There was another helpless sigh before Joanne continued.
"The Morton family is a noble family in Chicago. It's a scandal for them that the young daughter of the master had been abducted and didn't return for so many years. They didn't want the outsiders to know that I've married an unknown man from an unknown family for the family's reputation. So, your grandfather decided to draw a veil over the matter and clean up my traces in LA completely. That's why they separated us."
She stopped here and couldn't hold back her tears any longer and wept again.
In order to protect his daughter, and more importantly, to protect the family's reputation, the master of the family, Joanne's father, separated his daughter from her husband and her own daughter...
Savannah gasped and squeezed the napkin in her hand. She never thought her mother had experienced so much.
"Your grandfather, in order to make me give up on your father and you, arranged a new marriage for me. Ethan Rowe's been widowed for many years, and he has two children. Your grandfather knew that I miss my own daughter a lot, so he thought I could project my yearning for you to them. Of course, I refused. But shortly after that, I heard that you and your father had been killed in a car accident. I was stunned and passed when my father showed me your death certificates. There were also some pictures of your father's body... His body was destroyed badly… I was crushed with grief and completely convinced that you were all dead in that car accident... Then I was badly ill and had been lying on the bed of suffering for a year," Joanne wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "But now I finally know the truth. In order to make me completely give up, my father lied to me that you also died… He's so cruel!"
"Even if you believed my father and I were both dead, why would you never come to LA to visit our graveyard? You were so sad to learn the news of our death and had a serious illness that year, okay, that could be excused. But later? At least, you can come to pay tribute to your husband and daughter. If you had only been there once, you would have known that your daughter was not dead. But you never come back." Savannah said calmly.
"Savannah, sorry... I didn't dare... I'm afraid I would break down in front of your burial place! After all these years, I still have a picture of your father's body in my mind, and I had nightmares almost every day. They even didn't have a photo of your body, and I wondered how tragic your death was in that car accident… I dared not to go back... I admit I'm really useless and cowardly... Sorry, Savannah... If you still don't forgive me, beat me to vent your anger, okay?" Joanne took Savannah's hand to slap her cheek as she said, her eyes swollen with weep.
"Enough!" Just then, Charlotte rushed in, pulling Joanne's hand off.
"Mom, don't do this!" She cried and then stared at Savannah. "Mom was so sad after learning the news of your death that she's always been in poor health. She almost died of a heart attack several times! My father didn't allow her to visit your grave, afraid that she would fall ill again. Later, my father took her abroad to recuperate, and she rarely comes back home! It's none of her business!"
Savannah looked at Charlotte coldly. Obviously, she had been watching them at the door, paying attention to their conversation.
Oh, wasn't Charlotte tired? Before, she committed suicide to stop Dylan from marrying her, and then she asked her friend to kill her in the car; now, she was again afraid that she would take her mother away.
But she was not interested in fighting with Charlotte for anything.
Without a word, Savannah picked her bag and stood up with a smile of sarcasm.
Joanne, seeing that she was about to leave, freed herself from the arms of her stepdaughter—almost knocked Charlotte down, and rushed forward to grab Savannah on her arm.
"Savannah, are you going to leave so soon? Move back to live with me, okay? Please, I beg you... let me take care of you..."
Charlotte's face turned darker when she saw Joanne trying to keep Savannah's desperate pertinacity. Unspeakable jealousy crowded on her mind. She had lived with Joanne for more than ten years, but Savannah's place in her mind was still more important... She completely ignored her stepdaughter when she saw her own daughter!
Savannah, however, took Joanne's hand down gently and said with her emotionless face, "sorry, Mrs. Rowe, I'm going to Italy soon and won't go back in the near future. That's all for today. You look pale. Please go back and have more rest."
Then she went straight out.
"Savannah, please don't go..." Joanne uttered a piercing scream and almost blacked out.
Savannah stopped suddenly and turned around.
"Savannah..." Joanne saw a glimmer of hope, thinking that she might change her mind.
"I just want to ask you," Savannah looked into her eyes and asked, "did you ever love daddy?"
Joanne froze a moment, tearing streaming down her pale face. She nodded her head firmly.
"I've always loved your father..."
Savannah's nose twisted. She bit her lip, trying not to cry out. With this answer, her father, who had been waiting for his wife until he died, could finally rest in peace.
She turned again without hesitation and walked out of the hotel.
* * *
Savannah didn't remember how she got home. She unlocked the door and went in, and without turning on the light, she fell on the bed, exhausted, and then began to weep.
Eventually, her mixed feelings could be held no longer.
In the gloom, she was crying straight and destructively.
Dad, did you hear that? Mom didn't mean to leave us. She was forcibly taken away by my grandfather... You could rest in peace now. She's always loved you.
She suffered a lot from the news of your death, and she had been in poor health for years. We should forgive her.
But I refused her when she asked me to go back to her and live with her...
She's now Mrs. Rowe. Who am I to live with her? This will only inconvenience her. And even if her husband accepts me, it's really embarrassing when I saw Charlotte... How can I live in the Rowe family? Wouldn't it be more awkward if Charlotte and Dylan were together?
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Dearest Lovies,
I've been reading all your comments, and it seems my update wasn't enough to appease your raging emotion. Lol! Ugh! I shouldn't have spoiled you all so much! So here it is, another batch of mass release. Please don't be mad at your humble author, we are heading in the right direction in this novel, and I feel your emotion every chapter coming over the comment section.
Do vote, comment, and review! The next mass release will be on Friday!
Love lots,
Anna Shannel Lin
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