Chapter 319
“Mom, please p>
Eleanor mercilessly severed the connection, entirely unwilling to listen to another word of her daughter’s delusions.
*That foolish, agonizingly stubborn girl,* she thought bitterly. *She is completely beyond salvation p>
Eleanor let out a long, weary sigh. “Whatever. I wash my hands of this mess. I might as well pretend I never gave birth to her p>
It had been decades, and Lacey hadn’t grown an ounce of wisdom or clarity.
On the other end of the line, Lacey clutched her phone, her chest tight with a suffocating wave of despair. Her mother was far too stubborn. There was absolutely nothing she could do to force her hand.
Her mind drifted back to the agonizing memories of her delivery. She had clearly, undeniably given birth to a pair of twins. Yet, her mother aggressively insisted she had only delivered a single child.
Every single ultrasound she had taken during her pregnancy had confirmed she was carrying twins.
The birth itself had been a harrowing, traumatic ordeal that ended in an emergency C-section. Though she had been drifting in and out of consciousness, both Adrian and her younger brother, Sebastian Quinn, had been standing vigil right outside the operating room doors. How could they have possibly gotten it wrong?
When she finally woke up in the recovery suite, Adrian had been beaming down at her. “After four rowdy boys, our family is finally complete,” he had whispered joyfully. “You gave me two beautiful, perfect daughters p>
Sebastian had been standing right beside the bed, echoing the sentiment. “Congratulations, sis. You finally got your girls p>
Due to her profound physical exhaustion, the hospital nurses had taken both infants to the neonatal ward for observation.
But the very next day, Adrian rushed into her room, his face pale and stricken. He had grabbed her hand and told her, “One of the girls is missing. But don’t panic. I’m tearing this city apart. I will find her and bring her back to you p>
Fearing she would collapse from the shock, Sebastian had gently placed the remaining baby in her arms. “Don’t panic, sis. Just hold on to this one. Keep her safe p>
But despite endless searches, the missing infant was never recovered. The agonizing loss consumed Lacey, and she withered away in grief, growing more hollow with each passing day.
Two days later, Eleanor had frantically rushed down from Aethelgard. Sitting by her hospital bed, Eleanor had firmly told her not to worry, insisting that she had only ever given birth to one child.
At the time, Lacey assumed her mother was simply concocting a desperate, well- meaning lie to soothe her shattering heartbreak. She hadn’t bothered to argue.
But when Lacey was finally discharged a month later, Eleanor had pulled her aside, her eyes intensely dark. “Watch Adrian closely. Do not place all your trust in him p>
The accusation had felt absurd.
1.n
Adrian was out on the streets every single day, desperately searching for their stolen daughter, returning home each night looking like a hollowed out ghost. And on top of that, he was single-handedly managing his crumbling company.
Watching the love of her life wither away from the stress and grief broke Lacey’s heart. “Let it go, Adrian,” she had eventually pleaded, tears in her eyes. Stop searching. It was her fate. She was never meant to be… ours p>
But he stubbornly refused to surrender. “No! They are the twin phoenixes of the Mercer family. How can we just leave one behind p>
He had relentlessly continued the manhunt for months until the trail went entirely, irreversibly cold, forcing him to finally accept defeat.
Knowing how much Adrian had bled for their family, how could her mother accuse him of something so sinister?
“I know exactly who Adrian is, Mom,” Lacey had snapped back defensively. “I’m asking you to never speak of him like that again p>
“If you refuse to believe your own mother, then I am done interfering,” Eleanor had replied coldly. “When this all blows up in your face, don’t come running back to the Quinn family p>
“Don’t worry,” Lacey had spat back. “I won’t p>
From that day on, Eleanor never stepped foot in Melvion City again. And for years, Lacey stubbornly refused to return to her childhood. homem Aethelgard, only occasionally managing a stiff, obligatory phone call during the
holidays.
A few months after that bitter fight, Lacey had swallowed her pride and initiated a call to her mother.
Deep down, she knew that regardless of how harsh Eleanor was, she genuinely believed she was protecting her daughter.
The icy tension between them had begun to thaw slightly. But it didn’t last long. Soon, Eleanor was once again fiercely warning Lacey to keep her guard up against Adrian and not to blindly trust his every word.
The final straw came when Eleanor aggressively claimed that the missing twin was never biologically Lacey’s to begin with.
Listening to her mother spew such deranged, deeply offensive nonsense, Lacey was overcome with fury. She slammed the phone down and severed contact completely.
It was only in the last few years that the sheer weight of time had allowed them to exchange a handful of strained, polite phone calls.
Lacey absolutely refused to entertain any criticism of her husband, and eventually, Eleanor realized that trying to force the truth upon her was utterly useless.