Chapter 74

Freshia Ava's POV

Three days have passed since the masquerade ball was held and now my condition is much better. In my sleep, I also no longer dream of things related to my past. Maybe this is also the effect of the sedative that George gave me. Last night I talked to Eros about bringing me together with Mrs. Winston. Then Eros said that Mrs. Winston was willing to have an appointment this afternoon at his residence. Therefore, now I am preparing before leaving for Mrs. Winston's house.

Thirty minutes later I finished getting ready and I immediately left the room to go downstairs to meet Eros who must have been waiting for me as usual in the living room. Sure enough, when my feet stepped on the first floor, I found Eros staring at the iPad screen in his hand.

“Eros.” I greeted when I was standing near him. Making him look away from his iPad screen and look at me.

He also smiled. "Ready?" He asked me which I immediately answered with a nod. After that, he immediately gave his iPad to John who was standing not far from him. Then Eros immediately took my hand and led me to the car.

The time it takes from Eros' house to Mrs. Winston's residence is approximately one hour. And now the car we were traveling in had entered the yard of the house where I had previously stepped in. That house was also the place where I first met Eros. The car stopped in a straight line with the main door of the house. Before going down, Eros took the time to hold my hand and said, "Are you ready? Don't rush and don't force yourself if you don't feel ready, Freshia.” he said.

Maybe previously I did seem unprepared. However, what am I really afraid of? It's true what Eros said, that however everything I will know today is part of my past and will remain behind me. Before I found out, my life was fine, so I'm sure that even if I find out about my past later, my life now will still be fine.

Therefore, I confidently responded to Eros' words. “I'm more than ready, Eros. However I have chosen to find out. So, sooner or later everything will be revealed and I think it would be better if it was all done in the near future, like today. I have also strengthened my heart since yesterday."

"In that case, okay."

After that, Eros and I got out of the car and started walking into Mrs. Winston's residence. When we got near the door, there was already a servant who had been assigned to greet us and invited us to immediately sit in the living room, waiting for Mrs. Winston to come. Not long after, I saw the woman who was no longer young walking towards us. In contrast to the previous appearance I saw which was always glamorous, this time Mrs. Winston looked simple with a shirt which she deliberately styled by tucking it into the culottes she wore underneath.

From a distance, I saw Mrs. Winston's gaze directed at me, as well as I watched her every move as she stepped towards me and Eros. But when she got near us, our line of sight was interrupted and as usual, she greeted us first. Not long after Mrs. Winston sat down in front of us, Eros immediately excused himself and left us. I know that he deliberately wanted to give us space together.

After Eros left, Mrs. Winston looked at me again, but this time, I saw that the gaze was shadier than before. “Are you right Freshia?” she asked, breaking the silence that had formed between us at that time. But before I had time to answer her question, she suddenly got up from her seat and immediately approached me. After that, she sat next to me and hugged me tightly. “You really are my daughter, Freshia.”

Hearing her words made my heart sink. This feeling is so uncomfortable and very disturbing. It's still very foreign to my ears when I hear someone admitting that I am their flesh and blood, after many years I have never heard that confession. So, reluctantly, I just let go of her hug. “I'm sorry, but I feel uncomfortable.” I said, trying to remain polite.

She seemed to understand and immediately shifted her sitting position so that there was some distance between the two of us. "Sorry, I just felt too happy when I found out that you were Freshia, my flesh and blood." She said softly.

“Actually, I wanted to meet you just to ask something.” I tried to be direct about my intentions. I don't want to beat around the bush. Therefore, I immediately told her about the dreams and things I was starting to remember about my past. Throughout that time, Mrs. Winston was silent and listened to my entire story until I had finished telling everything.

“So before, you really didn't remember me at all, darling? What did your grandmother actually say to you?” she looked sad when she said that.

“You left me when I was four years old. You didn't even leave a single photo so I could remember your face." I said. Suddenly the tears just fell when I said that. “But that doesn't seem to be the truth of what happened during my childhood. So, can you tell me what really happened in my past, Mrs. Winston?”

"We as a family had an accident when you were about to be eight years old, Freshia. And that's what caused your father to die and you experienced a very severe shock due to a blow to the head. Because of that, your grandmother never approved of me and your father blamed everything on me. She thought it was all my fault and wondered why it wasn't an orphan like me who died in the accident. However, she still loves you because she says that you are similar to your daddy. So when she saw you, whe felt like she saw father in you." She said accompanied by a warm smile at the end of her sentence.

Then she seemed to take a deep breath, before finally returning to her story. "Until after your father left, your grandmother's attitude became more unfriendly towards me. She openly showed that she didn't like me and the peak was when you turned twelve, which is the age at which you were released from my custody according to the law, she decided to throw me out of the house and threatened that she would no longer support you if I remained there. there. I, who didn't have anything at that time, couldn't do much until I decided to leave there for the sake of you who have the right to live a decent life with your grandmother. But I didn't know that she brainwashed you to forget your past and made it seem like I was the one at fault.”

I, who heard all the explanations, was just silent. I don't know whether to believe everything she says which sounds very real and makes sense to me. However, even so, that's all I want to know. There's no point in continuing the story that will make grandma look guilty because in reality, after all, grandma was the one who raised me until her last moment. I can't blame her, but I also can't deny the story I just heard from the mouth of the woman who is my mother, that it is the truth. Because the story is very related to the dreams that have been coming to me in my sleep.

And here I am, disappointed again with fate which again seems to be playing tricks on me. Because in the end, I came back to the reality that the person closest to me and the person I loved most throughout my life up to this moment was the person who made me have no parents. It turns out that my own grandmother was also the person who ruined my life.