“My sweet girl, please believe me—I had my reasons. Back then, I didn’t have a choice but to let someone else care for you.”
Sommer was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, apologizing to her over and over.
Hester wiped her tears and asked, “What kind of reason would make you refuse to acknowledge me as your daughter in public?”
Sommer offered an explanation that, at last, made sense.
“Your grandmother… she went to a fortune teller. She was told that if my first child was a girl, it would bring absolute ruin to the Sutton family.
When I was just over three months pregnant with you, a doctor friend confirmed you were a girl. I was terrified they’d send you away—terrified I’d never see you again.
So I kept it from your grandmother and your father. I had you in secret, far away from them.
Less than a month after you were born, I found another family to care for you, hoping I could bring you home to the Suttons when the time was right.”
As Hester listened, the resentment that had weighed on her heart began to lift.
It wasn’t that her mother didn’t want her.
She’d been cast aside for her own protection, because her mother was powerless to do anything else.
Suddenly, it all made sense—why Octavia had found her by ‘chance’ at the foot of Verdant Peak.
Looking back, Hester finally understood what Sabrina had meant.
She really was Sommer’s biological daughter.
But her real father… there was a good chance it wasn’t Desmond. It might’ve been someone else—someone Sommer had secretly loved behind Desmond’s back.
That name she’d once overheard in her mother’s room—was that her real father?
The thought sent a cold shiver through her bones.
Her greatest card had always been her identity as the true Sutton heiress.
But now, if even that was in doubt, how could she ever go back to the Sutton family?
Desperation took over, and Hester pleaded with Sabrina, her voice breaking.
“Sabrina, please, no matter what’s happened, you and I are sisters by blood! I didn’t know who I really was before—if I hurt you, it was only because I was confused.
We should work together, you and I. Celine’s the real outsider here—the one who’s stolen everything from us.

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