Chapter 228 The Beck Family’s Pas

Katherine was rendered speechless. She never expected that Edwin would blow her off like that. Being such a spoiled girl, she could not stand being treated this way. All this because of Bella.

She smiled at Edwin and got up from the table. “That’s okay. Looking forward to seeing you again in the future.”

With these words, Katherine left the room.

Bella understood how she must have felt. Not long ago she had a similar experience.

The only difference was that in Bella’s case, Charles was the cause of her awkwardness.

Bella looked at Edwin with gratitude. There was finally someone on her side. She was now free to relax without having to worry about what would happen next. Her brother was going to take care of her.

Edwin’s eyes met hers and they smiled at each other. Bella thought this was what kinship was about. Edwin, on the other hand, attributed their mutual connection to the deep-lying love that existed between the two of them.

This scene made Charles furious. From the way they looked at each other, he could easily guess that this was not about blood ties but about romantic love. There was a sadness in Edwin’s eyes that betrayed his frustration over his unfulfilled desires. If Bella truly was his sister, he ought to be celebrating.

“Maybe we should take a look at that album,” suggested Charles.

After dinner, they went to the drawing room where Roy had prepared tea with dessert. They sat next to each other on the couch and Bella opened the album. At first, she was sitting between the two men but Charles who didn’t feel comfortable with the idea wedged himself between the two of them.

Then he asked Bella to give him the album.

“Oh, all right,” said Bella and handed it over to him. It was indeed more convenient if Charles held the album.

Charles put the album on his legs and opened it. An old family photo was on the first page. It showed a young married couple with a girl of about three years old and a boy of about five. 

Bella suddenly remembered that the first time Dora met her mother Bess Brook, she had asked in a joking manner whether Bella was adopted because she bore no resemblance to her mother. At that time, Bella took it as a joke. After all, it was normal that some children did not look like their parents.

Now she realized that Bella Brook was not her real mother. Just by looking at this photo, she could tell that the young couple was her biological parents. Staring at the woman in the photo was like staring into a mirror image of herself.

“This is our family photo,” said Edwin. Our father’s name is Richard Beck. Our mother is Claire Beck. You were two years old and I was six.”

Bella felt dizzy. Why couldn’t she remember anything about her so-called biological parents?

Charles leafed through the album. One photo depicted Bella dressed like a princess and performing on a stage in front of many people. In another one, she was blowing out the candles on a birthday cake.

“What is this one about?” asked Charles and pointed to one of the photos.

The photo depicted two girls and two boys standing next to each other. There was snow all around them and a large house was in the background. You could tell from the clothes that one of the boys came from a poor family while the other three kids were better off.

“This one is you,” said Edwin and pointed to one of the girls. “The other one is Katherine.”

“I don’t remember anything,” said Bella and kept on staring at the photo.

“Which boy is me?”

“This one?” asked Bella and pointed to the boy that wore the expensive clothes.

“Correct,” said Edwin.

“Who is the other boy?” asked Bella.

“His name is Steve. He lived at the Star Orphanage. We visited that place often because our parents did charity work there.”

“Do you still keep in touch with him?”

“No. I have no idea what happened to him. Even if I wanted, how could I after everything that our family went through?”

“That’s a good point,” said Charles.

“There is one thing I don’t understand,” said Bella. “Why didn’t you search for me earlier?”