madnovel Chapter 527: Biased
Chapter 527: Biased
The little girl who once called her "Mommy."The child she personally raised. The daughter who clung to her arm while learning to walk.
How could all of that suddenly become fake?
"We can’t..." Melody whispered shakily. "We shouldn’t rush things."
Her voice became softer and softer. "At the very least, we should speak with Thessy first."
Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.
"Maybe we shouldn’t reveal everything immediately. Otherwise... otherwise she’ll become too shocked."
The more she spoke, the more emotional she became. "My poor baby..."
Her voice cracked painfully. "She’ll definitely cry after learning the truth."
The moment she said those words, Conrad finally lost the last bit of patience he still possessed.
A cold chuckle escaped his lips.
"Well," he said calmly, "that’s assuming she doesn’t already know."
The instant those words fell, the entire room froze.
Even the air itself seemed to become heavier. Phillips was the first to react.
"That’s impossible."
His expression instantly darkened. "If Thessy knew something like this, she would’ve told us long ago."
Hearing those words, Conrad merely leaned back against his chair while crossing his arms calmly.
"I already investigated everything thoroughly."
His voice sounded terrifyingly composed.
"Wouldn’t you all like to know what happened after Thessy learned the truth?"
The room remained deathly silent.
Then Conrad slowly placed another investigation file onto the table.
Once everyone finished reading it... a suffocating silence filled the room.
Melody immediately shook her head repeatedly. "No..."
Tears streamed down her face.
"My Thessy isn’t like this."
Hearing her denial, Conrad suddenly laughed softly again.
"If that’s truly the case," he replied coldly, "then why don’t we test her ourselves?"
Phillips instantly frowned. "There’s no need to test her."
His tone became defensive immediately.
"I know Thessy. She would never do something like this."
Then his eyes turned cold as he looked toward Conrad.
"You must’ve already been manipulated by that Lana girl."
The moment those words left his mouth, Conrad’s gaze instantly turned icy.
"Don’t you dare disrespect Lana again."
His voice became dangerously cold.
"Otherwise, I’ll cut off your entire allowance immediately."
Hearing those words, Phillips instantly clenched his fists tightly in anger.
He desperately wanted to shout back.
He wanted to declare that he did not care.
However... the words never came out.
Because he knew the truth very well.
Currently, Phillips was merely an e-sports player without any stable income. Almost all his expenses were still supported by Conrad personally.
Seeing him remain silent afterward, Conrad turned toward Melody again.
"You’re the best hacker here, Mother."
His voice remained emotionless. "So go ahead."
He pointed toward the phone calmly. "Hack into your own daughter’s phone and see the truth yourself."
Hearing those words, Melody visibly hesitated.
Her hands trembled slightly. Still... after several long seconds, she finally took out her phone slowly.
Meanwhile, at that exact moment, Thessy was preparing to leave for another public event.
After being exposed repeatedly online recently, she had already begun considering another path entirely.
’It would be better to marry into a wealthy family before my real identity is revealed completely,’ she thought silently while adjusting her makeup in front of the mirror.
As long as she secured her position beforehand, even the truth later would not completely destroy her future.
However... suddenly, her phone vibrated.
The moment she saw the notification, her expression stiffened instantly.
Someone had sent her a strange message. "We already know about the baby swap."
For a brief moment, Thessy felt her entire body go cold. Still, she quickly forced herself to remain calm.
Her fingers trembled slightly while typing. "I don’t understand what you mean."
However, the very next second... another file arrived.
Inside it were Lana’s DNA test results placed side by side with the Peterson family’s results.
The color immediately drained from Thessy’s face.
Her breathing became uneven. Then she quickly typed again.
"Who are you? What exactly do you want?"
The moment Melody saw those panicked replies through the hacked system, her heart sank completely.
So did Thompson’s. Even Phillips became silent.
After all... until now, they genuinely believed Thessy was a kind and innocent girl.
But these messages clearly proved one thing. Thessy had known the truth for a very long time.
And yet... she still chose to lie to them.
Thompson slowly closed his eyes heavily. Then he finally spoke.
"We need to bring Lana back."
His voice sounded exhausted.
He truly could not bring himself to hate Thessy completely after raising her for so many years.
However... the fact that she knowingly deceived the entire family still left a bitter taste in his heart.
Meanwhile, Melody completely broke down emotionally. She covered her mouth while sobbing uncontrollably.
Phillips, however, still could not accept everything so easily.
"But she was only trying to survive!"
His voice suddenly rose emotionally.
"If you look at this situation from her perspective, you’ll realize she’s innocent too!"
He clenched his fists tightly.
"She never asked to be swapped in the first place. Everything started because of that kidnapper."
Then his expression darkened further.
"And what about Lana?"
His tone carried dissatisfaction now. "If she already knew the truth, then why didn’t she come to acknowledge us herself?"
Phillips frowned deeply. "She stayed silent all this time."
His voice became colder.
"Isn’t that basically equivalent to saying she doesn’t even value the Peterson family that highly?"
The moment Conrad heard him continuously defending Thessy while blaming Lana instead, his anger finally exploded completely.
He suddenly laughed coldly. "Oh?"
His icy gaze locked directly onto Phillips. "So in your eyes, everything is Lana’s fault now?"
Phillips immediately fell silent.
Conrad stood up slowly afterward.
"Even if Thessy originally knew nothing," Conrad continued coldly, "the moment she learned the truth, she still chose not to help Lana."
His voice became sharper.
"Doesn’t that already say enough about her character?"
The room became completely silent.
Then Conrad slammed the investigation file onto the table.
"Did any of you even properly read how much Lana suffered?"