Serendipity's Secret (Melanie) novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26 

Just like that, the decision about the car was settled. But then a curious female voice broke through the moment. 

“Are you Melanie from Smith Village 

Melanie and Edward turned in surprise toward the voice belonging to a guest at Anna’s home. Melanie squinted at the woman, feeling a flicker of recognition. “Yes, that’s me. And you are?” 

She was puzzled. The woman’s clothes suggested she was no ordinary person. How would someone like her know Melanie? 

The Smith family struggled to make ends meet, so how could they have any connections to someone like this? 

“We met yesterday at the cinema,” the woman, Janet Hawke, reminded her. 

Suddenly, it clicked for Melanie. They had indeed crossed paths. But a fleeting encounter at the movies didn’t warrant this kind of connection. 

“What a coincidence! I never expected to see you here. So you married someone in the city!” 

Janet’s face lit up with excitement. Yesterday, she had thought Melanie looked familiar, but running into her at Anna’s residence was a surprise. Even more shocking was that Melanie had married Edward 

Edward was the pride of the Grayson family–who didn’t know his name? How had Melanie landed such a catch? 

Janet was a distant cousin of Melanie’s mother, Christine Wayne. They used to interact, especially when Melanie’s father, Frederick Smith, had sought a lot of wedding gifts for her, hoping to marry her off to Elijah. 

Not wanting to go through with it, Christine had sent pictures to distant relatives, asking if they could help find a suitable match since Melanie was pretty. However, the connection between their families hadn’t been strong enough for Janet’s mother, Jennifer Walter, to intervene. After all, they were just poor relatives, and helping them wouldn’t yield any benefits, 

Janet had never expected to find Melanie here. 

She and her father, Cody Hawke, had come to discuss business with Anna, but it had been clear that Anna wasn’t interested in working with them, no matter how many favors they had offered. 

Janet hoped this newfound connection to Melanie might change things. 

Once everyone understood the relationship, they realized Janet was actually Melanie’s distant cousin. Cody burst out laughing. 

“What a coincidence! Who would have thought we would run into family here? Melanie, you really should have told us when you married Edward. We could have brought a gift for you. You’re such a careless girl!” 

With that, he turned to Anna, trying to build rapport. 

Melanie was taken aback, What a small world it was, running into someone she knew in a place like this. 

She rifled through the memories of the original Melanie and finally recalled who Janet was, but she didn’t have a favorable impression of her. 

When Christine had sent Janet’s family letters, they hadn’t even replied. Now, they suddenly wanted to be friendly because they needed a favor from Melanie. While Anna was surprised, she wasn’t about to make things easy for them. 

Yes, the Graysons were related to Melanie, but what did that really mean? If it hadn’t been for the babies Melanie was carrying, she would still be in the countryside, farming. Melanie didn’t have the clout she thought she did. 

Now, if they had been talking about Edward, that would have been a different story. 

Janet was quite warm toward Melanie, but the latter responded with polite indifference. She wasn’t naive. She could see the ulterior motives behind this newfound enthusiasm 

“Melanie, we’ll come to visit you soon. When you have time, come over to our place! We’re all family, after all. Let’s not lose touch. Since we’ve met here, it must be fate. We’re planning to go back to our hometown to see your mother soon,” Janet said, trying to solidify their connection.