Chapter 409 The Results
Having spun the story out as well as she could, Rina took a deep breath to compose herself before she added, “Mom, Dad, I’m sorry that I lied about not recognizing them from the photograph, but you have to understand that these are the same people who hurt and terrorized me all my life. I never wanted to bring them up because doing so would only remind me of those dark days, so—”
“Stop, Rina, you don’t have to say anything else,” Julia sobbed; she was beside herself with grief as she pulled Rina into her arms.
After he heard the story, Titus’ expression softened and the menacing look with which he regarded Rina was replaced with a gentle one.
It was plain to see that the narrative she created was persuasive enough to ease the suspicion in his heart, but as a result, Hal and Greta were completely outraged.
Hal, in particular, shuddered with fury as he snapped, “Don’t bullsh*t your way through this, Taylor! You little b*tch, when did I ever say you weren’t my biological daughter? When the hell did I ever hide some necklace from you?”
“You’re making up dirty lies about us!” Greta shouted alongside her husband, her eyes bloodshot. We see what’s happening here. Looks like this little brat has every intention of disowning us as parents! That’s why she created a non-existent background for herself!
Neither one of them had ever thought their daughter would be so bold and ambitious as to spin such a huge web of lies.
Casting Hal and Greta’s thoughts aside, Zane was just as surprised by the narrative and his face was more somber than it had ever looked. He narrowed his eyes and grimly appraised Rina. This woman is sharper than I thought. She actually turned the odds in her favor with just a few lines!
As it turned out, he and Sonia had underestimated Rina when they thought she might slip up and expose herself. Looks like our decision was wrong from the very beginning!
“Nice going, Taylor.” Zane clapped his hands slowly, eyeing Rina as he drawled sarcastically, “You really do have a way with words, seeing as how you’ve managed to convince President Gray that you’re speaking the truth.”
Rina lowered her gaze to hide the spite in her eyes. She knew that he was trying to reignite Titus and Julia’s suspicion, but unfortunately for Zane, she wasn’t going to give him the chance.
With that in mind, she tugged on Titus and Julia’s sleeves. “Mom, Dad, I think Miss Reed and her friends are determined to prove me as an impostor. They’ll keep insisting that I am Hal and Greta’s daughter no matter what we say. Let’s just wait until the DNA test results are out. I’m sure they’ll have their answers then.”
Titus and Julia exchanged a glance with each other before they nodded. “Very well, then. That’s more sensible,” he agreed with a hum.
On the other side of the room, Zane frowned. “Sonia, did they do a DNA test?”
“They did,” Sonia answered after pursing her lips.
An astonished Zane exclaimed, “That’s bold of Taylor.”
She drummed her fingers lightly against the armrest of the wheelchair and mused gravely, “Yeah, I was also shocked.”
Taylor was not Titus and Julia’s biological daughter, so there had to be a reason why she was so confident in giving a sample of her hair for the DNA test instead of being evasive about it.
The only person who knew the real reason behind Rina’s confidence was Toby, who narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Sonia. He parted his lips to say something, but in the end, he held back.
At that moment, a hush fell over the room and even Hal and Greta cowered to one side. They dared not utter a single word, at least not while the tension thickened as the rich folks stood in silence. Speaking now seemed like an all too dangerous move.
After what felt like ages, the door to the laboratory opened and Wanda walked out with Keiran. Falling in step next to them was another employee, who carried a folder in his hand. Needless to say, everyone knew exactly what was in that folder.
Titus and Julia rose to their feet and demanded, “Are those the results?”
Sonia couldn’t see what was going on, but she picked up Titus’ question just fine. She quickly patted the wheelchair armrest and urged, “Zane, those are the DNA test results that could determine whether Taylor is Titus and Julia’s daughter. Go and take a look right now!”
Zane was just about to answer when Toby beat him to the results, crossing over to the room with grim resolve. He wanted to know for sure whether Sonia was Titus and Julia’s daughter, which would make her the true Rina Gray.
Meanwhile, Titus was reaching out to grab the document from the employee and had only just touched the edge of it when an alabaster, slender hand intercepted it.
“Who—” He spun to look at the person who had the courage to snatch the document, but the anger on his face quickly dissipated when he saw that it was Toby. “You?”
Titus could do nothing but swallow his rage and pride. Back in their heyday, the Gray Family had to tread carefully around the Fullers, and now that they were crumbling, this was even more true.
As such, he could only lower himself in Toby’s presence. Adopting a milder tone, he pointed out, “President Fuller, it’s a little uncalled for on your part to take the document, don’t you think? You’re on Sonia’s side, which means there’s no telling what you might do with the results.” He shot a dirty look in Sonia’s direction, though she was oblivious to this as she sat placidly in the wheelchair.
Sonia merely raised an eyebrow. Is this his way of using my own words against me? She thought about how she had accused his assistant earlier. Now he’s doubting Toby, seeing as he came along with me. Touché, Titus.
While she was reluctant to agree that Toby was on her side, she could do nothing about it, let alone feign ignorance. A cold scoff escaped her as she argued, “I think you’re a little paranoid, President Gray. Between a document and a thin strand of hair, the latter would be easier to use in a sleight-of-hand, don’t you think? A document is certainly much larger and with all of us here, what could President Fuller possibly do?”
“Precisely. What? Do you think President Fuller is a wizard or something who can change the contents of the document by casting a spell?” Zane mocked.
Titus blanched, the color rushing up and out of his face like he was a mood lamp. The sight of it was almost comical. As he realized that he could never win an argument with them, he decided to preserve what remained of his dignity and scoffed coldly, ignoring them at once.
While this was happening, Toby had already opened the folder and flipped through the document to the last page. When he read the words ‘paternity concluded’, he tightened his grip on the papers. “So, it’s true…”
So, it’s true that Sonia is Titus and Julia’s long-lost daughter.
He had been sure about it before, but there was never a DNA test that confirmed the probability of it, which left him with a speck of hope that Sonia might not even be related to Titus and Julia at all.
As a result, he clung onto the glimmer of hope so fervently, thinking that Sonia could be free from the hurt even if she knew about everything Titus had done.
Alas, life was as twisted as it was cruel, and she could not escape the fate of her being their child.
Toby thought about the bad blood that Sonia had with Titus and Julia. If she were to find out that they were her biological parents, there was no telling what she could do on impulse, knowing how proud and stubborn she was.
Titus had stolen trade secrets from Paradigm Co. and even sent one of the technicians to his death, thereby nearly causing the company to collapse. In fact, he might even have something to do with Henry’s death six years ago. All this snowballed into Sonia’s hatred for Titus, and vengeance aside, she probably wanted nothing more than to deliver the man to hell’s gates herself.
However, she would lose her identity as Henry’s daughter the moment she discovered Titus was her biological father, rendering her as the enemy’s daughter. She would thus be caught in between the Gray Family and the Reed Family while inadvertently being thrown into anguish.
And because she wouldn’t be able to take revenge against her own biological father, she would be forced to abandon the feud she had with the Gray Family. As a result, she would be left with no choice but to take her own life as means of compensating Henry for Titus’ grave sins.
“What’s true?” Sonia and Zane had no idea what Toby was thinking as they asked in unison.
However, Toby only lowered his head and said nothing. Zane clicked his tongue in irritation and approached him to snatch the document. “Give me that. I need to see what the results are.”
Across from them, Titus and Julia eagerly craned their necks, but they dared not take the document away from Toby while he was reading them, so they had to wait with forced patience. Little did they know that Zane would snatch the document thereafter and given that they were equally wary of him, they didn’t move to intercept him either.
The only person smiling in the room was Rina, who stood in Titus and Julia’s shadow as she waited. She wasn’t exceptionally interested in the document, not when she was already well aware of the results.
