Chapter 382: Chapter 382

Samantha was not an ungrateful child and would forever be appreciative of the fact that she had been adopted. In fact, she still remembered the day that she had been chosen.

Samantha remembered that day when she was adopted as vividly as if it had just happened. How could she not? It was the most life-changing moment of her young life then. Every detail was etched into her mind—the sound of Madam Ruby’s signature stomping on the polished floor, the faint smell of jasmine perfume, which she had no idea whom it belonged to, and the gentle hum of voices in the room. But more than anything, she remembered her.

Samantha could still picture the way her new mother had walked into the biggest room they had in the orphanage, her presence warm and calm yet commanding. The woman, whom she had leaned over the next few years to call Mum, had knelt to her level, meeting her wide, uncertain eyes, and smiled.

Oh, that smile! It had been soft yet so full of promise. It wasn’t the kind of smile that faded quickly or one given out of obligation. It was genuine, reaching her eyes and crinkling the corners as though she had been waiting for this moment her whole life. Little Samantha knew it right then!

In that instant, Samantha had felt something strange and unfamiliar. It wasn’t fear or doubt; it was hope—a flicker of it, cautious yet undeniable. This person had not chosen any of the other promising kids. Nope, none of those who had demonstrated their intelligence and wits.

She was about Gabriel’s age then, if not slightly older. Her tiny hands had gripped the hem of her old, worn sweater, her heart pounding so loud she thought everyone in the room could hear it.

’What if.... What if....’ Her little mind churned.

"She’s quite an interesting one, isn’t she, Tyler?" Her prospective mother had asked a young man who stood aloof by the door, the man that Samantha had learned to call, Dad.

Samantha had only hesitantly glanced at the man and turned back to her mother as she extended her hand. Samantha hesitated, her gaze darting to the adults around her for reassurance. But then, something about that smile, that kindness, made her want to trust, and that was what she had done. She had reached out, her small hand trembling as it slid into her mother’s warm, steady grip.

In that moment, something shifted inside her—a fragile wall Samantha hadn’t even realized she’d built began to crumble. And for the first time in what felt like forever, she allowed herself to feel safe....

Only that did not last as her parents had decided to leave her alone with her younger siblings without a word. For years after that, she had loathed them and also the man who had taken them in but ended up neglecting them. All until their stepmother had come into the picture.

Thinking back, even when her new adoptive parents had told Samantha that she would be getting another sibling, she had panicked that she might be sent back, but Samantha still trusted her.

Her mother’s belly grew till little adorable Ingrid came into the world, and even after, her parents went to adopt a boy to make their family complete.

Samantha had always had that unshakable trust in her mother, Aliya but she did not know what she was feeling then as she sat in the hospital room..

Even now, years later, Samantha would always feel the echo of that moment when her eyes had initially connected with her adoptive mother’s. Whenever Aliya smiled at her, it brought back that same flicker of hope, that same sense of belonging. It wasn’t just a memory; it was a piece of her heart she carried every day. A space that she had guarded tightly till Shelby had wormed her way in.

Because Samantha vividly remembered this, she had always considered Aliya as her saviour, but Samantha did not know what was going on in that moment in the hospital room. That smile was just different.

’Mum Aliya has been through a lot and has been to death’s door; it’ll be a miracle if she was the same....’ She thought to herself, but Samantha was unsure if this was her newfound love for her new mother, Shelby and the conflict that her mind was in or if there was something really at play there. She did not want to think about it.

’Samantha! Stop it! You can’t do this just because you like Mum now!’ She beseeched herself, but even at that moment, Samantha had not realized that she added her first adoptive mum as Mum Aliya, while her stepmother was simply ’Mum’. It meant that the places that the two women had in her heart had been shifted.

Even though Samantha was unaware of this subconscious reaction, it didn’t mean that Aliya did not, especially when the other two, including her biological daughter, started doing the same.

"Is everything okay, Samantha?" Aliya asked softly, but Samatha was too ingrained in her thoughts to respond.

As such, a heavy silence hung between them, and Gabriel squirmed uncomfortably.

"Mama Aliya! We brought you flowers," he said suddenly, pointing to a bouquet that Aliya had not noticed sitting by a small table by the window close to her bad. How deep in thoughts had she been that she had not noticed these?

"Mama said that you would like them, and she helped us pick it out!" Gabriel said proudly.

The mention of their new stepmother, Shelby, stung more than Aliya cared to admit. Even in that moment, she was not thinking of her fiancé yet. Her chest tightened as she realized how much of their lives she had missed, how someone else had filled the void she had left behind.

’How do I get that space back?’ Aliya found herself thinking,

’That woman can’t occupy both Ian and my kids! She can’t!’

Despite all these thoughts and sentiments,

"They’re lovely," Aliya replied, her voice trembling. She reached for the flowers,

’Daisies’ she thought to herself as her hands brushed over the petals. "Thank you."

Only she knew if these words were from her heart.

After this, Another stretch of silence followed after this. It was so palpable that it felt like a third presence in the room.... Stagnant and suffocating even for the kids. Ingrid also took in all the emotions from her mother, never missing anything.

She spoke again after that initial brusque comment, her tone hesitant but curious.

"Do you... remember anything? From before?"

Ingrid had decided to probe more because like Samantha, she also thought that something was different about her mother. She was happy that Aliya had returned but Ingrid still preferred her new mum, for some unexplainable reason. It didn’t take long before the reason became clear to her, but Ingrid kept her thoughts and decisions to herself.

The question pierced through the haze of Aliya’s façade of guilt and longing. She swallowed hard, looking unsure of how to answer. Only adults would understand that Aliya was in a crisis.

One that revolved around her losing the object of her obsession and affection. In that state of mind, she could not find it in herself to give her children her all. At the same time, she knew that showing such negative emotions to the children might make its way to Ian’s ears. Aliya, therefore, had no other choice but to show that outlook of the ’loving mother’.

"I remember loving you all very much... so much that I defied the odds and came back alive!" she said finally, her voice wavering.

Gabriel gave her a small smile, but the other two exchanged a glance that spoke of unspoken questions and guarded emotions.

Aliya caught the slight exchange but could not make much of it. At that moment, Aliya realized what she felt was the truth: though she had been their mother once, two years was a long time, and the threads that bound them had frayed. Rebuilding wouldn’t happen in a single meeting—it would take time. The question was, did she want to spend that much time doing that or getting back her man?

Even as she thought of this, she looked into their wary, unsure faces and Aliya couldn’t help but wonder if time alone with them would be enough. She did not have enough for herself to split between three children and her Ian.

"I remember..." Aliya let a faraway look hover on a her face with a small smile as she recounted their past. However, out of all of them, only Gabriel listened with rapt attention.

"What of father?" Ingrid asked the question that had been on all their minds since they had entered.

However, at that question, Aliya’ lowered her lids and a lone tear fell down her cheeks.

"Your mother look to be tired. Let’s let her rest for today, okay?"

The hired help interjected.

The three children took turns saying goodbye in their own way despite its clumsiness.

They then walked out of the private room, down the hallways, and down the elevators to the ground floor, where Murray was waiting for them. This routine repeated despite the kid’s slight reluctance. Murray would drop them off and pick them up later. However, on their third visit, a few days later, when they met in the hospital waiting room,

"Ah, I forgot my phone!" Samantha exclaimed suddenly.

"Are you okay going on your own?" Murray asked, earning him an eye-roll. He shook his head and waited in the hospital’s main waiting room for her.

Samatha dashed back up the elevators and to the private room yet again. However, just as she raised her hand to knock, clear voices met her from the room. She raised her hand to knock again but then froze, and her pupils constricted on the subject of the conversation.

"Did you hear that?" A voice from the room asked, and Samatha’s raised hand trembled.

’They can’t know that I heard them!’

She thought and then looked frantically along the bare, long corridor that had no hiding place; dread filled her heart.

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