Billionaire's Match (Khloe and Nick Hunt) novel Chapter 713

Barney couldn't suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Moved, he drew Angela into his arms, holding her close.

Angela's voice was soft but warm. "Congratulations. Soon, your family will be whole again."

Barney let out a quiet sigh. "It will also fulfill my mother's last wish… to give her peace in the afterlife."

He recalled being eight years old, when his parents' marriage was falling apart. His mother had left for a long time during the divorce dispute. Later, his father had been surrounded by several other women.

Once, his mother came home drunk and argued with his father. Barney had overheard it all.

She admitted she had been with other men and had even had a child with one of them. Enraged, his father had fought her, and from that point, they lived apart. Although his mother never formally divorced his father, she never forgave him until her death.

As a child, Barney had thought all of his mother's actions were merely to spite his father. It wasn't until after her passing, when he read her letters, that he truly understood. She had taken revenge in a cruel way, giving birth to a child she didn't know how to care for. Unable to face what she had done, she left the child in an orphanage in Goldmont City. Even until her death, she never spoke of it again.

Yet as a mother, she had left letters, expressing her guilt and hope that one day Barney would find this child.

He caught the faint trace of jealousy in her voice and felt a slight pang.

"But you feel so guilty toward her," Angela pressed, deliberately putting him on the spot, "so she comes first in everything… what if—" she paused, smiling mischievously, "she doesn't like me? What will you do then?"

Barney's brow furrowed. "Impossible. If you don't do anything wrong, how could she dislike you?"

Angela tilted her head, teasing. "See what I mean? What could I possibly do to harm your sister? Even if she scolds me, hits me, or dislikes me, I'd still hold back for her sake, put her needs first… But you know… even if it's your sister, you wouldn't want her to take away any affection meant for the person you love."