Mistakenly Yours: Contract Marriage With The Billionaire-Chapter 123: For her love and presence

As soon as the servant informed Sara about her mother, a tight knot instantly formed in the pit of her stomach. "Why is she here? How did she even find out I’m here?" Sara mumbled, her voice tight with tension.

Luca put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If you genuinely don’t want to see her, I can send her away immediately. You don’t owe her anything."

"Since she’s already here, I think I should see her," Sara stated, taking a deep, fortifying breath. "Because if I don’t, she will just return again and again. Yes, I can see her and show her that I’m doing perfectly well without her. And I definitely don’t need her."

Luca nodded, pulling his hand back from her shoulder, ready to support her decision. "Then, let’s go," he said simply.

Sara took one last deep breath before facing her biological mother. Heading to the living room, she finally got to see the face of her mother. It instantly shocked her how much she truly resembled the woman, her mother.

Paulina left her seat the moment she saw Sara descending the grand staircase. A wide smile appeared on her lips instantly.

Vinni also stood up and turned to look at Sara. She wasn’t at all surprised that Luca had accompanied her.

Sara stopped directly in front of Paulina.

"Oh, dear! You’ve all grown up," Paulina said with practiced warmth, already closing the distance between them, ready to embrace her daughter. But Sara instantly took a step back, creating an impenetrable space between them.

"You have got the wrong person," Sara said, her voice devoid of any warmth. "I’m not your daughter." The coldness reached her eyes, causing Paulina to flinch slightly, momentarily taken aback by the hostility.

Paulina tried hard to stay composed. "I know I’ve made you wait for so long. I never wanted to leave you behind, dear. But to achieve something big, I left, but only temporarily," Paulina stated, trying desperately to convince her daughter that she never truly abandoned her.

Sara let out a short chuckle of disbelief at her mother’s blatant words.

"Will you stop lying? And who said I waited for you?" Sara challenged. "I don’t even remember you. I no longer need you. I never wanted you in my li—li-life." At the very end, her voice trembled slightly, betraying a flicker of hidden pain, but she held herself together, refusing to show such weakness in front of the woman who had left her.

"Sara, I—I am sorry. Please, let me at least—" Paulina couldn’t finish her plea as Luca moved closer and smoothly interrupted her.

"I guess you’ve already heard your daughter clearly," Luca said, his tone even colder than Sara’s. "Please leave."

"Sara, do you really want me to leave?" Paulina asked, her voice tight, gazing pleadingly at her daughter.

"Yes. Don’t bother coming here again," Sara stated coldly, finally allowing the full weight of her resentment to surface. "I’m not related to you." She then deliberately turned her back on her biological mother.

Like any child, a part of her should have wanted to hug her mother, to feel that lost connection. But she was utterly unable to do so. Not after hearing Paulina’s flimsy excuse, that she left her temporarily? Sara had spent more than twenty-two years without her mother’s presence, and this was the best apology she could offer? It didn’t even sound sincere.

Paulina realized this was a rejection from her daughter not to accept her mother. Her attempt at a graceful re-entry into her daughter’s life had failed spectacularly. She glanced at the stern, unmoving Luca and the watchful Vinni, understanding there was no appeal. She was beaten.

"Fine," Paulina replied, still managing to maintain a deceptively calm tone despite the rejection. Taking a card out from her purse, she placed it deliberately on the nearby table.

"You can reach out to me any time. I have so much to talk to you. And keep this in mind: I have returned for you," she added with emphasis, making it sound less like a mother’s wish and more like a declaration.

She glanced at Vinni, gave her a brief nod, before turning and walking quickly out of the mansion.

"Turns out my plan has ruined," Paulina murmured to herself, disappearing from their sights.

Vinni immediately picked up the card that Paulina had left on the table. She quickly read the details and took a picture of it before replacing it. "Sara, do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently.

"I’m sorry," Sara apologized, turning to her mother-in-law. "For giving you such trouble."

"It wasn’t a trouble, dear," Vinni replied, though her expression was thoughtful. "But it turns out your family history has a lot of issues. I hope you can resolve them soon. Also, your mother definitely didn’t come here for a normal chit-chat, I believe," Vinni remarked, confirming her deep suspicion about Paulina’s motives.

"Mom, will you give me that card?" Luca requested, taking a step toward his mother. Vinni passed the card to her son.

He frowned the instant he read the name printed on it. "Isn’t your mother’s name Gloria?" he asked Sara, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

Sara looked at Luca, equally confused by the unfamiliar name.

"She said she’s Paulina Montes," Vinni answered.

"Turns out she’s changed her name," Luca replied, a dangerous glint entering his eyes as he recognized the deception.

"I’ve nothing to do with her," Sara stated quickly, the encounter having thoroughly drained her. Her eyes wandered and blinked rapidly before she abruptly turned and rushed upstairs, needing to escape the tension.

"Who even allowed this woman in?" Luca muttered, his jaw already clenching with suppressed anger and annoyance.

"Paulina must have told the guards that she’s Sara’s mother," Vinni answered calmly, offering a reasonable explanation. "They have an uncanny resemblance. Sara is a mirror image of her mother, I would say." Vinni then shifted focus to her son. "For now, stay with Sara. I’ll send dinner for both of you up to your room."

Luca nodded, appreciating his mother’s concern, and headed quickly toward his room. As he walked, he already typed a terse message to Fabio, telling him to find everything possible about "Paulina Montes" and her recent actions.

Entering the room, he found Sara seated on a sofa chair, staring ahead with a numb expression.

"Hey, are you alright?" Luca kept his tone soft, kneeling beside her chair to meet her at eye level.

"No," Sara admitted, finally lifting her head and meeting his gaze. "Did you see how fake the look in her eyes seemed for me? She called herself a mother after twenty years. It felt like an act."

"Yes, I saw everything," Luca confirmed, his voice grave. He moved fully onto his knees beside her, taking her hands in his. His thumbs gently caressed the back of her palms as he peered into her eyes, offering silent strength. "It truly felt like she never even missed you."

"I suffered so much in my childhood," Sara confessed, her eyes instantly brimming with tears that she had held back earlier. "I lied when I said I never missed her. Her absence always bothered me, Luca. All the time." Her voice broke slightly. "But now, seeing her like this, and hearing her excuses, I felt she never truly cared for me at all. That look in her eyes didn’t even seem to remember me."

"Sara, calm down, okay?" Luca said gently, his hands leaving her palms to cup her cheeks. He forced her to look at him, keeping her grounded. "I know it hurts badly. I know that feeling of being abandoned and having that deep void."

He spoke with genuine empathy, acknowledging the depth of her pain. "But don’t hurt yourself further with all this. Dwelling on it will only make you numb, and eventually, it will haunt you." He gently wiped a tear tracing a path down her cheek. "I know how badly you wanted your mother to be back. I am aware of the yearning you had for her love and presence."

Sara resolutely held her tears back, refusing to shed them for the woman who was supposed to protect her and love her in every situation of her life.

"Your phone... It’s ringing," Sara told him, pointing to his pocket.

"I’ll check it later," he replied, prioritizing her comfort.

"It could be an important call," Sara insisted, trying to show she was regaining her composure. "I feel a bit better now, so please take your call."

Luca stared at her for longer than a moment, making sure she was truly steady, before standing up and pulling the phone out of his pocket. He saw Fabio’s missed call and immediately called him back.

"Sir, I have sent you something important. Please check it once," Fabio said urgently over the line. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Luca lowered the phone from his ear and checked the document file Fabio had just shared. He opened it and scanned the contents quickly.

"Your mother served a prison term of five years," Luca murmured aloud.