The Miracle of You

“His… final words?” Hailey said slowly.

Luther nodded. “I told him that I would do anything to make it up to him. I begged him for forgiveness and asked him not to die on me yet.

“But I knew. We both knew. He was running out of time. He was already bleeding out, and the life was slowly fading from his eyes,” he whispered.

Hailey felt a stray tear run down her cheek. “Oh… father…” she murmured.

“I can still remember the sound of his strangled voice as he told me what he wanted from me,” Luther said quietly. “He asked me… to take care of his wife and his newborn daughter.”

Hailey felt a lump rise in her throat. “He… did that?”

“Yes. At that time, Nina… Mason’s wife, and your biological mother… She had already given birth to you and was unconscious at the hospital, resting,” Luther said. “And I… I never knew. It turned out that Mason, after recovering from his illness, accompanied his wife during the last days of her pregnancy before returning to the hotel and then finding out the truth.”

Emilia spoke up next. “When Nina found out about what happened to Mason and the betrayal that occurred after Luther told her the truth, she… went crazy. She was hysterical.” She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “The two of us were very good friends, but after that, she didn’t want to see my face anymore. She was all alone; she had no family, and she only had Mason. She relied on his income and was the only family she had, so when he was gone, she had nothing left.”

“Mason had used almost all of his savings to fund the hotel business,” Luther said quietly. “Nina was taking care of a newborn, and her health had turned frail over the years because of an illness that she had recently recovered from. After Mason’s death, she was severely depressed and lost her mind. She tried taking her life and yours a few times, so she had to be sent to a mental institution.”

Hailey was struggling to find her voice. “So… that’s why you adopted me,” she realized. “It was out of guilt, wasn’t it?”

She couldn’t believe it. No, rather, she didn’t want to believe it, but…

It was what made the most sense in her head.

Luther sighed heavily. “It was all my fault, Hailey. But I would be damned if I left you all alone while your mother was away and couldn’t take care of you. So, Emilia and I stepped in and adopted you.”

Emilia’s voice was choked with guilt. “When I gave birth to my first daughter… she passed away,” she sobbed. “At first, I was against Luther taking you in because we didn’t have enough money yet to take care of two babies at the same time. But when my darling Hailey left this world… I couldn’t take it. I needed you.”

Hailey blinked, confused. “What?”

What did she mean by that just now?

Emilia seemed startled at her slip-up before quickly shaking her head. “I mean my baby. My first one. I named her… Hailey.”

Hailey’s breath got caught in her throat. “Wait. Is that why you named me…?”

Emilia nodded. “I was in despair when my baby died. So when Luther tried to convince me again to adopt you, I agreed. You were just a baby back then, and you looked just like… my precious Hailey…”

Hailey felt something like lead settle in her gut, the heaviness seemingly plunging her soul to the ground. It was as though the world was starting to spin once more, and a hundred thoughts were running inside her mind.

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That was the reason why they adopted her in the first place?

She was actually correct in her assumptions?

She had been adopted out of guilt which stemmed from a willing betrayal and the despair from the passing of a precious loved one.

So basically, she was just a substitute for their baby, and she was being taken care of not because they genuinely wanted her and loved her, but because they felt guilty for leaving Mason Parker’s baby all alone with nobody to take care of her.

Because they no longer had their firstborn daughter and needed someone to fill in the loss in their hearts.

‘So this is why they treated me so carefully for all these years,’ Hailey realized dully, feeling her heart slowly crack into pieces. ‘I thought…’

‘I thought it was because they loved me.’

“So you took me in because you lost your first baby? And you named me after her, too?” Hailey said, speaking her thoughts aloud. She couldn’t take this at the moment. She needed to hear the confirmation with her own ears. “Based on everything that I heard tonight… Those are the reasons why you two chose to adopt me?”

The guilty look on Emilia’s face increased, and she looked like she was on the verge of sobbing again. “I’m sorry, Hailey… I know that we adopted you with selfish intentions, but-”

“It’s all right,” Hailey suddenly interrupted, her voice icy cold. She couldn’t listen to this anymore. “I’ve heard all that I needed to know.”

Luther stared at her in fear and alarm. “Wait, Hailey, we haven’t finished yet.”

“What else do you have to say to me?” Hailey snapped, feeling her emotions rise like lava surging towards the mouth of the volcano. She was probably being harsher than she had intended, but she was in no state to think clearly right now.

It felt like her world was falling apart, and she had this overwhelming urge to lash out at everyone.

“I…” Luther seemed at a loss for words for a moment. “I just want you to know that… your mother is still alive. Your real mother, I mean. Nina Parker.”

Hailey froze.

Her real mother?

No, scratch that. Was she even ready to meet her mother?

“We mentioned that she went insane after finding out what happened to Mason… but she’s still alive, and she’s doing much better than before. If you’d like to meet her, I can-”

“I-I’m sorry, I can’t talk more about this right now,” Hailey interrupted. “Can we discuss more about this tomorrow? I’m not feeling well.”

Emilia looked concerned. “Of course, dear. Go ahead to your room. I’ll have one of the servants bring you your dinner there.”

‘Are you really worried about me, or is this one out of guilt, too?’ Hailey couldn’t help but think bitterly.

‘Wait, what am I thinking?’

‘Mama has always been nice to me. I can’t be rude to her. Even if she doesn’t really love me, she did take care of me for almost eighteen years now. I owe it to her to at least be polite.’

Hailey nodded and then went on her way without another word, her mind in a whirlwind state of loneliness and uncertainty.