Benedict shook his head and smiled at Vivian. “Evelyn’s birthday is on the twelve of September, so it’s still far off. When we throw her a birthday party then, you will definitely be invited.”
“Thank you.” Vivian forced a smile at Benedict. However, she felt that something was wrong. Why is Evelyn’s birthday so close to mine?
Unless… An idea faintly emerged in Vivian’s head. She refused to believe her guess earlier. But now, her thoughts were driving her crazy.
No, it can’t be. In her mind, Vivian was trying to convince herself that Rachel wouldn’t do something like that.
As Vivian stared blankly at her coffee mug, her eyes were filled with disbelief. She mumbled softly to herself, “It can’t be. It can’t be…”
Puzzled by her reaction, Benedict asked, “Are you alright? What can’t be?”
“Huh?” Benedict’s words jolted Vivian back to her senses. “No, it’s nothing.”
Raising her head to look at him, Vivian’s eyes were filled with mixed emotions. Is the reason I feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity with Benedict because… She didn’t dare think any further as she tried to maintain her presence of mind.
“I just remembered I have something important to deal with. I’m sorry to have invited you out but end up leaving early instead,” Vivian remarked in an apologetic manner.
Benedict smiled as he didn’t mind. “It’s alright. Coincidentally, I have been busy recently and did not have the opportunity to relax. Hence, I have just given myself the day off today.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Vivian was grateful for how considerate he was. “In that case, I’ll take my leave first.”
“Do you need me to give you a lift?”
“No, no.” Vivian declined his kind offer immediately. “The place I’m going to is close by. So it’s fine.”
“Alright.” Benedict didn’t insist. He understood that sometimes good intentions might end up bringing trouble to others.
After saying goodbye to Benedict, Vivian headed for the library in the city center.
Vivian was sure that the kidnapping incident that happened to the Morrison family would definitely have been reported in the papers. And the library was the best place to look for it so that she could find out the truth.
When she arrived at the library, she informed the librarian that she was looking for newspapers from more than twenty years ago.
The librarian who was advanced in age gave Vivian a curious look. “It’s not going to be easy. It has already been so long and no one has actually kept proper records of them. What do you want them for?”
“Our magazine is writing an exposé on a particular theme. Therefore, I need to check the old newspapers as part of my research.” Vivian cooked up an excuse.
The librarian nodded in acknowledgment and had no further questions. She led Vivian to an underground storage room. “There you go. All the old newspapers are stored here and they are labeled by years. Please be my guest.”
“Thank you.” Vivian replied with a smile.
“No problem. Just be mindful not to mess them up. It’s a pain to reorganize them again,” the librarian nagged once more before leaving.
Staring at the piles of newspapers in front of her, Vivian had a headache as she didn’t even know where to begin.
After searching for the whole afternoon, she finally found the article regarding the kidnapping. Smiling, Vivian quickly laid out the paper on the floor and read its contents carefully.
The report stated that Evelyn was kidnapped from the maternity ward right after she was born. The Morrison family didn’t even get to see her face. After the kidnappers received the ransom, they didn’t return her to the Morrison family. Instead, they dumped the baby and fled. After that, Evelyn was found by a good Samaritan who returned her to the hospital.
From what Benedict told her, Vivian gathered that the good Samaritan must be Rachel.
However, the more she read the more she felt something was amiss. Since the Morrison family had not seen Evelyn as a newborn, how did they know the baby Rachel returned to them was theirs? Weren’t they worried about getting the wrong baby?
