Chapter 10: The Ending
I saw Xena again outside Mom’s hospital room. When I came back from buying food, I saw a familiar figure lingering by the door. As I got closer, I realized it was her.
She had lost a lot of weight, her eye sockets sunken, and she no longer had the beauty she once did. Dressed in ill–fitting, cheap cotton clothing, she looked like a child wearing an adult’s clothes by mistake.
“What are you doing here?” I asked cautiously, watching her closely.
“I’m here to see Mom,” she replied, her gaze drifting, looking uneasy.
“You don’t need to. Leave.” I said firmly.
As I tried to pass her, she grabbed my arm. “Coco, please help me! Can you give me a letter of forgiveness?”
“Dream on!” I shook her hand off coldly.
Xena seemed to be triggered by my response. Her eyes grew filled with hatred.
‘Coco! I’m like this because of you! If you hadn’t gone back to the Hall family, I wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
‘You took everything from me!” she screamed.
I smiled sarcastically. Xena was indeed a typical member of the Smith family. She never blamed herself, always
blaming others – this trait clearly ran in the family.
‘Why couldn’t you just stay in the Smith family? They treated you so well!” I said, mocking her.
‘My mother was right; she should have killed you when you were born-”
Her bitter expression froze, and she suddenly bent down, clutching her stomach, the look of resentment
ransforming into one of pain.
I finally noticed how pale her face was, devoid of any color.
‘What’s wrong with you?” I took a cautious step back, wary that she might be faking it.
But then, blood started dripping onto the floor, breaking my thoughts.
‘Nurse! Nurse!” I shouted.
Medical staff quickly arrived. As they took Xena’s clothes off, I saw countless wounds on her arms. She had been suffering from uremia for a while, and because she had hoped to get my kidney, she had refused proper treatment.
Now, she could no longer afford dialysis, and her pregnancy, already fragile, ended in a miscarriage.
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Chapter 10: The Ending
Soon, she was taken back to prison.
With Mom’s recovery progressing quickly, she would be out of the hospital and home in just a month or two.
During this time, Officer Luke kept me updated on the case, and before long, the trial was held.
Xena, Charlie, and Chad were all sentenced.
Despite everything, Mom’s heart softened. I accompanied her to the prison to visit Xena one last time.
“Why did you do this?” Mom’s eyes were full of tears as she looked at the girl she had raised. There was more
estrangement than familiarity in her gaze.
“Why is it that just a few months apart, we seem like strangers? How did you turn out like this?” she asked, her voice
filled with sadness.
Xena smiled sarcastically. “I don’t have much time left, so think whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“I never wanted to see you! You always say that Coco abandoned her foster parents for wealth and status, but what
about you? You abandoned me for the smallest things!”
Mom and Dad looked deeply hurt, unable to believe that the child they had raised had turned out this way.
I watched quietly. When I first returned to the Hall family, Xena seemed to embody everything good. She was the cherished daughter of the Hall family–intelligent, beautiful, and graceful.
Looking back, everything about her–her composure, confidence, and elegance–had only been possible because of
money.
It was only under the comfort of wealth that she could maintain such “noble” qualities. Without it, her true nature had emerged.
If I hadn’t been swapped at birth, Xena might have stayed in Smith family village, marrying an ordinary man and living a simple, poor life.
But the life swap showed her the outside world, and she could never be content to return to her former life.
As for me, I had lost twenty years of my father’s and mother’s love because of all of this.
My foster parents were also brought to court. Through Luke’s investigation and evidence collection, it was proven that they had been abusing me all along–trafficking and mistreating children.
When the court verdict was delivered, my foster mother’s face was filled with regret.
“Coco, please save me! I didn’t mean it!” she begged.
“At least I didn’t abandon you! At least I raised you!” She cried, shouting that I should help her.
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Chapter 10: The Ending
She was restrained by law enforcement officers, still calling out for my help,
I looked at her coldly. She wasn’t sorry for what she had done; she was simply afraid of the consequences,
Mom squeezed my hand. “It’s okay, Mom’s here.”
After twenty years, we were finally reunited as a family.
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