chapter 6
The new test was opened in front of every shareholder in the room.
The lab representative read the result in a steady voice.
“Confirmed. Mr. Gordon Meng and Miss Winnie Meng share a biological parent-child relationship.”
For one beat, the room went dead silent.
Then my family all looked at one another in confusion.
Because that answer should have comforted them.
Instead, it frightened them.
I took another sealed envelope from the representative’s hand and smiled.
“So Dad really didn’t lie to me. Winnie is my sister.”
My father visibly relaxed. “See? I told you.”
My mother reached for the report too, but before she could speak, I lifted the second envelope.
“Don’t rush. There’s one more test.”
The room turned toward me.
I opened it and held it high enough for everyone to see.
It was a DNA test between my mother and Winnie.
And the result was clear.
No biological relationship.
The blood drained from my mother’s face so fast it was almost unnatural.
My father shot to his feet.
“This… this is impossible.”
My mother snatched the report from my hand, scanned the last line, and then hurled the paper at my father’s face.
“Explain this to me, Gordon.”
Her voice shook.
“If Winnie is your daughter but not mine, then who exactly is her mother?”
My father started stammering. “No—listen, I—this has to be fake—”
I tilted my head. “That’s strange. A minute ago, in front of every shareholder here, you were very sure Winnie was your daughter.”
My brother was shaking now too, clutching the report like it might bite him.
“That can’t be right. Winnie can’t be Dad’s illegitimate child.”
I smiled at him sweetly. “Why not? Didn’t you hear him? He said she was our sister.”
He opened his mouth and nearly said something dangerous before my father shot him a murderous look and he snapped his jaw shut.
I folded my arms. “It’s okay. These days, even an illegitimate daughter can inherit shares, right?”
That was the final blow.
My mother exploded.
“Gordon Meng, don’t forget how you got where you are. If it hadn’t been for me, you would’ve stayed a poor nobody. And all these years you had a whole daughter outside? Right under my nose?”
The shareholders were whispering openly now.
“So Winnie really is his affair child?”
“He acted like a devoted husband all these years.”
“Poor Mrs. Meng.”
My father slammed a hand on the table. “Enough!”
Then he pointed at me, rage and panic spilling out together.
“Madeline, this is your doing. You’ll stop at nothing for those shares.”
Winnie burst into tears on cue.
“Sister, I know you hate me for taking your life, but none of that was my choice. I was brought here as a child too. Even if you resent me, you can’t frame me like this and destroy Mom and Dad’s marriage.”
There it was.
The performance.
My father grabbed at it like a drowning man grabbing driftwood. My brother backed him up at once.
“She must’ve bribed the lab!”
The representative stepped forward coldly. “Our process was fully compliant and legally documented. We will take full legal responsibility for the results.”
My father barked, “Then we’ll test again somewhere else.”
I smiled. “Of course.”
So we did.
In front of everyone.
A second elite lab.
Fresh samples.
Fresh report.
Same conclusion.
Winnie was my father’s biological daughter.
And she had no blood relation to my mother.
This time, even my father could not speak.
The whole conference room sat in absolute silence.
I broke it softly.
“Maybe Dad always knew. Maybe he just kept Mom in the dark.”
That did it.
My mother turned to him with bloodshot eyes like she wanted to tear him apart.
“Who is she?” she hissed. “Who gave birth to that girl?”
He had no answer left.
Within a week, my mother found the woman herself.
My father’s first love.
A rural woman who came storming into the city covered in dust and fury, then burst into tears the second she saw Winnie.
“My daughter,” she cried. “My real daughter. I lost you on a train after you were born. I thought I’d never see you again. Gordon Meng, you stole my child!”
My father looked sick. “I adopted her from an orphanage. I didn’t know she was yours.”
The woman laughed coldly. “Truthfully, back then I wasn’t even sure whose baby she was. But now I know.”
The room froze.
My mother slapped Winnie so hard she hit the floor.
“You little parasite. Just like your mother.”
Then she started ripping jewelry off Winnie’s body.
“These belong to the Meng family. You don’t deserve any of it. Get out. You and your mother.”
Winnie crawled to my father and clung to his leg, sobbing.
“Dad, please. Don’t send me away. I can’t go live in the country. I can’t.”
My father dropped to his knees in front of my mother and swore his loyalty in tears.
My brother wanted to help Winnie.
He looked like he did.
But one glance at our mother’s face and he lost his nerve.
In the end, Winnie was dragged out by the woman who gave birth to her, crying the whole way.
As she disappeared through the gate, my brother shoved me hard and pointed at my face.
“Happy now? This is all because of you.”
I stared at him, cold and still.
“Say one more word,” I said, “and I’ll throw you out too.”