Chapter 159

“Don’t fight with Penelope, okay? She’s spoiled rotten by Leah, but she’s got a good heart. Remember when she shared her favorite dessert with you when you were kids?”

Allison was a bit stumped. She didn’t understand why Grace was telling her all this. She just chalked it up to Grace’s good nature. Grace was always like this.

“I got it, Mom. You should rest now.”

Grace closed her eyes. Allison sat by her bedside, watching the lines on the monitor, hoping to stay by her side forever.

Her mom had just undergone a kidney transplant. She was doing fine just a week ago, but now her condition had worsened.

This had to be Leah’s doing!

She tried her best to avoid conflict and to put up with Leah’s bullying. Even when she was pushed to the edge, Leah still didn’t let her or her mom off the hook!

Even though her mom’s breathing was getting weaker, she was still stable with the help of the ventilator. Allison stayed in the hospital room for a while longer before leaving.

When she got home, she found a tin box in the closet, just like Grace had said. Inside was an agate necklace with a plain design.

This? This could get Mr. Flanagan to help her?

Allison carefully put it away and got ready to head out. She was going to find a guy named Adrian based on the address Grace had given her. Just as she stepped out of the house, her phone rang. It was a strange number. “Hello?”

“Is this Ms. Zimmer?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve done a DNA test at our center. It shows that you two aren’t related.”

“What are you talking about?” Allison could barely hold the phone steady. “You must have made a mistake; that’s my mom’s hair and mine!”

“Ms. Zimmer, we didn’t make a mistake. You two aren’t related.”

Allison’s ears were ringing.

She… she wasn’t related to her mom? How could that be?

Hearing the words over the phone, Allison felt weak.

At the cemetery.

Allison placed a bunch of lilies in front of the tombstone. She bent down to clear the weeds around the tombstone. “Dad, do you think they made a mistake?”

“How could I not be your and Mom’s daughter?”

“It must be… it must be a mistake by the testing center!!”

But her genetic markers didn’t match Grace’s.

Why?? Then who was her mother? Was Joshua Zimmer still her father?

Suddenly, Allison felt lost.

For several days in a row, Allison visited the cemetery daily, chatting with her father and brother. One morning, when Allison arrived, she saw a bunch of carnations on the tombstone.

Who had been here? In her memory, no one else visited her father and brother except her.

“You must be Allison; you’re all grown up now.”

A deep, aged voice came from behind her Allison turned around to see a lean middle–aged man. He was dressed in casual black sportswear.

Despite his relatively young appearance, his hair was already graying She politely said, “Hello.”

“Are you a friend of my father’s?” Allison came here every few days. Despite the many years that had passed, this was the first time she’d encountered someone visiting her father.

“Ah, you’re right. I should have visited Joshua sooner, but I never had the opportunity. I’m sorry” The middle–aged man said.

“My name is Adrian.”

Could it be the Adrian that her mother spoke of? “Do you know my mother?”

“Your parents and I are old friends”

“My mother once told me that my father’s and brother’s deaths were no accident and you’re the only one who knows the truth.”