They took a private elevator that led straight to the private ward Serena was in.
June shifted on her feet and suddenly felt pressed. Her heart was beating fast, and her stomach rumbled at the same time.
She looked at Chris. "Did you tell Mother I will be watching over her?"
A small smile almost appeared on Chris’s lips, but he knew she would be annoyed if he smiled at what obviously seemed to bother her.
"I told her I have a surprise for her."
June’s eyes widened. "Am I the surprise?"
He nodded, then patted her shoulder lightly. "Don’t worry. I assure you that Mother will love the surprise."
Reassured by Chris’s promise, June tried to calm her beating heart as they got out of the elevator.
They were on the seventh floor of the hospital, and unlike the reception area, there was hardly anyone on this floor.
Chris led them to a room that stated V.I.P Room 1. He opened the door slowly and led June in first.
Serena lay on the bed in what June assumed was the hospital gown. Nothing was attached to her hand, and slow music played in the background.
Though Chris had opened the door very slowly, she still turned her head towards the direction of the door.
"Who’s there?"
Chris chuckled. "Of course, you wouldn’t be my mother if you hadn’t noticed anything. I tried to come in as quietly as I could, but you know."
"Chris..." She was sitting up now. "Is there someone with you?"
June opened her mouth to talk, but before she could say a word, Chris stopped her.
"Mother, remember I said I have a surprise for you before the surgery."
Serena bobbed her head. "It was one of the reasons I moved the surgery up, along with the introduction."
"Well, this is the surprise."
He pulled June forward, placing her hand softly on Serena’s.
Serena’s brow furrowed. She didn’t know what to make of this.
"This is someone’s hand. Who is she?"
Without waiting for Chris to speak, she continued.
"Your fiancée?"
Chris chuckled. "Someone more important than that. At first, I intended to tell you after the surgery, but I can’t wait anymore."
Serena’s breath hitched.
"Who is it?"
"Your daughter, Mother. This is your real daughter."
Serena’s brow twitched in confusion.
"Is this Amie?"
"No, Mother. Amie was never your real daughter. Samir played us."
Serena’s hold on June tightened.
She didn’t ask him how he had discovered it.
She didn’t ask how he knew.
She trusted Chris.
"So, you’re saying this is my real daughter. My biological daughter?"
Chris nodded.
"Yes, Mother."
Serena pulled June closer, her hand moving slowly over her face.
"Her features are sharp. What’s her name?"
"I knew you were going to ask that. It’s someone you already know."
"Who?"
"It’s June."
"June..."
The name came out as a whisper. It was as if she had never said the name before and was just saying it for the first time.
"Mother."
June’s voice came out shaky. Her lip quivered as she suppressed the sound of tears that threatened to leave her lips.
"Mother."
She repeated it.
The word sounded strange, yet familiar on her lips.
All her life, she had been forced to call a stranger her mother, but finally finding hers made it all different.
Serena pulled her in for a hug.
"June. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I failed to recognize my own daughter. I thought you were Chris’s girlfriend."
At that, Chris chuckled.
"She almost became one."
June turned to glare at him.
"You know what? I think I will leave you guys to bond for a while."
Neither of them said a word.
They waited until they heard the sound that indicated the door had been locked.
Then the sound of them trying to suppress their tears was the only thing that could be heard.
Thankfully, none of the doctors or nurses came in to interrupt their private moment.
It was Serena who broke the silence.
"I should have known Samir would never have given my real daughter back to me. I mean, I had always known he was obsessed with money, but I never thought he would find someone else to replace our daughter. You’re just as much his daughter as you’re mine."
June swallowed her tears.
"Amie is his daughter too."
Serena pulled back.
"Samir had another daughter?"
After leaving Trevor’s house, she had ignored everything that had to do with Samir. She had only been sending letters to him regarding her daughter.
"You mean Samir actually sent his daughter to me to treat like mine?"
June could tell she was already getting upset. She didn’t want Serena upset because of her surgery, and she didn’t want this to be the thing they remembered whenever they talked about their reconciliation.
"Can we forget about them? I’m just glad to finally find you, Mother."
Serena nodded.
She would handle Samir’s issue later. For now, she wanted to focus on her daughter.
"I’m also glad you did. But June..."
June looked at her.
"There is something you need to understand. I never abandoned you."
June’s heart skipped.
"What?"
Serena’s hand moved gently over her face.
"I didn’t leave you because I didn’t want you. Something happened, June. Something that kept me from finding you."
June stared at her.
For years, she had believed that her mother had simply chosen to leave her.
Now, Serena was telling her that wasn’t what happened.
Before June could ask another question, Serena smiled softly.
"But I don’t want our first night together to be filled with painful memories. I want to hear about you."
June swallowed.
"About me?"
"Yes. How did you meet Chris?"
And what June had thought was going to be a boring night with Serena ignoring her actually became one of the best nights of her life.
They talked about how she had met Chris and the little she knew about how Chris had identified her.
Occasionally, a nurse came to check on Serena and insisted that she needed to sleep so she would be ready for the operation the next day.
But Serena couldn’t sleep. She wanted to talk with June all night.
It was almost as if she was ready to compress all the years she had missed in June’s life into that one night alone.
Chris didn’t bother coming back to them. He knew they would have a lot to talk about.
When the nurse came for the second time and found June still discussing with Serena, she frowned at her.
"Do you want me to put you in a different room, ma’am?"
Serena was the one who responded.
"No. June is here to stay with me and help me."
The nurse sighed.
"But she isn’t helping you at the moment. You need to rest so that you will be well prepared. But she seems to be keeping you awake."
"Sorry about that. I promise to help her sleep now," June apologized.
The nurse looked from her to Serena. She didn’t believe them, but she couldn’t force a grown woman out of the room.
"I’ll be counting on you. If I come back and see her not resting, I won’t have a choice but to put you in another room."
The nurse left.
"Is she gone?" Serena whispered.
June smiled.
"Yes."
"Oh! Nurses can be scary sometimes," she joked.
Serena hadn’t bothered reprimanding the nurse because she knew the nurse was just performing her duty. It was all because she cared about her health.
"Can you continue telling me about..."
June didn’t let her complete her words.
"No, Mother. You have to rest now. I promise to tell you whatever you want to know after the surgery. Plus, I have a gift for you."
Her eyes moved to her bag where the chain was.
Suddenly, tomorrow felt like a very long day.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Amie waited in the living room.
She wanted to know exactly when Chris and June would return and what they had gone to do.
So, when Chris returned alone, Amie frowned at him.
Did something happen?
Had he finally gotten rid of June?
She had tried to get closer to him, but a glare from Chris made her sit back.
Amie wondered what she had done wrong to him.
Maybe June had gone ahead to spoil her in his presence. It must have been the reason he was reacting to her in such a manner.
It wasn’t possible that he already knew she was a fake.
Amie was certain that if he knew, he would have thrown her out of the mansion.
But apart from Chris’s strange attitude, what was even stranger was Serena not coming home.
Regardless of where she had gone to, Serena would always come home to sleep. Sometimes, she would come and check on her before going to bed.
But most of the time, they had dinner together.
There wasn’t a single day that went by without Amie setting her gaze on Serena.
But tonight, there hadn’t been a sign of her.
Amie had gone to her room to check, but the door had been locked.
When she tried getting information from the maids, they all had no idea where she had gone.
And she knew that it was impossible to get a response from Chris.
It was strange.
Very strange.
With no idea what else to do, she picked up her phone and called Samir.
Thankfully, he picked up on the first ring.
"What’s the problem?"
Amie took a deep breath.
"Father, I think something is wrong."
"What do you mean?" His voice was rough.
"I can’t really say, but Serena is not home. And that... that is strange."