Chapter 5
Why did I take in that amnesiac young man all those years ago?
It wasn't out of pity. It was because I saw my own reflection in his lost eyes.
I knew exactly the confusion and helplessness he was feeling. I had been there myself.
And why did I trek through mountains and valleys to find that miracle drug?
Because I knew, without a doubt, that it truly worked.
I remember it was early autumn when a renowned healer arrived in Guswe City.
By then, Miles was already with Delilah.
Desperate, I begged for an audience.
The healer was eccentric, seeing people only when he felt like it, choosing whom he pleased.
After days of waiting, my turn finally came.
When I entered, I saw no legendary doctor, only a cat with an injured leg, trapped in a cage.
I knew a thing or two about medicine.
Not enough to treat humans, perhaps, but more than enough for a cat.
After tending to its wounds, I noticed a man watching me sternly.
"It must be fate," he said abruptly, and before I could react, he placed a pill in my mouth.
From that night on, dreams began haunting my sleep. Someone called me "Layla," others addressed me as "Miss."
Slowly, I began to understand why I had grown up as an orphan with no family.
I was the biological daughter of the Holmes family, Layla.
Fearing Delilah might interfere, I kept this from Miles.
Instead, I returned to the Holmes residence and handed my pendant and a letter to the steward.
Then I sought out the healer again, pleading for another pill.
His apprentice informed me there was only one pill.
To get another, I would need the miracle drug.
Back then, I was overjoyed.
After all these years, I could finally reunite with the boy I loved.
And I was Layla, Delilah's elder sister.
I knew Miles had always wanted to marry into an established family. Once I found the miracle drug, my father would recognize me.
We could start over with new identities, let our marriage become official, even have the grand wedding we'd once dreamed of if we wanted.
So even though the miracle drug was incredibly rare, I was determined to find it.
As fate would have it, I finally found the miracle drug.
But that very day, I overheard those devastating words outside the study.
Returning to the Holmes estate with my father felt both familiar and strange.
My bedroom, my study, every part of my former life felt deeply recognizable.
Eventually, my father stopped weeping every time he looked at me and formally announced my homecoming to the entire household.
But after just over a month, he fell seriously ill and was confined to his bed.
With the patriarch bedridden, the vast Holmes empire was left without a leader.
Delilah was merely an adopted orphan, and the successors he had trained were all nephews.
I was his only blood daughter.
After my father fell ill, the family summoned various doctors.
It was then that I encountered a familiar face; the renowned healer was none other than Sawyer, the heir of the Jackson family.
The meeting was deeply awkward.
I vividly remembered kneeling at his door for three days and nights with the miracle drug, begging him to prepare the medicine, which he steadfastly refused.
But reflecting back, he was the one who had told me the medicine must be taken warm, and he was the one who had directed me to the study that day.
He must have known everything.
Those cruel words from Miles likely weren't the first time he'd heard them.
Sawyer must have heard him say such things elsewhere, repeatedly.
He knew the miracle drug would be wasted on Miles, which was why he refused me.
He stared at me for a long moment, his lips parting slightly as if to speak, but ultimately, he remained silent.
I offered a faint smile. "It's alright."
Our mothers had been close friends.
I addressed him softly, "Dr. Jackson."
He stiffened, his eyes reddening slightly, before he nodded and walked away.