Chapter 5%
The officers glanced at each other, then looked at the kids with renewed focus.
“Whose are they?”
“They’re my mother’s.”
My mother’s sobbing abruptly stopped. Her face turned pale, then flushed red.
“Amber, what nonsense are you spouting?! I don’t even know these men!“}
I ignored her and turned to the officers.
“Lester knows the truth too. They’re all working together to frame me–to destroy me.“>
The room fell into stunned silence.
Even the neighbors peeking in were shaken to the core.
Lester, who had just been standing there like a casual onlooker enjoying the spectacle, froze in shock the moment I mentioned his name. “Amber, don’t slander me! What would I gain from framing you?”
“You have everything to gain,” I said coldly. “Your affair with your sister–in–law is about to be exposed. She’s pregnant, isn’t she?“>
Lester’s older brother had died last year, leaving behind his widow.
I remembered, in my past life, she kept feeling nauseous during my wedding, but she brushed it off as a cold stomach.
However, looking back at their behavior, it was clear something wasn’t right.”
They had probably been together for a long time.
“So that’s why you cheated. No wonder you arranged this whole setup to destroy Amber. You just wanted her out of the picture,” Thalia said angrily.”
“You could’ve just broken up with her. She wasn’t the kind to cling or beg.”
But someone in the crowd muttered, “Still, they did a paternity test. The police wouldn’t fake that.”
The reminder helped Lester regain his composure.
He sneered and spat, “Even if I did cheat, at least I didn’t have kids with half a dozen men. That’s disgusting.”
“We were together for four years,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “The youngest of those kids is three. Three years ago, we were both studying abroad in Paris. When, exactly, did I give birth?“)
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“I–1–how would I know? Maybe you snuck back without telling me. We weren’t together every single day,” Lester stammered, his eyes darting everywhere.
He knew the kids likely had nothing to do with me. But he didn’t want to become the scapegoat, so he kept pretending.
“There are plenty of ways to prove I’m not their mother. The medical examiner can check my body, or the police can verify my international travel records from three years ago.”}
“But you just claimed those children belong to your mother,” one officer pointed out sternly. “That doesn’t make sense. Even if you’re her biological daughter, your DNA would be different.“}
“Why wouldn’t it make sense?” I asked.”
“Because there are no two people in the world with identical DNA unless-”
“Unless they’re identical twins,” I finished for him.
My mother’s face turned ghastly pale.
She slumped onto the couch, her body deflating like a balloon losing air.
My father suddenly stood up and roared, “Enough! Why must you drag up your mother’s trauma again? Do you want to drive us to our deaths?!”
He turned to the officers. “This is a private family matter. My daughter’s shameless behavior has already wasted enough of your time. We’ll handle the rest ourselves.”}
“No,” I said sharply. “This isn’t just a family matter. This is slander, a criminal conspiracy. They’ve broken the law–and so have you.”
I pointed, one by one, from the six men, to my parents on the couch.}}
“And as for you–how long are you planning to eavesdrop at the door?“W
From the beginning, I had noticed a strange figure standing just outside the crowd; fully covered in long sleeves and pants, wearing a mask, hat, and sunglasses–far too bundled up for this warm May weather.}
She occasionally whispered questions into the ears of nearby gossiping women, trying to cast doubt on my words.
She tried to slip away–but there were too many people blocking her path.
The police quickly apprehended her.
My mother leapt up, a hint of panic flashed in her eyes as she rushed to protect the woman. She shoved the officer’s hand away and pulled the woman into her arms, shielding her like a prized treasure.
“That’s my twin sister,” I said calmly, turning to the officers and the stunned crowd.#
“My real twin sister”
Impossible, someone in the crowd said. “Didn’t the Hart family lose one of their daughters years ago?”
D
11:49 AM
“Impossible,” someone in the crowd said. “Didn’t the Hart family lose one of their daughters years ago?“}
“No,” another corrected. “I remember Old Hart saying it was the older sister who went missing.“}
“That’s right,” I said with a bitter smile. “I was the one who was supposed to go missing.“}
Twenty years ago, my parents had planned to take us on a family trip. I was five at the time.}
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