Chapter 281: The reunion

Words : 1598 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 281: The reunion "Anne, please..." Nathan stepped forward, placing himself between her and the exit. "I know you are angry, and you have every right to be. We failed you. We hurt you. But we didn’t know..." he paused, his expression raw with regret. "We didn’t know you were the one we have been searching for all these years." Nathan reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "I ran the test again," he said as he offered it to her. "This one is the actual report. It proves you are Raya. You are my sister." Anne’s hand shook a little as she took the paper. She unfolded it slowly, cautiously. Her gaze dropped to the page, scanning the lines. And then her breath caught. The report was clear. The DNA match was undeniable. She was blood-related to the Granet family. She stood frozen, staring at the result. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths as emotion swelled inside her. Nathan’s voice broke the quiet. "Megan tampered with the first results. She paid off the doctors. She wanted to erase any chance of us knowing the truth." Anne looked up at him, her mind racing. "I couldn’t believe it completely," Nathan said, stepping closer. "Even when the reports said otherwise, I kept seeing Mom in your face. So I did the test again discreetly. And now the truth comes out." He put his hands on her shoulders. "You are my sister, Anne. We finally found you." A few feet away, Margaret stood frozen, her eyes locked on Anne. Her hands trembled at her sides, aching to reach out, to pull the daughter into her arms. But she couldn’t bring herself to move. Shame anchored her in place. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears of regret and guilt. The image of how she had treated Anne before now twisted in her mind like a blade. And Anne, still clutching the DNA report, stood in the middle of it all, her world spinning, her heart caught between old wounds and the fragile spark of something new. Anne looked down at the documents yet again. "You are saying I am your biological sister," she rasped. "Yes," Nathan managed, equally emotional. "You are." Anne lifted her gaze, her eyes glistening as tears rolled down her cheeks. "You are not lying to me... right?" Nathan shook his head. "No lies. We are family. I finally found you." A tearful smile broke across Anne’s face as her gaze shifted to Margaret, who stood silently, her face a storm of regret and aching love. Anne’s voice cracked. "Mom..." The word shattered something in Margaret. Her composure crumbled as she broke into sobs. "I’m so sorry," she whispered, barely holding. "I was so cruel. I hurt you. I didn’t know... I didn’t see it." Anne crossed the space between them and reached for Margaret’s face, brushing away the tears streaming down her cheeks. "No, don’t blame yourself," Anne said with warmth and understanding. "None of this was your fault. You didn’t know. And I’m not angry. Not really. I was just... lost. I was in so much pain, searching for where I belonged. When the DNA test said I wasn’t part of your family, it shattered me. I tried to bury that pain, to convince myself I didn’t need anyone. But deep down, I always hoped." She smiled faintly, her thumbs still wiping away Margaret’s tears. "But now... I finally found my way back. We are together. That’s all that matters." Margaret’s sobs deepened as she pulled Anne into a tight embrace. "My baby girl... my little Raya," she cried. "You are back. You finally came back to me. I missed you every single day." Anne held her close. "I’m right here now. I’m not going anywhere." Across the room, Augustine stood quietly, watching them. His eyes were soft, his heart full. He had lost his own parents. That wound was never fully closed, but seeing Anne reunited with her family brought him peace. Her joy was what mattered to him. Her family was his family. "There wasn’t a single day I didn’t think of you," Margaret said softly. "Oliver told me the police couldn’t find you, that the kidnappers had taken you far away. But I never fully believed it. I always felt you were nearby, just out of reach. I told him so many times to look for you, but he ignored my cries. I thought I would never see you again." She pulled back slightly, still holding Anne’s hands tightly, as if afraid to let go. "But now you are here. With me. We are together." Nathan stepped closer, his expression serious. "And the people who hurt you, they have paid for it," he said. "Megan is in prison. Attempted murder, tampering with DNA reports, bribing doctors—it’s all on record now. But she wasn’t working alone. She was just a pawn." Anne tilted her head, her curiosity flickering. "A pawn?" she asked. "Then who was behind all this?" Nathan’s face darkened. "Hugo. Our uncle. Dad’s half-brother. It was him all along. He orchestrated the kidnapping years ago. He wanted to destroy Dad, and that meant tearing our family apart. Megan was just a tool in his plan." He paused, then looked at Augustine with quiet admiration. "We would’ve never uncovered the full truth without him." Anne turned toward Augustine, her eyes shining with emotion. "It was you," she whispered, a proud smile spreading across her face. Augustine gave her a bashful smile and stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her waist. He kissed the top of her head gently. "For you," he murmured. "Always." Anne rested her head against his chest and whispered back, "Thank you." "Dad was deceived," Nathan said with a hint of resentment in his tone. "Hugo and his girlfriend, Susan, twisted everything. They filled his head with lies and made him believe you weren’t his daughter." Anne stared at him, stunned, as he laid out the truth piece by piece. He explained how a forged DNA report had been handed to their father, claiming that Anne wasn’t his child. How Susan had preyed on Oliver’s insecurities, slowly poisoning his mind until he turned against his own wife. The most shocking detail came last. "She even convinced him that Megan was his biological daughter," Nathan said bitterly. "That she was the result of their secret affair. She made him adopt Megan. But the truth is, Megan is Hugo’s daughter. It was all a setup—Hugo and Susan’s plan to sneak their child into the Granet family and eventually take the inheritance." Anne’s mouth dropped open. "We always believed Megan was an orphan Dad had adopted," Nathan said, bitterness in his voice. "I never imagined they would go to such extreme lengths to deceive him." But Augustine’s tone cut in sharply. "Let’s not forget—Oliver made the choice. He could have trusted his wife. He could have defended his child. But he chose to believe strangers. He abandoned Anne when she was barely three years old. No matter what lies he heard, what he did was unforgivable." "You are right," Margaret nodded firmly, agreeing with Augustin. "Hugo and Susan played their part. But Oliver was the one who broke us." Fresh tears filled her eyes as emotions surged. "He didn’t stand by me. He didn’t fight for our daughter. He took her away and left her. Then he tried to make up for it by bringing Megan into our home. All this time, he was lying to me." Margaret’s shoulders shook as she choked back a sob, the betrayal still raw after all these years. "I trusted him with my heart. And he betrayed me, destroyed the family." Anne wrapped her arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm up and down. "Discarding a three-year-old baby like trash was cruelty, even if it wasn’t his own. I’ll never forgive him," Margaret muttered. Just then, the door opened and Gustave entered, guiding Oliver into the room. The moment Margaret’s voice reached them, Oliver stopped cold. Her words cut through him like a blade. He had expected this moment, prepared himself for anger, blame, even rejection. But hearing it from her was worse than he imagined. All eyes turned toward him. Oliver stood in the doorway, pale, with a bandage wrapped around his head. The room went still. Margaret didn’t flinch. She took one look at him and turned her face away, eyes hard and full of cold disdain. Years of heartbreak, betrayal, and silence had hardened into bitterness. There was nothing left to say to him. Anne stood quietly beside Augustine, staring at Oliver. This man was her biological father. But there was no spark, no surge of longing or connection. Her heart didn’t leap with joy. It didn’t ache either. She felt nothing. No hatred. No pity. Just a strange, detached stillness. As if whatever emotion she might have had for him had died already. Nathan, on the other hand, felt the opposite. The moment he saw Oliver—bruised, exhausted, face shadowed by guilt—his anger cracked. Since then, he had resented this man, held grudges for abandoning Raya back then. But now, all of that melted into worry, confusion, and a tangled knot of emotion he couldn’t untangle. "Dad... are you alright?" he asked, rushing to his side. "What happened? How did you get hurt?" Oliver’s eyes welled up. He hadn’t expected kindness from Nathan, not after everything. "I’m sorry," he managed. "I was blind. I made terrible mistakes. I hurt you all. Can you ever forgive me?"

Chapter 281: The reunion

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