Chapter 22
Knox pulled out the photo Vivian had given him and placed it before her aunt.
The photo showed Celia and her parents sitting in a corner of an airport terminal, morning sunlight casting a beautiful glow on Celia’s fare,
She looked especially radiant, while her parents on either side were laughing and talking with her.
But her aunt remained unmoved.
“Mr. Whitfield, I don’t know why you’re obsessed with claiming Celia is alive, but that person in the photo isn’t Celia. And didn’t you say you never
loved her?”
Knox’s words caught in his throat. “1…”
How could he explain? Should he say that both he and Celia had been reborn?
Everyone would think he was insane.
Finally, after much consideration, Knox spoke again. “Celia and I had some misunderstandings, but please believe that I do love her.”
Her aunt laughed coldly. “If you truly loved Celia, why did you do so many things to hurt her?”
“Touch your conscience and ask–were those really acts of love?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. I initially thought Celia didn’t love me, so I treated her that way. Later I realized she did love me and I wanted to make it up to her, but she had already…”
“Knox, if Celia truly didn’t love you, she wouldn’t have chosen to marry you in the first place.”
“After you took a mistress, we called Celia and told her to divorce you and return to France. But Celia refused. She said she wasn’t willing to give up on you just like that–she wanted to give you a few more chances. Unfortunately, you didn’t take the opportunities Celia offered.”
“Now that she’s dead, you shouldn’t keep dwelling on it or torturing yourself. Don’t keep bothering our Montgomery family either. If you really miss Celia, go visit her grave instead of coming here with ridiculous claims that she’s alive.”
Her aunt finished speaking, stood up without another glance, and walked toward the estate, closing the door behind her.
“Wait…”
Knox instinctively tried to follow but was blocked by the firmly shut gate. He watched that retreating figure for a long time, his hands at his sides gradually clenching into fists.
No, he wasn’t mistaken. That was definitely Celia.
He didn’t know why Celia wouldn’t come out to see him, why she had her family continue lying to him.
But it didn’t matter–Knox could wait. He believed that if he waited long enough, Celia would eventually appear and see him.
Just like long ago on the high school basketball court–he’d played day after day for an entire month before Celia was finally dragged there by her
roommate.
For the next several days, Knox waited outside the Montgomery house.
He waited from sunset to sunrise, from bright sunshine to cold rain. Day after day, the light in his eyes gradually dimmed.
Just when Knox thought he’d never see Celia, a familiar figure suddenly appeared before him.
“Celia!”
Knox’s eyes blazed with excitement as he pushed open his car door and ran toward that familiar silhouette, grabbing her hand and pulling her into his
arms.
“Celia, Celia… I finally found you…”
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Chapter 22
Knox trembled as he spoke. “Do you know how much I’ve missed you these past months? I thought about you until I nearly went insane. I thought you were really dead. Thank god, thank god yirre okay…”
Knox had so much to tell Celia, but in the end, he could only say how much he’d missed her.
But the “Celia” in Knox’s arms suddenly looked up at him in confusion. “Who are you?”
Knox stared at the face before him in panic. “Celia, it’s me Knox. Knox, your husband. L…”
The young woman had no patience to listen to Knox’s explanation. She pushed him away roughly. “Are you crazy? Grabbing random people and calling out names!”
Just then, the Montgomery family butler hurried out and bowed respectfully to the girl.
“Miss, you’re back?”
Chapter 23
The girl looked at the butler with annoyance. “What are your people doing? Not getting rid of this guy and letting him are men
The butler’s expression changed as he quickly moved to shield the girl, looking sternly at Knox.
“Mr. Whitfield, please leave immediately, or I’ll have to call security!”
But Knox acted as if he hadn’t heard, frantically trying to grab the girl’s hand from behind the butler.
“Celia, it’s me! Don’t you recognize me anymore?”
Before the girl could speak first, the butler said, “Sir, you’ve got the wrong person. This isn’t Cella–this is Miss Cordelia Mottgomery, the eldest daughter.”
The words hit Knox like a sledgehammer to his skull, making his ears ring. “What… what did you say?”
The butler, seeing Knox’s confused state, sighed deeply.
“Miss Cordelia and Miss Celia are cousins. They look so alike that outsiders often mistake them for twins. As for the person you claim to have seen at the airport picking up Celia’s parents–that was also Miss Cordelia. When you sent Celía abroad, she was worried no one would care for her parents, so she specifically asked Miss Cordelia, who happened to be visiting the States, to escort them to France.”
“Even if you’re grieving Miss Celia’s loss, you shouldn’t mistake people like this.”
“No, that’s not right. She is Celia! She has the scar on her wrist from when she saved me!”
Knox still refused to believe the butler’s words, shoving past him to grab the girl’s hand, trying to roll up her sleeve to show the evidence.
“Slap!”
A crisp slap met Knox’s hand instead. Cordelia was furious, pointing at his nose and cursing.
“Are you sick? If you can’t tell people apart, go see a doctor! Stop harassing me!”
“Butler, what are you standing there for? Get security to throw him out!”
Immediately, a group of security guards rushed out to drag Knox away. He struggled desperately, his eyes full of desperation.
“Celia! Celia!”
Cordelia watched coldly as Knox was dragged farther and farther away before taking out her phone to call Celia.
Hearing that Knox had been driven off, Celia thanked Cordelia. “Thank you so much for today.”
When Celia had thought that with her aunt’s persuasion, Knox would believe she was truly dead and stop looking for her.
But she hadn’t expected Knox to be so persistent, camping outside the Montgomery estate for days, refusing to leave.
With no other choice, Celia had asked her cousin to impersonate her, making him completely believe that the person he’d seen that day wasn’t Celia, but Cordelia.
The effect was clearly significant–Celia hadn’t heard any news of Knox visiting the Montgomery house for several days after.
In a Parisian villa, Knox stared at the documents before him, his face growing paler.
How could this be? How could he have mistaken someone else for her?
Though it was just a glance, Knox was certain that was Celia, not someone else.
But why had it suddenly become a different woman?
Could Celia really have died in that plane crash, and everything he was seeing now was just his hallucination?
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