Chapter 80 Origins
"I gotta go, so I'll catch you later," Emily said to Harper, feeling a bit down, and then she drove home.
On the way, Emily's emotions were all over the place, making it hard for her to drive safely. So, she pulled over to the side of the road.
She rubbed her temples and thought about Ava's last words as she had held Emily's hand before passing away.
Ava had said, "Emily, I know you're a good person and you really like James. He just hasn't figured out his feelings yet. You're amazing; who wouldn't like you? I feel bad for both of you. If he ever regrets the divorce, would you give him another chance?"
Back then, Emily had wanted to give Ava some treatment to hold on a bit longer until James got back, but Ava's grip had been so strong that Emily couldn't move.
Listening to Ava's dying words had left Emily's mind in chaos, especially since Ava's tired eyes had kept staring at her, like she wouldn't rest in peace unless Emily agreed.
In the end, Emily had nodded tearfully and agreed to Ava's request.
At that moment, Ava's hand, which had been gripping tightly and trembling, suddenly went limp.
The last bit of light in Ava's eyes slowly faded away, leaving them completely lifeless.
James hadn't made it back in time for Ava's funeral, which made Emily resent him.
After Ava's burial, a lawyer had come to the house to read the will, which included a delicate little key for Emily.
The lawyer had given Emily the key and said she could use it whenever she felt ready.
Initially, Emily was too consumed by grief to care, and later, too many things happened, causing her to forget about it entirely.
She touched the key hanging around her neck and took it off.
Upon examining it, she discovered it was for a safety deposit box Ava had at the bank.
Emily drove straight to the bank. The bank manager, Grace Gonzalez, got really excited when she saw Emily with the key.
"You must be Emily. Ava said you'd come. I've been waiting for you for so long that I thought you might never show up," Grace said, her words a bit jumbled, and then she started crying.
When Grace was a kid, Ava had sponsored her. She visited Ava every year, and Ava trusted her deeply. Otherwise, Ava wouldn't have entrusted her with this secret.
"Yeah," Emily nodded. She could tell that Grace and Ava were old friends and had a good relationship.
"You're such a beautiful girl," Grace praised. She was quite talkative. "Ava always said you were the most beautiful girl she had ever seen, and she liked you the best. When she knew she didn't have much time left, she stored some things with me. She said you had to bring the key to get them."
"She also gave me your photo so I would recognize you. At first, I wasn't sure it was you because you've changed so much," Grace said as she pulled out an old, yellowed photo from her pocket.
Ava had insisted on taking a picture of Emily when she had taken her from the countryside, so that was how this photo came to be.
In the photo, Emily wore simple, rough clothes and had an innocent, sunny smile, which was a stark contrast to her current demeanor.
Emily stared at the photo, her eyes getting a bit red.
"Grandma," she murmured softly.
She followed Grace to retrieve the items and, after a while, hoarsely asked, "Grace, can I keep this photo?"
Grace was momentarily stunned but then handed the photo to Emily. Emily took it and combined it with another half-photo she carried with her.
In the combined photo, the girl and the old lady were smiling, giving off a sense of peaceful times.
For a moment, Emily couldn't hold back her tears, which streamed down her face.
"Please don't cry," Grace said, startled to see Emily crying. She quickly took out some tissues from her pocket and handed them to Emily.
Emily took the tissues and wiped her tears. After a while, she managed to calm herself down.
"You seem like a very sentimental person," Grace said, "Ava would be very happy to know you care so much about her."
Grace had noticed Emily putting the two photos together and sighed heavily, knowing that sentimental people were often the most easily hurt.
After walking for what felt like forever, Emily arrived at the safety deposit box. Grace took out a palm-sized box from the innermost part and handed it to Emily.
Emily used the key to open the box and found a letter inside.
Opening the letter, Emily's mood instantly became heavy.
In the letter, Ava first apologized to Emily, saying that if Emily no longer wanted to be with James, she could divorce him. Ava had left Emily a substantial inheritance, enough for her to live comfortably.
But that wasn't the main point. The main point was at the end of the letter.
Ava recounted a story that even James didn't know, which was about James's true parentage.
It turned out that James was not Sophia's child, but he was indeed a Smith.
James's father, Owen Smith, had been rebellious in his youth and had fallen in love with a woman, eloping with her. However, only he and James had returned later.
Owen had felt lost and painful and hadn't eaten or drunk for several days, finally snapping out of it due to James's cries.
At that time, Ava had thought Owen was going to die and had brought James to the door of his room every day to try to cheer him up. Eventually, Owen started to improve.
Despite Ava's objections, he had married Sophia. Initially, Sophia had been resistant when she found out he had a child, but later, for some reason, she had agreed to marry him.
On the day of their wedding, Owen had jumped from the eighteenth floor, ending his life.
Ava hadn't known why James's father had committed suicide until her death, guessing it might have been because of love. She hadn't been able to accept it and had been despondent for a long time.
Meanwhile, Sophia had adapted well, living a stable life in the Smith Family and raising James. However, Ava could never bring herself to like Sophia and had had a significant prejudice against her.
Ava had investigated Sophia's background and had found that she wasn't from the Brown Family but an outsider. Beyond that, there had been no more information.