Juno temporarily suppressed the strange feeling in her heart and pushed open a door left ajar on the east side of the second floor.
“Juno!”
On the bed, Mandy Lawson had long been anxious to see her daughter.
She was sitting on the edge of the mattress, slowly standing up with Derek Jacobs supporting her.
Hearing the door open, she looked up and saw the girl who had kept her at arm’s length just a few days ago.
“Juno…” Mandy called out softly, her voice trembling.
But she didn’t dare to step forward, nor did she dare to act too excitedly, terrified of scaring her daughter.
Mrs.
Jacobs’s condition was much more severe than Juno had imagined.
Her hair was a mess, and her lips were cracked.
On her hollowed cheeks, her eyes were swollen like walnuts.
Her bony, frail body looked as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
Her left leg was even weighed down by a heavy plaster cast.
In the original novel, it was never mentioned when Mrs.
Jacobs was injured.
It only stated that when the couple had tracked down the original host, she had shoved them away fiercely, causing Mrs.
Jacobs to fall.
The next time Mrs.
Jacobs appeared in the story, she was crippled.
To think her leg disability was also caused by the original Juno…
The original host truly left one speechless!
“Juno…
my Juno!” Mandy’s eyes were brimming with tears, but she forced a smile.
Strings of tears rolled down her sunken cheeks, and she hastily wiped them away, terrified of upsetting her daughter.
She walked too hastily and refused to let Derek touch her.
Hindered by the heavy cast, she nearly fell to the floor.
Fortunately, someone caught her in time.
Mandy steadied herself, but when she saw who had helped her up, she froze.
“Mom.”
Jacobs, Juno hesitated barely a second before calling out the address she had previously found so difficult to utter.
On the way here, she had been agonizing not over whether Mr.
and Mrs.
Jacobs would accept her, but over how she should address them.
Calling complete strangers “Mom and Dad” had felt impossible.
Meeting Derek hadn’t affected her much, but seeing Mandy now, Juno realized how incredibly stupid it was to worry about what to call them.
She thought, “I’ve taken over the original host’s body, so what’s the big deal about calling them ‘Mom and Dad’?
Why should it be so hard to say?
Stop being so dramatic!”
And so, under Mandy’s shocked gaze, Juno sweetly called out, “Mom.”
Before she had spoken, Mandy was just barely able to suppress her surging emotions.
But hearing that single word, she stood stunned for a full minute.
Her bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the girl before her, unwilling to even blink.
“W-What did you just call me?” Mandy felt like she was hallucinating.
“Mom!” The young girl’s eyes curved like crescent moons, and her lips curled into a bright smile that revealed two adorable little canine teeth.
She looked exactly the same as she did when she was a little girl!
It was her Juno!
This completely struck the softest spot in Mandy’s heart.
She threw her arms around Juno, crying her heart out.
“My daughter!
My sweet daughter!
Mom has looked so hard for you!
Twelve years!
A whole twelve years!
I haven’t had a single good night’s sleep or a proper meal!
Every dream was of my baby crying for her mom…”
That heart-wrenching wail poured out all the bitterness and despair Mr.
and Mrs.
Derek, a man who rarely showed his emotions, now had tears welling in his eyes.
He wanted to embrace the two women who were more important than his own life, but riddled with guilt, he didn’t dare to step forward.
He could only quietly walk up behind his wife and gently pat her back.
At the door, Jayden Jacobs’s expression remained calm.
He turned, intending to leave.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Right then, an urgent knocking sounded without warning.
It startled Mandy so badly that she stared at the door in sheer terror.
Her arms tightened around Juno, as if whoever was outside had come to snatch her daughter away.
No one knew better than Derek just how fragile his wife’s mental state had been over the past twelve years.
His heart clenched, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes.
Before he could react, Jayden had already opened the door and stepped out.
A few minutes later, the door opened again.
Jayden glanced at Derek.
Derek paused, then looked at his highly agitated wife and quickly stepped outside.
Meanwhile, trapped in Mandy’s embrace, Juno suddenly remembered something.
Something major!
Unable to push Mandy away, Juno could only turn her head to look out the hall.
“Jayden,” she called out, stopping the man just as he was about to close the door after Derek left the room.
Jayden paused.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, questioning her silently with his eyes.
“There’s a situation.
A big one,” the young girl said with absolute seriousness.
Jayden glanced back at Derek, who was already heading downstairs, then pushed the door open and walked back inside.
Mandy became even more frantic.
“You can’t steal my daughter!
You can’t take my daughter away!” She gripped Juno even tighter, her emotions spiraling out of control.