After They Stole My Life, Reborn I Called Another Man Dad Chapter 06

After They Stole My Life, Reborn I Called Another Man Dad Chapter 06

But my biological mother, Eleanor Miller, still came the next day.

She didn’t go to see Ethan. She waited for me outside the school.

The moment I opened the car door, she handed me a bank card.

“There are two million dollars in the account. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not trying to buy your forgiveness. We owe you far more than money could ever repay.”

I didn’t take it.

“So?”

She was silent for a moment before finally saying, “Chloe is graduating high school soon. If we make everything public right now, it could have a huge impact on her. Please don’t tell anyone who you really are yet. Just wait until she graduates. After that, I’ll make sure we find a way to make it up to you.”

I took a slow breath.

“…What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Wait a few more months. I promise, we’re not going to deny that you’re our daughter. This just isn’t the right time.”

It was exactly the same as my previous life.

After they found me back then, she’d said the same things.

“Chloe just lost her biological parents. Don’t make this harder for her.”

“Chloe’s health isn’t great. You need to be more understanding with her.”

“Chloe has been with us for eighteen years. You need to give her time to adjust to the fact that she’s not actually related to us.”

In the end, my life had always come second to Chloe’s.

I placed the bank card back in her lap and turned to leave.

“No.”

She immediately panicked. Her voice rose sharply.

“Zoe!”

I stopped her.

“Don’t call me that. Zoe is the name my dad gave me.”

The color drained from her face.

Just before I walked away, she suddenly grabbed my hand.

“Zoe, Chloe is innocent.”

I pulled my hand free.

I hadn’t meant to say anything else, but I couldn’t help myself.

“You’re right. But every single time you talk to me, you have to plead Chloe’s case first. Honestly, it’s getting exhausting.”

Chloe found out soon after.

The first time she came to the Photo Studio, she wasn’t nearly as arrogant as I’d expected.

If anything, she was strangely quiet.

She stood at the counter, staring at the photographs covering the walls. Every picture was of Ethan and me at different ages.

She studied them for a long time.

Eventually, her eyes landed on the baby picture in the center.

“What happened to that little knit hat?”

I blinked.

“What?”

“The white one in the picture.”

Ethan happened to walk out of the darkroom at that moment.

The second Chloe saw him, her eyes filled with tears.

“Did my mom knit that hat?”

The studio went completely silent.

Ethan looked at her for a long moment before finally nodding.

“She did.”

Chloe burst into tears.

Her face and nose turned bright red as she cried.

And in that moment, I felt a strange ache in my chest.

Because she wasn’t wrong.

Sarah had been her biological mother.

That little white hat should have been on Chloe’s head.

The tiny dresses, the little crowns, the parenting books. Those things should have belonged to her too.

In this whole nightmare of switched identities, I wasn’t the only person who’d had things stolen from me.

Chloe wiped her tears and sniffled.

“Can I see the hat?”

I went into the back room and brought out the old metal box.

The knit hat was worn with age. The white yarn had faded to a soft yellow.

There was even a faint stain along the edge that had never completely come out, left there from one of the times I’d spit up as a baby.

Chloe ran her fingers over it for a long time.

Then she suddenly asked, “Can I take it with me?”

I hesitated.

Before I could answer, Ethan spoke.

“If you like it, you can look at it here. But you can’t take it.”

Chloe’s voice started trembling.

She stared at him in disbelief before turning toward me.

“But my mom made that for me! You’ve had it for eighteen years. Isn’t that enough?”

Something inside me shifted.

The small amount of guilt I’d felt only moments ago began to fade.

“You know what? You’re right. She was your biological mother. You have every right to know about the photographs, medical records, and personal belongings she left behind.”

I looked at the hat in her hands.

“But this hat has been with me for eighteen years. It belongs to me now too.”

I gave her a faint smile.

“So why don’t you ask the Millers to give me back everything that should have been mine for the past eighteen years?”

Her face flushed bright red.

She had nothing to say.

A moment later, she turned around and ran out, tears still shining in her eyes.

That night, my biological mother, Eleanor, called Ethan.

Her tone was much harsher than it had been earlier.

“That hat was left by Chloe’s biological mother. It’s perfectly reasonable for Chloe to want it back. Mr. Vance, you’re Chloe’s biological father, after all.”

Ethan asked only one question.

“Then what about all the things the Millers were supposed to give Zoe?”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Eleanor’s voice turned cold.

“Those are two completely different things.”

“How are they different?” Ethan asked. “The two girls were switched eighteen years ago. Chloe took things that belonged to Zoe too. When it comes to Chloe, you keep saying we can’t put a price on family and memories. But now that Zoe has had one of those things for eighteen years, suddenly you’re keeping score.”

When the call ended, I couldn’t help it.

A laugh escaped me.

Ethan turned around, looking genuinely confused.

“What are you laughing at?”

I grinned.

“Just thinking my dad is pretty damn impressive.”