Chapter 150: Is this a dream?
A soft gasp escaped from my parted lips and it felt as though the world had stopped spinning.
The dark brown eyes and long dark hair... Natalie was almost like a reflection of myself. How did I not see it?
Shock engulfed me entirely in an instant and a tiny frown was etched between my brows as disbelief was written all over my face. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing even though the evidence was right in front of me. My hands continued to tremble and I kept my eyes fixated on the piece of paper I was holding, simply unable to tear my gaze away from it. My heart was pounding loudly against my chest and my head was spinning out of control.
I let the paper fall onto the table as I lifted my head to look at Natalie who was sitting across from me. Her eyes widened slightly with what seemed like surprise and and her lips were left agape like she didn’t know what to say. I could see the way the gears were shifting inside of her head as she struggled to come to terms with this new found reality. But even so, she maintained her calm demeanour as if she had seen this coming from a mile away.
This felt like a dream. I reached down to pinch myself in my arm and I was snapped back to reality as the pain shot through my body.
"This is real..." I murmured under my breath. "This is not a dream..."
Despite my soft voice, Natalie could still hear me clearly as we locked eyes this time.
"You are right, Aurelia. This is not a dream, this is real," she confirmed as she let out a breath. Her eyes were running wild with emotions as she looked at me, tears gleaming in her eyes under the soft yellow lights that lit up the cafe. Then, I watched as a single tear drop fell down her cheeks. "You... You are my daughter."
She reached out to try and hold onto my hand, but I pulled back, recoiling at her touch. I placed my hands on my lap as doubt began to creep into my mind despite everything. I thought I wanted this, so why wasn’t I excited or jumping for joy?
"I...I..." I stammered as my mind was still one big mess. A sour feeling shot right up my nose and tears started to fill the brim of my eyes. "How... Can I know that I can trust you?" I asked, my voice came out shaky as I spoke.
Her brows immediately furrowed together to form a tiny frown as the creases on her forehead deepened. "You know you can trust me... right? Why would I lie to you about this? There’s absolutely no reason for me to do that," she said, her tone filled with sincerity and she looked genuine but I couldn’t shake off that feeling.