Chapter 256
Kayla thought to herself, "Those memories used to be the sweetest part of my childhood. But now, every single one of them cuts like a knife straight to my heart."
Gloria was about to keep reminiscing when Landon cut in, "Mom, why don’t you take a break and have some water?"
"Alright," Gloria replied.
Gloria leaned back in her chair, looking completely satisfied. Gloria had never been her mother-in-law’s favorite, so of course her heart always leaned toward the Gellar family. When the kids were little, the Gellar family was there to help take care of them. After Kayla went missing, the Gellar family did everything they could to help find her. And when her husband passed away and Henry’s family started giving her a hard time, the Gellar family had always come to support her.
"Landon, Kayla, you two should be filial to your grandparents and treat your aunt better," Gloria said, wrapping things up.
Her words left both Landon and Kayla at a loss for words. They just sat there in silence.
Amelia broke the silence. "Gloria, how long has it been since you last saw your sister?"
"Hmm, let me think…" Gloria’s smile slowly faded as she tried to remember. "It’s been over a year."
"So, they stopped coming around after Landon’s accident, right?" Amelia asked.
Gloria nodded, a heavy feeling settling in her chest. After Landon fell into a coma, everything got so much harder for her, but her own sister never even showed up to comfort her—not even once. At first, her sister would call every now and then to check in, but after a while, she just stopped reaching out. Looking at it this way, her sister really hadn’t been doing a good job lately.
"Mom, maybe my aunt is just really busy?" Kayla chimed in, playing along with Amelia.
Gloria forced a laugh. "Yeah, probably."
"Mom, what should I say if the Gellar family asks about my memory loss?" Kayla asked.
"How do you want to explain it?" Gloria replied.
"I’ll just say I hurt my head and forgot everything from before, so they won’t keep asking and make me feel worse," Kayla said.
"Okay," Gloria replied.
She couldn’t bear to see Kayla upset, so she agreed without hesitation.
Before long, they arrived at the Gellar family home. Gloria’s sister, Shelby, was waiting at the door with a big smile. "Gloria, you’re finally home!"
"Shelby, long time," Gloria greeted her. Gloria had just been stewing over how her sister hadn’t cared about her all year, but the second they met face to face, all that resentment just vanished.
Landon and Kayla just stood there, completely speechless.
Only Amelia seemed to get it. She leaned in and whispered, "The bond they’ve built since childhood, plus all those little mind games, isn’t something that just goes away."
"Mind games?" Kayla echoed, looking puzzled.
Landon pressed his lips together and explained, "Amy’s stepdad and stepmom used to play those tricks on her."
"I see," Kayla said, glancing at Amelia with sympathy.
Amelia flashed a smile. "Don’t worry. She’ll wake up eventually." When the pain hit its limit, that was when one finally broke free.
"Oh my, Kayla, you’re finally home!" Shelby exclaimed, her face lighting up with surprise and joy. She rushed over, threw her arms around Kayla, and burst into tears, hugging her like she’d never let go. She really put on a show. Anyone would think those tears were the real deal. If Kayla hadn’t gotten her memories back, even she would’ve fallen for that act.
"Aunt Shelby…" Kayla called out, her voice trembling. She had to fight hard to swallow down the hatred burning in her chest just to say that one word.
"Oh, it’s so good to have you back," Shelby said, dabbing at her tears. Then she turned to Gloria. "Gloria, I always said you were lucky, didn’t I? Look—Kayla’s back, Landon’s recovered, and he’s even married with kids now."
"Yeah, yeah!" Gloria said, laughing and crying at the same time. No one but Gloria herself knew how she’d managed to survive all these years, or how much pain and injustice she’d endured. But thankfully, everything had finally turned out well. She had both her children with her, a devoted daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.
"Come on. Let’s go inside," Shelby said, ushering everyone in. The Gellar family’s house was a bit on the older side—a small villa converted from one of those old courtyard homes. The apple tree and the little pond in the yard were still there, just like she remembered. As Kayla took in the familiar sights, her heart ached with bittersweet memories.
"Landon was always the wild one when he was little—constantly climbing trees," Shelby said with a laugh. "And Kayla, you just loved watching the fish in the pond." She paused for a moment, then probed, "Kayla, do you remember any of that?"
Kayla shook her head.
"Oh, your mom just told me you lost your memory and don’t remember anything. Is that true?" Shelby asked, a flicker of unease flashing in her eyes.
"Yeah, it’s all gone. I only remember things from the past few years," Kayla replied.
"Oh, poor thing," Shelby sighed, but inside, she felt a huge wave of relief.
"Aunt Shelby, don’t be sad. I don’t feel any pain anymore," Kayla said, trying to comfort her.
"Good girl. It’s good to have you home," Shelby said.
‘So, she really doesn’t remember,’ Shelby thought to herself. She added to herself, ‘Otherwise, with Kayla’s fiery temper, there’s no way she’d be acting so calm around me. If Kayla remembered, she would’ve made sure everyone knew about the kidnapping by now. Since she doesn’t remember, I guess I’ll just drop it. Otherwise, I’d have to rack my brains coming up with some excuse…’
"And this must be Landon’s wife, right?" Shelby turned her attention to Amelia.
Amelia gave her a calm smile. "Shelby, nice to meet you."
"You’re so pretty," Shelby said with a grin. "Oh, right, you and Landon never had a proper wedding, so we haven’t actually met before."
Amelia just smiled. She sneered inwardly, ‘If you really want to see someone, nothing can stop you. If you don’t want to, you’ll always find plenty of excuses.’
"So, when are you going to have a proper wedding?" Shelby asked.
Landon said, "We’ll wait a bit. The kid is still little, and Amy just doesn’t have the energy right now."
"Didn’t you hire a nanny?" Shelby asked, looking surprised.
"We did, but I prefer to take care of the baby myself," Amelia said, meeting Shelby’s eyes. "After all, children are literally a piece of their mother, right, Shelby?"
Shelby frowned, feeling like Amelia was saying something with a hidden meaning. ‘What is she trying to get at?’
"Shelby, when Landon and Amy finally have the wedding, we can’t do it without you," Gloria said.
Out of the five people in the yard, Gloria looked the most out of it. Landon was completely speechless at his mom, but he could only bite his tongue and put up with it. ‘Why did Aunt Shelby have to go after me and Kayla?’ Landon wondered, suspicion and confusion swirling in his mind.
"I’ll make sure to have a big wedding gift ready ahead of time!" Shelby said enthusiastically.
Kayla handed over the wedding invitation from Tuff. "Aunt Shelby, you might want to get my wedding gift ready now."
"Wait, Kayla’s getting married? Weren’t you already married?" Shelby asked, looking surprised.
Kayla’s face changed dramatically.
Gloria quickly cut in, "No, she hasn’t. She just had a baby, and that’s all."
"Oh, and the baby’s father?" Shelby probed.
"He’s gone," Kayla replied flatly.
Shelby’s eyes instantly filled with tears again, and she reached out to hug Kayla. "Oh, my poor Kayla…"
Kayla quietly sidestepped her, set the invitation down on the coffee table, and said, "Aunt Shelby, you have to be there."
"Absolutely!" Shelby nodded enthusiastically. "You all sit tight. I’ll go get your grandparents."
"Okay," Kayla replied.
Shelby stood up and, before she even made it to the stairs, burst into tears. "Dad, Mom, Kayla’s back…"
Her acting was either Oscar-worthy or just plain awkward—hard to tell.
Landon and Kayla exchanged a look, both at a total loss for words.
It wasn’t long before Kayla’s grandparents came shuffling down the stairs, their voices trembling with emotion. "My sweet Kayla, Landon…"
And just like that, the waterworks started all over again.
Once everyone had finally calmed down, Landon asked, "Aunt Shelby, where are my cousins?"
"They took the kids on a trip," Shelby replied.
"And what about Tristan?" Landon asked.
"He’s off playing cards! Ever since he retired, that’s all he does—just cards, every single day," Shelby replied, and there was a flash of resentment in her eyes when she mentioned her husband.
Amelia thought to herself, ‘Trouble in their marriage? Could what happened all those years ago have something to do with Tristan?’