The Princess and the Pauper (Arabella) novel Chapter 1594

Just the thought of that scene made Carol's heart ache.

"My aunt believes that if my mom hadn't been disabled, if she hadn't spent every day crying because she couldn't find us, her life would have been better. Our family wouldn't have fallen apart, and dad wouldn't have moved on so quickly with a new flame after she passed away."

Carol's eyes dimmed for a moment as she spoke, then she quickly added, "But I don't blame my aunt. None of this is her fault. If there's anyone to blame, it's that truck that swerved into our lane."

If it hadn't been for that truck changing lanes, the lady driving wouldn't have crashed, and mom wouldn't have ended up with a lifelong disability due to a steel rod piercing her leg. Dad wouldn't have been so frantic after getting the call about mom being in the ICU that he lost track of the kids.

It all seemed like it was written in the stars.

"How does your dad treat you?" Arabella asked softly, "Were he happy when you and your brother came home?"

"He just broke down crying on the spot, kept apologizing to us for not taking better care of us, saying it was his fault we ended up alone for so many years." Carol's smile held no trace of blame; instead she said, "He doesn't know about Doom. We didn't tell him."

Arabella nodded in understanding; after all, no one wanted their loved ones to live in constant fear.

"He only knows I ended up in an orphanage and then was adopted by a kind couple. Later on, I reunited with my brother, and then Crystal suffered indecent assault for trying to save my adoptive parents, and died because of fatal injuries."

Mentioning Crystal weighed heavily on Carol, as if a mountain of stone pressed down on her, making it hard to breathe.

"You know how to knit?" Arabella sounded surprised.

"Yeah, my adoptive parents taught me when I was little." Mentioning her adoptive parents made Carol's heart sink again, "Tomorrow, I'll pay my respects to them again."

As they passed a clothing store, Arabella suddenly noticed the clothes on the mannequin bore a striking resemblance to her own designs from a while back, about ninety percent similar.

She looked inside at the other mannequin displays, the clothes they wore were incredibly similar to her previous designs as well. She glanced at the store sign - 2F? Never heard of it.