MIDNIGHT Bride The CEO's TEMPTATION

"Savannah..."

Joanne stood in the doorway with excitement and disbelief on her face, her voice shaking.

The girl sitting by the window looked just like her father at that age. She had grown up, but her eyes and eyebrows are still the same as when she was a child.

Her own daughter was still alive.

Savannah wasn't allowing herself to feel excited. She stood up and said very politely, "Hello, Mrs. Rowe."

Joanne's face changed when she heard her call herself Mrs. Rowe. But she had no time to care more; she was so happy to see her that she rushed up and held her daughter in her arms. A sob broke from her.

"Savannah, it's so good that you're not dead... I miss you so much..."

After she poured out her years of longing and pain to her daughter, she suddenly realized that something was wrong. Savannah, in her arms, had no reaction from the beginning. No tears, and even no words. Perhaps she was just unable to react?

Joanne wiped away her tears and sat down with her.

"I'm sorry, Savannah. Don't be nervous, okay?"

Savannah looked at the woman in front of her and said nothing. Did she really love her that much? If not, why did she burst into tears when her lost daughter was found? But if she loved her, why did she leave her that year?

"Savannah, I've heard Lionel say all these years about you, and I know your life is very hard alone. It's my fault. I didn't take care of you..." Her faded eyes turned red as she said, on the verge of tears again.

Lionel talked to Joanne about Savannah's experiences over the years before she came here.

After the death of her father, she lived in an orphanage for some time before being taken over by her uncle.

Her fiancé betrayed her, and she was with her fiancé's uncle after that. Three years ago, she gave birth to a child for that man, at such a young age.

Then she went to Italy and lived there for three years and had recently returned.

Joanne couldn't help feeling sad when she learned that her daughter had suffered so much in her early twenties. She should be an innocent, happy girl, just like Charlotte.

She also didn't expect that the man her stepdaughter admired was so deeply involved with her own daughter. Savannah had a child with that man, but Charlotte once committed suicide to stop their wedding ceremony… What a mess!

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking." Savannah said calmly, too calmly.

"Savannah, I heard Lionel say you're going to Italy soon? Don't go abroad, move to me and live with me. I want to make up for you. Let me take care of you, okay?" Joanne said eagerly.

"You're Mrs. Rowe now, and I have nothing to do with the Rowe family. What would it be like if I move to live with you? I know I'm unwelcome…"

"How could you be unwelcome? Ethan's very open-minded. He knows that you are still alive, and he supports me to meet you. If you can come back to me, Ethan will be very happy too!" Joanne seized her hand and said.

Ethan, Ethan. All she talked about was that man.

Savannah felt bad as she remembered her poor dead father.

Was there only her present husband in her mother's mind now?

Savannah pulled out her hand suddenly as if she touched something dirty.

"Savannah..." Joanne froze, noticing the disgust on her daughter's face.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Rowe, but I didn't meet you today to go back with you to be a daughter of the Rowe family. I just want to ask you one question."

Joanne's face glowed with disappointment, but she kept her spirits up.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Why did you leave dad and me and never come back?" Savannah asked coldly.

"I'm sorry, Savannah... I'm so sorry…" Joanne sobbed, and it became clear why her daughter treated her so indifferent. She wiped her eyes and gave a sigh.

"I have my difficulties..."

Savannah looked at her with an emotionless face.

"You know, I was brought up in an orphanage, with no relatives. When I grew up and left the orphanage, I met your father and fell in love with him, and then married him."

Savannah nodded silently.

"Actually, I'm not an orphan." Joanne took a breath.

"You're the daughter of the Morton family. The chairman of the group is your father." Savannah said calmly.

Joanne nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes. Actually, I'm from the Morton family. When I was five years old, I was abducted while I was playing with my nanny in a park, and then I was sold to a place far away from Chicago."

Savannah was shocked and opened her eyes wide.

"At that time, I was too young, and I couldn't find a chance to ask for help from the police. At first, I was sold to a childless family in the countryside. Every time I cried to go home, I was beaten... After several years, I slipped out one day when my adoptive parents were not at home. I was sent to the police station by a nice passer-by. However, I couldn't remember my parents' name and the address of my home. I knew nothing but my own name. So, I could only be sent to the orphanage. I lived in the orphanage until I was eighteen and left... Then I met your father."

Joanne's pale face shone like a pearl when she mentioned Savannah's father.

"Those were the happiest days of my life. Your father gave me a warm family again. I married him and then gave birth to you. Life was simple and good until one day, the Morton family found me. It turned out that my father had not stopped looking for me for more than 20 years. That day, my father held me in his arms and cried bitterly when he learned that I had been abducted and experienced so much these years. He asked me to go back to Chicago, but I didn't want to leave. I said I'd at least talk to your father and take you and your father together, but your grandfather refused. At last, they took me away with a tranquilizer."

Savannah froze. Her grandpa forced her mom to leave? It wasn't her mom who wanted to go?

"After I was brought to Chicago, I wanted to go back to LA to look for you and your father every day. I could not imagine how sad you were when you found that I was missing. But your grandfather took away my mobile phone and grounded me."