Natalie scoffed. "So loving her was easy, but loving me was a burden? Because I was the physical proof of your betrayal?"

That was exactly how Wendy had felt in the beginning. She stayed silent, unable to form an argument.

Seeing her silence, Natalie knew she had hit the nail on the head. It was terrifying how well Wendy had masked it all these years.

Natalie had had her suspicions, but someone had played her from the shadows.

She was utterly baffled. Who had interfered with the DNA tests?

She had suspected Nathan wasn't her real father and investigated discreetly.

It never occurred to her that someone would swap the results.

Twice, the paperwork had falsely proven she was Nathan's flesh and blood.

Wendy looked equally stunned. "Natalie, you actually suspected Nathan wasn't your father?"

Natalie nodded. "Yeah, I did. I was even paranoid that the first test was a fluke, so I ran a second one. I've never heard of a father who would try to destroy his own daughter. And it wasn't just once or twice. He took every single opportunity to ruin me."

"But both tests were tampered with. If it wasn't you, then who did it?"

Natalie hadn't managed to drag the truth out of Mrs. Griffith today, but she had certainly uncovered her own origin story from her mother's lips.

Wendy was drowning in guilt. It was a secret only she knew, yet Natalie had figured out Nathan's true nature long ago.

Biological or not, it didn't even matter anymore. Nathan had never cared for her as a daughter; he couldn't have cared less if Natalie lived or died.

Wendy's hatred for Nathan deepened exponentially.

Soon. Those people would get their karma soon.

Sophia had chased wealth and luxury her entire life, only to end up with nothing.

Natalie wasn't overly surprised by the outcome.

She had planned to dig deeper into the mystery, but the mess with Sebastian had derailed her focus.

Still, she was absolutely certain Nathan remained clueless about the truth.

Wendy's chest tightened painfully as she looked at her daughter's stoic expression. Back then, she had desperately wanted a little girl.

That was why she had poured every ounce of her maternal love into Joanna.

She never could have predicted how wildly out of control things would get.

Looking back, she hadn't even loved Nathan that much; she had just grown used to his presence.

She had carried so much guilt after that one night, which was why she had been endlessly generous to him and his relatives.

But she had been a complete joke all along. Nathan had only stayed with her to siphon her wealth.

"Natalie, do you think your real father could be somewhere close by? Watching your every move? Maybe he's the one who doesn't want you to know where you come from."

Natalie was genuinely taken aback by the theory.

If her real father wanted to remain anonymous, it made sense that he would pull strings to bury the truth.

It was a solid possibility. But whoever he was, he had covered his tracks perfectly.

A bitter smile tugged at Natalie's

lips. She had endured the betrayal of

her family and the absolute

destruction of her romantic

relationship. This new revelation

couldn't even leave a scratch on her numb heart.

"Honestly, the truth doesn't matter. Even if you're telling me my real father is someone else, I'm not the least bit curious. I don't even want youth my life. Why would I care about a man I've never met, who hasn't spent a single day raising me?"

"I was just too greedy before. I shouldn't have craved your maternal affection, and I definitely shouldn't have expected you to treat me like your own

have flesh and blood Krowing

the truth now, I don't blame you. forgive you. You can stop torturing yourself over it every night."