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Naya stared at him intently, the coldness in her eyes a sharp contrast to the tenderness she showed whenever she looked at Sheldon.”
Cesar flinched at that coldness. He couldn’t help but take a step back.
Just as he was about to speak, Sheldon’s voice cut in. “Naya, look at Harriet. Doesn’t she look like your child?”
He held Harriet in front of the mirror, carefully comparing her features with Naya’s.
Their eyes were the same, the shape of their eyebrows identical. Even their matching dimples smiled back in the reflection. Naya’s heart stirred with sudden emotion.
Cesar, on the other hand, turned to Sheldon in shock.!!
Sheldon went on, “Harriet wasn’t breathing when she was born, so they threw her in the trash. I happened to be nearby and heard her cry just as I walked past the bin.
“I was going to bring her back, but then I saw Mr. Harmon placing a different baby into a stroller. He pretended that child was yours and asked you to raise her.
“That’s when I realized Mr. Harmon didn’t care about Harriet. So I didn’t return her to you.
“Later, I found out that Zora had bribed the obstetrician to drug Harriet right after birth. That’s why she appeared lifeless.”
His voice was calm, but Naya was already seething with rage.
She hadn’t imagined Cesar could be that cruel. When he saw the baby wasn’t breathing, he didn’t try to help. He just threw her away like garbage.X
“Cesar, get out of here!” Naya shoved him away, her hands trembling. She didn’t want to see him, not even for a second.
But Cesar refused to leave.
His gaze lingered on the little girl in front of him, who looked so much like Naya; same eyes, same expressions. Tears welled up in his eyes for the first time:
“Harriet, Naya… please, let me explain.” Cesar felt as though his whole body had been torn apart.
Every muscle ached as he choked back sobs. “I truly thought Harriet was gone.”
Though he had once loved Zora deeply and had promised her that Abigail would somehow become Naya’s child, given a legitimate identity, he had secretly dreamed of Harriet.
Especially after her birth, when he caught a glimpse of her eyes and delicate features that mirrored Naya’s… his heart had filled with an overwhelming tenderness.
He had even thought, just briefly, about raising her and Abigail together as twins.
But he had never guessed that Harriet wasn’t truly gone. That everything had been part of Zora’s twisted plan.
Naya stared at Cesar’s grief–stricken face, her heart unmoved, orily cold mockery rising in her chest. “So now you’re telling me Zora did it all? That she’s the one who made you abandon your own child?
“She’s the one who made you bring Abigail here and pretend she was mine? Zora forced you to marry her? And she also forced you to cheat on me, to sleep with her in that glass greenhouse?”
Naya spoke softly, but her words were like lancets, piercing Cesar’s heart.
“Did you know all along?” Cesar’s face went pale, and he staggered.!!
“Yes. And I also know you’ve always treated me like I was nothing more than a cheap woman.” Naya’s tone remained calm, as if the insult no longer held any weight.”
Cesar was momentarily speechless.
But Sheldon had heard enough. He suddenly stepped out from behind Naya and punched Cesar straight in the face.
He couldn’t stand anyone, especially Cesar, talking to Naya that way, Cesar was hit so hard he coughed up blood, yet he didn’t fight back.
Instead, he looked past Sheldon, eyes locked on Naya’s expression.”
And Naya, without hesitation, took Sheldon’s hand. Like she used to soothe Abigail when she was little, she blew gently on his knuckles, over and over.
Cesar’s heart shattered like glass. He saw it clearly, the love and tenderness in her eyes.!!
Naya was no longer the woman who had once loved him. Her heart belonged to someone else now.
Pain erupted in his chest, and with it, more blood.!!
