CHAPTER 14

Jaime, you're a lifesaver for running this errand today." Louisa thanked him and then turned to Erik,

"Please make sure he's well taken care of."

"Sure thing, Mr. Jaime, follow me please." Erik said.

Jaime knew that the family had some serious talking to do. After exchanging pleasantries with Rosemary,he left with Erik.

"Let's sit down and talk." Louisa held Rosemary's hand and gestured for Serena to sit. Serena felt as if a dagger was plunged into her heart watching this scene.

"Serena, let me introduce you again. This is Rosemary Collins, our biological daughter who was left behind." Louisa said

Serena was speechless. She had always thought this girl was a distant relative, here to borrow money.

She couldn't believe that she was her parents' biological child. No wonder they were so nice to her!

"Here's the story. Years ago, Kenneth and I were passing through a small town when I went into labor.

The nearest hospital was our only option." Louisa recalled the incident, "The hospital we found was out of private rooms. They temporarily put me in a ward with two other pregnant women. In the middle of

the night, a fire broke out in the hospital. Due to heavy smoke, we couldn't see where we were going.

In the chaos, I picked up a baby, thinking it was Rose. But in reality, you were another woman's child,not mine and Kenneth's. I picked up the wrong baby."

The words shattered Serena's last defense. She couldn't believe that she had no blood ties with the Collins family!!

"Rose was taken by the Murphy family, and the Murphy's baby was taken home by a janitor. And you, ended up with us, the Collins. If I hadn't come across a post online about a family searching for their

lost child, we would still be in the dark about the mix-up!" Louisa said.

Serena was left speechless.

"As for your birth mother." Louisa paused, then decided to tell the truth, "We had someone look into it.

She bled out after giving birth and was too weak to escape the fire that night."

What??? Her biological mother had died the night she was born?

Serena's face turned pale. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"Your birth father is nowhere to be found." Louisa said, then looked at Rosemary and said softly, "We've

talked to Rose. We plan to let you stay in this family. From now on, she's your sister. We owe Rose a lot and we'll do our best to make it up to her. Although you're not our biological child, we've always treated

you as one. You and your sister need to get along well, take care of her, and be there for her, okay?"

Hearing her parents' favoritism, Serena couldn't accept it! Since when did the younger sister look after the older sister?

For years, she had been proud of her background because her father was one of the richest men in the country, her mother was a famous beauty, and her five brothers were all successful in their fields.

From childhood, everyone had always given way to her, appeased her and tried to please her. How could she give way to others, appease and try to please others?

Although she was very reluctant, at this moment, Serena, weighing the pros and cons, said without hesitation, "This is all very sudden for me, I won't lie and say I'm not heartbroken. I've lived in this family for eighteen years. Then one day, my beloved parents tell me that I'm not their biological child."

Serena lowered her head, her lost and heartbroken look was pitiful, "I didn't expect my birth mother to have died in a fire the day I was born, and my birth father is missing. I never even had a chance to

repay their kindness."

As she spoke, tears rolled down her cheeks. She wiped them away, expertly managing her heartache, regret, and sorrow, "Dad, Mom, I'm grateful that you're willing to keep me in this family. I'm content. I promise I'll get along well with my sister from now on!"

Her face was sincere, and her tear-streaked eyes were heartfelt. But Rosemary, having grown up in the Murphy family and seen all sorts of people, knew at a glance that Serena was being insincere.

"Welcome back to the family." Serena opened her arms, attempting to express her affection for her sister.

Under the expectant gaze of their parents, Rosemary responded, "Yeah, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't need a hug."

Serena was left standing.

"I'm not a fan of physical contact, sorry." Rosemary had always been cold, but her reaction and attitude made Serena feel like she was deliberately making things difficult for her, making her feel embarrassed and awkward!

"Rose's a bit introverted, but she'll warm up. We're all family now, Serena, you don't have to be overly formal." Louisa said. Upon hearing this, Serena's face flushed with embarrassment, before finally replying, "Alright."

"Alright, enough of that, let's eat!" Louisa checked the time, "Rose, you must be hungry. We've been talking and totally forgot about the meal!"

"Tonight's dinner was made by your mom and me. Let us know how it tastes?" Kenneth said with a smile, "If there's anything you don't like, just let us know and we'll adjust it."

The table was laden with delicious food, all made by Kenneth and Louisa. Serena felt a pang of jealousy. They had four chefs at home, and there was no need for Kenneth and Louisa to cook. But today, they made a special effort for Rosemary! Kenneth and Louisa kept serving Rosemary food, and her plate was soon full. Even though they were considerate of Serena's feelings and served her lots of dishes as well, Serena noticed that they served Rosemary noticeably more.

This made her even sadder, and she couldn't even appreciate the delicious food.

"Rose, you've had it rough all these years! Have more food and nourish yourself. You should eat more meat too, you're so skinny." Louisa said.

Martha stood by, saddened as she saw Miss Serena being overlooked.

Luckily, Rosemary went upstairs after finishing her meal, not lingering downstairs for too long. Serena found an opportunity to chat with her parents. After beating around the bush for a while, she tentatively

asked, "Dad, mom, how did you confirm that Rose was your biological daughter from that online missing person ad? Were there any keepsakes?"

What she really wanted to ask was, could someone be impersonating? After all, who wouldn't want to be the daughter of the richest man in the country. They couldn't just determine blood relations based on

a few similarities in appearance, right?

Hearing this question, Kenneth was taken aback for a moment, then explained with a laugh, "There wasn't any keepsake. It's just that the events of the night Rose was born were very similar to what we

remember."

They were in the same hospital, and even the room number was the same. There was a fire nearby,and in the chaos, they grabbed the wrong baby.

"Is that so?" Serena wondered.

Kenneth continued, "They sent us Rose's hair, we had it tested, and the similarity was 99.9% ! When we met, your sister and your mom, they looked like the same person. They were just too similar!"

Hearing Kenneth's words, Serena felt a chill in her heart, her last bit of hope completely shattered. But she still couldn't accept it, "How do you know I'm not your biological daughter?"

"We did a paternity test with Rose first, then took some hair from your room for testing." Kenneth said.

In other words, Serena was indeed not related to the Collins family by blood. The last shred of hope in Serena's heart had been completely extinguished!

"Serena, even though you're not our biological child, we've been together for so many years, and we've always treated you as our own daughter." Louisa said.

Even though Louisa looked at her as always, but Serena knew better than anyone. Some things were not the same anymore!

If only she could have been the legitimate daughter of the country's richest family.

Now that Rosemary was back, at best she could be considered an adopted daughter of the Collins family with no blood ties. In other words, she was the outsider in this family!

Her eyes dimmed for a few seconds, and she instinctively hugged Louisa, "Mom, I love you and Dad. I will take good care of you in this life."

After spending some sweet time with her parents, Serena went up to the second floor, and suddenly found that the layout of the entire floor had changed! The entire second floor was completely new, obviously renovated, with each room a different style.

Serena grabbed a maid and asked directly, "What's up with these rooms?"

"The master and madam wanted to welcome Ms. Bennett home, so they hired a famous international designer to design the rooms, and invited the best renovation team to come over. Apart from your

room, the entire second floor has been renovated! Because they didn't know what style Ms. Bennett would like, so each room has a different theme." The maid said.

Serena's face turned a bit pale and twisted.

"However." The maid looked around and whispered, "Ms. Bennett grew up in a small family, and in the end, she only picked the most ordinary one."

Hearing the maid say this, Serena felt a bit better.

The maid looked around again, whispering, "Ms. Bennett is naive. She didn't know anything. I guess she hasn't seen famous paintings. That expensive 'Return of the Kings', was supposed to be hung in the living room for people to admire, but she had it moved to the lounge!"

Serena was a bit surprised, "She cares about this kind of thing?"

The master and madam seem to care a lot about her opinion, and they actually ordered it to be moved!" The maid said, "Today they even cooked themselves, and ordered so many beautiful clothes,shoes and bags for her. They even gave her ten million dollars, saying it was pocket money"

Under Serena's long eyelashes, a pair of bright eyes hid jealousy and resentment.

"Miss, forgive me for speaking out of turn. If you go abroad to college in the future, your family status may be precarious." The maid warned nervously.

Serena was very clear about her current situation, "Yeah, I know, you go ahead."

"Yes." The maid answered.

"Hold on, your name is Holly, right?" Serena suddenly called her back, took off the diamond bracelet from her wrist and gave it to her, "I heard your family is in the hospital, this bracelet might be able to

help."

"Thank you, Miss Serena!" Holly immediately showed her loyalty, "I will serve you faithfully in the future."

This maid was pretty savvy.

Serena waved her hand to dismiss her, and a plan slowly formed in her heart. Even though Rosemary was their biological daughter, she had spent all these years with Kenneth and Louisa, and her feelings for them were much deeper than Rosemary's!

Outside room 306 of Hope Hospital, a man pushed the door and walked in. He had clear eyes, delicate features, and an incomparable noble elegance emanated from his body.

The old man on the bed moved his fingers slightly, as if feeling someone coming over, and slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing that it was his grandson Romeo, the old man's gaze softened, and his voice was a bit weak,

"You little brat."

Romeo spoke softly, "Awake?"

"Where am I?" The old man strained to open his eyes and looked around, "What happened to me?"

Why did his whole body hurt so much, and he didn't even have the strength to speak?

Romeo asked with a light laugh, "Wasn't it you who wanted to go on a hunger strike?"

He refused to eat or take medicine, forcing him to show up. And in the end, he almost lost his life.

Reminded by him, the old man seemed to remember something. It seemed that there was such a thing.

Originally, he wanted to change his position, but his whole body was in so much pain, "Ouch, it hurts!"

Instead of helping him, Romeo complained, "You're lucky to be out of danger."

He should endure this little pain, who made him make such a fuss?

"You, you little brat. I just woke up, can you be a little nicer? The old man felt a bit wronged, "It's all your fault. You tell me, how many days have you not come to see me"

If he hadn't refused to eat or take his medicine, and had such a big operation, this brat wouldn't have time to come and see him.

"Who asked you to keep saying things I don't want to hear? Romeo said.

Every time he came, the old man would mention Serena from the Collins family and talk about the marriage contract from the past.

"You! Humph, I don't care! The old man turned his head in anger, "I'm in this state. Maybe one day I'll kick the bucket. Tomorrow you must bring your fiancee to see mel"

Romeo stated firmly, "I don't have a fiancee."

"You're trying to give me a heart attack!" The old man couldn't help but blurt out angrily, "We have a marriage agreement with the Collins, so you must marry Serenal How else am I gonna explain this to them?"

"The marriage agreement was all your idea." Romeo replied coolly, "Figuring out how to fix this mess is your problem, not mine."

"You, you cheeky little. Oh my heart." The old man suddenly clutched his chest, grimacing in pain.

"Carl, get the doctor". Romeo said.

No sooner had Romeo spoken than the old man waved him off, "No need! I've said my piece. If you and Serena don't show up together tomorrow, you can forget about having a grandpa From then on,whether I live or die, it's none of your business!"

Seeing the two at each other's throats again, Carl quickly stepped in to defuse the situation, "Calm down, sir. Mr. Romeo has just been really busy recently."

"Hmph, you might as well be single for the rest of your life! You lot, always so busy with work. Can't you spare a little time to think about the big picture of your lives?" The old man said.

"…" How did he get dragged into this? Why was he destined to be single forever? All he did was love his work!