“No, that’s not true,” Jennifer murmured. Under Miriam’s merciless accusations and the collapse of her inner defenses, she completely fell apart. She crumpled to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably, all her carefully built facade shattered.
“Miriam, let’s go. We’ll talk about this at home,” Teresa said. Family matters should stay private, and right now, both Miriam and Jennifer were too emotional.
Jonathan grabbed Teresa’s arm, stopping her from leaving. He turned to Miriam. “Keep going. What else did she do to Teresa?” He was desperate to know everything.
Miriam took a deep breath. “There’s more to why Teresa went to Everport and refused to come back to Nareigh. Jennifer kept bothering and pressuring Teresa. Teresa was totally burned out and just wanted to escape the whole mess.”
“Teresa actually wanted to tell you about Mike a long time ago, but this so–called sister wouldn’t let her. She kept using the title of ‘big sister‘ to guilt–trip Teresa over and over, but she’s not even her sister!
“She keeps accusing others of being shady, but she was actually the one with bad intentions. She just can’t stand to see Teresa happy. With her around, Teresa will never have a moment’s peace.”
Jonathan looked at Teresa and asked, “Is what Miriam said true?”
“This is family stuff. I’m not talking about it with you,” Teresa said stubbornly. She didn’t want Jonathan to know how tough things had been for her. She turned to Miriam. “Quit talking. Let’s go.”
Jonathan seemed to catch that last bit of pride in Teresa’s eyes. He clenched his fists, but in the end, he chose to respect her and let her keep her dignity.
“I’ll let you leave for now,” he said. “I promise, not a single word of what happened today will get out of my company. You can all rest assured.”
“Thank you,” Teresa said from the bottom of her heart.
“Go home and cool off. I’ll check in with you later,” Jonathan said, then quickly arranged a ride for Teresa.
Once everyone left, Jonathan returned to his office. His mind was spinning, replaying Miriam’s account of Jennifer’s threats against Teresa.
‘If Jennifer isn’t Teresa’s sister, then who is she? Is she getting close to Teresa for some hidden reason?‘ Jonathan thought to himself, dead set on looking into Jennifer.
Meanwhile, Miriam got home first, and Teresa got out of the car right after her. She told Miriam not to pay any attention to what Jennifer said. Miriam had calmed down by now. As long as there was nothing between her and Teresa, she didn’t care about Jennifer’s nonsense. “But why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant? How many months along are you?” Miriam asked.
“It’s only been a few months,” Teresa said, lowering her head.
“Really?” Miriam frowned. “What’s going on in that head of yours? You even kept it from me. Am I still your bestie or not?”
Teresa stayed silent. After a while, she said quietly, “I’m sorry, Miriam.”
Miriam couldn’t stand hearing Teresa apologize, though she was hurt that Teresa had kept her pregnancy a secret. But seeing Teresa dealing with so much already while pregnant, as her best friend, Miriam didn’t want to pile on any extra pressure.
Chapter 746
“Honestly, if you told me you were pregnant earlier, I never would have looked into Jennifer. I didn’t want to make things messier for you right now.
“Maybe I’m the one who should apologize. I stuck my nose where I shouldn’t have and made you even more uneasy during your pregnancy,”
Miriam said.
Teresa patted Miriam’s shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Let’s not blame each other. Jennifer isn’t my sister–even if we don’t crack this today, we’ll figure it out sooner or later, right?”
Miriam nodded. “I’m gonna head out. Call me if you need anything.”
Once Miriam was out of sight, Teresa turned and got back in the car. Now, there was only her and Jennifer.
For the entire ride, Jennifer just stared out the window in silence. Gone was the hysteria from earlier–now she seemed to have moved into a cold, quiet calm.
Teresa didn’t say a word either. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts.
When they arrived at the hotel, Evelyn was already there, waiting.
Jennifer’s face was dark. She stared at Evelyn like she was facing her worst enemy.
“Hannah,” Evelyn called out, her voice strained and heavy.
“Don’t call me that. I’m not Hannah, who doesn’t even exist,” Jennifer snapped. “So who am I? What happened back then?”
“Calm down, Hannah.” Evelyn swallowed hard. “When I gave birth to you, my cousin was also in the same hospital having her baby. I suspect that our babies were switched.”
Jennifer took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright, then tell me–what’s your cousin’s name? Where is she now?”
“Her name is Peggy. I haven’t been in touch with her for years. She seems to have moved abroad,” Evelyn replied.
Tears welled up in Jennifer’s eyes. “Don’t you have any way to contact her?”
Evelyn shook her head. “I found her old phone number today and tried calling, but the call didn’t go through. She probably changed her number when she moved to Cerein.”
“Cerein?” Jennifer echoed.
“Yeah, she moved there a long time ago to build her career. heard from some relatives that she opened a plastic surgery clinic there, and it’s doing well. I’m not sure if she’s still in Cerein now. She’s always been independent,” Evelyn explained.
“Really?” Jennifer’s expression eased a bit, though unshed tears still glistened in her eyes. “She’s also an independent woman?”
“Yeah,” Evelyn replied. Catching Teresa’s about–to–speak look, she quickly motioned for her to keep quiet.
Then, turning back to Jennifer, Evelyn said, “It would be great if we could get in touch with her. I’ll keep trying, Hannah.”
Just then, Jennifer’s phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and said, “I’m heading home now. Donald’s off work, and I don’t want him to worry.”
“Let Teresa drive you,” Evelyn suggested
“No need. I’ll just take a cab, Jennifer replied, then turned and walked away.
2/3
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Chapter 746
Only then did Teresa turn to Evelyn and ask, “Why
she was messing around with Philip?”
didn’t you tell
her the truth? Why did you make Peggy sound like a decent person while
Evelyn
let
how could
out a sigh. “The grudges between adults are ours to bear; you kids
I just throw
away all these years of feelings between us?”
are innocent.
Even though Hannah
isn’t my daughter
anymore,
Teresa frowned, “She’s going to find
out sooner or later what kind of woman
her
mother
is.”
Hiding it was pointless.
