Chapter 206: Mistaken Identity
Chapter 206: Mistaken Identity
(Elena Blackwood’s POV)
48 Forts
Fred Xavier… The name echoed in my mind like a distant bell. I was certain I had heard it before, but the harder I tried to grasp the memory, the more it slipped away like water through my fingers.
It was frustrating. The name felt significant, connected to something important, yet it remained just beyond my reach. I could sense there was a story there, a piece of the puzzle I was missing.
I decided not to force myself to remember. Sometimes memories surfaced when you least expected them, when your mind was relaxed and open. Perhaps it would come to me later, when I wasn’t actively searching for it.
Turning my attention back to the conversation, I asked Mrs. Lopez directly, “Are you very familiar with my aunt?”
Mrs. Lopez was visibly taken aback by my question. Her eyes widened slightly, and I could see the moment she realized what she had been doing – gossiping about someone’s family member right in front of them.
A flush crept up her neck as embarrassment colored her features. She forced an awkward smile, clearly uncomfortable with the situation she had created.
“Actually, I’ve only met her a few times,” she said quickly, her voice higher than before. “Not really familiar at all.”
The admission hung in the air between us. I could tell she was backtracking, trying to minimize her earlier comments about Hazel Green.
Before I could probe further or ask any follow–up questions, Mrs. Fisher smoothly intervened. She glanced at her expensive watch and made a show of checking the time.
“Oh my, I completely lost track of time,” she announced, rising from her seat with practiced grace. “I have a nail appointment in thirty minutes, and you know how impossible it is to reschedule with the good salons.”
She gathered her designer handbag and gave us all a polite smile. “Thank you for the lovely tea, Joyce. It was wonderful meeting you, Elena.”
Mrs. Lopez, seizing the opportunity to escape the awkward situation, immediately stood as well. “You know what, I should be going too. My husband will be expecting me for lunch.”
She turned to Joyce and me with a relieved expression. “Thank you for having us, Joyce. Elena, it was such a pleasure to meet Dorothea’s daughter.”
Within minutes, both women had made their excuses and departed, leaving Joyce and me alone in the glass house. The sudden quiet felt almost overwhelming after their chatter.
Joyce and I walked out of the glass house together, stepping into the fragrant air of the tea garden. The afternoon sun filtered through the leaves above us, creating dancing patterns of light and shadow on the stone path.
I must have looked preoccupied because Joyce noticed my expression immediately. Her brow furrowed with
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Chapter 205 Mistaken Identity
concern as she studied my face.
# Points
“Actually, I only invited you today,” she explained, her voice gentle and apologetic. “I didn’t expect them to arrive early for tea. As friends, I couldn’t very well turn them away when they showed up.”
She paused, searching my face for any sign of displeasure. “You don’t mind, do you?”
I looked at her and smiled, shaking my head. Her concern was touching, and I appreciated her consideration.
“Of course not,” I assured her. “I’ll just take it as getting acquainted with the Riverside City social circle.”
Joyce’s shoulders relaxed visibly at my response. She nodded, seeming relieved that I wasn’t offended by the
unexpected company.
“They both love to gossip,” she said with a knowing look. “Nothing in this circle, no matter how small or insignificant, escapes their ears. I’ve grown quite used to it over the years.”
Her expression grew more serious as she continued. “Don’t take anything they said to heart. Sometimes their curiosity gets the better of their discretion.”
I could tell Joyce was particularly concerned that I might be bothered by their discussion of Hazel Green, considering she was supposedly my aunt. Her protective instincts were showing.
I lowered my eyes, considering how much to reveal. “Actually, I’m quite curious about my aunt’s affairs. I was. hoping to learn more about her.”
Joyce looked genuinely surprised by my admission. Her eyebrows rose as she processed my words.
“Didn’t your father tell you about her?” she asked, clearly expecting that Samuel would have shared family history with me.
I shook my head, maintaining the pretense that I had grown up knowing Samuel as my father.
Joyce seemed to understand something in that moment. She sighed deeply, her expression growing
sympathetic.
“Well, I suppose he wouldn’t know how to bring up such a complicated topic,” she said thoughtfully. “Family secrets can be difficult to discuss, especially painful ones.”
She looked at me with kind eyes. “I know quite a bit about Hazel Green, especially given my past relationship with your mother. We were very close before… before everything changed.”
I felt a surge of hope. Finally, someone who might give me honest answers about my supposed aunt and her
connection to my family.
“Joyce,” I began carefully, “my aunt told me that she was supposed to be mated to my father, but my mother. intercepted that arrangement.”
Joyce’s reaction was immediate and dramatic. Her eyes widened in shock, and she stopped walking entirely.
“She told you that?” Joyce asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
I nodded, watching her expression carefully. There was something in her face that suggested a twist to the
story I had been told.
“I think there must be a misunderstanding,” I continued, voicing my own doubts. “If my father were truly ungrateful or dishonorable, he wouldn’t have stayed with my mother through her current condition.”
< Chapter 206 Mistaken Identity
45 Points
Joyce’s expression grew earnest, and she nodded emphatically. “You’re absolutely right to question that
version of events.”
She took a deep breath before continuing. “Half of what she told you is true. The Green family did intend for
her to be mated into the Whitmore family, but that was before her accident.”
Joyce paused, choosing her words carefully. “However, at the time, your father didn’t even know there were two daughters in the Green family.”
I was completely taken aback by this revelation. “My father didn’t know she existed?”
Joyce nodded, her expression growing more serious as she prepared to explain the complex family history.
“I remember the circumstances clearly,” she said. “It was because of Hazel’s poor health from birth. When
their mother was pregnant with the twins, she accidentally took the wrong moonlight herb during a crucial
phase of pregnancy.”
She gestured as she spoke, painting the picture of a medical tragedy. “This caused premature birth. Your
mother Dorothea was born healthy and strong, but Hazel Green was diagnosed with congenital patent
ductus arteriosus.”
We paused near a beautiful flowerbed filled with blooming roses. The sweet scent filled the air around us as
Joyce continued her explanation.
“This heart condition caused her heart to enlarge progressively as she aged,” Joyce explained. “By the time
she was fifteen, the Green family made the difficult decision to send her abroad for specialized surgery and
an extended recovery period.”
She looked at me meaningfully. “Hazel didn’t return to Riverside City until she was nineteen years old. So you
see, your father truly had no idea there were two daughters in the Green family during those crucial years.”
I bit my lip, processing this information. It painted a very different picture from what Hazel had told me.
“I still remember that your mother and your father first met at a banquet. I was there at that time, and your
father fell in love with your mother at first sight.”
“But why did my aunt tell me she was the first to meet my father?” I asked, still confused about the timeline.
Joyce’s expression grew knowing, as if she had been waiting for this exact question.
“That’s because your father mistook her for someone else,” she revealed.
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