Chapter 315: The Lost Daughter 2

Lara stood rigid in Madeline’s arms, overwhelmed by the warmth of the embrace and by a flood of emotions she didn’t know how to name.

For years, she had wondered where she belonged.

She had spent so much of her life feeling as though she were standing outside a door that everyone else seemed to have the key to.

Now, that door had opened.

And the answer was holding her as though she had never been lost at all.

Lara slowly closed her eyes.

Something inside her chest tightened painfully.

She could hear Madeline sobbing against her shoulder. She could feel the trembling of the woman’s arms around her and breathe in the faint, familiar scent of her perfume.

And strangely... it felt familiar.

That scent. She had smelled it before.

At the Norse manor. At the party. During the countless brief encounters they had shared without either of them understanding why they were drawn to one another.

Perhaps her mind had forgotten.

But her body hadn’t. Her body seemed to recognize the embrace.

A strange warmth spread through her chest, followed by an ache so deep that it almost frightened her.

Her eyes burned.

Then a tear slipped silently down her cheek.

Without thinking, Lara lifted her hand and placed it against Madeline’s back.

It was such a small, unconscious gesture. But Madeline felt it.

Her breath hitched. Then her sobs became louder.

She tightened her arms around Lara as though she was afraid that if she loosened her grip even for a second, her daughter might disappear again.

Lara’s lips trembled.

"Mom..."

The word escaped her before she could stop it.

She froze. So did everyone else in the room.

Lara’s eyes widened.

She had called Madeline Mother before. She had even called her Mom after the Norse family had announced that they wanted to adopt her.

But this one sounded different.

It hadn’t come from politeness. It hadn’t come from gratitude.

It had come from somewhere much deeper...

Somewhere instinctive...

Somewhere that caused her heart to ache.

She hadn’t meant to say it, the way she did.

But once the word left her lips, something inside her finally broke open.

More tears spilled down her face.

For the first time in her life, the word Mom no longer felt like a distant concept belonging to someone else’s story.

It belonged to her.

To Madeline. To the woman who was holding her as though she had spent twenty years waiting for this exact moment.

Lara finally surrendered.

She wrapped both arms around Madeline and buried her face against her mother’s shoulder.

And for the first time, she allowed herself to cry like a daughter who had finally found her way home.

She didn’t remember being this woman’s little girl.

Not yet.

But perhaps...somewhere deep inside her, a part of her had never forgotten.

Once, long ago, Madeline had held her exactly like this, as though she were the most precious pearl in the world.

And perhaps that memory had been buried so deeply that even the harshest upbringing couldn’t completely erase it.

...

Across the room, Layla stood completely still. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Mom.

For several seconds, she simply stared at Lara. Her mind refused to accept it.

This had to be some kind of mistake.

A cruel joke.

A prank her parents had somehow decided to play on her.

Larissa Reyes couldn’t possibly be Lara.

Their Lara.

The little girl the Norse family had lost all those years ago. The sister everyone had mourned. The daughter her parents had spent years longing for.

But then Layla looked at her mother.

Madeline was crying. Not sad tears nor tears of sympathy.

They were the tears of a mother who had just found the child she thought she had lost forever.

Layla’s gaze shifted to Leonard.

Then to Liam.

Then Logan.

Their faces told her everything. They weren’t surprised. They weren’t confused.

They had already accepted it.

They had already welcomed Lara home.

A cold sensation crawled down Layla’s spine.

They knew.

Her eyes slowly moved toward Lucas. He looked just as stunned as she felt.

Only the two of them had been kept in the dark.

Her fingers curled tightly against her palms.

For years, Layla had believed she had replaced Lara in the Norse family.

She had grown up here. She had shared meals with them and celebrated birthdays with them.

She had laughed with her brothers, fought with them, leaned on them.

She believed this was her home and where she belonged.

But now, Lara had returned.

One moment, Layla had been the cherished daughter.

The sister who was there.

The girl who had grown up surrounded by the Norse family.

But suddenly, she felt like an intruder in her own home.

Her mother’s arms were wrapped around Lara.

Her father’s eyes were fixed on Lara with an emotion Layla hadn’t seen in years.

Even her brothers were looking at Lara differently.

With recognition, relief and love.

Something inside Layla cracked.

What happens to me now?

The thought came unbidden.

Will Mom still look at me like that? Will Dad still be proud of me?

Will Liam and Logan still protect me? Will Lucas still choose me as his sister?

And the most terrifying thought of all—

Will they love me less now that she’s back?

Layla’s breathing became shallow.

She hated herself for thinking it. But she couldn’t stop.

She had spent years believing Lara was gone.

Dead.

And a terrible part of her had learned to live with that absence.

Now that absence had suddenly become a living, breathing woman standing in front of her.

A woman who had returned to reclaim everything Layla had unknowingly built her life around.

Her mother’s embrace, her father’s attention, her brothers’ affection, and her place in the family.

Layla’s eyes burned.

Then the fear inside her hardened into resentment.

Why did you have to come back?

She looked at Lara.

For a brief moment, their eyes met.

Lara held her gaze.

She knew the war that had just begun inside Layla’s heart and somehow, that made Layla hate her even more.

Because Lara didn’t have to fight for her place. She already had it.

She was the missing daughter.

The lost sister.

The one everyone had been waiting for.

Layla had spent years earning her place, but Lara only had to return.

Her nails dug into her palms.

She forced the tears burning in her eyes back.

She would not cry, not in front of Lara.

Instead, Layla slowly lifted the corners of her lips. She forced a smile onto her face.

It looked warm from a distance.

But there was something brittle beneath it.

She stepped forward.

"Lara..."

Her voice almost broke. She swallowed and tried again.

"Sister."

Her smile widened.

"Welcome back."

But behind that smile, Layla’s heart was screaming.

Why did you come back?