Chapter 1005:

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His laugh carried a sharp edge, filled with bitterness. “The Davis family tried their best to bury news of her suicide attempt, but my mother still found out. When she saw that Carole’s parents were still hesitating, she bribed a doctor to fake a pregnancy report.”

Mike’s eyes darkened. “My mother believed that as long as there was a ‘child,’ Carole would be trapped. To cover up the disgrace of an unmarried pregnancy, her parents would have no option but to marry her off to me. After the wedding, I could just get her pregnant for real and turn the lie into the truth. By the time she realized the dates didn’t add up, the dust would already have settled.”

The more he spoke, the paler his face became. Frustration and humiliation twisted together in his expression.

Not long after the marriage, Carole really did become pregnant. At the time, he had secretly been overjoyed, convinced his genes were exceptional. Only now did he realize the child had nothing to do with him. The one who passed on those good genes was Luca.

Luca stumbled backward as if the ground had been ripped out from beneath him. A few unsteady steps later, he collapsed heavily onto the icy floor tiles.

It had all been a lie. The so-called child that drove Carole into despair, the reason they abandoned their plans to run away together, had never existed in the first place. A forged pregnancy report had destroyed everything. Because of that cruel deception, he and Carole lost their future together. Even when she died, he never got the chance to see her one last time.

Adrian stood nearby in silence for a long while. The knot that had tightened around his heart for years had finally come undone. He wasn’t an illegitimate child. His mother had never betrayed anyone.

Yet there was no sense of relief inside him. What filled his chest instead was grief. His mother had been the true victim from beginning to end. The suffering she endured was far deeper than he had ever imagined. Even so, she never once took out her pain on him. She had stood in front of him like a shield, quietly blocking every storm while he remained unaware. And the man who caused all of it was Mike.

After forcing himself to calm down, Luca lifted his head and asked hoarsely, “How did Carole die? Did you cause the accident?”

Adrian pressed his lips into a thin line before answering quietly, “In a way… it was connected to me.”

R𝘦a𝘥 𝘧𝗋𝖾𝘦 𝗻о𝘷𝖾𝗅ѕ 𝗼𝗇 g𝖺𝗅nо𝘷𝗲l𝗌.со𝘮

Now that he knew the truth, many things that once seemed strange finally started falling into place.

“Etta may not have gotten along with my mother, but she genuinely cared about me. Even after I went abroad to study in Dranland, she visited me often.” He lowered his gaze slightly as he recalled the memory. “One day, I was in the bathroom removing my disguise before washing my face. Afterward, I put it back on and walked out. When I entered the living room, I saw Etta sitting on the sofa waiting for me.”

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