Chapter 3 Mirror Image

Faced with Harrison's questioning, Mandy forced an awkward smile. To achieve her goals, she softened her tone.

"Harrison, that's not what I meant. I was just worried about Lily and spoke without thinking," she explained. "I'm her mother—how could I not care about her health? If I could, I'd give her my own heart."

Her words sounded hollow. Even she could sense the falseness in them, but she hoped Harrison would accept the explanation.

Harrison dropped the subject, pulled up a chair, and sat down with Lily in his arms. He cared for her meticulously, even feeding her fruit piece by piece, afraid she might choke.

Watching Harrison's tenderness toward Lily, Mandy felt a surge of jealousy. The little brat was born lucky—what had she done to deserve Harrison's adoration?

Harrison had planned to wait outside the operating room for Ella, but during the wait, he received an urgent call from his company requiring his immediate attention.

As the situation grew tense, Mandy spotted the perfect opportunity. If she was the first to make contact with Dr. Johnson, everything would be under her control.

Mandy stood beside Harrison and suggested softly, "Harrison, company matters are urgent. You should go handle them. I'll stay here and wait. Don't worry, I'll take care of Lily, and as soon as Dr. Johnson comes out, I'll ask her to examine Lily."

Faced with the urgent business matter, Harrison was deeply conflicted. After weighing his options, he finally nodded in agreement, entrusting Lily to Mandy before hurrying out of the hospital with Simon.

Inside the operating room, Elena and Nathan were fully focused on the surgery. Outside, Connor was typing intently on his laptop while Mia was absorbed in a mobile game.

"Mia," Connor suddenly spoke up, "Mom said we have a sister in Pinewood City. How can I find her?"

Mia looked up from her game, glancing at Connor with a casual tone: "Aren't you the self-proclaimed world's smallest hacker? Finding someone shouldn't be difficult for you, right? Since she's our triplet, she must look a lot like us. Why don't you use big data comparison? You might find her that way."

Connor's eyes lit up. "Mia, you're so smart!"

Mia smiled smugly before returning to her intense gaming battle. In the game, she commanded other players: "Chickens, follow The Boss! I'll protect you." Her gaming nickname was precisely "The Boss." As Connor continued typing, he privately marveled: a five-year-old daring to call herself "The Boss" just because she was good at games?

Sometimes Connor truly couldn't understand why Mia was so confident, as if she was born to be a leader.

Today's surgery required a long time.

Connor and Mia remained in the waiting area outside the operating room, each busy with their own activities. Despite their young age, they had grown accustomed to their mother's busy schedule.

Meanwhile, Mandy and Lily waited outside the operating room. Lily timidly looked at Mandy, who was focused on her phone, apparently chatting with someone. After a moment's hesitation, Lily called softly, "Mom." Mandy showed no reaction.

Lily raised her voice slightly and called again, "Mom." She couldn't hold it anymore—she needed to use the bathroom, and her stomach hurt badly.

Mandy looked up impatiently, her tone severe: "What is it? You're calling like you're summoning a ghost. Just say it, don't bother me."

Without bystanders present, she couldn't be bothered to maintain the façade of a caring mother.

Lily shrank back, clutching her stomach, and timidly said, "Mom, my stomach hurts, and I need to go to the bathroom. Can you come with me?"

Mandy frowned, clearly displeased: "You're five years old and still can't go to the bathroom by yourself? Do I need to wipe your butt too? Didn't your kindergarten teacher teach you anything? What else can you do besides causing trouble?"

Lily's eyes welled with tears as she stammered, "I... I..."

Mandy grew more irritated, her tone icy: "All you do is cry, like I'm abusing you. Go to the bathroom yourself. If I see tears again, I'll hit you. Hold those tears back!"

With that, she grabbed Lily's arm and half-dragged her toward the bathroom. Her grip was rough enough to leave red marks on Lily's arm. Despite the pain, Lily didn't dare make a sound, biting her lip as she followed.

At the bathroom entrance, Mandy pushed Lily inside, then pulled out her phone to continue scrolling, impatiently urging: "Hurry up, don't make me wait too long. If kidnappers take you, I won't care."

Lily didn't dare disturb her again and carefully entered the bathroom. She had been frail since childhood and was diagnosed with a serious heart condition at age one. Her family had always protected her meticulously—even accompanying her to the bathroom—fearing that improper posture might trigger heart problems. As a result, Lily's self-care abilities were weak, and she was smaller than children her age.

She tottered into a stall, struggling to push open the door.

At that moment, Mia, having drunk too much water, also headed to the bathroom. She put down her phone, told Connor where she was going, and walked straight to the bathroom. Mia had always been independent, never needing accompaniment for anything.

As soon as she entered, Mia saw a girl slightly shorter than herself, teary-eyed and pulling up her pants. She examined the girl carefully, amazed to find they looked remarkably similar—like looking in a mirror.

Lily froze too, staring at Mia in astonishment.

Even more coincidentally, both girls wore identical white shirts and pants that day, with the same hairstyle and identical skin tone.

Mia's mind raced: Could this be the missing sister? But why was she shorter than herself? Mia's brain quickly tried to explain this phenomenon.

She decided to ask directly. Taking Lily's hand, she pulled her to the mirror, pointing at their nearly identical faces reflected there, and asked, "We look really alike, don't we?" Mia's tone was friendly and confident, trying to reassure the frightened girl.

Lily nodded, timidly answering, "Yes." She felt an odd sense of safety.

Excitement flashed in Mia's eyes: "So, we might be sisters?" This discovery made Mia both excited and thrilled.