Chapter 697

This was the one thing Aurora could never understand: Why did her mother dislike her father so much? He hadn’t done anything wrong. If it hadn’t been for William, that burn alone might’ve been the end of her. Having a mother that irresponsible had drained her completely. But her father–he had been like a sturdy tree, quietly sheltering her with whatever strength he had. And even so, Grace had never shown him a kind face.

Watching all of it now, Aurora felt a surge of anger rising in her chest. But she couldn’t change anything. So much time had already passed. Even if she confronted her now, Grace would never admit to anything. That much Aurora knew all too well. People were like that. When it came to their own wrongdoings, as long as there wasn’t hard evidence, they could deny it to the grave, even if the incident hadn’t happened all that long ago.

Aurora could only shake her head bitterly. Forget it. This part of the story was over. Let it stay that way. Whatever Grace had done to her, it was in the past now. She had to accept it. Deep down, she already understood–no matter how much a parent claimed to love their children equally, there was always one they held a little closer. No one could change that, and everyone knew it, even if no one said it out loud.

Watching all those days and nights her father had spent by her side, Aurora couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion. All this time, she had thought it was because her father didn’t love her–that was why he’d disappeared so early from her life. But now, it was clear. He had truly cared for her, even more than Grace cared for Tessa. That realization left Aurora with a strange feeling. She hadn’t noticed it before, but thinking back now…

While her mother clearly didn’t care for her, her father’s attitude toward Tessa had always been rather ambiguous as well, almost like he didn’t care much for her either. Could it be… they weren’t really his daughters?

But that couldn’t be right, could it? Aurora remembered clearly–Grace had held her in her arms when she was born. Even her name had been chosen by her parents. There was no mistake about that.

Still, whatever the truth was, there was no turning back. Even if she wanted to go back, she couldn’t walk in reverse. She had no choice but to keep moving forward, one step at a time, without looking back. She still didn’t understand the rules of this world or what any of it meant. But right now, she had only one option: to follow the path laid out for her, because the truth was, she had no idea where else to go. In this world, Aurora had never felt more powerless. With nothing on her, nowhere else to turn, Aurora had no choice but to keep walking down this path no matter how dark it got.

Then, another scene appeared before her. She saw the moment her father was killed in a car accident. The house had been filled with people. The mourning hall was packed. She remembered it clearly. As a little girl, she’d stood on Grace’s left, while Tessa was on the right. Back then, she didn’t even understand what death meant. She only remembered seeing her father lying in that black box. No matter how hard she shook it, he never opened his eyes again. What she also remembered was being scolded by nearly every adult around. They had all been shocked by her actions.

“What’s this child doing?”

“Exactly, her father just died–can’t she behave for once?”