Chapter 2
What had happened yesterday kept
playing on a loop in Isabella's mind. When she finally gathered her thoughts, she was already outside her parents' house.
The door was left ajar, and the waves of delighted laughter from inside made
Isabella's heart throb.
"That bitch Isabella should be waking up in that old man's bed now!" said a young woman smugly in an excited voice. Isabella couldn't be more familiar with that voice. The girl speaking was Samantha Lang, who studied at the National University of Lucsia and had started her career in showbiz two years ago after gaining popularity in a TV show. Before all that happened, Isabella was her
fan.
Isabella liked Samantha very much, and so did her parents. Samantha's posters were
pasted on all the walls of their house.
Isabella had been overjoyed that her
parents liked the same celebrity as her, which was not the typical case in most families.
She had even thought that because of their shared love for Samantha, she had become much closer to her parents, who
had always been distant and stern with
her.
However, yesterday, she was told a jaw-dropping fact.
She and Samantha had been swapped after they were born.
The odd atmosphere at home in the past week now made sense to Isabella. Everyone had known the truth, but as someone whose whole life would be changed by it, she had been kept in the dark all this time.
Her biological parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lang, did not come to take her back.
A few bodyguards showed up yesterday and informed the Thompson family to
bring Isabella to the most famous five-star hotel in Dawton City.
Last night, Isabella had gone there and then escaped.
The abnormal heat rushing through her
body made her realize that she had been
set up.
As for who did it to her...
Isabella recalled Mrs. Thompson's unusual
tenderness before they set off and the cup
of warm milk. She had taken it as Mrs. Thompson's way of expressing reluctance
to let her go.
Isabella felt so wistful at that moment and
made up her mind that Mr. and Mrs.
Thompson would always be her parents no matter what happened in the future.
She did not care that they had taken the wrong baby back then and that she was not related to them. She would still love them as her parents.
However, the cruel reality struck her too
hard and too soon.
A voice floated out from the house again. and interrupted her train of thought.
It was Mrs. Thompson's voice this time.
"Haha, Isabella is a cheap girl. She is not in Sammy's league at all!
"Sammy, you go to the National University of Lucsia and are a big star. Even if she's the true daughter of the Lang family, she doesn't deserve to be your servant.
"Mom and Dad have raised her to be a loser, which is why she just got admitted into a third-class university. I don't think that the Lang family would recognize a girl like her as their daughter. "No one from the Lang family has shown up yet. Their attitude to her can't be more
obvious.
"Mom and Dad are foresighted and have been belittling her since she was young in case this would happen one day.
"Twenty years have passed, and we thought that the Lang family would never discover this secret, but unexpectedly, they found it out.
"However, we got nothing to worry about. After we release the photos of Isabella
sleeping with that old man, she will never stand a chance to return to the Lang family and snatch what belongs to you, Sammy."
Mrs. Thompson's voice was shrill and cocky without the indifference that Isabella had grown used to.
What she said sent a chill down Isabella's
spine.
"She raised me and spent 20 years with me. Even if I were just a pet, there should have been a deep bond between us,' Isabella thought in disbelief. Mrs. Thompson's words were full of venom and cut Isabella deep as if a knife had
stabbed her heart. She felt all her blood
freezing in her veins.
Samantha held Mrs. Thompson's arm
affectionately and sat down next to her. "You're the best, Mom. Only my true mom would treat me so selflessly. I love you,
Mom."
"Silly, I gave birth to you. Of course, all my love is reserved for you instead of Isabella. She is just an outsider."
Mrs. Thompson tapped Samantha's forehead with her finger. Isabella had never seen such a tender and loving expression on her face before.
It occurred to Isabella that her mother
could be tender and loving. She just didn't want to be tender and loving to her.
Mrs. Thompson then said with a sigh, "Sammy, Mom and Dad should apologize to you. If we weren't just an ordinary family, we would not have secretly swapped you
with Isabella.
"I was a maid in the Lang family when I was young and had a glimpse of how rich people lived their lives. So therefore, when I became a mother, I wanted my daughter
to grow up in a family like that.
"Sammy, do you blame me for leaving your in the care of the Lang family for so many years?"
Mrs. Thompson caressed Samantha's soft
curly brown hair with guilt and other complicated feelings in her eyes.
Samantha cast her eyes down to conceal the emotions in them and answered softly, "No. I know every choice you made was in my best interest.
"I don't blame you. I love you, Mom and Dad. I'm actually glad that the Lang family found out my true identity. I can come back to visit you often now."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were reduced to tears by her words. Mrs. Thompson said emotionally, "Good girl. Sammy, get along well with the Lang family. They can give you what Mom and Dad can not.
"But keep this in mind. We will always
stand behind you and protect you no
matter what happens.
"We will never let Isabella return to take your place in the Lang family. What belongs to the eldest daughter of the Lang family will eventually be yours." Samantha's eyes gleamed with
satisfaction, and she tightened her arms around Mrs. Thompson's arm. "Thank you, Mom. Sammy loves you. Dad, I love you too," she said in a girlish voice.
Mr. and Mrs. Thompson looked at Sammy with adoring smiles. She was the daughter who had their blood.
As for Isabella, they had never given a fig
about her.
Isabella was sad at first. Then she felt it was ironic. At that moment, she only had a blank look in her eyes.
In the end, she did not walk through that door to interrupt the loving moment of the parents and their daughter. Unfortunately, they did not just break her heart; they also
made her feel sick.
She believed that even the air around them was filthy, and the thought of getting close to them repulsed her.
Isabella turned around and walkedContent bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
outward. After she left the neighborhood, a silvery-gray Rolls-Royce drove past her.
Isabella paid no attention to it, but that car slowly pulled over in front of her.
She stopped in her tracks and saw a handsome face after the window was
lowered.
"Are you Isabella Thompson?" Isabella heard the young man in the car ask in a
cool voice.
Isabella looked at that man and suddenly found that he had features that resembled hers. Their almond-shaped eyes were
almost identical.
The only difference was that the contour of her face was soft, while the man had
sharper facial lines.
She looked down at her feet and replied
with a nod, "Yes, I am."
The man knitted his brows in irritation and asked with a sneer, "We asked to see you and the Thompsons in the hotel yesterday. So why didn't you show up?
"Were you throwing a tantrum because no one from the Lang family came to pick you up in person?
"I'm here to pick you up. Are you happy
now? Get in the car."