Book 1: She Becomes Glamorous After the Engagement Annulment

Chapter 55

Chapter 163: Might She Be His Daughter?

The police were taken aback when they heard him. They asked, “Who exactly was the one who called the police just now?”

Before Melissa could speak, Wendy started to cry. She said, “Now that you’re here, sir, you have to help us! Henry and I are her parents, but she refuses to acknowledge us! The Anderson's have robbed us of our daughter!”

The police frowned and looked at the Anderson's again. They asked, “What’s going on?”

Nora, however, didn’t answer them in a timely manner.

She was staring at the policeman heading the team. Dressed in a policeuniform, his posture was tall and straight like an upright spear.

Nora felt that he was no simple person.

Although the policemen behind him also conducted themselves very professionally, they felt a lot more laid-back compared to him. The difference was like that of soldiers who had gone through life and death on the battlefield, and soldiers who had been kept in privileged conditions.

The policeman heading the team had a tight jaw and looked exceptionally resolute and determined.

The people behind him followed his lead. Someone said, “Captain Ford, I think these are family affairs. A bit of persuasion should suffice.”

Before he could finish, however, the man addressed as Captain Ford broke into a frown, causing the other policeman to immediately shut up in fright.

At the sight of this, Henry immediately shouted, “Sir, are one’s children obligated to provide for their elderly parents?!”

Ford pressed his lips together tightly. He spoke very little, but he nevertheless answered calmly, “Yes, they are.”

Henry went on. “In that case, if the children do not carry out their obligation to provide for their elderly parents, am I allowed to make a police report?!”

Ford looked at Nora again. He lowered his gaze and answered, “Yes, you are.”

Henry pointed at Nora and said, “She’s my daughter, but she refuses to acknowledge us anymore. What should we do about this, sir? Shouldn’t she be brought in and ordered to undergo counseling?!”

Ford’s lips were pressed tightly together and his tough visage was full of uprightness. He didn’t just listen to his one-sided claims and instead looked at Nora. “What do you have to say?”

Nora couldn’t help but find the so-called ‘Captain Ford’ a little strange.

She lowered her gaze dispassionately and replied unhurriedly, “It is only right for children to provide for their parents!”

Henry breathed a sigh of relief when she said that.

From the look of it, she must have finally become scared when she saw the police, right?

Henry let out a contemptuous laugh inwardly.

Wendy also breathed a sigh of relief. This was New York, after all; they had no contacts here. To be honest, she was actually also afraid that the Anderson's would use their power to bully them.Thus, she smiled and said, “It’s for the best that you see it like that, Nora.”

Roxanne also breathed a sigh of relief. She said, “In that case, why don’t we have a seat and talk about how Ms. Smith, as their daughter, should provide for her parents? Let’s make everything clear today, so that things can be done more conveniently after that.”

Melissa and Simon didn’t expect Nora to suddenly give in.

They exchanged a look.

However, they felt that since this was Nora’s choice, they should respect her decision. After all, when it came to things like family ties, those who weren’t the actual people involved would never be able to really know for sure how they felt.

Henry was still Nora’s father, after all. If she truly couldn’t let go of their blood ties, then it couldn’t be helped.

Everyone had different ways of thinking. Even though they didn’t agree with Nora’s decision, they couldn’t make the decision on her behalf, either. After thinking through it, Melissa simply said, “If that’s the case, then let’s talk about it inside.”

Since even Nora had given in, then they must also change their attitude accordingly.

Henry and Wendy exchanged a look. Then, they started to walk toward the door. When they reached the door, they couldn’t help but look at Melissa and say, “If you’d known this was coming, then why bother being so aggressive and driving us away yesterday?”

The couple’s eyes were full of triumph.

However, Nora blocked them at the door the next moment. The corners of her lips curled upward and she said, “The two of you can’t go inside.”

Henry and Wendy, “?”

Even Roxanne was dumbfounded. she asked, “What is the meaning of this, Ms. Smith? Didn’t you just say that it’s only right that children provide for their parents? Are you going back on your word so quickly?”

Nora cast her eyes down. She replied, “Children should indeed provide for their parents. However, why should I provide for someone who has no blood ties with me whatsoever?”

As soon as she said that, Henry’s eyes abruptly widened in shock.

Wendy was also stunned. She, who obviously didn’t know about this, looked at Henry incredulously. “What is Nora talking about, Henry?”

Henry swallowed. He said, “Y-you no-good daughter! How could you tell such a lie just so you can escape providing for us? You really are my daughter!”

Nora kept her gaze down. She didn’t waste her breath on him any further. Instead, she opened the electronic DNA test report file on her cell phone and held it up in Henry’s face!

Henry, “!!”

He stared at the report in shock. Suddenly, he thought back to the sharp pain he had felt on his scalp when he was leaving the Andersons the previous night… Could it be that…

How could it be, though?!

Why would she have doubts about it?! Yet if she hadn’t, was there any normal person who would have a DNA test done?

He absolutely mustn’t admit to it, though.

He hastily yelled, “The report is fake! It’s definitely fake!”

Fake?

Nora’s lips curled into a smile, and she ignored him. Instead, she looked at Roxanne and said, “Roxanne, you’re a reporter, so you must be very knowledgeable and know a lot. You should know of this DNA testing lab, right?”

Z&S was the most well-known DNA testing lab abroad. Its qualifications were beyond doubt because it was Anti’s property!

Roxanne looked at Henry immediately when she saw the lab’s logo.

_

In the hospital.

Ian had been watching the live-stream closely the whole time.

When the girl said ‘It is only right for children to provide for their parents!’, he couldn’t help but curl his lip with distaste.

In the end, she was just a daughter that Yvette had with someone else. Even though she looked like her, she wasn’t her. She ultimately still had her father’s cowardly nature in her and had actually compromised at a time like this.

Ian broke into a frown and decided to exit the live-stream.

However, it was at this moment that Nora said ‘Why should I provide for someone who has no blood ties with me whatsoever?’. Thinking that this was Nora’s way of dodging the topic, he even admired her cleverness.

After all, by saying that, the focus of the incident would change from a daughter refusing to provide for her elderly parents, to whether she really was their daughter or not.

Like Yvette, she was very sly and crafty.

Ian lowered his gaze. The thought had only just formed in his mind when Nora brandished a DNA test report!

The cameraman aimed the camera right at the cell phone, allowing everyone to see the screen clearly!

Nora Smith… indeed wasn’t Henry’s daughter!

Ian suddenly sat up straight. His eyes looked as if they were glowing in this instant as he stared hard at the live-stream on his cell phone!

If… If she wasn’t Henry’s daughter…

Then who did Yvette have her with?!

Could she be…

Ian suddenly flipped open the quilt covering him and made a move to get out of bed. However, the nurse outside the door rushed in and pressed his shoulders down. “What are you doing, Mr. Smith?”

Ian was so agitated that his eyes were turning red and moist.

He said, “Joel! Get Joel!”

The nurse immediately nodded. “Okay, we’ll look for him right away. Can you lie back down first, please?”

Ian lay back down.

He stared at the ceiling. There was only one thought in his mind at the moment:

Might she be his daughter?!

Chapter 164: The Kindness of Giving Birth To Her?

The comments in the live-stream had already gone nuts:

‘Oh my god! I actually just saw a plot twist online! She isn’t his biological daughter! My goodness!’

‘No wonder she isn’t close to her father! As it turned out, she isn’t his biological daughter! It’s no wonder, then!’

‘That’s too biased an opinion. The way I see it, the kindness one shows by raising a child outweighs that of giving birth to the child. Just because she isn’t his biological child, does that mean she can just forget how painstakingly he had raised her?’

‘I agree. If you can be a total ingrate just because you aren’t your parents’ biological child, then what kind of position do you put the families in who so kindly adopt children in the orphanage?’

‘I am an adopted child myself. My biological parents abandoned me at birth, but my adoptive parents treated me very well. Our relationship now is no different from that of blood-related parents and children. Does it matter whether we are blood-related or not?’

_

At the Anderson's.

Roxanne, who was astounded by the turn of events, was actually feeling a little embarrassed. She had come here solely to hype it up for her live-stream, as well as to persuade them to reconcile.

She hadn’t expected such twists and turns at all.

She couldn’t help but secretly blame and resent Henry for not telling her the truth. Besides, from the way he was reacting, he obviously knew about it. He just didn’t want to admit to it, that was all.

She frowned and glanced at the comments in the live-stream. Then, the quick-witted reporter said, “There’s no greater kindness than the love and care that one receives from their parents when they’re growing up, Ms. Smith. A DNA test report doesn’t explain anything. Since you grew up in the Smith's, then that makes them your parents. Do you really want to sever ties with your parents who had so painstakingly brought you up?”

The moment she said that, Wendy reacted very quickly. She took out a handkerchief from who-knows-where and held it over her eyes as she cried. She said, “I see. Did you distance yourself from us because of that? But think about it —when have we ever treated you badly during all these years?”

Henry’s expression had also darkened.

Having a fact like this exposed put him in an embarrassing situation. However, now that things had come to this, it wasn’t just a matter of whether it was embarrassing or not anymore.

He clenched his jaw and said, “Yes, you are indeed not my biological daughter, but on account of my relationship with your mother, I’ve treated you like my own all these years. I worked so hard to make money so that I could provide for you. Are you going to just negate our kindness in bringing you up just because you’re not my biological daughter?”

Roxanne heaved a sigh and said, “They’re your parents, Ms. Smith. It’s all thanks to them that you’ve grown from a helpless baby to the beautiful young woman you are now. As far as I know, you were home until you were at least 19 years old. You…”

The trio joined forces to denounce her.

Nora cast her eyes down.

She didn’t like exposing her affairs to others, and letting them know that she had never been loved since she was a child; or that she had always hidden herself in a pitch-dark room since she was a child; or that when she was still a child without any means of retaliation, she could only eat food that had gone bad and drink cold water.

She disliked even more letting others know how miserable her life had been when she was a child.

Someone as strong and powerful as she had never needed anyone’s sympathy.

Besides, she wasn’t eloquent enough to talk about those things.

However, it wasn’t her style to allow those three people to twist and distort the truth, either.

Nora lowered her head, held up her cell phone, and tapped a few times on it with her long and slender fingers.

As a result, all the viewers in the live-stream could see was the sight of her completely ignoring the three people’s words and playing with her cell phone with her head down, which made her look very rude.

The negative comments in the live-stream became even worse.

‘That little missy is really pretty, but why doesn’t she know how to conduct herself properly?’

‘No matter what, your parents did raise you into an adult. You can’t just do that!’

‘Those are the Anderson's. Looks like I really can’t patronize Harmonia Pharmacy’s medicines anymore. How can their medicines be any good when the people making them are so heartless?’

‘I heard that her aunt—that is, Mrs. Anderson over there—isn’t any decent human being, either.’

_

All sorts of verbal abuse bombarded the comments in the live-stream.

Melissa was livid. She said, “Why don’t you ask yourselves whether or not you really treated Nora well?! If you had, why would you stop her from ever going to school?!”

Wendy let out a sigh. “That’s because she has in poor health. We’ve spent a lot on her over the years because of her health! In fact, we used to have quite a lot of income, but because of her condition, we’ve depleted all our savings… I know you must think that we’re doing this for money, and to tell the truth, we are indeed doing this for money; but that’s because we’ve been driven into a corner and are at our wits’ end!”

Wendy held her hand over her eyes and wept as she said, “Even though our elder daughter has spent all our savings, by right, since the money was for her medical fees, it shouldn’t matter. Our younger daughter is now in graduate school and isn’t working, the family is out of money. At this point, our elder daughter is found by her wealthy relatives. I heard that Nora’s mother owns some of the Andersons’ company’s shares, so she’s very rich now. We’re just hoping that she can take out some money—even just a few thousand dollars would do—to help the family out. I have my own selfish motives too! I really feel so terrible seeing my younger daughter live from hand to mouth! Nora, as an elder sister, can’t you even spare your sister a bit of what you have when you’re doing well? Your father and I are old, so we can do without it. We’re willing to even live off scraps! But your younger sister is such an outstanding girl.”

Her acting could really make anyone listening to her weep in sadness.

Melissa had always been a very eloquent woman, but even she was astounded by Wendy’s shamelessness.

Simon took an even more straightforward approach. To him, if spending a small amount of money could resolve the issue, then he would just do it and have them drop the issue altogether. He wouldn’t hold it against them anymore, either. Thus, he asked, “How much are you planning to ask Nora for?”

His question made Wendy’s eyes light up. She replied, “How about this? Not only is Nora rich now, but we also only sent her to the doctors last time because she was supposedly Henry’s biological daughter. In that case, we’ll have her return us all the money we spent on her medical treatment during all these years. If she doesn’t want to be involved with us in the future, we won’t come anymore, either. We’re not asking for too much, right?”

The live-stream was filled with comments such as:

‘Their request isn’t too much at all!’

‘Exactly. I don’t find Ms. Smith a good person, either. In that case, they might as well have her pay them a lump sum and cut her off after that!’

‘Since she wants to cut them off so much, they should properly settle all the accounts from the past. Why stick to just medical expenses? They should also include everything else like living expenses and so on!’

_

While such comments were being passed in the live-stream, Nora finally raised her icy-cold eyes and spoke. She said, “Sure. In that case, let’s settle the accounts properly. Let’s take the meals I ate ever since I was a child as five dollars each. That makes fifteen dollars a day. In total, that’s—”

Wendy smiled and interrupted her. She said, “Is there a need to go into such detail, Nora? All of this happened twenty years ago. Who would remember them that clearly? Why don’t we do this instead? Let’s just calculate the few big expenses instead. The first is your medical expenses. Next, during those few years you were abroad.”

Henry nodded and said, “Yes, that’s right. We’ll forget about the daily food expenses and so on. I’ll just take it that I was feeding a dog. Let’s just calculate the few big expenses instead.”

“No, that won’t do.” Nora stood tall and straight, and a sharp glint flashed in her drowsy-looking eyes in this instant. Her lips curled upward into a smile and she said unhurriedly in a low voice,“I’ve always been one who distinguishes clearly between gratitude and grudges, so I mustn’t leave out even a single cent. I have a detailed breakdown of your bank records here.”

Chapter 165: The Truth!

His bank records?

Henry was stunned.

So was Wendy.

The next moment, Henry sneered, “Do you think you’re a bank teller? How would you possibly have our bank records?”

Nora, however, ignored them and looked at Melissa instead. She said, “Aunt Melissa, the printer at home has already printed them out. Please get someone to retrieve them.”

The printer?

She hadn’t noticed Nora going to the computer and doing anything, though~

However, she kept quiet about it and went upstairs with the nanny instead. Within a minute, the two of them came back down with a stack of papers.

Nora took out a few sheets from the stack and passed them to Roxanne. She said, “These are the family’s income details.”

Roxanne was taken aback, but she still took the papers from Nora.

Printed on them were details of income that their bank accounts had received over the years.

Every month, Idealian Pharmaceuticals would transfer a sum of money into one of the bank accounts. They amounted to roughly five million dollars a year. This had gone on for 25 years without any interruption at all.

Most importantly, it was the only source of income for all bank cards under the Smiths!

Roxanne was stunned. “What does this mean?”

Nora’s lips curled into a smile as she answered, “Idealian Pharmaceuticals is a company under my mother’s name before she got married.”

A furious Henry retorted, “It became our joint property after we got married!”

Roxanne was dumbfounded. She said, “In other words, your entire family’s income comes from the company that your mother left behind? In that case, what positions do the two of you hold in the company, Mr. and Mrs. Smith?”

The whole family’s income came from Nora’s mother’s company.

Therefore, Roxanne had subconsciously assumed that the two of them worked in the company.

But unexpectedly, Henry and Wendy’s expressions changed as soon as she uttered the question, and both of them became rather embarrassed.

Nora’s lips curled into a smile as she said, “Oh, them? … They don’t hold any positions in there because my mother has handed the company over to a professional manager to handle its affairs.”

Roxanne, “?”

Nora looked at Henry and Wendy, and asked, “The two of you claim that you worked really hard to make money to provide for me, right? May I ask how much, if any, did the two of you make during all these years?”

Her words made Henry flush.

Wendy hemmed and hawed, unable to say anything.

Henry, however, became angry and said, “I told you, those dividends are our joint property after your mother and I got married, so that makes them mine!”

“Tsk.”

Nora smiled and said, “If I recall correctly, my mother left the company to me. Before I come of age, the company was to be managed by a manager, and the dividends entrusted to my guardian—in other words, you. The company is mine now, though.”

These were all agreed on beforehand. The manager had already shown her the prenuptial agreement a long time ago.

Even though Nora still looked half-asleep, her argument was reasonable and well-founded. She looked straight at Roxanne and said, “Therefore, their claim that they worked hard to make money is completely invalid!”

The viewers in the live-stream were also dumbfounded.

‘Damn. So, after all this time, it turns out that they have been living off Ms. Smith’s mother all these years?’

‘What is this? Did he marry into his ex-wife’s family instead of the other way round?’

‘So, after so many years of spending money meant to provide for Ms. Smith, Mr. Smith, a man who sponged off his ex-wife, has found his way over because he doesn’t have any more money to spend?’

‘What is it like to count money at home every day without going to work for more than twenty years? That’s an annual income of over five million dollars and a monthly income of $40,000 to $50,000! Oh my god! How do you even spend that much money?’

‘This plot twist is seriously making me lost for words!’

_

Back at the Andersons’, Henry clenched his jaw.

Wendy straightened her neck stiffly and said, “Even so, we did bring you up! The dividends were all spent on you! Money and whatnot aren’t what matters; what matters the most when a child is growing up is companionship! It’s the fact that we gave you a home!”

A home?

For Nora, that word was a ludicrous mockery in itself.

She scoffed and handed another thick stack of bills detailing the Smiths’ expenditures to Roxanne. She said, “You can check the bills and see for yourselves just how much of the money was spent on me.”

Henry swallowed.

Wendy couldn’t help but smile hastily and say, “How can anyone possibly remember every single expense that took place over a period of more than twenty years, Nora? No matter what, we’re still a family!”

Nora ignored her. She merely looked at Roxanne and asked, “Can you do accounting?”

Roxanne replied, “Yes, I can.”

For some inexplicable reason, she was now at a disadvantage.

She was obviously a reporter who came to mitigate a family dispute. Why had she suddenly become someone’s assistant instead?

Before one even realized, that woman had already taken control of the situation.

The corners of her lips spasmed as she took out the bills and started going through them.

It would probably take a really long time if she were to really calculate the expenses like that. Thus, Nora kindly said, “Just now, they claimed that they spent all their savings on my medical expenses. Why don’t you calculate how much they’ve spent on that?”

People were required to register with their actual names when they went to the doctors.

If they brought her to the doctors, there would definitely be records of it.

Roxanne nodded and started to look through the bills starting from 25 years ago. At the same time, she also got the cameraman to take out his cell phone and calculate the numbers.

After going through a few pages of the Smiths’ expenditure records, she was stunned. It wasn’t until it reached the point where Nora was five that she finally found a medical record from a hospital. She said, “… 30 dollars.”

The cameraman, “?”

Nora cast her eyes down.

That one was because she was too hungry, so she had eaten expired food and ended up suffering from food poisoning.

Henry ultimately couldn’t let her die. After all, if she were to die before she came of age, then the family’s dividends would be cut off.

Yet, he couldn’t bear to send her to a hospital, so he had sent her to a clinic for an IV drip instead, which had saved her life.

While looking through their expenses in the bills, Roxanne also saw expenses amounting to large sums of money. They were either for expensive handbags and jewelry—Ms. Smith was only a few years old at that time, so they couldn’t have been bought for her—or for stocks or other kinds of investment, which, needless to say, had all ended in losses.

The family’s food expenses were indistinguishable because they were all mixed together.

Another large expense was school fees for an international school, which required almost a hundred thousand dollars in tuition fees every year. However, everyone knew that Ms. Smith didn’t attend school due to poor health, so it went without saying who the tuition fees were for!

The more she saw, the more shocked Roxanne became. At the same time, she also couldn’t help but secretly call Henry a shameless man.

Nora cast her eyes down.

To be honest, there was no way of telling from the bills who the children’s food and clothes were bought for, but she couldn’t be bothered to explain, either.

The clothes were all Angela’s. She was fat back then, so she had worn pajamas instead, and even so, the pajamas were things that Angela had rejected.

However, one could also say that the things that she had experienced in her childhood were a kind of training for her.

Through the camera, Roxanne’s changes in her facial expression and her embarrassment reached everyone who was watching the live-stream.

Although she hadn’t said a word, everyone was great at filling in the blanks, so they immediately understood something—

Henry and his family must have mistreated their elder daughter!

Wasn’t this a classic example of a man marrying into his wife’s family and sponging off her, and then hogging her assets after he successfully waited until she died?!

The general opinion of the comments in the live-stream changed, and they began to attack Henry.

Henry himself also realized something.

He immediately removed all his pretenses, stared at Nora, and yelled furiously, “Do you know why I didn’t treat you well? It’s because your mother cheated me into a wedding scam! She got herself pregnant before marriage and lied to me!”