The next day, the sun shone brightly and the Shaw couple headed out with a heavy heart.
They left early in the morning so as to not startle Elena and her grandfather.
The road to Happy Village was anything but easy.
Julian had already begun regretting not bringing a better car.
Lena sat beside him in silence, staring out of the window.
Neither of them had spoken much since leaving home.
There simply wasn’t much to say.
What could they possibly say?
They were going to meet the family who had raised their biological daughter for eighteen years.
And somewhere along the way, they would have to tell those people that the daughter they had raised wasn’t actually theirs.
Julian tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
He glanced at Lena.
She hadn’t said a word for the past hour.
"Are you nervous?"
Lena looked at him.
"What do you think?"
Julian sighed.
"I don’t know."
"You’ve been asking me that question all morning."
"And you’ve been glaring at me all morning."
"Because you keep asking questions you already know the answer to."
Julian fell silent.
A few seconds later, Lena sighed.
"I’m not angry at you."
"I know."
"I’m angry at the situation."
"I know."
"I just..."
Her voice became quieter.
"What if they don’t want to give her to us?"
Julian didn’t answer immediately.
He had thought about that too.
What parent would willingly hand over the child they had raised for eighteen years?
Even if that child wasn’t biologically theirs?
He looked ahead at the narrow road.
"We’re not taking her away today."
Lena turned toward him.
"What?"
"We don’t even know what kind of people they are yet. We should talk first."
Lena looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"You’re right."
After a two hour car ride through bumpy roads, they reached the Happy Village.
Their car’s appearance early in the morning lead the villagers to squint and squeal at the site of a car.
Maybe owning a car wasn’t a big deal in the city but in this village, even a bicycle was a big deal and only two existed in the entire village.
Driving further in, they finally reached their destination.
The Bennet house was much smaller than they expected.
Or perhaps the Shaw mansion had simply made everything else seem smaller.
Meanwhile inside the Bennet house, they had no idea what was happening outside.
Mary was in a hurry to cook breakfast for everyone. "Sarah, go call Janes and Emma for breakfast"
Mary was busy stir-frying the vegetables and couldn’t be bothered to even turn around before ordering her daughter-in-law.
Yesterday she had been surprised that her daughter had returned from Peace Town after working there.
Yes, Lily had lied to them that she was working in Peace Town.
In a jolly mood, Mary had been cooking her favourites for meals.
Just as Sarah exited the kitchen, Lily entered.
"Mom."
"Hm?"
"If someone comes looking for me today..."
Mary turned around.
"Who would come looking for you?"
Lily hesitated.
Then she smiled.
"No one. I was just asking."
Mary frowned.
"You’ve been acting strange lately."
Lily lowered her head.
"I’m just tired."
Before Mary could say anything else, there was a knock at the door.
Everyone in the house turned toward it.
James was the first to stand.
"I’ll get it."
He walked to the door and opened it.
His expression immediately changed.
Two strangers stood outside.
A man and a woman.
They were both dressed much better than anyone in the village.
The man looked serious.
The woman looked nervous.
James frowned.
"Can I help you?"
Julian looked at him.
"Is this the Bennett family?"
"Yes."
"My name is Julian Shaw."
James’s expression became confused.
"Shaw?"
Julian nodded.
"We came here to speak with your parents."
James glanced behind him.
"About what?"
Julian opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
How was he supposed to explain this?
Lena stepped forward.
"We need to discuss something concerning a girl named Lily."
The moment Lily heard her name, her heart began pounding.
She had known this moment would come.
Still...
Hearing her name from Lena’s mouth was different.
James looked back.
"Lily?"
Lily slowly stood.
Their eyes met.
For one brief moment, she saw the woman she had spent years calling a stranger.
Her biological mother.
Lena’s eyes fell on Lily.
She froze.
Something inside her chest tightened.
She didn’t know why.
She had never seen this girl before.
Yet the moment their eyes met, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Lily walked toward them.
"Who are you?"
Her voice was calm.
Lena swallowed.
"We’re the Shaw family."
Lily stared at her.
"I don’t understand."
Julian took a deep breath.
"We came because we believe there may have been a mistake eighteen years ago."
Silence filled the room.
Father Bennet had already come out of the back room. "What kind of mistake?"
Julian looked at him.
"An error at the hospital."
Father Bennet frowned.
Julian continued.
"According to medical records, my daughter Elena’s blood type is incompatible with mine and my wife’s."
"Elena?"
"Yes."
Julian’s voice was low.
"We believe she may have been switched with another baby at birth."
Nobody spoke.
Mary stared at him.
Then she looked at Lily.
Lily remained completely still.
Father Bennet’s expression darkened.
"What does that have to do with us?"
Julian looked directly at Lily.
"Because according to the hospital records, your daughter Lily was born on the same night."
Mary’s lips parted. "No."
The word came out automatically.
Julian understood.
He didn’t blame her.
"We had the records checked."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a folder.
"We also had both girls’ blood groups compared."
He placed the papers on the table.
Father Bennet stared at them.
Everyone in the family was illiterate and couldn’t read except Lily.
So they didn’t know what to make of it.
In the end, everyone turned to look at Lily as she slowly went through the documents.
In the end, James stepped closer.
"What are you saying?" He asked.
Julian looked straight at Lily.
"I’m saying..."
His voice faltered.
For the first time that morning, the man who commanded an entire regiment looked helpless.
"...we may have found our biological daughter."
Mary’s face went pale.
She turned toward Lily.
"No."
This time her voice was louder.
"Lily is our daughter."
"I know."
Julian’s answer came immediately.
"And Elena is our daughter too."
The room became silent.
Neither family knew what to say.
Lily lowered her eyes.
Inside, however, her heart was racing.
This was it.
Everything was happening exactly as she wished.