Chapter 3 Daniella

I sat on my bed.

I placed my chin on my bent knees and looked at the pink phone, the white photo album, and the framed photo of me and my mother in kindergarten.

Heavy rain poured down on my city, making the atmosphere in my room quiet and cold.

"Why did Diego come to me?"

Diego and I were not blood relatives; our parents had separated, but he still considered me his stepsister and was even willing to pay for my college education.

I recalled the three videos on the phone.

"But it seems like Diego wasn't lying. The videos show him being close to my mom."

Diego was very kind in making my mother's wish come true.

I looked at my mother and Diego's father's wedding photo.

I didn't know who my biological father was.

I once asked my mother when I was in kindergarten because my friends were taken to school by their fathers, but my mother wouldn't answer. After that, I decided not to ask about my father anymore.

So far, my mother only told me about my stepfather, who was her first love, without mentioning his name.

"My mom smiled happily when she told me that she was happy to be able to marry her first love even though their marriage only lasted a few months."

However, my mother never told me that her first love already had a wife and a son when they married.

I had looked up Diego and his family on the internet. His parents had never divorced. There was not even any news that they were fighting and going to divorce.

I shook my head as a bad assumption about my mother crossed my mind.

"I was three years old when my mother married Diego's father. I don't remember anything."

Gilbert and Anna met me and my mother when we were looking for a rental house when we arrived in this city. I was three years old at the time.

Neither I nor my adoptive parents know how long my mother was married to Diego's father.

"Maybe Diego knows. I'll ask him."

Would Diego tell me about my past that I don't remember?

"But he's scary. I can't look him in the eye for too long."

I stared at the photo of my mother holding a birthday cake with a big smile. Diego's father stood to her left, and Diego stood to her right. Meanwhile, I stood in front of Diego and held his hand.

"I can't believe I was that close to him."

I looked at the photo closely. Diego now looked just like his father. They didn't smile, and their gazes were as sharp as eagles.

Everything that happened that night was like a dream.

It wasn't a dream. My hand hurt every time I pinched it.

For three days, every night, I daydreamed before going to bed, and the next morning, I went to my mother's grave before working at my adoptive parents' coffee shop.

I brought my mother's favorite blue tulips.

I crouched down and stared at her tombstone.

I told my mother about Diego, my adoptive parents, who encouraged me to accept Diego's offer and about me not making a decision yet.

"Who is my biological father? Why don't you want me to know about him? Will I be sad if I know about him?"

I wished my mother would appear in my dreams to answer my questions.

"Is it okay for me to trust Diego?"

My eyes filled with tears. If I accepted Diego's offer, I would stay in Boston. I wouldn't be able to visit my mother's grave every time I missed her.

"Good morning, Laura, Dala."

I was so shocked that I fell to the ground. "Why are you here?"

"Laura used to be my mother." Diego placed the bouquet of blue roses next to the blue tulips.

I glared as Diego crouched next to me, but my legs couldn't move in this situation.

Did he have the power to turn other people into statues, or was my body overreacting?

Diego stared at my mother's tombstone with a look I didn't understand the meaning of.

"How do you know where my mother's grave is?" I narrowed my eyes, trying to ignore the strange atmosphere surrounding us. "Have you known for a long time that my mother died?"

"I knew Laura died when I found out about you guys," he answered.

"Why are you looking for us?"

"My arm broke six months ago." Diego looked at his left arm. He was wearing a black suit.

"I suddenly remembered Laura. When I was sick, she made chicken soup with corn, carrots, and potatoes. No one could make soup as delicious as she did." Diego's voice shook, but his facial expression and gaze remained unchanged.

"My mom always made that soup when I was sick," I said with a smile. My mother patiently fed me, who had no appetite.

"How did you find me in six months?" I asked curiously.

Diego looked at me as if he was reading my mind. I swallowed and gripped the grass, holding back the sudden tremors.

"You and Laura didn't change your identities."

"Oh, that makes sense." I nodded.

"It only took me a month to find you," Diego said with a proud face.

"Then why didn't you come to me right away?"

"I came to you."

I searched my memory with my gaze fixed on him. I couldn't find him in my brain. "I, I've never seen you before."

"Because you don't just look at me." Diego looked annoyed at me.

I stared at him questioningly. It was rare for a grown man to look like Diego in this city.

His appearance and handsomeness were striking. I should have noticed Diego if he was around me.

"When did you meet me? Tell me." I demanded his answer.

Silence enveloped us. He stared at me deeply. It was so strange, I felt hot as the gentle breeze hit us.

Diego stood up, and I spontaneously stood up, too. I took a step back to create some distance between me and him.

"Have you made your decision? Today is the third day. I came to hear your answer." Diego broke the silence just to change the subject.

"You didn't answer my question."

"That's not important." Diego waved his hand. "Now what's important is will you allow me to pay for your college and will you live with me in Boston, Dala?"

I gasped in surprise.

Diego called me that again. It felt strange and a little uncomfortable, but it made me unable to deny that Diego used to be my step-brother.

Diego's hazel eyes hypnotized me. I tried my best to avert my eyes from him.

I clenched my fists and stared at my mother's tombstone sadly.

Were you okay if I didn't visit you every month, mom?

The three videos and dozens of photos popped into my head. I wondered if Diego was still the same as before, the older brother who loved me as his little sister.

Then Anna and Gilbert's words encouraging me to accept Diego's kindness rang in my ears.

My gaze returned to Diego.

God, I hope I didn't make the wrong decision.

"Thank you so much for your kindness," I said, my fists clenched tightly. It wasn't easy to say this. "I accept your offer. When are we going to Boston?"

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning," Diego replied.

Diego's gaze was still as sharp as an eagle, but I felt something change in his eyes. Not tenderness, but perhaps relief?