There were no thumbnails or labels on the disc, so Sonia had no idea what the content was. However,
she didn’t give up. She took the disc with her to the study and inserted it into her laptop’s disk drive.
Once she opened it, there was only a single folder in it. When she clicked into it, what she saw was a
video file.
She played the video, and the first thing she saw on the screen was a young, pale woman.
Sonia was surprised to see that face, then she covered her mouth in disbelief as tears streamed down
her cheek. “Mom…” Her voice was shaking with excitement.
The woman who appeared on the screen was none other than Henry’s wife—Lina Ferguson. She died
of cancer when Sonia was only five years old. Now that she saw her again, Sonia tried to touch Lina’s
face. Even though she knew it wasn’t real, she wouldn’t pull her hand back. She kept trying to touch
Lina’s face, and her gaze never shifted.
Lina was in a ward. She was wearing a typical blue-and-white striped patient gown, and there was not
a single strand of hair on her head.
Sonia knew that was her mother staying in the hospital after she was diagnosed with cancer. As she
looked at Lina, Sonia burst into tears again. It had been twenty-one long years since she last saw her
mother. Or, at least, her mother who was still alive and breathing. “I miss you, mom.” The cursor on the
screen was shaking as Sonia’s hand trembled, and her voice broke.
Lina faced the screen and smiled gently, as if she felt Sonia’s longing. “Sonia, when you see this, I
might already be long gone, but do not worry. I will always, always watch over you from the heavens
above.”
“Mom…” Sonia finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she leaned over on the table to cry her heart out.
The video continued. Lina coughed a few times, and she got even paler, while her voice was little more
than a whisper. “Sonia, I want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry for hiding the truth from you. Your father and I
never told you about your real identity. Please, find it in your heart to forgive us.”
Sonia looked up tearfully and bit her lip in silence.
Lina coughed again, but this time, Sonia saw a hand reach out, and the owner of the hand was handing
Lina a glass of water.
It was obvious that the hand belonged to a man, and there was a black mole on the thumb. That’s
Dad’s hand! Dad’s here too? Sonia was buzzing with excitement. Will I see him too?
Just when she was thinking about her father, a gentle voice said, “Have some water, honey.” It wasn’t
obvious, but there was pain and agony in that voice.
It really is dad! Sonia started trembling with delight.
Lina turned her head to the side and smiled. “Thank you, honey.” She took the glass of water and took
a sip. Thanks to that, her coughing subsided ever so slightly. Then, she put her glass down and faced
the screen. “Sonia, you must be upset after finding out that you aren’t our daughter. It’ll be
unacceptable, and you might think that you’re just a replacement for our own daughter who had
passed. Am I right?”
Sonia clenched her fists. Yes, you are. You know me the best, both you and dad.
Lina smiled weakly. “Please don’t ever think you’re a replacement, Sonia. Yes, we did adopt you
because our child had perished, but you were never her replacement. We love you not because we’re
trying to fill the void our child left us, and you didn’t inherit her name either. Your father and I looked up
the dictionary and came up with that name. It’s yours and yours alone.”
It’s mine alone? Sonia sat up straighter, and her eyes slowly regained some light. So I’m not a
replacement, am I? Sonia never really cared if the Reeds were her real parents, since they treated her
like their own. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t their daughter. What mattered was whether the Reeds
treated her as a replacement.
She thought her parents treated her like their own because they saw her as their dead child. After all,
she was taken to the Reeds not long after their child had died. Her parents were still grieving back
then, so they might have showered her with all the love they never had the chance to give to their own
child. However, her mother was telling her that was not the case. She was no replacement, and they
loved her not because she was filling a void, but because she deserved love herself. Her name wasn’t
inherited from the child either. They came up with a new one for me.
As if knowing what Sonia was thinking, Lina said again, “Sonia, our daughter was called Nelly, while
you are Sonia. You’re our second child. You never were her replacement. We didn’t tell you because
you were young, and you might not understand us. But you should have grown into a lady when you
see this. We trust that you will understand us, right?”
“Yes.” Sonia nodded, her voice breaking.
Lina continued, “Sonia, please don’t dwell on this matter for too long. We hope you’ll make peace with
yourself as soon as possible. We might not be related by blood, but we are bonded by love. You have,
and always will be, our true daughter.”
“That’s right!” Henry, who hadn’t shown his face, finally popped into the video.
He was so much younger than he was six years ago, and the sight of him made her tear up again. She
just stopped crying a moment ago, but now the waterworks wouldn’t stop. “Dad…”
“We love you, Sonia, so don’t dwell on something as trivial as bloodline. You and Nelly are both our
daughters. And I have to say sorry as well. Please forgive me, but I never regretted my decision.
Maybe the day will come when you realize you would have gone down the wrong path if you had
stayed as a part of their family,” Henry suddenly looked down and said something confusing.
Sonia squinted suspiciously. What’s dad trying to say? What does he mean I would have gone down
the wrong path if I had stayed as their family? Who are they anyway?
Before she could figure that out, Henry and Lina suddenly waved at the screen.
“Alright, Sonia. It’s time for your mother’s checkup, and I’m taking her there. This is the end of the
video. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Sonia. I love you.” Lina gave her a flying kiss, and the video ended. Then, she was
redirected back to the main page.
Tears wouldn’t stop falling down Sonia’s cheeks. “Goodbye, Mom. Goodbye, Dad.” She bade them
farewell, choking up. “I love you too.” She knew that her parents were trying to tell her that they truly
loved her and that she should accept the truth as it was, but more than that, the video was her mother’s
final, farewell clip for her.
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