Redemption Marriage

Chapter 352: Did you believe it? While Jessica stared at her, waiting for explanations, Grandma Nelly slowly reached for her walking stick and stood up with effort.

With cautious steps, she made her way to the wardrobe, opened it, and bent over her stick as she reached into the farthest corner. From that hidden space, she pulled out an old steel safe, the surface scratched and dulled by time.

She fumbled through a bunch of jingling keys in her hand until she found a small golden one. Sliding it into the keyhole, she turned it with a faint click, the safe opened.

Nelly inhaled deeply, her breath shaky as she sifted through stacks of neatly arranged but yellowing documents inside the safe.

Finally, she retrieved a sealed yellow envelope, the weight of its significance almost visible in her trembling fingers.

"Yes... here it is," she murmured, the words heavy with both relief and dread.

Turning around, she walked slowly back toward Jessica, who was sitting upright now, her eyes trained on the envelope, her body tense with anticipation.

Nelly kept her right hand firmly on her walking stick while extending her left arm toward Jessica as she handed out the envelope.

The envelope appeared heavy both in mass and meaning as it passed into her granddaughter's hands.

"You take a look at this," she said softly.

Jessica stood slowly, stretching her hands forward to receive the envelope. Her fingers trembled as they made contact. She stared at the large, bold letters 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped across it: She turned the envelope around several times in her hands, her heart thudded with a mix of fear, curiosity, and uncertainty. She glanced at Grandma Nelly, silently asking whether to open it now or wait.

Nelly only shrugged, offering no guidance. "The choice is yours," the gesture seemed to say, though it weighed like a mountain.

"Grandma..." Jessica started, but Nelly gently lifted a hand to stop her mid-sentence.

"You don't have to force yourself. Just as your mother instructed at the tof its delivery. This envelope was to be given to you once you were married, and especially now that you're about to beca mother." She paused with a sigh. "I've fulfilled my duty to protect it until you are ready. But I can't tell you when to open it. That right belongs to you alone." Jessica inhaled deeply. "Did she say anything about what's inside?" "Trust your mother's judgment, Jessica," Nelly replied, her voice steady but low. "I am quite sure it had all references and citations of things unknown to you," she explained clearly.

With furrowed brows, Jessica sat back down, staring at the envelope like it held the key to a vault of ghosts while contemplating on the decision to make as she turned it around in her hand.

While Nelly thought she would tear it open at that moment, Jessica did something else.

She placed it carefully beside her and patted it twice.

""I'll return to the city and open it then," she said, a faint but resolute smile playing on her lips.

Nelly gave a nod, a silent sign of approval. "No worries. It's yours to handle, in your own tat your own discretion." she said with a faint smile dancing on her lips.

Grandma Nelly exhaled in visible relief, but just as she began to settle back into her chair, when she thought Jessica wouldn't be having any further questions, her voice sliced through the quiet room like a blade.

"Grandma, do I have a twin brother?" Her stern gaze trained on the old lady, her voice firm and unshakable. Nelly's hand gripped the walking stick as her gaze dropped. Her eyes grew misty, shrouded with pain, her face lined with resignation.

She drew in a long, shuddering breath. "Technically... yes," she admitted, voice cracking under the weight of the truth.

At her response, Jessica's world tilted. Her stomach churned, She felt her head spinning, followed by a throbbing headache. All the other information and even the secrets that might've been hiding in that envelope might not be as heavy as this..

"Grandma... I'm... a twin? We were two?" Her voice was barely audible coming in whispers, her voice clogged. "But, unfortunately, it was lost even before it could see the light of the day," she stated, her voice tinged with pain and regret.

"But unfortunately," Nelly continued, her voice heavy with sorrow and regret "he was lost... even before he could see the light of day." Hearing her mention having a twin was shocking, yet it was more shocking to hear it was lost.

At this declaration, her brain began a marathon race of 100km per nanosecond. Her thoughts spiraled in a thousand directions, questions continually popping up, clamouring for answers.

"Who was the twin? "Why was it lost?" "How was it lost?" "Who was Julian?" "Is he really the twin or someone else?" "Why has her mother never mentioned her as a twin?" "Was this a gof the Andersons or the Santiagos?" "Who was the major player?" "What do they stand to gain?" And more pressing, "Had her mother really known of the existence of her twin?" Seeing her shocked changing expression, Grandma Nelly's brow furrowed.

"Jessica, are you okay?" Her tone was anxious as she noted her seriousness.

"Grandma, was my mother aware... of the twins?" she asked.

Nelly's shoulders slumped. "She discovered you were twins when she went for an ultrasound scan, and in several of her visits to the hospital, the doctor had declared you both healthy." She paused lightly, "At that time, she was happy, but unfortunately, the doctor declared your brother weak at delivery and couldn't survive." "Were you there, Grandma? Did you see them deliver both of us?"

Nelly thought for a long moment before slowly shaking her head.h her eyes didn't," she started, reddened at the recollection of the series of events that had transpired.

"Nora had left for the office early in O the morning with no sign of labour, but before midday, the situation changed. When I got a call from her, she said, "She was about to be wheeled into the theatre."

"I rushed out and hailed a taxi. But halfway to the hospital, the car broke down. I stood by the road, panicking, screaming, desperate for another ride." She sighed. "Eventually, I got another taxi. But by the tI arrived, it was too late." Her eyes misted over again.

"On my arrival,I found her in bed, cuddling you in her arms, sobbing. When I asked about the other baby, she said... he was stillborn." Wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, she added, "You were the youngest." The pain was still fresh in her voice as though the memory had just occurred, not years ago.

Nelly could still recall how devastated and heartbroken Nora was as she stared at the baby in her hand.

She had spent weeks in mourning of the loss that at spoint she had to be sent back to the hospital due to complications resulting in her situation.

"Did you believe it?" Jessica asked, her gaze never leaving her face.