Chapter 620:

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Jasper looked off to the side, caught in thought. “Maybe Brody brought you home with a plan already in place—and Marc was in on it.” Back then, it wasn’t unusual for families to adopt girls just to pair them off with their sons later on. Some did it out of desperation, fearing their poverty might result in no normal marriage. Others leaned on superstition, hoping charity might bring fortune.

The Wilsons had once been a family of status and wealth. But that had already begun to change by the time Brody came into the picture. They weren’t what they used to be.

That was why it made sense. They might have adopted her with the hope that the goodwill of making her life better might bring them fortune.

So Marc probably knew from the beginning. From the moment they met, he might have already made up his mind. She wasn’t a sister to him—she was his future wife.

Even if that were true, Jasper still couldn’t wrap his head around one thing—why Brody and Cathy left her behind in the countryside.

“Toffee, do you remember how old you were when you were sent away?”

Nicole paused to recall. “It was right after I turned five. My… his grandma had just passed.”

Jasper leaned in. “Did you get along well with her?”

“I don’t remember much from when I was small. But I do remember when I was five. She treated me like I was her own. Better, even. She gave me shares in the company. I didn’t know it then, but I wasn’t just another kid in the house.”

“Then after she was gone, Brody and Cathy showed who they really were,” Jasper analyzed.

Nicole caught the meaning behind his words. She looked at him. “Do you think I was only accepted because of her?”

𝖠ddіc𝗍i𝘷𝗲 s𝗍oriеѕ 𝘰𝗇 𝗴𝘢l𝗻о𝗏e𝘭s.𝘤o𝗆

Jasper nodded. “If they didn’t like you, they wouldn’t have taken you in. And if they had to, they would’ve sent you away long before.”

“So maybe she planned for me to be Marc’s to-be-bride. And Brody and Cathy never agreed to it?”

Jasper gave a second nod. “That’s possible. Or maybe they brought you back, and she didn’t know the truth—that you weren’t really hers. She saw how poorly they treated you. She probably felt sorry. Maybe that’s why she gave you so much.”

Brody’s mother was long gone now. Whatever the real story was, only Brody and Cathy knew it. She believed that the truth would come out sooner or later.

“Jasper, let’s stop talking about this. You should get some sleep. Tomorrow—”

She stopped when she heard the door open. Expecting to see Aidan, she turned around.

But it was Felicia. She sat in an automatic wheelchair, her brows low and tense.

Nicole’s eyes went cold. “What are you doing here?”

Felicia didn’t flinch. She met Nicole’s gaze with one just as cold.

“Nicole,” she said, her voice sharp. “You’re not Jasper’s sister at all.”

Jasper’s gaze chilled in an instant. Whatever warmth he’d held vanished completely. His eyes narrowed. His stare cut through Felicia. Her presence made his stomach turn.

Felicia noticed the silence. The air in the room thickened. Every second added weight to her chest.

Still, one thought ignited within her. Nicole, once nothing, had somehow turned herself into the Powell family’s treasured daughter.

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Message from Noa: We’re in the final quarter of the year, my dear ones, hang in there! God loves you and Noa wishes you all the best. (ɔO‿=)ɔ ♥

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