Trembling as she held the two documents, Mandy Lawson’s hands shook violently.
Large tears rolled down her cheeks, hitting the paternity test reports with a heavy PATTER.
Although she had always firmly believed that Juno was her daughter, a lingering fear remained in her heart.
She was terrified of that one-in-a-million chance of being wrong.
She didn’t dare—nor could she bear to—ask the child she had just so painstakingly reunited with to take a DNA test.
So, she desperately convinced herself that Juno was indeed her daughter!
Juno was her daughter!
The child who had wandered out there for twelve years had finally come home!
It was her!
There was no mistake!
Mandy refused to allow anyone to harbor even the slightest doubt, as it would only amplify her own panic and fear.
But…
her precious Juno had seen right through her.
The girl had actually gone behind her and her husband’s backs to get a paternity test.
She wondered if Juno was heartbroken by this.
Her daughter had to be immensely disappointed in them as parents.
Overwhelmed with shame for ever harboring even a sliver of doubt, Mandy couldn’t even bring herself to look up and face her.
How could Juno possibly know what was going through her mother’s mind?
Assuming her recent outburst against Lana Daniels and her daughter had frightened her, Juno hesitated to approach.
For the very first time, she actually regretted resorting to violence!
Just like Jayden Jacobs had warned her, she really should have avoided doing it in front of Mandy.
Her mother was such a gentle soul, after all.
“Mom, don’t overthink this,” Jayden said softly.
“Juno only asked me to help her get this test done because she was worried that you and Dad wouldn’t be able to explain things to the guests at the banquet.
The truth is, she’s more certain than anyone else that she is your daughter.”
Having lived with the Jacobs family for ten years, Jayden understood Mandy far better than Juno did.
He knew exactly what she was thinking and what words would put her mind at ease.
Sure enough, the moment Jayden spoke, Mandy raised her tear-stained face.
“Really?
She…
she didn’t do it because we…”
Jayden gently waved to the young girl clutching the Birkin bag.
“Juno, come here.”
The same girl who had just been so vicious toward Lana and her daughter now approached with cautious, timid steps.
She liked Mandy.
She loved her reassuring scent, her warm embrace, and her soft hands.
She loved everything about her.
And precisely because she loved her, Juno was worried that Mandy might now be afraid of her.
Blushing slightly as she drew near, Juno handed the reclaimed handbag and bank card back to Mandy.
“These are yours, keep them safe.
Those people don’t deserve them!” The young girl’s eyes were filled with solemn stubbornness.
Seeing the slight nervousness in her daughter’s eyes, all of Mandy’s worries suddenly melted away.
Her eyes curved into a gentle smile.
“Alright.
I won’t give them anything anymore.
Everything goes to my darling daughter.”
Juno blinked her large, round eyes.
They were as clear and pure as a newborn fawn’s, a pure, deep black.
She tilted her head in sheer astonishment.
“You…
you aren’t mad at me for beating them up?”
“Mad?
Of course not!
They deserved it!
How dare they speak ill of my daughter?
If I weren’t stuck in this wheelchair, I would have beaten them myself!” Mandy deliberately put on a stern face, sharing in her daughter’s righteous indignation.
At that moment, she didn’t even know the full extent of how hateful Lana and her daughter were.
But as far as she was concerned, whatever her daughter said or did was right!
Even beating someone up was justified!
Mandy gently squeezed her daughter’s soft little hands, her heart aching for her.
“Next time you want to hit someone, find a tool.
Otherwise, your hands will hurt.”
“It’s fine, I kicked them!
At worst, I’ll just throw away these shoes…”
Standing to the side, Jayden’s eyes were filled with a liquid gentleness before he silently backed out of the garden.
With the unspoken barrier of doubt finally shattered, the mother and daughter definitely had much more to talk about.