Happy Death System

Coffee Shop Meeting

The next day, at precisely 9:45 AM, Samantha was already at the coffee shop. She chose a seat in the furthest corner so she could easily see the entrance. Fifteen minutes later, right at 10 AM, "Click!" the cafe door opened. Melissa walked in, wearing a long-sleeved white blouse and black fabric pants. She immediately spotted Samantha sitting at the corner table, sipping her coffee and deliberately looking out the window beside her.

"Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack," Melissa's heels approached. She walked straight over and sat down across from Samantha.

"Thanks for meeting me," Melissa said.

"Alright, tell me what you want to talk about," Samantha replied, setting down her coffee cup.

Melissa ordered coffee from the approaching waiter. After the waiter left, Melissa opened her handbag, took out a white envelope, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Samantha.

"What's this?" Samantha asked.

"Before I tell you, you should read this first. It's a letter Mom wrote before she passed away for Samuel, and Dad doesn't know about it," Melissa replied.

Samantha took the envelope and opened it. Inside were four handwritten letters from her mother. She started reading from the beginning while Melissa, sitting across from her, watched, waiting for her reaction. The first and second pages were the mother's heartfelt confessions to Samuel and her apologies, stating that she really wanted to be close to Samuel, but couldn't due to his allergies.

However, when Samantha reached the third page, her expression changed slightly because it contained her mother's confession that Samuel was not Robert's son, but rather the son of a man named Dylan, who was actually her mother, Claire's, real husband. At that time, Claire was actually married to Dylan, and they had been building a family for three years.

While Claire was working at Robert's office as his secretary, she had an affair with Robert. Of course, Dylan found out about the affair and immediately divorced Claire, but at that time, Dylan didn't know Claire was pregnant. She then married Robert and gave birth to twins named Samuel and Samantha. Robert thought they were both his children, and when one of the twins, Samantha, didn't survive, he buried her with deep sorrow.

In her heart, Claire knew Samuel wasn't Robert's son, even though she never had his DNA tested. The reason was that Dylan had black hair, and Samuel also had black hair, unlike Melissa and Derek who had blonde hair and were born after she remarried Robert. As soon as Samuel was diagnosed with a strange illness, Claire became even more frightened because someone in Dylan's family had also suffered from the same illness as Samuel.

Samantha didn't continue reading. Calmly and expressionlessly, she neatly folded the letter back up and put it back into the envelope. After that, she pushed the letter back towards Melissa.

"No need to return it, just keep it," Melissa replied.

"Alright. How long have you known about this letter?" Samantha asked.

"A month before Mom passed away, right when Dad and Mom had a huge fight. Dad had Samuel's DNA tested and found out Samuel was Mom's son with her first husband. He was furious with Mom for keeping it a secret, and... that's what caused Mom so much stress that she died," Melissa replied, looking down.

"So Mom's stress wasn't because of Samuel?" Samantha asked.

"No, Dad threatened to divorce Mom and disown Samuel. That's what stressed Mom out," Melissa explained.

"Yep, it all makes sense now. As soon as Mom died, Dad became cold towards me and stopped my treatment. No wonder I was cut from the inheritance, because I'm not his child after all," Samantha muttered to herself with a smile.

"Did Grandma know about all of this? Did she never tell you, sis?" Melissa asked.

Melissa's question caught Samantha off guard because she had claimed to have been living with her grandmother all this time. She tried to remain calm and control her emotions.

"Grandma never told me about this, but she did say she didn't like Robert (It's true, Grandma did tell me she hated Dad)," Samantha replied.

"That's right, sis. Grandpa was the one who pushed Mom to have an affair with Dad back then, saying Mom's life would be more secure with Dad. Mom's first husband was considered poor in Grandpa's eyes, but Grandma liked him, and that's why Grandma divorced Grandpa," Melissa replied.

"Yeah, I already knew that," Samantha replied casually, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Why do you seem so normal, sis? Aren't you surprised to hear all this?" Melissa asked, puzzled by Samantha's calm demeanor.

"Hmm? I already knew, so why should I be surprised? And I don't feel like looking for my real father, or rather, I don't care about any of this at all. (This proves where I stand in the family and how right my decision was to cut ties with my family, I'm glad.) Besides, if Dad already knew, why have you been suffering keeping all of this a secret?" Samantha asked.

"I... I kept it from Samuel," Melissa replied, looking down.

"Oh... why?" Samantha asked.

Melissa was silent for a moment. The waiter delivered her coffee and then left. Melissa immediately gripped her coffee cup, appearing very interested in the coffee inside, though she didn't drink it.

"Melissa?" Samantha prompted.

"Y-yeah... five years ago, when Samuel left Grandma's house, I really felt lost, and I thought if he read Mom's letter, he definitely wouldn't see me as his sister anymore because he'd surely cut ties with the family who always considered him a disgrace and go looking for his real father... He always helped me, even though I couldn't get close to him because of his illness. We always talked from behind the door when he was still at home... I can't believe he's not in the world anymore. What I did when I last saw him at Dad's office was so terrible and cruel. I hate myself... I hate Dad for making me do that. Now I can't even apologize to Samuel; even his body is missing, so I can't see him one last time," Melissa said, tearing up.

Samantha reached out and gently held Melissa's bowed head. Melissa looked up, revealing her tear-streaked face, mascara running down in black lines.

"He definitely forgives you (I knew it, she's still my sister)," Samantha said, smiling.

"Thank you, sis... sniff... sniff," Melissa cried.

"Hey, hey, why is a beautiful and independent girl like you crying like this? Don't you feel embarrassed in front of the world?" Samantha said.

Melissa suddenly looked up at Samantha, her sobs stopping. She stared at Samantha, her mascara smudged.

"W-wait, sis, how do you know the words Samuel used to say to me when I was crying and sad about something?" Melissa asked, confused.

"Oh (oops... I spilled the beans)... um... maybe because I'm his twin, hahaha," Samantha replied.

[Please be careful, sir. You are Samantha now, not Samuel.]

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Samantha replied in her head.