Chapter 406 Sonia’s Hair
Rina handed a strand of her own hair without any fuss; upon such a sight, Titus and Julia were greatly relieved whereas Toby and Sonia frowned.
As far as Titus and Julia were concerned, the fact that Rina voluntarily passed a strand of her hair for the DNA test without any hesitation was as good as proving that she was indeed their biological daughter. They were elated by this assurance, and at the same time, they grew excited at the idea of pressing charges against Sonia.
That being said, handing Sonia over to the police wouldn’t mean that she would be imprisoned at once, although she would at the very least be admonished and made to pay a fine. When that happened, he would call the media over, which would completely ruin her reputation.
It was a bonus that he could salvage his dignity and pride after what she had done to bring him down all this while.
Sonia sat stiffly in her wheelchair at one side, her fists clenching atop the armrests. Why did Taylor give up a strand of her hair so willingly? She’s not Titus’ daughter, so she ought to be more terrified of the DNA test than anyone else instead of giving them inculpatory proof!
With that in mind, she reached behind her and tugged on Toby’s sleeve. “President Fuller.”
Toby dipped his head and asked softly, “What is it?”
“Did Taylor actually pluck a strand of her hair and hand it over to Titus?” She bit on her lip nervously as she probed, her voice barely above a whisper.
He narrowed his eyes as he replied, “She really did so.” As he had also witnessed it for himself, he was equally in disbelief that Taylor had the audacity to do so.
“What?!” Sonia dug her nails into her palms. Taylor has actually plucked her hair out for the test. Could it be that she bribed the facility into fabricating the test results? Is that why she isn’t the slightest bit worried?
As though he read her mind, he shook his head. “No, there’s no way she would’ve bribed the facility, not while it’s owned by the Lancasters and nationally affiliated. Not even Titus could bribe them, let alone Taylor.”
“Then, why did she—”
“I don’t know, but let’s wait and find out,” Toby said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on Rina.
Upon sensing his gaze, Rina turned to give him a coy smile as she pointed at her hair, then at Sonia’s.
It was then that he instantly made the connection. No wonder she was bold enough to pull out a strand of her hair for the DNA test. It was never her own hair to begin with; it was Sonia’s!
Somehow through one way or another, Taylor had managed to get her hands on Sonia’s hair and implanted them into her scalp. All she had to do was yank a strand of Sonia’s hand when the time came for the DNA test. Even if she had to repeat the test, the results would still indicate that she was Titus’ biological daughter, regardless of the facility.
So, this was her secret weapon all along. This was probably why she turned me down when I offered to keep her true identity a secret. With Sonia’s hair, she really didn’t need to take me up on my offer at all!
At the thought of this, Toby’s face darkened considerably. As it turned out, he had underestimated Taylor, who was a lot smarter than he had imagined. Tina was intelligent enough, but she was nothing compared to Taylor. If Taylor was born into the high society and received fine education, he reckoned she would turn out to be a formidable character.
Meanwhile, Titus was oblivious to the discussion between Toby and Sonia as he slipped Rina’s strand of hair into a bag before handing the sample to his assistant. “Here, take this and run the DNA test right now. I want the results back within half an hour!”
“Yes, sir,” the assistant answered as he took the hair sample.
“Wait,” Sonia interjected after pursing her lips.
Titus clicked his tongue, his wizened face crinkling further with a displeased grimace as he barked, “What is it now?”
She pointed out flatly, “Who knows what dirty tricks your assistant might pull off if you ask him to send the sample over to the facility on his own? Wanda, could you go along with him and keep an eye on the sample?”
“You’re crossing the line here, Sonia!” He thundered, an angry shadow passing over his face as he pointed at Sonia threateningly.
Julia was just as belligerent and hatred colored her gaze as she glowered at Sonia like the girl had committed all the seven deadly sins.
At this moment, Rina stepped forward and broke the tension. “Mom, Dad, if Miss Reed doesn’t trust us, then we should let her do what she wants. She can have someone keep an eye on the sample if she wants, but once she realizes that we don’t have any dirty tricks up our sleeves, she’d come to defeat on her own terms.”
Upon hearing this, Titus and Julia felt their rage subside and he even grinned in approval. “You’re right, Rina. If she really wants to be paranoid about this, then she can have someone tag along to keep an eye on the hair sample.” Then, he turned to give his assistant a sharp look and demanded, “Keiran, shouldn’t you be in the laboratory by now?”
The assistant, who was Keiran, nodded hastily and took the hair sample before he brought it into the laboratory.
Upon seeing this, Sonia signaled for Wanda to trail after him and keep an eye on the sample as well as the assistant’s hand.
Following this ordeal was a painful wait that lasted close to half an hour. The air was thick with tension as all parties remained silent and Sonia began to grow anxious as the time ticked by.
“President Fuller!” she called out softly for Toby. She didn’t have much of a choice, seeing that he was the only one here after Wanda had followed Keiran to the laboratory to keep an eye on the test.
When Toby heard Sonia’s voice, he knelt next to her wheelchair ready to take orders from a princess, much to the surprise of Titus and company..
At the sight of Toby’s chivalrous gesture, Titus was left grim and stunned. He could no longer argue now that Toby was once in love with Tina, for he had never seen Toby revere her in the way he did with Sonia.
“What’s wrong?” Toby asked gently, a comforting smile tugging on his lips.
Sonia bit on her lower lip as she asked, “How is Taylor doing? Does she look nervous?”
He didn’t turn to look at Rina, but his eyes flashed darkly as he replied, “No, she doesn’t.” And why would she, especially after giving Sonia’s hair as a test sample instead of her own?
After having heard this, she clenched her jaw and slammed her fist down on the armrest. Frustration overwhelmed her as she hissed, “How is this even possible?” Why isn’t Taylor anxious at all?
She was still troubled by this when approaching footsteps sounded from behind her. It was Zane, and in his wake were a couple—a man and a woman.
Zane drew closer to the wheelchair and his eyes lit up when he spotted Sonia’s familiar profile. He began to wave his hand with a wide grin that was plastered on his face. “Sonia!”
Zane! She immediately straightened her posture and turned in the direction of his voice, making it as if she had seen him and beamed while replying, “You’re finally here!”
Next to her was Toby, who took in her enthusiasm before his chiseled face instantly soured. Oh, suddenly Zane is the light of the world, is he?
The air around him seemed to freeze as jealousy swirled within him. Upon noticing the distinct shift in the atmosphere, Zane lowered his gaze and was surprised to see Toby squatting next to the wheelchair. “Toby? What are you doing here?” he asked, bewildered.
Toby rose to his feet but did not answer, making a point to ignore the other man.
As Zane was unfazed by Toby’s standoffish demeanor, he shrugged nonchalantly and glanced over at Sonia instead before proudly announcing, “Sonia, I’ve brought them along with me.”
Then, he gestured to the couple behind him.
Although Sonia couldn’t see them, Toby could. He appraised the middle-aged couple whose faces were tanned and lined. Their clothes were nearly threadbare and outdated while they stood with their arms linked, their bodies stiff as they tried to appear as respectful as possible.
However, there was a greedy and cunning look in their eyes as they surveyed the room with interest, which told Toby that they were not as honest as they seemed. That aside, perhaps the most important thing that he had noticed was how much of a resemblance the older man bore to Taylor. It was at that moment when he realized who they were.
The couple who stood behind Zane were probably Taylor’s biological parents.
