“My darling, you're so amazing.”
“You're my proudest daughter.”
Seraphina paused.
As if gathering her courage.
“Then… can I call you Mom?”
The air was silent for a moment.
I even instinctively held my breath.
My mother was stunned.
Then.
She smiled.
Her eyes were slightly moist.
“Of course.”
“My daughter.”
At that moment.
Something severed completely in my heart.
Seraphina bit her lip, as if suddenly remembering something.
“Then…what about Valentina?”
“She’s your own daughter…”
Her voice was cautious.
As if speaking for me.
But I knew.
She was just pushing the knife a little deeper.
My mother’s face instantly turned cold.
“Her?”
She scoffed.
“She never calls me Mom.”
“What kind of daughter is she?”
She paused.
Her tone was light and airy.
But it was more ruthless than a knife.
“She’s no different from being dead.”
I was stunned.
Then, I slowly smiled.
So that’s how it is.
“Mom.”
“You’ve finally got what you wanted.”
She hugged Serafina. Like holding her true bloodline.
And me.
Standing to the side.
Like a superfluous shadow.
I suddenly understood something.
It wasn't that I wasn't good enough.
It was that from the very beginning—
She never intended to have me.
Ever since Serafina arrived.