Chapter 21%
“What does that mean?” I asked, my voice heavy as I hurled the question.
After an hour of blood extraction for Lorde’s transfusion, I was now left inside a resting quarters to recover.
it was just Lucian and me. I hadn’t spoken since the doctor called me Lorde’s biological mother, never questioning Lucian during the silence, until now.
“Why did you put my name there?” I repeated. “Why not… Chesca?”
She’s the real mother. Yes, I raised him, but it was Chesca who gave birth to him, wasn’t it?”
Lucian took a deep breath and covered his face with one hand, clearly wanting to answer but unsure how. I watched his expression, every movement showing the turmoil in his mind.
“Lucian, I’ll listen. I’ll try to understand,” I muttered, my voice cold. “Whose child… is Lorde?“}}
Is he really Chesca’s? Or mine? I couldn’t understand why Lucian would claim me as the biological mother.
I traced the scar on my stomach. My stepmother said it was from the accident, and I believed her. But when Lorde saw it, he went berserk, accusing me of knowing it was from an operation, from giving birth.
“Chesca…” Lucian finally spoke.
“Hers?” I couldn’t help the tremble in my voice as my mind raced with confusion.
When I first saw Lorde, I felt warmth and wanted to keep him loved. I thought it was because Chesca had been a good sister to me, but was that really the only reason?
Chesca was so understanding…“}
Of what?” I hissed. “Just tell me! Is Lorde her son or mine-“}
“Ours!” he suddenly snapped and stood up, frustration pouring out of him.
He looked at me with tearful, guilty eyes, his shoulders heaving as he fought to control his emotions.
“She died sending you to the hospital because I begged her,” his voice broke. My lips parted in shock. “She… blindly accepted everything
because she couldn’t bear a child.”
“So you planted it in me?! Did we… did we cheat on her?” I asked, my tears flowing at the disgusting thought.
God forbid, I never imagined I’d commit such a lowly act. Chesca was nothing but a good sister to me, yet I bore her husband’s child. Did that mean I seduced Lucian? That we had an affair?
“No… No, Hestia. We’re both drunk. On our anniversary, you got drunk, Chesca’s sick. I lost my mind. I didn’t know it was you until next morning and you didn’t know it was me.“}
I saw him swallow hard, fighting the emotion rising in him. He was strong, trying to hold it together, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop crying. I ripped the IV from my arm and stood up, making Lucian panic.
“Don’t move yet!” he hissed.”
I couldn’t be distracted. When he approached, my palm hit his cheek. The shock on his face was clear. I slapped him again, memories of Chesca flooding my mind.”
She was so happy on her wedding day. My memory may be fragmented, but I remember how proud and content she was to marry him, only to later find out he had impregnated another woman. Not just anyone but me. Her sister.
“Why me?!” I screamed in hatred. “How dare you!“}
“I’m sorry…” he choked out.
He let me slap him again and again until my fists landed against his chest.
“One drunken night… the next day, you had no memory of it. When you found out you were carrying Lorde, y–you tried to end your life, Hes…”
I gasped at another revelation. My knees weakened until I collapsed onto the floor. My mind couldn’t accept that Lorde was mine, born from betrayal. Even if it was because of drunkenness, even if it was an accident, it was still a grave sin against my sister.”
“I later learned it was you. I was afraid to admit it to you. You were scared to raise a child without knowing the father. I planned to tell you, but Chesca… she said if she’d forgave me and accepted the child, we’d adopt the baby. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything, Hestia. As long as I won’t tell you.”
“You betrayed my sister… and now me?” I cried, my voice cracking.
Lucian tried to touch me, but I pushed him away in anger. “Mommy knows, doesn’t she?”
Lucian, defeated, nodded and lowered his head in shame. Maybe the shame and guilt had not yet fully consumed him.
He didn’t know what happened that night. Neither did I. But being drunk was no excuse. Would I have forgiven Lucian if he and Beverly slept together drunk? No. Especially if it involved my sister.
Even if Chesca had accepted it, even if she tried to move on, it didn’t erase the pain. It didn’t undo the fact that her heart had been crushed, that Lucian and I had trampled over her dignity, her womanhood, even if it wasn’t intentional.
Could it be… the accident? Did Chesca try to end everything that night? With me?!
“The night of the accident…” I couldn’t finish. The weight of it all strangled my words. But Lucian did.
“You were about to give birth to Lorde,” he said weakly. “Chesca was taking you to the hospital… when the accident happened.”
His answer shattered my world completely.
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10:38 AM
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