Once Bitten, Twice Shy

435 Disfigured

Samantha seemed keen enough to sense that something was wrong and opened her mouth to ask, “Is there…something wrong with my face?”

Libby was still in her tender years and was unable to control herself. She shook her head repeatedly to try and assert that there was nothing wrong but her remarks had the opposite effect and drew more attention to it. “No! None at all, Miss! Your face is all good! There’s nothing wrong here!”

It could not be more obvious that something was wrong.

Samantha immediately said, “Hand me a mirror.”

Libby’s face scrunched up and she looked at Irene as if pleading for assistance.

Irene sighed and said, “Just hand it to her.”

The truth would come out eventually and it was not something that could be hidden.

Libby had no choice but to head over to the dressing table and fetched a small mirror. She walked back hesitantly and handed it to Samantha.

…..
Samantha raised the mirror and looked at her face.

Although she had already guessed that there was something wrong with her face, her heart still tensed up when she saw a scar the size of a finger-joint on the right side of her face.

Every woman cared about their appearance, not to mention someone as beautiful as her…

It turned out to have been disfigured…

The hand with which Samantha held the mirror started to tremble uncontrollably.

Alan comforted her after seeing what happened. “Ms. Gilligan, this wound was likely caused by an object inside the ocean. I’ve tried my best to stitch it up for you when you were rescued, but the scar is inevitable.”

“You don’t have to worry too much though. I’ve had discussions with several cosmetic doctors while I was operating on you, and they’ve said that you can undergo some cosmetic surgery once you are fully recovered. The doctors guarantee that the scar will be removed to the extent that it is unnoticeable in normal daily interactions.”

Irene immediately said, “That’s right, Athena. I’ll find the best doctors for your cosmetic surgery. You’re a very beautiful woman and your face will return to normal in no time.”

Samantha did not want them to worry any further after hearing what they said, so she smiled gently, “I see. Thank you, Dr. Sherwood. Thank you, Mom.”

Alan packed up and left, but before he did, he made a point to tell Samantha to have more rest. Libby then sent him off.

Irene picked up the bowl and fed Samantha some medicine.

Samantha was not used to it and said, “I can do it myself, Mom.”

Irene refused and smiled, “Let me do this for you, Athena. I’ve never had the chance to feed you medicine after all these years.”

Samantha acquiesced.

She was just a child in Irene’s eyes and the latter was trying her best to make up for the 20 years that she went missing.

After drinking the medicine, Irene used a paper towel to wipe the corners of Samantha’s lips. She then placed the bowl down and held Samantha’s hand while saying, “Your brothers will all be back in a few days, Athena. We’ll have a little gathering by then. They all miss you dearly.”

Brothers…

Samantha heard about the Gilligans’ family members through Libby in recent days.

Irene’s husband-Samantha’s biological father, that is-died of illness a few days ago. He and Irene had four children in total.

Before her came three elder brothers, named Horace, Augustine, and Samson. She was the youngest and her name was Athena.

She had seen photos of all three brothers. All three were very handsome and the entire family had similar eyes.

Blood ties were a very mysterious thing. Even though she did not know what kind of people they were, she was already looking forward to seeing them.

Although…she wondered if they would like her, as her mother spoke to her.

Samantha nodded.

“Oh, yes!” Irene remembered something all of a sudden and smiled mysteriously. “We’ll have a mysterious guest at our family banquet this time around.”

A mysterious guest?

Samantha was curious. “Who is it?”

Family banquets usually only involved members of the family or those who were close to the family. If her three brothers were the only other family members she had yet to meet, then could the mystery person be someone who was very close?

Irene kept up the suspense and said, “It’s someone who knows you, but I won’t tell you who it is just yet. You’ll know when the time comes.”

Someone who knows her?

Samantha became increasingly curious. Who could that person be?