Bethan furrowed her brows. She wanted to get Zach and Yuri to come and help her when a mellow male voice came through from behind, “We’ll hold a press conference tomorrow to announce this matter briefly.”
Bethan, who was surrounded by the reporters, was stunned. She subconsciously turned back to look.
The person who spoke on her behalf was no other than her own father, Joseph Peterson.
Bethan looked at him in shock. “Why are you here?”
Joseph did not look at her. He flatly looked at the reporters. “Hello, everyone. I’m Mrs. Morrison’s father. As for the relationship between Ms. Bethan and my daughter, we’ll hold a press conference tomorrow to briefly explain to everyone.”
Then, under the stunned gaze of the reporters, Joseph pulled Bethan to a place far away.
With her sleeves tugged at, Bethan felt as if she time-traveled.
The man in front of her was her father. Although he had already aged and was hunching, he was still like when she was little: pulling on her sleeves as he led her somewhere.
They walked for a long time.
In the end, Joseph brought Bethan to a broken-down place. The moldy smell of the room filled her nose.
“Ms. Bethan.”
Joseph cleared his throat.
Bethan came to her senses. In front of her was a broken-down rented house. The sun shone through the dirty windows, making one suffocate.
“Ms. Bethan, have some tea.”
Natasha carefully carried a teacup and placed it in front of Bethan.
Bethan furrowed her brows. “Why are the two of you living here?”
Although the Petersons were not as rich as the Morrisons, Natasha and Joseph were not that poor that they had to stay in a place like this.
Natasha and Joseph looked at each other.
“We sold off our house and company at Sea City.”
Natasha sighed. “Brettley put it nicely, saying that he sent Cynthal overseas to further her studies while it was, in fact, a closed-off school–no different than being in prison.
“We got in touch with the Walter family at Sea City. They said that as long as we’re willing to come up with five million dollars, they could get Cynthal out, and she would then be free. Other than coming back to Banyan City, she could do anything.”
Bethan felt suffocated.
“So, for Cynthal’s freedom, you spent all of your life savings?”
“Mmh.”
Natasha sighed. “There’s nothing more important than the freedom of our child.”
Bethan smiled bitterly. Natasha still did not know that Cynthal Peterson was not her daughter.
At that thought, Bethan lifted her eyes and looked at Joseph. “So, why did you bring me here? What are you trying to tell me?”
“We want to help you hold a press conference with Alice. To prove Alice’s innocence.”
Natasha looked at her. “Alice is Brettley’s wife now. As long as she’s willing to give us some of her money, we won’t have to live so miserably.”
Bethan paused for a while.
She did not realize her nails dug so deeply into her palms.
“So, the two of you got me here to persuade me to hold a news conference, just to prove that Alice is a good woman. Then, you want to use that to get closer to her and ask her for money?”
Natasha sighed. “I know you must be looking down on us, but as parents, if we could find a way for our children to be free, who’d want to watch their children stay in prison? We’re only living like this now because we love our children too much.”
Then, Natasha lifted her head and looked at Bethan. “Ms. Bethan, you should know that I misunderstood Bethan Peterson, now Alice Peterson, in the past. She hates me, so it wasn’t appropriate for us to find her directly. I hope you’ll cooperate with us and hold a press conference tomorrow. Clear her name so that the people on the internet would stop bullying her. This way, she’ll remember how uneasy it is for us as parents, and only then would we be able to get money from her.”
Bethan’s heart turned cold.
Joseph and Natasha took so much effort to get her to come, just so they could use her to appease Alice, then squeeze some money out of her.
In her eyes, Cynthal would always be the most important one –selling off all of their belongings They only wanted to repair their relationship with Bethan Peterson because she was Brettley’s wife.
“I’m sorry,” sneered Bethan as she gazed at the steam that rose from the teacup.
“I won’t be able to help you. First, this incident is obviously Alice trying to make things difficult for me. Also, I don’t have a reason to help you. Lastly, “
Bethan swept a cold glance at Joseph and Natasha. “I ’11 say this much. Since if you only have Cynthal Peterson in your hearts at all times, you should treat it as if you only have one daughter. Since young, none of you have given Bethan Peterson any parental love, so don’t bother her now. Leave yourself some dignity.”
Then, she turned and left.
Looking at her back, Natasha gritted and immediately chased after her.
“Ms. Bethan.”
She caught up with Bethan. “I know, you can’t stand us being nice to Cynthal and treating Bethan indifferently, but you also don’t know that Cynthal had a difficult birth. She almost died in my womb. She wasn’t always as great as Bethan. Stupid, even. People say that she became stupid while stuck in my womb, so I treat her with a little more love. After all, she’s my blood and flesh…”
Upon her words, Bethan stopped in her tracks. She turned around and looked at Natasha seriously. “Are you sure that Cynthal came from you?”
Natasha was in a daze. “O-Of…course…”
If Cynthal was not her, where did she come from?
Bethan took a deep breath. “When Cynthal was young, one of the kids from the orphanage was taken by mistake instead of her. Do you remember?”
Natasha paused for a while. “Yes, I do.”
That was when Cynthal was just one month old and was transported back home.
After Bethan and Natasha got in the car, Joseph was in charge of putting baby Cynthal into the car, yet once they got in the car, he realized he took the wrong baby. He immediately swapped the babies back.
“How did you know Cynthal was wrongly picked up before?”
Bethan chuckled a little. “Not only do I know that you mistook her for some other baby before, but I also know that Cynthal doesn’t seem to be your biological daughter.”
“Impossible.”
Natasha laughed out loud with mockery in her eyes. “Cynthal looks so much like my husband. We don’t need a DNA test to know that they are father and daughter! “
Bethan sneered. “What about you and her?”
A mocking smile was plastered on her face. “Go and think about it.”
Bethan took a deep breath and walked away.
Natasha went home dejectedly after a long while after Bethan left.
“How was it?”
Joseph immediately approached her as she walked through the door.
Natasha shook her head. “She said she wouldn’t agree to us, and neither would she attend the press conference.”
Joseph furrowed his brows hard. “Did she say anything else?”
“She also said… “
Natasha sighed. “She asked me to check properly, saying that Cynthal might not be my daughter.”
Upon her words, Joseph’s face suddenly turned pale.
“I told her that’s impossible.”
Natasha shrugged. “
Bethan isn’t reliable, so we shouldn’t pin our hopes on her.”
“Yes. What nonsense! How could Cynthal not be your daughter? “
Joseph furrowed his brows. He lifted his head and looked into the distance.
“If she doesn’t want to help us, I could only go and find Alice.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.