Web Fic
Chapter 106
Then she spoke up, "This is my dear friend, Linda. We share a special bond. On this joyous occasion, we, the Meadows family, will welcome her as our adopted daughter. From today on, Linda will also be a daughter of the Meadows family. I hope everyone here will look after her."Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
The crowd's faces showed a mix of confusion and curiosity. Whispers began to ripple through the room.
"Who is this girl? Which family does she belong to? She seems unfamiliar."
"Why are the Meadows suddenly adopting a daughter? Leah truly has a heart of gold, adopting the enemy's daughter as her own, and now another adopted daughter."
"Adopting a daughter is indeed a cause for celebration, but looking at Leah and Mr. Jacob's expressions, they seem more shocked than us. It's as if they didn't know about it beforehand."
At that moment, Leah and Jacob were standing on the stage. Leah knew what was happening. Last night, Lisa had insisted on adopting someone but refused to say who, only mentioning it was a friend. Leah hadn't expected it to be Linda.
How could she not know the name Linda? Three years ago, Chloe attempted suicide because of her.
Chloe and Lucas were childhood sweethearts. During college, Linda suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Lucas was wrapped around her fingers, hopelessly smitten. Even though he was forced to marry Chloe, he ended up eloping with Linda to a foreign country.
In fact, Leah knew that Lucas and Chloe never officially registered their marriage, so it couldn't be considered a formal union. She never liked Linda and looked down upon her tactics even more. Jacob was even more furious, storming over to Lisa.
He scolded harshly, "Lisa, what are you playing at?"
Lisa simply said, "Dad, Mom already agreed."
Lisa knew this wouldn't sit well with Jacob, which was why she acted first and only told them about this now. Luckily, Leah wouldn't blame her, even if she might be a bit upset. Lisa knew Leah would eventually give in because Leah still felt guilty towards her. Though Jacob was the head of the family in name, in reality, he listened to everything Leah said.
Lisa had already grabbed Leah's arm. She pleaded softly, "Mom, everyone is watching. Please agree. Besides, it's just an adopted daughter in name. There's no real loss. Mom, it's my birthday wish. If you fulfill my wish, I'll listen to you in everything hereafter."
Leah felt uneasy. Leah was a smart
woman. She could see why Lisa wanted them to adopt Linda as a daughter. It was to make Chloe suffer, wasn't it? Despite her efforts to make amends to Lisa over these three years, Lisa still viewed Chloe as the enemy who took everything from her.
This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. Leah couldn't attend Chloe and Lucas' wedding because of Lisa's outburst. In front of Lisa, Leah had to treat Chloe badly to make up for the years of grievances Lisa had suffered.
In fact, when it came to Chloe,
Leah's heart was also in pain. The daughter she had meticulously raised for twenty years turned out to be Ann's tool for revenge. Leah was filled with hatred. She hated Ann, and she had also resented Chloe. But once she calmed down, she also clearly understood that Chloe was the most innocent of all. When she found out about the suicide attempt, as a mother, her heart was shattered.