Too Much to Bear, My Love novel Chapter 578

Chapter 578 Cruel Parents

Amelia initially thought she would be emotional to meet the Winters family. Yet, contrary to her expectation, when she saw Dominic and his wife – with their hair grayed and faces wrinkled by age – she felt no swinging of emotions except for her burning eyes.

On the flip side, the Winters couple did not wear the usual stern and cold expression that Amelia remembered as a child.

“Amelia.” Dominic rose to his feet, rubbing his hands together and greeting her uneasily.

As she stared at the man who had brought her up, Amelia found the tall and burly figure in her memory had aged a lot since their last encounter more than a decade ago. His back had bent, his figure had shrunk, and his hair had grayed. He looked like an ordinary old man who hadn’t seen the world.

“Dad, why have you and Mom came?” asked Amelia. The moment the word “Dad” escaped her lips, she realized with a start that her hatred for the couple was mixed with love. After all, Dominic and his wife had fostered her and given her a home to shelter her from cold wind and harsh rain. In spite of that, members of the Winters family had nonetheless mistreated her.

Perhaps not good at lying, Dominic continued rubbing his hands, his face reddened with embarrassment.

“Amelia, I don’t want to lie to you. Actually, Mr. Hutton called and asked us to come. I know we hadn’t treated you well, and we don’t deserve to be your parents. So, it sounds rather hypocritical to say that we’ve come to visit you. I can’t even bring myself to say that,” uttered Dominic shamefully.

Amelia laughed in response upon listening to him.

Dominic remained the same as her memory of him – straight to the point with his words. Back then, he had told her frankly not to please them, as they were obliged only to feed and clothe her but not to like her.

As a child, Amelia couldn’t comprehend the profound meaning behind his statement. It wasn’t until after she had learned everything did she come to understand what Dominic meant.

Nevertheless, what she didn’t understand was the rationale behind Benjamin’s decision to go through all the hassles by giving his own daughter away and even faking her disappearance. At the end of the day, was there truly a hatred so deep that could drive a man to abandon his daughter?

Sorrow whirled past Amelia’s heart as she lamented the fact that both the Winters and the Hutton families were not willing to admit she was their daughter. Had she not married Oscar, she would probably still drift around like a rootless dandelion.

In the end, the rejection of both families had wounded her. Their indifference had hardened into a dagger and made a hole in her again.

“Dad, have you guys eaten? Why don’t I ask Molly to make something for you?” Amelia grinned and changed the topic.

Dominic shook his head and replied, “Your mom and I have eaten. We came to see you today because Mr. Hutton had instructed us to speak with you.”

The smile hanging on the corners of Amelia’s lips slowly faded.

“Dad, so you knew about the Hutton family from the beginning?” she inquired.

Dominic nodded without hesitation.

“Yes. That year, a man in a suit held your hand and led you through the entrance of the Winters residence. It was when we needed a large sum of money to treat your mom’s cirrhosis. He declared he would pay for all the medical expenses as long as I was willing to adopt you. Your mom’s body was growing weaker and weaker with each passing day. We had no choice but to accept you into our home,” explained Dominic.

“Why don’t I remember anything about this?” Amelia was surprisingly calm, as though she was inquiring about something of little importance.

“You didn’t cry or throw tantrums when you were first brought to us. Your eyes were dull, as if you were dumb. We thought we had adopted a halfwit. However, you resumed normal three days later, though you seemed to have forgotten everything that had happened and treated Melanie and me as your biological parents. We assumed you might have been traumatized beforehand, although we considered it a good thing too. At least you wouldn’t bawl for your parents,” recalled Dominic.

“If you’d promised the Huttons to adopt me, why had you treated me so coldly?” queried Amelia in bewilderment.

It was what she wanted to know most. Prior to the revelation, she had wanted to ask the couple before her if she was their biological daughter.

When the truth was unveiled and confirmed that she was indeed not their daughter, she couldn’t help but wonder the reasons why they had treated her with such apathy and disregard. Above all, shouldn’t there be at least some sort of affection after all those years of raising her?