Chapter 993 House Hunting

Ramona seemed eager to protest, but Sally had already ushered Sonya into the hospital. Once they were gone, Ramona's tears began to stream down her face silently. I gave her a side glance and sighed quietly, giving her a moment before she finally spoke up, "I swear I never meant any harm to Yaya or the kitten. I don't even know why I got so terrified all of a sudden." I studied her face, sensing honesty in her words. After a brief pause, I asked, "You're scared of cats?" She nodded earnestly. "Yeah. When I was little, I got lost in the mountains for three days and nights. The nights were filled with the sounds of cats, and they clawed and bit me. If Yaya hadn't come with granny and the village elders to find me, I might not have survived those wild cats. Ever since, I've been really scared of them." "And how about Sonya? Are you two close?" I steered away from the cat topic and inquired about her relationship with Sonya. Ramona gave a solemn nod. "We share the same birthday, down to the year. Our parents, disappointed at having daughters, left us in the icy mountains behind our village. Yaya and I survived seven days and nights there. Yaya's aunt, bless her heart, could not bear to see us suffer, so she would sneak us sips of sweetened water, hoping we would hang on long enough for someone to find us and take us in. Eventually, our grandmothers could not stand it anymore. They rescued us from the harsh environment that nearly claimed our lives. They warmed our frozen limbs for days. Yaya and I have been inseparable since—sisters in all but blood. Our grandmothers would often say we've been through life and death together, so we're going to look after each other forever." Her voice wavered as she recounted the tale, and I found myself drawn in by the raw emotion of her words. "How did you end up as Sally's daughter?" I asked, puzzled by the twist in her story. She was supposed to be a simple farmer's child. How on earth did she become the missing daughter of the Fullers, a name that carried weight and mystery in our town? Ramona bit her lip and said, "I don't know all the details. All I know is that when Mr. Fuller and Aunt Sally came looking in the village, Granny told me that the girl who was supposed to be abandoned with Sonya had died from exposure. They found me on their way back. Since we were both girls, they decided I should take the place of the girl who did not make it. Granny never wanted my true identity to be known, so she always told me that Yaya and I were abandoned together, and that's what Yaya and I believed growing up." I see. I nodded, understanding. It was supposed to be a tale of three abandoned infants, but tragically, one did not survive the elements. The two village elders ended up raising the two survivors. Ramona inhaled softly and added, "In any case, Yaya and I are like best friends who've been through the worst together. The grannies weren't wrong about that." I murmured in agreement. They were right. I looked at her, momentarily at a loss for words. After a brief pause, I offered, "Ramona, here's my number. When you get back to Lake City, if anything gets you down or if times get tough, give me a call, will you?" She seemed taken aback by my offer but nodded gently, accepting my card with a decisive nod. "Okay, thank you." I smiled warmly. "Don't mention it." Sally had taken Sonya inside for a short while, and when they returned, Sonya's face had some ointment on it and looked less swollen. I checked in about the situation but did not press further. Sally was set to drop me off at the hotel, but I excused myself, saying I had other matters to attend to, and got out of the car without returning to the hotel. After bidding farewell to Sally, I glanced at my watch and noticed it was still early evening. Having sought help house-hunting in the morning and fielded calls from a handful of eager agents in the afternoon, I checked in on Astoria and found everything was going well with Lucas. With that, I set up a time to go house viewing.