Epilogue
The DameA/N: DOUBLE UPDATE! PLS READ THE CHAPTER BEFORE IF U HAVEN'T!!
A Year Later
Hani rarely received guests. Her last guest was Jongdae’s lawyer, who came to finalize the contract for their divorce. It seems nobody wants to have anything to do with the fallen darling of the fashion industry. Hani could feel the ice in her heart thicken as she looked back on the faces that used to surround her. Her own brother only came to see her once during her stay here. Her dad, maybe a few more times.She was never close to her father like a normal father-daughter pair, but she always looked forward to seeing him. It was better than having no one come to see her.
When Hani was called, she was genuinely shocked and somewhat excited, but her face paled when she laid eyes on Detective Park, the same detective that put her in this hell hole in the first place. She didn’t recognise the shorter man beside her, maybe he’s a lawyer or something.
“Good afternoon Hani.” He greeted her as she sat in her seat. Her guard stood behind her, watching her closely to make sure she doesn’t do anything violent or stupid. Hani watched his face behind the glass barrier and nodded in greeting.
“Good afternoon Detective.” She tried to smile.
“This is my associate Suho.” He motioned to his partner who smiled politely. They exchanged small bows before Hani turned back to face the detective. “How have you been?” he asked.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’ve been reading a lot, and taking classes. Watching clouds.”
“I heard you might be out soon due to good behaviour.”
“Hopefully.” She managed a light chuckle and a sigh. “I just…I want to see my family again.”
“They are all anxiously waiting for your return.” Suho said quietly, taking out a large enveloped from his briefcase.
“What is that?”
“This is the truth behind your mother.” Chanyeol said, pushing the envelope towards her. “We apologise for keeping this a secret for so long, but due to certain delays of actually acquiring the documents we have had to wait for a year to come and see you.”
“Does my brother know?” she reached for the envelope precariously, fingers were shaking violently.
“Yes.”
“My dad?”
“Yes.”
She opened the envelope with shaky fingers. What other secrets could her mother be hiding from her? Hasn’t she hid enough? The papers inside it seemed like thin glass that would break upon contact, but she couldn’t stop shaking as she took it out. She read the words but it doesn’t seem to make sense to her.
“Egg Donor Recipient Form?” she uttered aloud.
“Your mother was barren after her accident in the earthquake. Both of her Fallopian Tubes collapsed and led to ovarian failure.” Chanyeol explained. “I didn’t realize the significance of it until I went through your mother’s medical records from Costa Rica. Your parents went to an egg bank. They had a donor to help deliver two children, both you and your brother.”
“That can’t be…” her voice shook. “I…I came out of my mother’s womb!”
“You did, but you were not biologically hers.” Chanyeol explained.
“I…this can’t be…”
“Your mother begged your father to keep this is a secret. They were afraid that if you kids knew, you would no longer return to her. She lost a son and her first love, she couldn’t afford to lose anymore, and you might also like to know what happened to Xiumin.” Suho said, holding out another envelope, but this time he kept it in his hands.
“Wha…what happened to him?” Hani asked.
“He resigned from being the family driver.” Suho said. “He’s working at your cosmetics factory and I believe he is working on that formula of yours to combat aging.”
“Xiumin, is your mother’s biological child. Her only biological child.” Chanyeol handed her the letter in Suho’s hands.
“He is still waiting for your release. You are divorced now. Once you are released in the next few years, you will finally be free. Go out there, and live the life that you have always wanted.” Chanyeol said, feeling Hani’s cold fingers brush against his. She opened the envelope and a photo slipped out. It was a photo of Xiumin, wearing her lab coat and posing in her laboratory.
“You spent your life depending on your mother for happiness. You did everything she said, in order to make her happy. You made a mistake, and it landed you here, but you do not deserve to be unhappy.” Chanyeol advised. “It’s time to make your own happiness.”
Hani flipped the photo and ran her fingers over Xiumin’s words.
I am waiting for your release. Then, we can be together. Again and forever.
Hani could feel her chest rising erratically. She placed the photo down on her mother’s egg donor recipient form and had to support her heavy head with her arms. She felt her lungs close up and her eyes swell. She looked up at Chanyeol and Suho, who looked back down at their feet.
Then, she cried.
A/N: There, the last and final twist to this story. It has finally come to an end after several months of planning and I must say that it was fun writing this. This story is a big experiment for me in a lot of ways, working on a real crime/mystery, incorporating female leads (which if you guys know most of my characters are male) and using certain elements which are new. It was a challenge but I enjoyed it and I think I grew a lot more as a writer through this process. Perhaps in the future I could incorporate more female characters and touch on deeper topics, but most importantly I want to stir the hearts of my readers, and I hope I did just that.
Also, I couldn't bear for Hani and Xiumin not to have a happy ending, and I did say I was the queen of twists XD
I want to sincerely thank everyone for reading, commenting, upvotes and subscribing to this. I understand it may not be perfect but I appreciate your support and feedback immensely. I'm still growing as a writer and having a platform to share my work is wonderful. Thank you all so much for everything!!
As usual please leave comments and don't forget to upvote if you haven't! I love you all and I'll be back soon with something new (I hope) LOL
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