Chapter 374 A Family She Never Knew
Rose’s eyes flickered with surprise, but she quickly composed herself.
“What?”
Alicia looked at her as though she were gathering every ounce of courage she had.
“Professor Bennett, you probably know a little about the Taylor family by now. You remember how Samantha was almost mistaken for one of us?”
Rose nodded faintly.
“I was fooled back then,” Alicia continued. “I got close to her because I genuinely believed she was part of our family. I thought I’d finally found someone I could call my sister. Finding out it was all a lie... it hurt.”
She pressed her lips together.
“But there’s something else.”
Alicia hesitated before continuing.
“A while ago, I saw the jade pendant Grandma was carrying at the antique shop. I already had my suspicions then.”
Her eyes filled with cautious hope.
“I don’t think it was a coincidence. Maybe... maybe it really was fate giving us another chance.”
Rose’s expression remained unreadable.
“I really hope you’ll come home, Sister.”
Alicia’s voice softened.
“If you’re willing, could you meet Grandma? If we’re wrong, at least we’ll know for sure. But if we’re right...” Her voice trembled slightly. “Then our family could finally be together again.”
She looked at Rose nervously, almost afraid of the answer.
Rose already knew what she wanted to say.
She had deliberately avoided this subject because she hadn’t known how to face it.
Then the kidnapping had happened.
And Derick had chosen Victoria—even after knowing there was a possibility she might be his daughter.
Rose understood, at least intellectually.
They had been together for twenty years. No matter what the truth was, twenty years of history couldn’t simply disappear overnight.
Still, knowing that hadn’t made it any easier to accept.
And now Alicia had suddenly put the question directly in front of her.
“Aren’t you worried this could be another misunderstanding?” Rose asked.
Alicia shook her head.
“I don’t think everything in life is a misunderstanding.”
She gave Rose a small, sincere smile.
“I liked you from the moment I met you. I don’t know why. Maybe there’s a reason for that. Whatever the truth is, we can sit down and talk about it. We can figure out what’s real and what isn’t.”
She paused. “At least then, none of us will have to wonder what might have happened.”
Her expression softened. “Grandma has spent so many years hoping my sister would come home. I don’t want to disappoint her. And I don’t want my sister to spend the rest of her life feeling like she has nowhere to belong.”
The moment Alicia mentioned Grace, something shifted in Rose’s eyes.
She had never forgotten how kind Dr. Grace had been to her.
Grace had defended her more than once, even when doing so meant going against Margaret.
Rose couldn’t simply dismiss that kind of sincerity.
If Grace really was her grandmother...
She didn’t think she could turn her away.
Rose drew a slow breath.
“All right. I understand.”
Alicia’s eyes widened.
“I’ll think about it and get in touch with Dr. Grace.”
“Really?”
Alicia immediately brightened.
Then she pulled out her phone.
Rose noticed the call already connected.
The contact name on the screen read Grandma.
Rose stared.
The call had apparently been running for several minutes.
Grace had heard everything.
“Dr. Grace?”
A soft, emotional voice came through the phone.
“My dear...”
Grace sounded as though she were trying very hard not to cry.
“I wanted to talk to you myself, but I never imagined you and Alicia would run into each other first.”
She took a shaky breath.
“I know this is a lot to take in. You don’t have to decide everything right away.”
There was a brief pause.
“But I would like to meet your grandfather first.”
Grace’s voice became even gentler.
“Would that be all right with you?”
Rose knew there was no avoiding the conversation anymore.
Whatever happened next, the truth was finally going to come out into the open.
She exhaled slowly.
“All right.”
Her voice was quiet but firm.
“Pick a time. I’ll take you there.”
“Oh... all right. All right!”
Grace sounded so relieved that Rose could almost picture her standing up in excitement.
“I can be ready anytime.”
Even after everything she had experienced in life, Grace still sounded nervous.
Rose could hear it.
That nervousness made her own heart feel strangely heavy.
Grace was overwhelmed with happiness.
So much that, even her affection for Alicia had deepened.
“Alicia, I owe you one.”
Alicia scratched the back of her head, looking embarrassed.
“This is what I wanted anyway. We’re family.”
Rose lowered her eyes.
Family.
The word lingered in her mind.
What would that mean for her from now on?
She had no answer.
For the first time in a long while, her future felt completely blank.
****
A short distance away, Owen returned with Ryan’s medication.
“Mr. Knight?”
Ryan was sitting quietly, his attention fixed on the far end of the lobby.
Owen followed his gaze.
After searching through the crowd, he finally spotted Rose and Alicia.
They were still talking.
Alicia was smiling, looking almost shyly pleased with herself.
Owen glanced back at Ryan.
“Would you like to go over and speak with Ms. Bennett?”
Ryan’s expression didn’t change.
His eyes remained fixed on Rose for several long seconds.
Then he quietly turned his wheelchair around.
“No.”
Owen blinked.
That was it?
He didn’t ask why.
He’d worked for Ryan long enough to know better than to try to read his mind.
Ryan headed toward the park behind the hospital.
He had barely reached the quiet path when his phone rang.
It was Oliver.
The usual carefree tone was gone from his voice.
“Ryan, I’ve been looking into what you asked about. I found something.”
Ryan stopped.
“Send it to me.”
“I already did. I’m sending you the key surveillance footage now.”
“Okay.”
Oliver hesitated. “This was the Robinson family’s territory, so getting the footage wasn’t easy. I had to work around their security team and pull the recordings without tipping anyone off.”
There was a trace of pride in his voice.
“I practically felt like a spy.”
Ryan ignored the comment.
His phone vibrated.
The files had arrived.
He opened them on his iPad.
The footage was from the resort hotel.
Oliver had gone through the recordings one by one and isolated every camera Samantha had passed.
The footage clearly showed that Samantha had entered the resort using a legitimate invitation.
That explained why the security personnel Ryan had arranged hadn’t stopped her. Nothing about her behavior had appeared suspicious enough to trigger an alarm.
But there was one question left unanswered.
How had Samantha gotten the invitation?
There was no footage showing that.
Ryan continued watching.
More than a dozen camera angles played across the screen.
Then he saw her.
Alicia.
Only briefly.
She appeared in several different recordings, moving through the resort at roughly the same time as Samantha.
There was no footage of the two women actually speaking.
Nothing obvious.
Nothing that could prove they had interacted.
But Ryan studied the timestamps carefully.
He replayed the footage.
Then again.
His expression gradually hardened.
Their paths had almost certainly crossed.
And less than two minutes later, Samantha had appeared at the main entrance with the invitation.
There hadn’t been enough time for a proper conversation.
But there had been enough time for something small.
A glance.
A handoff.
A few words.
Something.
Ryan’s eyes darkened.
He stared at the screen for a long moment.
Oliver waited.
Eventually, unable to contain his curiosity, he asked, “Did you find anything?”
Ryan closed the iPad.
His expression was unreadable.
“Nothing.”
Oliver frowned.
“Nothing?”
“You’ve done enough. Good work.”
Ryan slipped the iPad away.
“Don’t tell anyone about this yet.”
Oliver hesitated.
“Not even James?”
“Especially not James.”
Oliver scratched his chin.
He had been debating whether to ask this for a while.
Finally, he said carefully, “Speaking of James...”.
“I’m pretty sure he has a serious problem with you.”
Ryan said nothing.
Oliver continued.
“Considering everything that happened before, I think he’ll probably support Trevor and Rose being together.”
He paused.
Then, unable to resist, he asked, “So... what are you going to do?”