Chapter 5: A visit from the past

~Melissa’s POV~ 

Hearing the doctors last words left an echoed effect in my mind. One which made me feel even more befuddled. 

You would think that after everything I had just learned in the last half hour or hour...... i couldn't tell for sure. I would have gotten used to his utterances but that would be a blunt lie masked as delusion. 

The silence in the room was so loud and unsettling, that the sound of a dropped pin wouldn't go unnoticed, as my eyes glared at the man and woman before me, with questions reeling through my mind in search of answers.  

“I’m sure you have alot of questions to ask us Melissa”. the woman's voice, gentle yet firm spoke out finally cutting through the uncomfortable silence, like she could literally read my thoughts in that moment. 

She had a petite body.... probably 5ft tall, with black bouncy shoulder length hair and brown pupiled eyes that looked sad but had so much love and empathy in them, while dressed in a floral print gown, black polished stilettos and held a Hermes designer bag worth thousands of dollars. 

While the man..... her husband who stood beside her, had a tall build, his posture…..

domineering, with a mix of black and grey toned wavey hair. Dressed finely in a burgundy suit adorned around his masculine frame, paired with black Valentino mens loafers and a walking cane which had a gold colored stag head he used to support his posture. 

From their demeanor I could instantly tell they were an affluent pair, but what I could not decipher was their business with me? 

“Well I'll give you all some privacy to talk”. the doctor said, just before patting me lightly on my shoulders and exiting out the room abruptly. 

As soon as he leaves, a wave of anxiety washes over me, as I fiddled with my fingers like a child uncertain of what was to come next. 

“Who are you? and how do you know my name?”. I finally asked through a steady breathe, after summoning a measure of courage within me, now waiting on a response from either of them. They give concerned glances at each other, before the woman approached my bed stand with slow strides.

 I immediately shrugged uncomfortably in the bed where I sat which made her halt halfway in her tracks, sensing my defense. 

“I don't mean to frighten you dear. If you prefer, I can talk to you from over here”. she spoke softly, offering an apology and I nod in compliance. Her gaze averts bowing her head to the floor beneath. She exhales a deep sigh before proceeding to continue her dialogue. 

“My name is Martha and this is my husband Stewart......Cassagrande". she pronounced, gesturing with her fingers in an attempt to clarify her explanation. 

“We__we were good friends of yours parents!”. her words held a peculiar weight that enveloped me with a sense of nostalgia, as my eyes lit up at the mention of my late parents. My mind drifted back to a time before Robert. Before the Mondragons and the insufferable shamble of a life I was bound to. 

I remembered the house I grew up in, that was filled with so much love and warmth, which I would give anything to desperately feel again. Skipping around in my mother's beautiful rose garden, while my father smiled watching me from the deck of the porch cheering me on. 

“Gum drop!”. that's what he called me. His “clever little gum drop”. Father always said I was going to do great things with how quick witted I was at such a young age. But sitting here now, in this moment, it didn't feel like it.

 More like a distant memory.  

 They say a father's love for his daughter is like a hot burning flame and I'm privileged to have experienced that. He was the only man in my life who ever truly loved me, flaws and all.

My family was just as rich and powerful as the Mondragons, as my father worked tirelessly to build his company from nothing. 

“Hard work and integrity would take you places ”. that was the motto he lived by. And he hoped I would one day take over running his company when I got older, but the storm came pouring down when his company became bankrupt and foreclosed. 

I watched as my once cheerful parents plummeted into depression, until the night I lost them forever to deaths cold claws in a car crash. 

Thinking about it now felt like deja vu, since I myself just evaded a fatal crash and wished I died instead, so I could at least reunite with them and numb the aching pain that gnawed at my chest. 

There demise shook me so much I had to under go therapy and worse, with none of my relatives willing to step up and take me in, I was put into the child protection system. Passed around different foster homes.

 A brutal cycle I dreaded, until I turned 18 and found my footing. 

God! I miss them so much. 

“They were good people. They helped us in our toughest phase and for that we are forever grateful and indebted to them”. mrs.marthas soothing voice, trails across the room, pulling me out of my monologue. As my teary eyes locked her in place.  

“You claim to know my late parents, but how come I never heard about either of you?. Where were you when they died? Huh? Where were you when I got put into foster care?”. glancing back and forth between them with swollen eye lids, I questioned with a hint of irritation laced in my voice. 

“Mel......

“It’s Melissa! Don't you dare call me Mel!” I commanded, cutting her off. 

“Yes! Melissa...... please believe me when I say we never intended for you to go through all that you did and for that we are truly sorry”. 

“When we got word about their demise, we were devasted, but at the time we were out of the country and by the time we returned, we learned you had been put into foster care, but please trust my words when I say we fought really hard to get you back, but the court just wouldn't rule in our favour”. Mrs. Martha offered a heartfelt apology through a croaked voice, clearly pushing back the urge to have an outburst of tears, as she took slow steps approaching my bed stand. 

She glanced back at her husband who had stood in the back, silent, wearing a sad expression now approaching us. Standing side by side he pats her lightly on the back, an attempt to calm her down before she continued her utterances. 

“Melissa, we want to fix this by making up for lost times. For not being there for you......that is if you'll have us”. she proposed the question. 

As I pondered, uncertain of what her words meant. 

“What do you mean?”. I inquisitively asked. 

Averting her gaze, she to looked at her husband who gave a gentle nod, urging her on to proceed. But nothing prepared me for her next words. 

“W__we want to adopt you as our daughter……. and make you our heir”. she pronounced. Taking me aback. 

I? An heiress? 

Was this some twisted joke? 

It had to be a joke. Right? 

“Did you say you want to make me your heir?”. I questioned with a low thrum in my voice, to gain clarity on what she had just enounced. 

“ We understand this is alot to take in, all in one day but please hear us out” Mr Cassagrande finally spoke, in an attempt to sooth the hysteria that bubbled inside me. 

“There’s no easier way to say this, but......we had a daughter......she died.....quite recently due to cancer”. he revealed, trying to steady his voice despite how heavy the words felt at the tip of his tongue. Judging from how flushed his face looked it must have been hard for him to spout out those words.

 A bitter memory to relive. As a wave of empathy washed over me for their loss, since I also just lost a child as well. A mutual feeling we now shared in common. 

“I’m sorry for your loss, but......I still don't understand what her death has to do with me?”. 

“Melissa. he paused in between his sentence and let out a deep sigh. “Your face...... it wasn't just altered......we gave the doctors our consent to give you our daughters exact facial features........to help protect you and give you a fresh start as our daughter. That is.......if your willing to accept us as your adopted parents?”. The finality of his words left me stunned as a gasp escaped my parted lips but I couldn't find my voice to speak. 

My face did not just change, but I now had someone else's identity. 

Their dead daughters identity was now mine to claim with the offer laid down on a platter. 

It didn't just sound like an offer. 

It felt like my salvation. 

A fresh start to a new life........as an heiress to a vast empire. 

The thought clung at my head, pondering on what response to give as they wait on my answer. 

Suddenly, the traumatic memories of Robert and his prejudice family flooded my mind. Their cruel mistreatments and utterances or how they constantly saw me as a lowly woman who only stuck by their son for the riches that came with him. They were the reason I even ended up in this state, as anger and frustration boiled within me. 

And if this offer meant a new beginning, for both I and my surviving child. 

A blessing disguised as a second chance. A Rebirth………Then! 

Now averting my gaze back to them as a sleek, cold smirk stretched across my pressed lips.  

“I accept!”. came my declaration 

For this version of me to live, Melissa Mondragon had to stay buried in the pile of ash, never to live again. 

And I hoped the Mondragons, especially Robert…..were prepared for what was to come.