Chapter 287

Verena led Alec and Laura straight to her hospital.

Once the DNA samples were collected, the hallway turned into a place of restless waiting.

Without saying a word, Verena took a seat on a bench, her eyes never leaving the closed door ahead.

Alec and Laura lingered nearby, their faces a mix of nerves and mounting confusion.

Laura lowered her voice, unable to hide her worry. "Alec, do you have any idea what she's really after?"

Irritation flashed in Alec's eyes as he snapped back, "You think I can read her mind? Your guess is as good as mine."

A nurse eventually returned with an envelope in hand. Verena accepted it with a cool nod, barely glancing at the nurse before unfolding the paper. The words"no biological relationship" stared up at her. Her face showed nothing. She had expected as much.

This was not the first time she had faced the truth.

Alec reached for the report so quickly it almost tore in his hands. His eyes scanned the page until they landed on the words"no biological relationship",and in that instant, his entire body locked up.He stood motionless, staring in stunned disbelief, unable to look away.

"This isn't possible..." said Alec, his voice trembling as he shook his head. "There has to be some kind of error!"

Laura stood rooted beside him, her eyes wide, face pinched in shock and confusion.

Confusion carved sharp lines across Laura's face. Her eyebrows knitted together as she struggled to make sense of what she was seeing.

Turning toward Verena, she couldn't hold back anymore. "Verena, I gave birth to you. For nine months, I felt every heartbeat.How can you not be my daughter?" Verena showed no sign of emotion. She watched the meltdown before her with chilly indifference.

A flicker of amusement crossed her lips as she took in the sight of Alec and Laura teetering on the edge,both their worlds crumbling in front of her.

Cold and direct, Verena didn't botherhiding her contempt. "How long are you planning to keep this charade going?"

Her words cut sharper than glass, and her stare left no doubt about how little respect she had left for either of them.

Alec's face flushed crimson, fury overtaking confusion.

"What's gotten into you, Verena?" His voice thundered down the corridor, drawing stares from people nearby.

Embarrassed by the attention, he leaned closer, dropping his voice. "First you drag us to this hospital,now you're tossing out accusations. What are you after, exactly?"

Every glance at Verena fueled his anger; he was certain she was stirring up trouble just to spite him.

Verena faced him, the chill in her posture radiating from the quiet tension in her narrow shoulders.

Disgust twisted in her gut.

She'd clung to the hope that Alec and Laura might finally tell the truth themselves. Clearly, that hope had been wasted.

Without a word, Verena unzipped her handbag and pulled out a crisp, folded sheet of paper.

Every movement was deliberate as she walked over and held the document out to Alec.

"Read it for yourself. There's no hiding from the truth now." Her tone was measured, every syllable steady and clear.

Alec's hands shook as he unfolded the report, his eyes racing across the lines until the answer became painfully obvious. There it was in black and white-Verena and Luis were biologically related. Luis Sampson, whose name alone was enough to send ripples of fear through the city's elite.

The revrelation was impossible to deny. Verena wasn't their daughter. She was a Sampson by birth.

Alec's legs suddenly gave out, and he nearly dropped to the floor as the truth hit him like a physical blow.

Laura's eyes stayed glued to Alec, picking up on the tremor in his limbs before he even faltered. She lunged forward, wrapping an arm around him to keep him upright.

Curiosity and dread tangled inside her. What could have possibly rattled Alec this much?

After making sure he wouldn't collapse, Laura edged closer, snatching a peek at the report in his hands.

Her whole body stiffened. Every ounce of color drained from her face as she read the words that shattered everything she thought she knew.

She and Alec stared at the test results, both so shaken that neither could speak.

The silence dragged on until Verena finally broke it, her voice sharp and cutting. "You've seen it for yourselves,haven't you? I belong to the Sampson family. Luis Sampson is my brother. You have never been my family-not by blood."

The look she gave Alec and Laura was nothing short of ice-cold. Any wish for reconciliation had burned away, leaving only years of betrayal and anger in its place.

"So tell me-how did you pull me away from the Sampson family all those years ago?" Verena's tone dripped with accusation, her anger barely contained.

"You'd be wise to come clean now. Because if you don't, neither the Bennett family nor the Sampson family will ever let this go."

Laura reeled, her mind spinning with shock and resentment.

She never dreamed she could raise a child only to discover she belonged to someone else all along.

Laura's thoughts spun into chaos. Could it be true that she had spent all these years raising someone else's child? The longer she dwelled on it, the heavier her chest felt, as though a stone had settled there and refused to move. Bitterness clawed at her, feeding a growing unwillingness to accept the truth.

But when she looked up and met Verena's unyielding stare, a chill crept through her. Fear replaced every ounce of defiance.

Both the Sampson and Bennett families carried power she dared not provoke. If Verena truly believed she'd been stolen, the fallout would be catastrophic.

Driven by desperation, Laura rushed forward, words tumbling from her lips. "Verena, I swear I don't know what this is about. You're the daughter I gave birth to! If you doubt me, then check the records. It was Plentlight Hospital, the year you were born. I never took anyone else's child-I swear it!"

Alec, meanwhile, was drowning in his own storm of emotions. Frustration pounded in his chest until it hurt to breathe.

Rage burned across his face, his chest tightening with a mix of regret and unwillingness that left him restless.

The thought gnawed at him-how could the girl he had raised all these years turn out to belong to someone else?

All those sacrifices, all that time-was it nothing but a wasted effort?

Memories of how cold and dismissive he had been toward Verena struck himn like a blade, a pang of panic carving deep into his heart.

The reality of the Sampson family's power pressed on him next. They weren't just influential-they were untouchable.

Had things not fallen apart between them and Verena, there might have been chances to build even stronger ties through her.

For the first time, Alec admitted to himself that they had backed themselves into a corner.

If he could turn back time, he would have handled Verena very differently. A heavy sigh escaped him. The test results left no room for denial, yet he clung to the stubborn thought that she was still his daughter.

In his eyes, Verena was remarkable. Her beauty, her talent, her strength, all of it set her apart.

Whether he said it aloud or not, Alec had always counted on her to be the pillar that carried the Willis family into the future.