<b>Chapter 251 </b>
“Miss Harris, you should know that I have a thousand ways to take Patricia away. But I don’t want to traumatize her, which is why I’ve given <b>you </b><b>the </b>respect of making this choice. You can either return Patricia to me, or let her decide for herself if she wants to go with her mother<b>,</b><b>” </b>
Sebastian stood in front of them, his voice cold and firm.
Zora’s tearful eyes fell on Patricia, who looked up at her with a longing gaze.
“Aunt, I want to see my mommy!”
“No! You don’t have a mommy! You were just an abandoned child! You don’t have a mother!”
In her panic, Zora’s tone turned sharp, startling Patricia.
It was the first time she had heard her aunt say she was abandoned.
But that wasn’t true.
She had a mommy.
All these years, they had told her that her mother was far away, but now she knew her mother had returned.
“I’m not an abandoned child! I have a mommy!”
Patricia struggled in Zora’s arms. “I want to go to my mommy<i>!</i>”
“No! No! Patricia, you’reing home with me!”
Zora held onto Patricia tightly and tried to run in the opposite direction.
Sebastian lifted a hand in a subtle gesture, and immediately, Xavi, Tyler, and their men moved forward to block her.
Even if they had to take Patricia by force today, they were bringing her home.
“What are you doing? This is kidnapping!”
Zora held onto Patricia desperately, but how could one woman possibly fight off several trained men?
Xavi and the others quickly pried Patricia from her arms.
Zora fell to the ground, sobbing.
“No… no, don’t take Patricia away… Patricia…”
“Aunt…”
Patricia’s small hands reached out toward Zora, worried as she watched her aunt fall. But she was already being carried away.
Sebastian had sessfully retrieved his daughter.
His methods may not have been the most honorable, but this was his child. He would not allow The Harris Family to keep her hidden and use her <b>as </b>leverage against Caitlin.
“Uncle, Zora fell down!”
Patricia pressed her face against the car window, watching as Zora grew smaller in the distance. She looked concerned<b>. </b>
<b>15:22 </b><b>Sun</b><b>, </b><b>27 </b><b>Jul </b>
“She’ll get up, Patricia. Don’t worry. Soon, you’ll be with your mommy.”
Patricia nodded, ncing back onest time. Seeing that her aunt had indeed gotten up, she finally felt reassured.
She was willing to go with Sebastian because she trusted him.
She believed he would take her to her mother.
That was their little secret.
Inside the XEG conference room, negotiations between Caitlin and Ximena hadpletely fallen apart.
After a tense standoff, Caitlin reached over and snatched back the box and the replica manuscript from the experts.
“If your true intention was never about Fragrance Garments, but something much bigger, then I’ll be taking this back as well.”
With that, she turned and walked out without looking back.
Watching Caitlin leave so boldly, Ximena clenched her fists.
She had miscalcted.
Her entire n had been seen through and ruined.
She immediately grabbed her phone and made a call.
“Master, Caitlin was too cunning. She tricked me with a replica. The real manuscript is still in her hands.”
A low, raspy voice came from <i>the </i>other end.
“And the child?”
“I still have the child.”
“Then wait until she retrieves the other half of the manuscript. That is when we make our move.”
“Understood.”
Just as she ended the call, she heard the sound of frantic crying from outside.
A momentter, Zora burst into the room, sobbing.
“Mom… Sebastian… he took Patricia… he took her!”
“What?”
Ximena’s body went rigid as she copsed into a chair, stunned.
She had just been thinking that at least she still had Patricia <b>as </b>leverage.
But now… she had nothing.
Caitlin had orchestrated everything.
The replica manuscript was nothing more than a diversion, white she and Sebastian had nned the perfect timing to take Patricia back.
Her only bargaining chip was gone.
10.22 Sun<b>, </b>27
<b>A </bplete loss.
“Mom, call the police.. we have to get Patricia back!”
Zora pleaded, her heart breaking. I
atricia had been like a daughter to her, and now she was gone,
“No!”
“Why not?”
“Don’t ask questions, Zora!”
Ximena had too much to lose. If she reported them, Caitlin would expose
But Zora was already putting the pieces together.
verything.
“I know the truth, don’t I? Patricia wasn’t abandoned. She’s Caitlin and Sebastian’s daughter. Mom, what else have you been keeping from me? <b>How </b><b>did </b>
ite to this?”
“Enough! You’ll understand one day!”
Ximena refused to say more.
Zora could only sob quietly.
“But, Mom… I don’t know how to live without Patricia. I raised her like my own daughter… I can’t be without her.”
Losing Patricia, on top of the heartbreak of Sebastian’s rejection, was too much for her to bear.
“Stop crying. It’s useless. We need a new n.”
Ximena took a deep breath, knowing she had lost this round.
But this was far from over.
Caitlin had just stepped out of XEG when Sebastian’s call came in.
“Caitlin. Eleven o’clock.”
She turned in that direction and spotted his
Her pace quickened.
car
<i>parked </i>
by the curb.
Xavi opened the door for her, and the first thing she saw was the small figure sitting next to Sebastian.
“Patricia!”
“Mommy!”
Patricia called out sweetly.
Caitlin felt a lump in her throat as tears welled in her eyes.
They had nned this together–but she hadn’t been certain it would work.
She had been prepared to fight a long legal battle to bring her daughter home.
But now Sebastian had done it.
Her daughter was finally back.
“Get in,” Sebastian urged.
Caitlin nodded, wiping her tears as she climbed
into the car.
As the car drove off, she reached out and pulled
Patricia into her arms.
“Patricia… Mommy missed you so much.”
“Patricia missed Mommy too!”
She held Patricia’s little face in her hands, studying her, unable to stop smiling.
“Patricia, do you want toe home with Mommy?”
“Where is home? Not Grandmother’s house?”
“No, sweetie. We’re going to Mommy and Daddy’s house.”
Patricia blinked in confusion.
“My daddy? Who’s my daddy?”
Caitlin smiled.
“He’s sitting right next to you.”
Patricia whipped her head around to look at Sebastian. Her eyes went wide.
“He’s my daddy?”
Sebastian chuckled.
“That’s right, Patricia. You’re my daughter.”
Patricia gasped in excitement.
“Wow! That’s amazing! I always dreamed of having a daddy like you!”
Because of how everything had unfolded, she wasn’t afraid of the truth.
She was actually thrilled.
Now, she had both a mommy and a daddy.
Sebastian’s heart swelled with emotion.
Daughters were truly a father’s greatest treasure.
“Patricia…”
Caitlin hugged her tightly, ovee with emotion.
Sebastian reached out and pulled them both into his embrace.
With Patricia back, their family was whole again.
The car pulled into The Vanderbilt Family’s estate.
As the gates swung open, Caitlin and Sebastian walked in, holding their daughter’s hands.
Everything felt new to Patricia.
She was about to step into a brand new life.
And soon, she would meet her brother.
Would he like her?