Chapter 220: Coincidence

Third-person POV

Genny didn’t wait a second more. She bolted the moment the cart came into view, her heels skidding against the concrete, her breath already breaking apart. One second she was pacing, the next she was sprinting, like her body couldn’t decide between hope and terror.

Braelyn moved to follow her instinctively, overwhelmed and dizzy with relief. But her feet froze mid-step.

She saw him and her pulse immediately spiked at the coincidence. Braelyn thought

Her stomach churned as Genny ran straight towards them, blind to everything except her child. She didn’t notice the look on the man’s face, the pure shock and the flicker of horror as he watched her coming. Braelyn wondered, fleetingly, what thoughts were crashing through his mind in that moment.

The man carrying Alora stepped down from the cart, and the world seemed to slow in the most cruel way.

It looked too much of a coincidence, it wasn’t just because of the same shade of blond hair or those strikingly similar blue eyes that looked too familiar and too precise like someone had reached into the past and literally copied and pasted.

Alora looked smaller in his arms like a fragile copy of something that shouldn’t exist twice. The coincidence was just how similar their faces looked and Alora wasn’t even a boy

Braelyn knew instantly that Genny was cooked. She wondered how her friend was going to get out of this. The man wasn’t alone, he was with a lady Braelyn vaguely recognised. His date, she presumed.

The lady beside him was still stunned by the scene. She was the man’s blind date, and she had requested that they come to the park. They were lost when she noticed the strange scene of a guard running with two crying children. Instantly, she had gotten on high alert and informed her blind date to go after the kidnapper.

What she wasn’t expecting was for one of the children to bear an uncanny resemblance to her date. That’s why she was persistent on them meeting the mother because her date swore he didn’t have any children, and the little girl clearly didn’t recognise him, but this was still fishy.

Genny, on the other hand, didn’t notice the couple. She didn’t see anything except her child.

The moment Alora spotted her, she broke free from the man’s arms and sprinted towards her mother. A sharp, fractured cry tore from her tiny chest as she twisted free and practically launched herself forward.

“Mummy!” Alora cried with her tear-stained face. Braelyn was touched by the scene but she couldn’t relax.

Genny dropped to her knees just in time to catch her. The impact knocked the air out of both of them. She wrapped her arms around Alora so tightly it was almost frightening, like loosening her grip even slightly might make her disappear again. Relief immediately flooded her chest and tears pricked her eyes. “Thank God…” she whispered burying her nose in Alora’s blonde locks

“I’ve got you,” Genny sobbed into her hair. “I’ve got you. I’m here. I’m here, baby.”

Alora’s small hands fisted into Genny’s shirt as if letting go meant being lost forever. They both burst into dramatic tears and no one bothered them. The security guards started announcing on the park’s sound system, calling for the rescued boy’s parents.

While all this happened, Genny and Alora were in their world. Two people cried, a little one and a grown adult who had been holding it in for too long.

Alora cried hard, the crying that came from being brave for far too long, her little body shaking violently as Genny rocked her back and forth. Braelyn’s eyes pricked with tears. She glanced up because it would be humiliating if she also cried..

“I was scared,” Alora hiccupped. “He was scary… I didn’t like it…”

“I know,” Genny whispered, pressing frantic kisses everywhere, her forehead, her cheeks, her hair like she couldn’t get enough. “I know. You’re safe now. Mummy’s here. No one’s retaking you. Ever.”

Braelyn felt her throat close.

Around them, the world faded. Guards murmured into radios. Someone offered a blanket. Someone else muttered words of relief and gratitude. None of it mattered.

All that existed was a mother holding her child as she’d almost lost her to the void.

Alora finally pulled back just enough to look at Genny’s face, her eyes swollen and red. She lifted one small hand and wiped Genny’s tears clumsily, the way only children did.

“Don’t cry, Mummy,” she said softly consoling her mother

That was it. Genny broke again seeing how brave Alora was. She wasn’t scarred by that traumatic event. A raw sound tore out of Genny as she pressed her face into Alora’s neck, nodding over and over, unable to speak without falling apart.

Braelyn stood there uselessly, her hands clenched at her sides, struggling to breathe through the tightness crushing her chest.

And then she felt it. The weight of someone watching. She looked up, her heart skipping a cruel beat.

The man hadn’t moved, nor had his date.

He stood a few steps away, frozen where he was, his arms still half-lifted, like he hadn’t yet accepted that Alora was no longer there. His face was unreadable, just stunned. As if he’d walked straight into something he hadn’t prepared himself for.

His gaze stayed fixed on Alora, complex emotions running through his blue eyes. He was probably asking himself. What was going on?

For a brief second, his eyes flicked to Genny’s face, then back to Alora, he was trying to figure out how or was it just a bad coincidence because his mind really couldn’t wrap around it

Braelyn’s stomach twisted as she noticed. His date tugged his shirt and her voice was soft. “Maybe we should leave..” she urged him. Something close to fear flickered across her eyes.

She tried to pull him but he didn’t move. “Wait… I must get to the bottom of this,” he said seriously, then shrugged her off to approach.

Genny was far too overwhelmed to notice him. She was buried in her daughter, whispering reassurances, rocking her, grounding herself in the solid weight of Alora’s body like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

“Genny…” he called softly and her shoulders froze. She didn’t want to move because she recognised that voice.

“Stop pretending you didn’t hear me Genny.” He scoffed towering over them. “Is she your daughter?” He asked carefully. She slowly raised her head to stare at him. Alora also glanced up at Joey…

“Joey..I..” The rest of the words disappear. Alora blinked her eyes confused. “Joey..” she muttered

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