A Millionaire Daddy? She Refused

Chapter 13: The brilliant game designer and her foster father 13

Ralph set Fiona down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. Then he gently stroked her hair and said softly,

“Get some rest. Don’t overthink things. What you need to do right now is focus on recovering.”

He didn’t mention a single word about what had happened that afternoon, which made Fiona quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

After Ralph left, Fiona’s expression immediately changed when she looked at Valeria.

“Why are you looking for me? You must be very pleased with yourself right now, aren’t you?”

Valeria put on a heartbroken expression at her sister’s suspicion. She explained,

“I’m not! I’m not even angry with you. I just want to know why you framed me.”

Fiona let out a cold snort, pulled the blanket tightly over herself, and turned her face to the wall, her meaning to dismiss the guest could not have been clearer.

Valeria stood there for a moment before pretending to leave in resignation. She didn’t forget to tease 001 as she walked away.

“Cutie, didn’t you say Fiona deeply cherished and was very tolerant toward her twin sister?”

001 felt as if its entire logic system had fallen into chaos. It asked in confusion,

“Why is this happening, Ms. Meredith? Why is everything we’re encountering completely opposite to the novel’s plot?”

Valeria smiled faintly and replied,

“What’s so hard to understand? A novel is written from the protagonist’s point of view. It naturally carries the protagonist’s subjective bias. That’s all.”

“But the novel clearly described this,” 001 insisted. “Fiona held Valeria’s hand, her eyes brimming with tears and affection. She said: ‘Valeria, you’ve suffered a lot before. From now on, just treat this as your home. If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll definitely help you in every way I can.’ Someone who could say something like that must value family deeply. How could she treat you so coldly now? Or… could it be that the current Fiona has been replaced by another soul, just like you replaced Valeria?”

Valeria fell into thought for a moment, then asked more carefully,

“In the novel, under what circumstances did Fiona say that? When exactly?”

001 scanned the plot again before answering,

“One day, right after Valeria came home from school, Fiona rushed over, hugged her sister, cried, and said those words. The timing was after the incident where Valeria supposedly stole the game Fiona designed. It should be within the next few days.”

A thought suddenly flashed through Valeria’s mind. She didn’t share it with 001 and only replied lightly,

“Then let’s wait and see.”

Only then did 001 bring up Ralph in a tone full of admiration,

“The male lead treats the female lead so well. Today Fiona framed you, yet even though he knew, he didn’t blame her at all. He still treated Fiona just as gently as before.”

Valeria couldn’t help but laugh at its naivety. She said,

“Have you never heard this saying? It doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white, if it catches mice, it’s a good cat. Whether Fiona is good or bad has nothing to do with the fact that she can make money for Ralph’s company.”

***

During the following week, everything proceeded as usual. Valeria still went to school every day, while Fiona continued to recuperate at home.

At school, Roger was constantly glued to Valeria, partly because he worried she might get bullied, and partly because… he was genuinely attracted to this beautiful classmate.

After straightening out the logic of the plot, Valeria was no longer as guarded against Roger as she had been at the beginning. More importantly, Roger’s goodwill was pure and sincere, making her reluctant to push him away. Besides, his blond hair and blue eyes strongly reminded her of an older boy who had once lived with her in the group home. Being around Roger gave her a strange sense of familiarity. Unfortunately, when she left with her mother at the age of ten, the two of them never had the chance to meet again.

Today after school, Roger didn’t walk Valeria straight to the school gate. Instead, he slowly led her around the campus.

Valeria had long noticed something unusual about his behavior, but she said nothing and simply waited for Roger to speak first.

Sure enough, after a while, Roger could no longer hold back.

“Valeria, half a month ago, Ralph Harold took you for a full medical checkup, right?”

Valeria nodded.

This had happened before she arrived in this world, but from the original host’s memories, she could confirm it.

“Ralph told me that since Fiona and I are twins, he was worried I might also have a congenital heart defect, so he took me for a checkup.”

Roger stepped a few paces in front of her, then turned to face her, his expression extremely serious.

“Valeria, Ralph lied! He took you to the hospital to run tissue compatibility tests with Fiona. I stopped by the hospital this morning before coming to school, and I saw the test results and the doctor’s assessment. The tissue compatibility between you and Fiona is very high, which means you could completely donate your heart to Fiona if hers fails.”

Valeria wasn’t surprised by this information. Ralph was a man who valued profit above all else, more precisely, a thorough pragmatist. There was no way he would have adopted her for no reason if she brought him no value.

From the very beginning, she had suspected Ralph’s motives. Why hadn’t he adopted her earlier, only coming to find her when Fiona’s condition had truly worsened? And why was Valeria’s heart transplanted into Fiona’s chest immediately after Valeria’s car accident?

Now, hearing Roger’s confirmation with her own ears, Valeria felt that all the events hidden beneath the original plot had finally become clear and logical. Whether driven by love or by profit, Ralph’s one and only goal from start to finish had been to save Fiona, so that Fiona could continue living and designing games for his company.