In the corridor.
Jeremy took the cigar from his thin lips and casually looked over at Yezoo’s excited face. He raised his eyebrows and chuckled, “Uncle Yezoo, what are you looking at? What’s gotten you so riled up?”
Yezoo said, “Jeremy, you’re here.”
After saying that, Yezoo’s gentle face had a look of ecstasy on it. He happily shook the blood test report in his hand. “I have incredible news, my daughter… yes, my daughter, she didn’t die 29 years ago. She’s still alive and well. I am ecstatic! Your mother and I have no more regrets!.”
Jeremy glanced towards Ysabelle, who was standing next to Yezoo, and stared at her. He blew out a mouthful of smoke, narrowed his eyes, and asked, “Mrs. Sherman, no regrets in your life. Is that really what’s on your mind?”
“I… I agree with what Yezoo is saying.” Ysabelle could barely force out a smile to respond.
Jeremy spat out another thick cloud of smoke at Ysabelle, and her heart skipped a beat. She clenched her hands and looked back at him.
She looked at her son, the one whom she had lost control over when he turned sixteen, bent over and puffing out clouds of smoke. A beam of white light flashed across her eyes. He grinned at her, but the words that came out of his mouth were directed at Yezoo. He asked with great interest, “Uncle Yezoo, who is your daughter?”
Yezoo was still excited, ignoring the glaring conflict between Jeremy and Ysabelle. He turned his head around and pointed towards the ward Dorothy was in a few meters away. He spoke while smiling, “Jeremy, she’s in there. Credence is keeping her company. By the way, she’s always been on good terms with Juelz and Germaine, I think that you might know her.”
“Is it Dorothy?”
Jeremy shook the cigar in his hand and sneered. His face was as cold as ice. “How strange! Isn’t she Leilani’s biological daughter? How is she your daughter all of a sudden?”
He had intentionally raised his voice on the word “she”. He was deliberately mocking them with his lazy voice.
Just who was he actually mocking exactly? That was easy to tell.
Sure enough, Ysabelle’s face shifted slightly. There was a hint of suppressed anger on her face, along with a trace of cruelty in her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, Yezoo interrupted her, “Jeremy, this didn’t happen out of nowhere. This matter can be easily explained.”
Yezoo stretched out his index finger and lifted his gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He sighed deeply and said, “I just heard the truth from your mother! It’s because Leilani and your mother both gave birth at the same time in the same hospital. Back then, your mother and I were occupied with some internal conflict within the Sherman family. We did go to the hospital to see our daughter, but we asked Leilani to take care of her most of the time.”
Leilani’s daughter got sick and died soon after. Out of jealousy, she replaced her dead daughter with ours. Overwhelmed with grief, your mother and I didn’t notice the swap, and besides, newborn babies look so similar. Just like that, your mother and I were deceived by Leilani and regarded our daughter as the one we buried away.”
“Not long after Leilani was discharged from the hospital, she casually abandoned the baby in a welfare home. She constantly complained about how badly she would cry and always make a fuss.”
“It wasn’t until today that Leilani finally told us the truth. Fortunately, not only did my daughter survive, but she’s living a good life. She married Credence and gave birth to a cute little girl. She’s now pregnant with a little boy too…”
Yezoo looked up at Jeremy, and his eyes began to water. “Jeremy, I didn’t expect to have so many relatives in my life. It’s more than enough, I should be satisfied now! It’s time for you to get married off as soon as possible, I would love to have a grandson.”
“Leilani is just a wh*re in the entertainment business. You believe her?” Jeremy scoffed at such an old-fashioned story.
“No, I believe in evidence more than anything else.”
After all, Yezoo was pretty old. It took him two or three hours to get here from the Sherman family home. After arriving at the hospital, he took a blood test and underwent several examinations. At the time, he seemed a little tired, but he was still energetic. He looked up and smiled at Jeremy. “There were some indecent videos of Dorothy on the Internet. They weren’t that bad actually, it just revealed a little more of her back. I accidentally saw a small red birthmark on her back. That birthmark was also on my daughter’s body. It was in the same position, it was the same birthmark! At that time, I had my reservations. On top of that, Leilani just met Dorothy, so I got even more suspicious. I specially arranged some people to investigate if Dorothy and Leilani were actually related by blood or not.”
“As for the evidence, I met with one of Credence’s friends as soon as I arrived at the hospital. He took my hair and promised to conduct a DNA test between Dorothy and me as soon as possible. Now, I’ll be able to get the results in about six or seven days. I think the final result will be favorable.”
After saying all that in one breath, Yezoo was a little winded. His face was now full of sadness and guilt. He stared painfully at the door of the ward. He wanted to see if Dorothy had already woken up. His throat and eyes were dry, and his eyes had turned red. “In my entire life, the only regret I have is of my daughter.”
Facing this old man, who had always regarded himself as someone of importance, Jeremy sneered. He chose his words wisely, so as not to provoke him too much, “Uncle Yezoo, you don’t have to feel sorry. It was all Leilani’s fault. It’s none of your business.”
Yezoo shook his head and said, “No! If I had been careful back then, maybe my daughter wouldn’t have suffered so much.”
Combined with the information sent by his subordinates, not only did Yezoo know that Dorothy had lived a very difficult life in the welfare home, but he also learned that Caleb and Linda had adopted her when she was only a year old.
At first, she lived a good life, but after Caleb and Linda gave birth to their own daughter, Rosalie, Dorothy’s life turned for the worse.
Even after marrying Credence, the two of them didn’t have any children in the first four years of their marriage. After their divorce, she was imprisoned and moved away from Talco City for six whole years. Later, for some reason, she brought her daughter back to Credence’s side. As of now, she is still carrying Credence’s child in her womb, but she almost had a miscarriage…
She continued to suffer heartache after heartache.
If only he had been more careful, Dorothy would not have to bear all that pain.
As the dignified young lady of the Sherman family, she should have been on par with Juelz and Germaine, a girl blessed by the heavens, a girl who could live freely.
Instead of living under someone else’s roof and suffering a life of endless humiliation.
“Uncle Yezoo, don’t get too excited. No matter what, we have to wait for the results of the paternity test before we come to a decision.”
Jeremy was looking quite laid-back. He lit another cigar, took a puff, and looked at Ysabelle blankly. “Besides, Dorothy looks nothing like Mrs. Sherman at all. It’s really hard to tell whether this is true or not. According to Mrs. Sherman’s selfish nature, I really don’t think she could have given birth to a woman as kind and stupid as Dorothy.”
Ysabelle’s expressions immediately changed. She was so angry that she leaned on Yezoo’s wheelchair and gasped. “Jeremy, what do you mean by that? Will you only be satisfied once you’ve killed me from your sarcastic rage?”
“If I can infuriate you to death, then of course I will be happy.”
Boomf….
The woman threw her black handbag at him. Jeremy lazily stepped aside and avoided it. The ashes at the tip of his cigar fell onto his black suit, he raised his hand to wipe it away.
Having missed her target, Ysabelle’s face turned angrier, but she didn’t have the courage to shout and scold him out loud.
In her many years of secret dealings and plotting, she clearly knew just how cold-hearted and cruel her son was. He was ruthless to anyone that offended him, and he was even crueler to himself. She could no longer control him as easily as before.
Jeremy went to the hospital mainly to see Belle. At that moment, he was completely filled with anger by Ysabelle’s words. He dejectedly took a few heavy puffs from his cigar, turned around, and walked towards the ward.
Coincidentally, Belle was brought out by Jonathan. As soon as she pushed the door open, she spotted Jeremy and recognized him right away. She shook off Jeremy’s large hand, walked towards with her stubby legs, and stretched out her two tiny hands to grab his pants. She looked up and happily said, “Hey! Handsome Uncle Jeremy, what are you doing here? Did you come here to see me?”
Who was she calling handsome Uncle Jeremy?
Jeremy froze on the spot. He had been alive for 34 years, and his hands were stained by endless amounts of blood, yet he was still being called so affectionately by a little girl.
However, for some unknown reason, he couldn’t be cruel towards this cute little girl no matter how hard he tried.
Jeremy lowered his head, narrowed his eyes, and slowly fixed his eyes on Belle’s cute, little face.
After looking at her carefully, he found out that Belle had grown even thinner than before, and she had lost more of her hair. Her face and mouth looked pale, but her big blue eyes were still as bright and clear as ever.
His evil figure reflected in her eyes.
The more he looked at her, the more he felt she resembled him. No wonder that idiot, Wilson, would think that she was his illegitimate daughter.
She looked quite miserable, and her frail body had gotten even thinner. It seemed that her illness had worsened again.
However, this was Credence’s daughter, not his. It didn’t matter if she died or not, it was none of his business!
Jeremy sneered unhappily. “Who are you calling Uncle Jeremy? I would never have a half-dead daughter like you.”
Seeing how malicious he was, Yezoo, who was pushing his wheelchair, sighed to himself. “Jeremy, there is no need for you to lose your temper towards a child.”
The man turned his head, but there wasn’t a trace of malice in his eyes. He looked at Ysabelle’s face and said with a lazy smile, “Uncle Yezoo, you are mistaken. Whether there is a need for it or not still depends on Mrs. Sherman.”
As an outsider, Yezoo might not understand it, but Ysabelle would?
She was afraid that Jeremy would reveal everything she had done in the past, so she quickly walked towards Yezoo. She forced a gentle smile across her pale face. “Jeremy, enough joking with your Uncle Yezoo. Let’s get down to business.”
Jeremy snorted, as he had given up.
He had plans of his own. He didn’t want to expose all her dirty secrets at once. After all, it was more interesting to keep her in suspense and make it difficult for her to sleep every night than to beat her to death with a stick in one go.
Jonathan stood aside and watched the show. He raised his eyebrows with satisfaction and smiled. Then, he reached out to open the door and gestured invitingly. “Madam Chilton, gentlemen, please come in. Dorothy should be awake now. Both her and Credence are eagerly waiting for all of you!”