shuhaige
Chapter 297 Rosie
Chapter 297 Rosie
Oliver's badly phrased question offended Jacob as his face fell and he answered without any hesitation, "Of course! Susie's my biological baby sister!"
"Are you sure that you’ve personally seen your mother get pregnant with her and give birth to her?" Oliver pressed.
Jacob frowned. He actually did not. Back then, his parents worked outside most of the time and barely returned home throughout the year. When Susie came to him, she was already an adorable baby.
Nonetheless, he did not answer it instantly but looked at Oliver with frost in his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"
"My apologies. I may have rushed it too much.” Oliver held himself back and said, "Why don't I tell you guys a story first?"
Without actually seeking their agreement, he began. Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.
"Everyone knows that our country had a dark political time decades ago. Countless meritorious contributing members to the nation were accused and slandered. M y grandfather was passed as a rebel and then he received incredibly unfair treatment. My grandfather himself was tortured to death during the political unrest while my parents were lucky to stay alive and reclaimed their innocence after that. During that period of time though, they were assumed to be rebels too and had a hard time due to it."
Any Canadian knew about the history, so the group nodded. 2
"I was already born then, and I was about five or six. Mom had another baby," Oliver sighed, "The three of u s were imprisoned in a bullpen and living conditions were the worst. We were very
careful, so we survived. Fortunately, the baby grew up healthy too. When it came to labor that day, we had no money and the person guarding us wasn't willing to send Mom to the hospital. With no other way around it, Mom had to give birth to the baby in the bullpen. It was a girl, and Dad named her Rosalie Wright. Rosie’s birth wasn’t the best and we were living horribly too, but all of us were happy when we saw how adorable she was. It was my first time seeing a baby so tiny. I told myself back then that I had a baby sister. From then on, I'd protect her well even if I had to sacrifice myself."
Susan was inexplicably unsettled while listening to Oliver. She could not help asking, "Then?"
Oliver chuckled wryly. "We had to go to work every day back then. I was young so I didn't have to go, but Mom and Dad were required to do so. Mom had just given birth and could barely move, so she didn’t go for that time. That day... Dad was called off to work while Mom and I took care of Rosie in the bullpen. Suddenly, a few men barged in and took her away. We cried and shouted, stopped them with all our might, but it was useless. Dad wasn’t around and we didn't have any power to fight back. We could only watch them take Rosie away."
Oliver punched the couch hard when he got to this part. An icy flash flared in his eyes. “Since that day, I vowed to become stronger and not let those I care about get hurt! Now, I'm strong enough to protect anyone but I've lost Rosie. She never came back."
"No..." Susan's eyes were wet. "What a pity. Poor Rosie too..."
She was more emotional than usual since she was pregnant. In addition, what Oliver went through was moving. Susan could no longer stop her tears.
"Stop crying now." Julian passed her a handkerchief helplessly as he watched her cry. 1
Wiping her tears, Susan leaned on Julian’s shoulder. Her eyes were still shining with unshed tears. "What about after? Have you guys looked for Rosie? Did you manage to find her?"
Oliver's gaze turned gentler as he watched Susan wipe her tears. He answered in a low voice, "After that, our family was redressed and grew considerably influential in the country over the years. Rosie was snatched in the south, around Ningcheng City. We sent a lot of people here and I was here plenty of times too. But the world is so vast. The one we're looking for i s a girl who had only been a baby back then. It's not that easy. Our search went on for ten years, but we couldn't find a trace of Rosie. We didn't give up, but the search isn't as potent as it used to be after that."
Oliver sighed. "It's been too long after all. We know that the chance of finding Rosie is close to none."
"I feel so sorry..." Susan said and wiped her tears again.
Holding the handkerchief, she forwent it and wiped her tears on Julian's shirt instead, making a wet patch on his shoulder.
Julian looked at Susan with a fond heartache before h e glared at Oliver.
It was all this man's fault. Why was he telling the story out of the blue? See, he made Susie cry now. In spite of it...
There seemed to be something between the lines in Oliver's story.
Julian squinted.
The baby was lost around Ningcheng City. Oliver’s mother and Susie had eyes that looked alike. Was Oliver suspecting something?
Anna then spoke up, "I've actually come to Ningcheng t o look for my older sister. Since Rosie was stolen, Mom got weak over days from the heartbreak. Dad was worried about her and thought that perhaps getting Mom an adopted child would ease her sorrow, so he picked out the girl personally to take her in, naming her Serenity Wright."
"That's your older sister - It's Serene for you." Oliver raised his brow.
"Not calling her that!" Anna made a face. "She's annoying. She isn't worthy of being my sister."
"You're...” Oliver was at a loss for words.
"I don't like her anyway.” Anna said, "Adding Serenity t o the picture made Mom feel a little better, but it didn’t do much to help. Mom’s health was still deteriorating. Then, Mom had me. It was an accident. With my birth, they thought that I'd alleviate some of Mom’s longing for Rosie, but Mom said while crying that every child i s different. No matter how many children she has afterward, they're not Rosie.”
Anna's voice was tinged with morose. "Mom's getting older now and she's increasingly missing Rosie. Every time she’s alone, she sheds tears looking at Rosie's photo until the break of dawn. I really can’t take it anymore. That's why I've traveled south in search of Rosie!”