Chapter 407 Mr and Mrs Carey
With that presumption in mind, Toby turned to look in Rina’s direction.
After having seen Hal and Greta, Rina jumped to her feet from the chair in shock. There was unmistakable fear in her eyes as she trembled with nerves. How are they even here?
Realization dawned upon her at that moment and her eyes widened as she stared at Zane in disbelief. Mr. Coleman! He’s the one who brought this old couple over. It has to be him since how they came with him!
Her fear turned to hurt and anger as she dug her nails into her palms. When she fixed her gaze on him, there was a wounded look on her face.
She already had a fair idea as to why Zane had brought Hal and Greta here. More likely than not, he intended for them to expose her true identity in front of Titus and Julia! I can’t believe this is happening! How could he stoop so low? How could he do this to me when I love him the way I do?
Upon sensing Rina’s gaze, Zane couldn’t help but be amused, albeit bewildered. He didn’t understand why she looked at him as if he had broken her heart and toyed with the pieces.
However, he didn’t dwell much on this. He smirked and asked in a playful drawl, “Oh, Taylor, aren’t you going to greet your biological parents now that they’re here? What are you standing there for?”
Biological parents? Titus and Julia’s expressions instantly fell.
Titus, in particular, was staring at Zane mutinously as he barked, “What are you talking about, kid? What’s all this nonsense about her biological parents? My wife and I are Rina’s biological parents, and that’s the end of it!”
Although the DNA test results had yet to be produced, he was more than certain that Rina was his own flesh and blood.
There was a sadist edge to Zane’s smirk as he crossed his arms and retorted, “Well, I’m not wrong, President Gray. These two folks who came with me happen to be Taylor’s real parents. Why don’t you take a look for yourselves?”
He stepped aside to reveal Hal and Greta, who had been standing behind him all along. .
The moment they saw the middle-aged couple, Titus and Julia bristled. “Titus,” she cried in a quivering voice as she clutched her husband’s arm. “It’s him. That’s the man from the photograph!”
He gritted his teeth and stared daggers at Hal. He had known all along that Hal was the same person from the photograph; the recognition had been almost instant. However, Titus never expected that the man from the photograph would actually appear before him.
Titus was about to march over and interrogate the couple when their eyes brightened before they approached Rina enthusiastically.
When she saw both Hal and Greta drawing closer to her, Rina blanched as all the color drained from her face. It made her tremble even more, now that she felt like a cornered prey.
“Sonia,” Zane whispered into Sonia’s ear. “As it stands, Taylor is terrified of Hal and Greta, who is otherwise known as Mr. and Mrs. Carey.”
Toby narrowed his eyes in thought. So, Taylor’s biological father’s name is Hal.
A light smile touched her lips when she heard this. “Of course she’d be terrified. Don’t forget the life she used to live.”
Zane and Sonia had been right to say that Rina was terrified of Hal and Greta. After all, they were the reason for Rina’s deep-seated trauma and anxiety. She had been physically and emotionally abused by them; seeing them now only caused her fight-or-flight response to kick in, although she’d rather run off in fear than to face them head-on.
“Taylor!” Hal was the first one to reach Rina.
There was nothing else but greed in Hal and Greta’s eyes at the sight of Rina’s polished appearance. This brat has been living the high life. Her skin is glowing and she even has some meat on her! And the fine clothes she’s wearing must have cost a small fortune, too. As expected, life must be sweet for her now that she has a couple of rich parents.
And yet, she hasn’t even thought to spare us some of her newly-acquired riches. She’s probably set on spending it all on herself! What an ingrate. Just wait; we’ll get those fine clothes off her back and sell them for a good price before forcing her to surrender all her valuables to us.
Hal and Greta teetered with excitement at the thought of the riches they could milk out of their daughter, but they feigned worry as they fussed over her. “Taylor, my little girl, you have no idea how long your mother and I have been looking for you!” he cried out in a show of anger and fret.
“That’s right, Taylor. We thought you’d been kidnapped until Mr. Coleman knocked on our door to inform us that you’d run off into the city and been adopted by a couple of rich folks. For heaven’s sake, all we did was try to lecture some sense into you. Surely, there was no need for you to run away from home!” Greta began to nag incessantly as she reached out to touch Rina’s arm.
Rina’s eyes widened before she immediately shouted in protest, “Go away! Don’t touch me!” With that, she summoned all her force and pushed Greta away.
Greta stumbled backward, losing her footing and nearly crashing to the ground. She was only lucky that Hal had grabbed her in time to keep her from falling.
“Greta, are you okay?” he asked hastily.
She dabbed at the crocodile tears that streamed down her cheeks. “I’m fine, just heartbroken is all. Looks like Taylor no longer wants us now that she has these rich folks coddling her. How did our little girl turn out this way?”
“And you’re telling me,” he agreed somberly, a shadow passing over his face as he turned to glower at Rina murderously.
Rina saw his features twist into a grimace and she was immediately reminded of her dark past. Horror flashed across her features as she darted behind Titus and Julia, cowering in their shadows as she muttered fearfully, “Mom, Dad, I’m scared.”
“There’s nothing to be worried about, Rina. I’m here,” Julia consoled as she wrapped an arm around Rina while patting the girl’s back soothingly.
Titus, on the other hand, confronted Hal and Greta angrily. “What the hell do you want with my daughter?”
“Your daughter?” Hal and his wife faltered at this. Then, he recovered from the initial shock and kept his menace under wraps. He smiled coyly as he drawled, “Of course. Taylor called you Mom and Dad, didn’t she? That means you’re both her parents! Pleasure to meet you, Gray. My name’s Hal and I’m Taylor’s biological father.”
Now that he said those words, he rubbed his hands as if to dust them off before offering Titus a handshake.
Titus stared at Hal’s dirty palm and his muck-lined fingernails before he felt the urge to retch. Since he was mortified, he slapped Hal’s hand away and thundered, “That’s Mr. Gray to you! Don’t get all buddy with me!”
To the side was Zane, who sputtered as he had a hard time keeping his laughter at bay. “Well, to be fair, Titus is older than Hal by two years, so some respect is warranted.”
Sonia heaved a wistful sigh. “I can tell you guys are enjoying the show from the sound of it. Too bad I can’t see anything right now.”
“Hey, I’m trying to describe the whole show in real-time here. Besides, I have it on camera,” he teased lightheartedly while holding up his phone.
Meanwhile, Toby shot him an icy look, but he quickly redirected his gaze to Titus and the others while lowering his eyes in thought.
On the other side of the room, Hal did not bridle at Titus’ blunt rejection of his handshake and instead broke into a laugh like his dignity didn’t matter at all. “You’re right, that was my bad for calling you Gray so forthrightly. Mr. Gray it is, then. If you think about it, we’re practically family, aren’t we?”
“Excuse me? Where did you get the nerve to say that?” Titus demanded, quaking with rage. This insolent fool just addressed me as Gray and now, he’s calling me his family? I have never met anyone with such thick skin!
“Well, of course we are family!” Hal was beside himself with glee. He gestured to Taylor, who was shaking in Julia’s arms, and continued, “That brat over there is my daughter, and now that she has you as her new father, it would naturally make us family.”
At this moment, he guffawed and turned to look at Rina in approval. “You certainly have some tricks up your sleeve, Rina! Who could’ve thought that you’d do so well for yourself after running away from home? Why, you even became a rich man’s daughter! I must say, I’m proud of you. You’ve got skills, kid.”
Rina’s face blushed before turning pallor from outrage and fluster. “Shut up! I did not run away from home and I’m most certainly not your daughter!”
Hal was obviously displeased by her response. “What do you mean you’re not my daughter? Your looks take after me, kid. Only the blind would be fooled by you! More importantly, I was there when your mother carried you in the womb for nine months and gave birth to you. Are you going to tell me I have the wrong person?”
