When There Is Nothing Left But Love

I beckoned to the maid waiting to come over to clear the glasses of water, and gestured to Audrey, instructing, “Bring her to Mr. Gregory’s room.”

Excitedly, Audrey hopped over and took the maid’s hand, demurely allowing herself to be led upstairs to Gregory’s room.

I watched their departing figures until they had fully vanished upstairs, then turned back to gaze soberly at John. He looked a lot warmer and kinder than Ashton, but something about him raised my suspicions.

I vainly probed my memory in an attempt to uncover just what inspired my current feelings of uneasiness. In the face of John’s apparent sincerity, however, I found myself defenseless.

John and Ashton each maintained their respective versions of the truth. However, the identity Marcus had bestowed on me back then was clearly Carlette. My mind was in a whirlwind, uncertain of who I could trust.

“Don’t you trust me?” John persisted. His voice penetrated the fog of emotions in my head as if he could see right through my suspicion.

I felt strangely relieved that I no longer had to keep up my facade of confidence. I raised my head and met his eyes, saying gravely, “I’m sorry. I don’t think I have the capability to make a decision now.”

envelope on the table, then reached out to touch its smooth surface. I laughed awkwardly, then confessed, “To tell the truth, I’ve seen this DNA report more than three times already this month.

was silent for a moment. He looked down, his nails digging into the flesh of his

my

because I could not bear to face

that mean that our familial ties couldn’t even endure

my next step would be fatal. On the bright side, if one could call it that, any loss would mean absolutely nothing to me.

I was Scarlett or Carlette, I had been reborn. I no longer had

I don’t know how to deal with this

appeared devastated. Looking into his dark, troubled eyes, I added, “If I’m really Gregory and Audrey’s mother, however, I hope you will leave her with me. I’m thankful to you for having looked after her for so long, but raising her is my responsibility, after all. I don’t want to trouble you any

John blanched. He gave me a long, hard look, then said tersely, “I won’t leave either Audrey or you here. Now

all of Scarlett’s friends and family that domineering?

shrugged, then shook my head helplessly at John. “I’m sorry,