CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO

CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO


AUTHOR'S POV

Anna stood motionless beneath the banner, her eyes fixed on the large letters stretched across the room.

Maybe I had misread, she thought.

WELCOME HOME ANNA.

It was still the message on it
For a moment, she genuinely thought she had read it wrong.

She blinked. She was still so damn confused.

The words remained exactly where they were.

A strange sensation settled heavily in her chest.

Home.

The word alone felt new but warm.

Her fingers tightened around Wesley's arm as she stared at the sign. She wasn't even aware she was doing it.

Her entire body still felt fragile after everything that had happened earlier.

Every bruise seemed more noticeable now that she was standing still. Her shoulders ached. Her back hurt. Even breathing too deeply caused a dull soreness beneath her ribs.

The kidnapping had left its mark on her in ways she was only beginning to understand.

And now this.

Of all the things she had expected when Wesley brought her here, this had never crossed her mind.

The mansion looked completely transformed. Even if this was her first time here, surely this isn't how a normal house is set.

The conversations of the few persons present faded into silence the moment she entered.

Several cameras from their phones were pointed in her direction as if this was some marriage proposal.

Mr Desmond ordered for the reporters to exit the premises.

Everyone was visibly waiting attentively and expectantly as though some important announcement was about to be made.

Anna suddenly became painfully conscious of herself.

She looked down at her clothes before quickly looking away again.

She wasn't dressed for an event. Nor was she presentable for cameras.

She certainly wasn't dressed to become the center of attention in a room full of strangers. Even worse, it was beginning to feel like mockery.

The more she looked around, the more out of place she felt. Everyone appeared polished and prepared. Meanwhile, she felt exhausted, bruised, emotionally drained, and completely confused. It was as though she had accidentally wandered into someone else's story and nobody had realized she didn't belong there.

Her throat tightened. This had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

That explanation made far more sense than any other possibility her mind could produce. Perhaps they were expecting another Anna.

And this whole set up and sign wasn't meant for her. Perhaps somebody had made a terrible mistake. Or there was just an expensive co-incidence.

The thought brought a brief sense of relief to her. At least, that was until her eyes wandered back to Mrs. Desmond.

Her eyes glistened with tears she was making no effort to hide.

There was something so raw in her expression that it immediately unsettled Anna.

This wasn't the face of someone confused or disapproving.

This wasn't the face of someone who had mistaken her identity. Instead, this was the face of someone looking at a miracle. At me.

Slowly, Mrs. Desmond began walking toward her.

At this point, Anna almost ran away.
But her feet couldn't move. As though she was afraid that moving too quickly might somehow shatter the moment.

The room had become completely silent now.

Anna could hear her own heartbeat. She instinctively shifted closer to Wesley,the only person who felt normal and oblivious like her. It wasn't because she felt threatened, it was because she felt overwhelmed.

Nothing about this made sense, and yet nobody else seemed confused.

She glanced at Wesley, silently pleading for an explanation.

He didn't have one.

His expression mirrored her own disbelief. His brows were furrowed. His eyes remained fixed on Mrs. Desmond. For perhaps the first time since she had met him, Wesley appeared genuinely speechless.

That frightened her more than she wanted to admit.

When Mrs. Desmond finally stopped in front of her, Anna noticed that the woman's hands were trembling around the photo album.

What the hell.

Neither of them spoke but Mrs Desmond smiled widely.
She simply looked at her with assurance that she was safe.

She looked at her the way someone looks at something they thought they had lost forever.

The intensity of it made Anna uncomfortable.

Then Mrs. Desmond finally spoke.

"Anna," she whispered. “Juliana,” she chuckled.

The sound of her own name coming from the woman's lips made something twist unexpectedly inside Anna's chest.

Mrs. Desmond swallowed hard, tears spilling freely now. “That's the full name my dear, she took Anna’s hand. "My baby.

The words struck Anna so suddenly that she almost physically recoiled. Her cheeks flushed pink.

Her baby?

Her heart warmed up.

This was certainly a pleasant dream from some fairy godmother after her suffering from the kidnap. Because this felt good. Too sweet to be true.

The room seemed to tilt around her.

Confusion flooded her mind so quickly that she couldn't even form a response.

Baby?

Daughter?

What was this woman talking about?

She immediately turned toward Wesley again, searching desperately for some sign that this was a misunderstanding, a prank, anything that would explain what was happening. But this time, she was suppressing a blush.

She found him in the same stunned disbelief reflected on his face.

“Come here, come sit,” Mrs Desmond pulled her gently to the chair. “We've had a discussion. And right from the moment I set my eyes on you dear, I just felt this connection.”

Anna couldn't deny this. She also had this thought about this woman when she first met her. She felt she was strange and shrugged it off. But now the puzzles were adding up.

Before we can say anything, we'll need to make a confirmation. So we already have the doctor here,” she turned to a man in a suit and heavy glasses. “Mr Greg,”

He quickly stood up, opening his suitcase already before asking. “Ma’am, I hope you don't mind a blood sample.”

Anna didn't hesitate. She also needed the confirmation for her to even breathe properly.

But then, immediately she set her eyes on the needle, her heart stopped beating.

The sharpness of the syringe made her chest tightened. It hadn't even gotten close to her skin but the panic rising in her was too much.

The room and people around began to blur before her.

“Julian… Anna?” Mrs Desmond called.

Anna tried o
pening her mouth to speak but only an exhale came out.

“Are you ok?” Wesley asked, rushing over to her.

Her eyes shut and she felt her body turning numb and falling.