Chapter 2

“Sweetheart? Stop reading for a second, help me get these groceries upstairs,” Leila’s mother called.

“Yes, Mom! Give me a sec!”

She dashed out of her room and ran to where her mother was, helping her carry the bags.

“So, how was it?” Leila asked, starting the conversation.

“The ball outside our city? Oh, my dear, you can’t even get in to peek — and you think I can?” Her mother snorted.

“Awww,” Leila groaned in disappointment. “I really, really wanted to go there someday, to find my one and only,” she said, twirling in her newly bought dress.

Her mother sighed. “You’re such a dreamy girl, do you know that, darling?” she said, placing the groceries on the table.

Leila laughed. “Of course I am!” she said excitedly. “I just took it from you, remember?”

Her mother rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“When your father and I were younger, we’d sit outside the ball and just listen to the music playing. He’d take my hand and we’d dance. It was a really nice memory,” her mother said softly.

“See!!! I told you I got it from you and Father! If only he was still here,” Leila sighed, slumping into the chair beside the table.

“He’d be so surprised to see how identical you are to him now,” her mother smiled.

Leila’s cheeks flushed at those words. “Mom!!! Stoppppp itttt!! Father would be so proud of his daughter getting his looks. Well — I got your lips, though.”

She wondered how nice it would be to see her father. She never really got the chance, and there were no pictures of him — only the memory her mother carried.

Isabella noticed the slumped look on her daughter’s face and felt a pang of guilt. She probably wishes she could meet him, she thought, sitting down beside her.

“You know,” she began, “when I was pregnant with you, your father used to tell me he would love you with all his heart. He’d always say, ‘Our child’s going to be as beautiful as you. They’ll have your eyes, your rosy cheeks, and your gentle voice,’” she paused for a moment.

“But as if fate had other plans… you were born just months before he was taken from us.”

A soft, bittersweet smile touched her lips. “The funny thing is, you got his looks. Not only that — you have his spirit. It’s as if fate took him away but left you with me… to remember the love we had. You were the fruit of that love, Leila. And your father always loved you. Whether he’s here or not… he’s always by your side.”

As those heartfelt words reached Leila’s ears, her eyes welled up with tears.

An inexplicable warmth bloomed in her heart — a feeling she couldn’t quite place. It was as if, through her mother’s words, she could feel the love of a father she never knew, and the depth of his love for both his wife and his daughter.

Author; and here’s chapter 2!🥲

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