Chapter12 The Whitmore Family Helicopter sliced through the night sky, carrying Jewel Whitmore out of Harbor City and across the sea. The moment it landed in Acadian, a pair of trembling arms wrapped her tight. "My baby... my poor girl." Evelyn Whitmore wept with joy, clinging to her daughter as though she would never let go again. Ever since learning the truth, that the girl she had raised for more than twenty years was not her own child, but a changeling switched at birth by a vindictive nanny, Evelyn had not slept a single night in peace. Her mind replayed the memory of her newborn. so tiny, so soft, so helpless. And yet, while her true daughter had been cast adrift, she had raised another woman's child, the enemy's child, under her own roof. The thought that Jewel had suffered while Ivy Sloane had stolen her place made Evelyn's heart shatter into pieces. "My darling, you've suffered so much. Uncle Ying just told me everything. It's my fault, I was careless. I thought Weston and Grayson were protecting you. I never imagined they'd... they'd carve into you like that." Her body shook with fury. The image of Jewel lying on an operating table, her liver cut open, seared her soul. Evelyn had spent twenty years searching for this lost treasure of hers, her real daughter, and now she had found her, scarred and broken. "I swear to you," Evelyn's voice cracked, fierce through her tears, "whether it's Weston, Grayson, or that Ivy, I will never forgive them. The agony they forced on you, I'll make them taste it themselves." Her tears spilled again. Jewel looked at this woman, weeping for her pain, and a warmth stirred inside her chest, an unfamiliar, fragile comfort. Perhaps this was what people meant when they spoke of what people meant by blood ties. "It's okay..." Jewel's voice faltered. She hesitated. She didn't even know what to call her. For years, she had longed for a mother's love. Evelyn's sudden appearance filled that empty space, but Jewel's first reaction was disbelief. How could something she had craved for over twenty years suddenly be real? Evelyn sensed her hesitation and softened further. "My baby, don't force yourself. Even your brother Hunter never calls me 'Mom.' He's spoiled rotten, he always calls me Evelyn. You can do the same, if you'd like." She dabbed her tears away and smiled. "Hunter wanted to come pick you up with me, but he insisted on Chanterta preparing a surprise gift for you instead. He's hiding away, refusing to leave until it's ready. Come, let's go find him. If it isn't good enough, I'll help you scold him." Hand in hand, mother and daughter walked into a sprawling castle. Jewel's eyes widened as she took it all in. She had thought she had seen wealth, she had grown up amid the gilded excess of the Sloane-Vale circle. Weston had been Harbor City's crown prince. The Sloane family had been the pinnacle of prestige. But here... Pink diamonds the size of pigeons' eggs were set casually into sconces. Rare luminescent pearls glowed faintly as night-lights on the walls. Even the carpets underfoot shimmered with gold-thread embroidery. She had thought she knew luxury. Now she realized she had known nothing. Evelyn chuckled gently at her astonishment and patted her head. "Your father's family has run the diamond trade for generations. Most of the mines in South Africa belong to us. These jewels? To us they're just stones, hardly worth remarking on.' "As for your grandmother's side, they've owned banks around the world for over a century. Whitmore & Co. is the oldest private bank still standing. Tycoons across Hua Country entrust their fortunes there." ewel's heart gave a startled jolt. Her grandmother's bank, the legendary Whitmore & Co., was hers by lood. Before she could process the revelation, a line of white-coated physicians entered the hall. Household doctors, specialists in every field, escorted her upstairs into a private medical wing. Room after room gleamed with cutting-edge equipment, every space more like a miniature hospital than a home. Jewel sat stunned, her words caught in her throat. She had never seen anything like it. Chapter 12 Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!