Chapter 112: Secret of Isobel’s Past

"Dad!"

"Dad!"

"Julian!"

Three voices pulled him back to the present.

He blinked, as though waking from a distant dream.

"Are you alright, Dad?" Judy asked, stepping closer while carrying Kirsten in her arms.

Julian forced a smile.

"I’m fine."

Leanne searched his face with concern.

"Honey, you suddenly looked like you were miles away. You went so pale that you scared me."

"I’m alright, Honey," he assured her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Don’t worry."

His eyes, however, drifted back to Isobel.

He studied her quietly, a strange mixture of confusion and disbelief flickering across his face.

"Where are your parents?" he asked.

"I don’t have any parents," Isobel replied evenly.

Years ago, that question would have pierced her heart like a blade.

It would have left her wondering why she had been abandoned.

Now, after hearing it countless times, it had become just another question she answered without emotion.

Leanne’s expression softened.

"Oh, dear... I’m so sorry."

"It’s alright, Auntie," Isobel replied politely. "I grew up in an orphanage. I never knew who my parents were. I was told I was only a few months old when someone found me near the orphanage."

Leanne let out a sorrowful sigh.

"I can’t imagine how anyone could abandon such a precious child."

Julian felt an inexplicable tightness seize his chest.

The words struck him harder than they should have.

"Have you ever wanted to find your biological parents?" Leanne asked gently.

Standing beside Kristine, Morgan suddenly spoke up.

"Why didn’t I think of that before?" He looked at Isobel with enthusiasm. "If you ever decide you want to find them, I’d be happy to help. I have the resources to investigate."

Isobel fell silent.

She lowered her eyes and closed them briefly, as though carefully weighing her answer.

Julian couldn’t look away.

With her eyes closed...

She looked exactly like her.

Just like Rosella whenever she slept peacefully beside him.

His heartbeat quickened.

Could it be...?

Isobel slowly opened her eyes.

"They never came looking for me," she said quietly. "After all these years... they’re probably dead."

Her voice was calm.

Almost indifferent.

But every word landed heavily in Julian’s chest.

He felt as though someone had driven a knife into his heart.

"How old are you this year, Isobel?" he asked, his voice quieter than before.

"I am twenty-two."

"So young," Judy said in surprise. "How could you already have a baby at your age?"

"I..." Isobel faltered, unsure how to answer.

"That’s enough, Judy," Morgan interrupted in his stern voice. "It’s not polite to pry into someone else’s private life."

"Still so grumpy even when you have two kids. I am just asking." Judy mumbled.

While the two siblings continued bickering, their voices gradually faded into the background.

Julian heard them, but his mind was elsewhere.

His thoughts raced as fragments of the past slowly fell into place.

Twenty-two years old...

He was abducted exactly twenty-three years ago.

During that time, he had lived in a remote mountain village under the name "Albert," with no memory of who he truly was.

That was where he met Rosella.

The young woman who had found him gravely injured.

The young woman who had nursed him back to health with nothing but her herbs, unwavering patience, and gentle heart.

The woman who had loved him. And whom he loved in return.

His chest tightened.

They had only been twice. Just twice. A single night beneath the full moon and the morning after.

The memory remained as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

Then everything changed.

His father’s men had found him.

He remembered the struggle... The blow to the back of his head... Then, waking up in a hospital surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

The doctors had discovered a dangerous blood clot in his brain.

His father hadn’t wasted a moment.

He had arranged for Julian to be flown overseas for emergency surgery, warning him that without it, his life would be in grave danger.

The operation had saved his life. But it had stolen something just as precious.

When he awoke, Rosella no longer existed in his memories. It was as though she had been erased.

The valley. The little cottage.

Her smile. Her laughter.

The promises they had made beneath the moon.

Everything had vanished.

He had returned to his former life, to his wife and two children, without ever realizing he had left another behind.

Without ever knowing that somewhere... someone had waited for him.

Julian slowly turned his gaze toward Isobel.

His heartbeat became uneven. The resemblance wasn’t merely striking. It was unsettling.

Except for her eyes...

Her visage... The curve of her lips...

Even the way she lowered her head while thinking... She looked so much like Rosella that it sent chills through him.

Then another thought struck him.

His breathing nearly stopped.

No... It can’t be...

But the numbers refused to lie.

Twenty-three years.

Isobel was twenty-two.

If Rosella had conceived a child after that one night...

Julian’s fingers curled into trembling fists.

Could she... Could Isobel be my daughter?

The possibility struck Julian like a bolt of lightning.

His pulse pounded violently against his ribs.

The resemblance, her age and the timing.

Every piece fit together with terrifying precision.

His hands slowly curled into fists. He had to know the truth. He needed to know.

But if Isobel truly was his daughter...

His throat tightened.

How could he possibly explain everything to Leanne?

How could he tell the woman who had stood faithfully beside him for more than four decades that he had loved another woman?

Would Leanne forgive him?

Or would she only hear one painful truth—that another woman had borne his child?

Even if he had never intended to betray anyone...

Even if he had no memory of Rosella until today...

Would that make any difference to the woman he loved?

Then there were Morgan and Judy.

They had grown up believing they were his only children.

How would they react if a stranger suddenly appeared and turned out to be their younger sister?

Would they welcome her into the family...Or resent her for shattering the peaceful life they had always known?

Julian’s chest grew heavier with every passing second.

And beyond his family...

There was the Foster name. For generations, it had been built upon respect, influence, and honor. If the truth became public, people would not care about the circumstances.

They would not care that he had lost his memories.

They would not care that Rosella had been the woman who had saved his life.

Rumors never sought the truth. They only sought something scandalous to devour.

The headlines almost wrote themselves.

A hidden daughter.

A forgotten past.

A decades-old secret.

Julian shut his eyes for a brief moment.

For the first time in many years, he felt utterly powerless.

The answers he desperately sought could either heal a wound that had remained hidden for more than twenty years...

Or destroy the family he had spent a lifetime protecting.

Lost in the storm raging inside his mind, Julian failed to notice that Morgan and Leanne had been quietly watching him.