It was clear as daylight that this ‘Lilliana‘ was an impostor.
Panic struck Lilliana‘ as her eyes shimmered with tears. <b>She </b>nced at me, then at Susan and Dorothy, before finally copsing to her knees before Gregory. “Mr. Ford, please, have mercy on me! I should’ve never harbored such foolish dreams, never tried to pass off as something I’m not…”
Known for his short patience with others, Gregory furrowed his brows. “Whoever sent you, go beg them, not
me
“I…” Susan interjected sharply as Lilliana’s gaze drifted away, “Farley, what are you waiting for? Get her out of here! Ramona, frankly, we shouldn’t even keep her around. Just send her back where she came from.”
Ramona’s eyes narrowed, piercing, but she didn’t catch on to Susan’s words. Instead, she turned to Gregory. “Greg, the DNA results from abroad must havee in by <b>now</b>, right?”
“Yes, they’re due any minute.” Gregory nodded and nced at his watch, “Five minutes.”
“Good,” Ramona breathed a sigh of relief.
While waiting, the quiet in the hall was so deep.
I watched Gregory’s expression, guessing at the oue. My heart pounded like a drum, and my palms were sweaty over and over.
Susan and Dorothy visibly grew more anxious as time ticked by. Susan kept an eye on the clock. With two minutes left, Susan couldn’t sit still any longer. She turned to Gregory and said, “Even if the reports from the two institutions differ, what does it prove? Are the foreign results infallible? Who’s to say you didn’t tamper with them to suit your ends…
Gregory scoffed, “You worry too much. They got the foreign tests finished under constant surveince. I even had them send over the video footage.”
Susan clenched her teeth, trying to maintain herposure. “Well, you’ve certainly covered all bases. Fine, I’m curious to see the oue myself.”
I sat across from Susan, silently observing. The more I watched, the more mncholy overcame me. That was her rejection of me: And my aversion to her was just as strong, if not stronger. Could there be such animosity between a mother and her daughter?
Meanwhile, Gregory stepped out to take a call. Through the ss, I could see his lips press together slightly. As soon as he hung up, someone handed him a report. He returned, holding the report, and gave it to Ramona. “Ramona, I already know the result. Please, see for yourself.”
His words said it all.
As I turned to look at Ramona, it was as if our minds were linked.
She looked back at me, her eyes filled with warmth and affection. Thest <b>time </b>someone looked at me like that was Timothy.
Trembling, Ramona was about, to open the report when she suddenly convulsed, coughing up blood.
I couldn’t be sure, but almost meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Dorothy’s clenched hands rx.
Without a second thought, I rushed over. “Ramona!”
1/2
08.46
“Jane…” With herst ounce of strength, Ramona clutched my arm, racked with guilt. Her voice faded to a whisper<b>, </b>so soft that only I could hear, “I was wrong. I couldn’t recognize you as Greg did…”Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
And then, the hand gripping my arm ckened. Ramona had passed out!