soon, stay healthy, and live to be a hundred!”

Grandma smiled so broadly her eyes crinkled shut, and her complexion looked radiant. “Good boy.”

Seeing the woman so happy, Agnes thought to herself that her decision to bring the child to see her had been the right one.

Her relationship with her mother had improved significantly, but her relationship with her daughter, Alana, remained as strained as ever.

Agnes glanced at Alana, as if a thought had occurred to her, and pulled a bank card out of her bag.

She walked over to Alana and handed her the card. “Lana, this is a bank card. There’s twenty million in it. Take it.”

Those twenty million were exactly the money Darius and Miranda had repaid her.

She intended to give it to Alana to make up, at least in part, for the guilt she had felt toward her over the years.

She knew this wouldn’t make up for much, but all she could think of at the moment was to use money to make amends, hoping to ease her sense of guilt just a little.

Alana looked at the bank card Agnes handed her.

A few days ago, when she saw Agnes at the hospital, she had told her that she

didn’t want her to interfere in her life.

But...

Things didn’t go as planned.

As long as her grandmother still cared about Agnes, and as long as Agnes continued to visit her grandmother, there was simply no way she could avoid running into Agnes.

Since some things can’t be avoided, there was no point in trying to avoid them, it was best to face them head-on.

Alana spoke calmly, “Take it back. I don’t want it.”

Agnes bit her lip. “Lana, do you think the twenty million’s too little?”

“No, it’s just that I don’t want your money.”

Agnes was puzzled. “Why?”

Why would she refuse the money when it was offered to her?

After all, twenty million wasn’t exactly a small sum.

An ordinary person couldn’t earn that much in several lifetimes.

She couldn’t understand why Alana would refuse the money she offered.

“Since you left, I haven’t spent a single penny of yours, and I’ve managed just fine on my own. Now that I’m capable of earning my own money, I certainly don’t need your charity.”

Agnes couldn’t help but say, “This isn’t charity, it’s me making up for the motherly love I failed to give you over the past decade or so.”

Alana gave a faint smile. “In your eyes, is a mother something that can be compensated for with money?”

Agnes choked on her words. “I...”

Of course she knew a mother couldn’t be replaced with money, but other than giving her money, she didn’t know what else to do.

Alana watched the little boy chatting away by his grandmother’s hospital bed, chattering nonstop to cheer her up.

“I never imagined that Jamin was actually your son.”

“Last time at the movie theater, I ran into him with a good friend of mine. My friend even said I looked a lot like him... maybe we’re mother and son. I never imagined we’d actually be siblings.”

“It’s such a small world. We’ve run into each other so many times, yet I never realized his mother and my mother were the same person.”

As Alana said this, a hint of sarcasm crept into her voice.

A look of embarrassment and awkwardness flashed across Agnes’ face.

She knew Alana was mocking her...mocking her for having recognized Alana all along yet not daring to show her face.

“I’m sorry, he wouldn’t let me contact you.”

Hearing the word “he,” Alana guessed it must refer to the man Agnes had married.

She nodded. “I understand. After all, it was because of him that you abandoned me back then.”

Agnes’ breathing quickened. She wanted to explain, but found she had no words.

“Take the twenty million. If you don’t, I’ll have a guilty conscience.”

Alana’s tone was matter-of-fact. “Then let your conscience keep bothering you.”

Agnes bit her lip, wanting to shove the bank card into Alana’s hand, but she lacked the courage.

Alana’s attitude toward her was too cold...as cold as a block of ice, impossible to melt no matter how hard she tried.

In the end, even as she left with Jamin, she still hadn’t managed to hand over the bank card.

She wanted to give the bank card to her mother, so her mother could pass it on to Alana.

But her mother refused.

“You brought this upon yourself; you’ll have to deal with it yourself. I won’t help you.”

Agnes had no choice but to leave, filled with regret.

Jamin still couldn’t believe it. “Mommy, is that pretty lady really my real sister?”

Agnes decided she didn’t want to hide it anymore and nodded. “Yes, she’s your biological sister, but you don’t share the same father.”

Jamin was surprised. “Mommy, are you saying that the pretty sister wasn’t born to you and Daddy?”

“Yes, she was born to Mommy and another man.”

Jamin asked curiously, “Who was that man?”

Agnes seemed to think of something and couldn’t help but shake her head. “Never mind. It’s best not to talk about that man.”

Jamin nodded. Although he didn’t understand, if Mommy didn’t want to talk about it, she must have her reasons.

“Then Mommy, since Pretty Sister is my real sister, why don’t you bring her back with us to live together?”

Agnes bit her lip, her eyes glistening with tears. “Don’t say that out loud. Your dad wouldn’t agree.”

Jamin didn’t understand. He was still young and didn’t quite grasp the complex relationships between adults.

“Mommy, why wouldn’t Dad agree?”

Agnes shook her head, unwilling to answer.

“Jamin, don’t tell your dad about me bringing you to see Grandma today.”

“Why?”

“There’s no reason. Just think of it as... for Mom’s sake.”

“Okay.” Jamin didn’t quite understand, but he agreed anyway.

“So, Mommy, can I come visit Grandma again next time? Grandma is getting old, and she’s often alone in her hospital room. She looks so lonely. I want to come over and spend more time with her.”

Agnes felt a pang of sadness as she listened, holding back her tears. “Sure.”

*****

In the hospital room.

Grandma looked at Alana, who had been mostly silent, and sighed. “Lana, are you still holding a grudge against your mom?”

Alana shook her head.

“I have nothing to blame her for. Everyone has their own choices to make. Maybe if I had been in her shoes back then, I might have made the same choice.”