Chapter 263
Hannah suddenly lost control of her emotions. Jade and Kelley, standing closest to her, rushed to steady her.
“Mom, are you alright? What did the report say?” Jade asked anxiously.
Hannah’s voice trembled as she clutched the paperwork. “Yes! Yes! Catie is my Freya! She’s my Freya!” By the end, she was sobbing uncontrollably.
Nineteen years.
She had waited a full nineteen years for this moment.
And finally, the day had come.
By some miracle, fate had brought Freya back to her.
No one could grasp the depth of Hannah’s emotions right then.
The entire Richards family was swept up by her words, the room charged with anticipation.
“Mom, let me see the report!” Warren was the first to react, gently taking the envelope from Hannah’s trembling hands.
All seven Richards brothers crowded around Warren, reading over his shoulder.
When the truth stared back at them in black and white-
Warren, like Hannah, broke down in tears. “It’s her. It really is Freya! Lyle, Theodore, Justin, Zachary, Hugo, Frederick-after all these years, we’ve finally found Freya p>
All eight brothers pulled each other into a hug, crying and laughing at the same time.
“We found Freya! After all this time, we’ve finally found her p>
Jade and her sisters-in-law wept tears of joy, unable to hold back their emotion. Hard work and hope had finally been rewarded.
At last.
At long last, the family had good news to celebrate—just in time for the holidays.
Wiping her face, Jade turned to Stephanie. “Stephanie, quick-call The Capital and let them know p>
Like Hannah, Keira had been searching for Freya for nineteen years.
Right now, Keira deserved to hear this news first.
Stephanie nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, of course. I’ll call her right away p>
Hannah’s resolve was clear. “Get ready. I want to go to Silverhaven myself and bring Freya home p>
“We want to go too, Mom p>
“Yeah, we’re coming p>
“Grandma, what about us?” piped up the thirteen Richards grandchildren, all speaking at once.
Freya was the only sister among them. Of course, this was a big deal.
“We’ll all go! The whole family!” Hannah said, then paused as another thought struck her. “No, wait. We can’t all leave. Someone needs to stay behind and get the house ready p>
If everyone left, there’d be no one to supervise preparations.
Usually, she might let things slide, but not today.
Not when her precious granddaughter was finally coming home.
No one could fathom how elated Hannah felt. “Kelley, you and Justin’s wife stay here and make sure the house looks festive. I want everything to be perfect p>
Kelley and Elaine immediately looked disappointed.
They’d waited for this day, too. Wasn’t this the moment they’d been hoping for all these years?
After a moment’s thought, Kelley spoke up, “Mom, after we pick up Freya, we’ll be heading straight to The Capital, right? How about this: I’ll go with you to Silverhaven, and once we bring Freya back to The Capital, Elaine and I can return home to finish the decorations. Does that work p>
Freya was, after all, a member of their family—and Keira had been searching for her just as long.
The very first thing they needed to do was take Freya back to The Capital to meet her relatives.
Only after things settled there would they head to Neon Spire.
Hannah broke into a smile. “You’re right, Kelley. That’s a good plan. Come with us to Silverhaven, then double back to finish things here.” She glanced at both women. “But are you sure that’s not too exhausting p>
Elaine replied quickly, “Not at all! It’s nothing compared to finally finding Freya p>
Kelley nodded, “Exactly! What’s a couple of flights? We’d do anything to bring Freya home p>
Hannah’s smile was so wide, her eyes nearly disappeared. She hadn’t felt this happy in years. “Then it’s settled. Warren, get in touch with the airport. We’re leaving today p>
The Richards family had their own private jet, but flights still required notice.
It was a hassle, but with such a big family, commercial flights just weren’t practical.
“On it, Mom,” Warren replied, heading off to make arrangements.
Meanwhile, outside the Richards estate-
Ann had come to visit again.
Usually, the butler would greet her within moments of her arrival, but today, he’d
gone inside and hadn’t returned for quite some time.
Ten minutes had passed, and Ann was starting to feel uneasy.
Just as she was about to give up and leave, the butler finally emerged.
“Miss Templeton p>
Ann’s face lit up with a friendly smile as she stepped forward. “Mr. Wallace, may I come in now p>
She’d been visiting nearly every day lately, but Daniel had always been too busy
to see her-even getting his number had proven impossible.
So, she’d come again today, hoping to catch him at home.
But as soon as she set foot inside the gate, the butler stopped her.
“Please wait, Miss Templeton p>
Wait?
Ann turned, puzzled. “Mr. Wallace, is something wrong p>
“I’m terribly sorry, Miss Templeton,” the butler said apologetically, “but the Richards family has an important matter to attend to today. We’re not receiving guests at the moment p>