Chapter 201 Threat, Reveal Identity If No Payment
Jessica denied furiously, "Impossible."
Jessica's fists clenched, her eyes burning with fury as she glared at Carter. She warned, "Carter, don't you dare talk trash about Giselle."
"Talk trash?" Carter sneered. "Why would I need to trash a woman with a ruined reputation? Think about it. You're Jessica Morgan. Your mom is Giselle Morgan. You took her last name, not mine."
Carter continued, "If you were my daughter, do you think I'd let you have the last name Morgan?"
Those words shattered the last bit of hope in Jessica's heart.
Yeah, she knew Carter too well. If she were really his kid, he'd have made sure her last name was "Dell," not "Morgan."
Jessica remembered asking Giselle when she was little, "Mom, why do all the kids in my class have their dad's last name, but I have yours?"
Giselle had hugged her and said, "Because my last name is unique, and your father is open-minded and doesn't care about such things. So, we decided you'd take my last name. Don't you like it, Jessica?"
Jessica replied innocently, "Yes, I like it a lot."
She was young and naive then.
So, she believed Giselle's explanation without question.
Later, in high school and college, she learned that some kids took their mom's last name, so she didn't think much of it.
But it turned out things were way more complicated than she had imagined.
"Mom," Jessica whispered, feeling utterly lost.
All along, she had longed for a father's love, for a responsible father, but it seemed like life was playing a cruel joke on her.
If she wasn't Carter's daughter, then whose daughter was she?
"Who is my real father?" Jessica asked as she looked up at Carter.
"How would I know?" Carter replied impatiently.
Jessica pleaded, "How could you not know? I'm begging you, for the sake of the last twenty years we've lived together, tell me who my father is."
Carter waved his hand dismissively. He stated coldly, "Begging me is useless. I really don't know. When your mother met me, she was alone, with no family info. I even suspect her name might be fake."
"All these years, you never got curious? My mother never hinted at anything?"Jessica asked desperately, needing to know.
Carter clarified, "I don't know. We had an agreement before we got married. Anything related to your father was off-limits. She gave me money, and my job was to play the role of a fake father, to give you a legitimate identity."
Carter's words extinguished the last glimmer of hope in Jessica's heart.
Her body slumped, and if she hadn't had something to hold onto, she would have collapsed to the ground.
Carter, however, felt even more annoyed and said impatiently, "I didn't come here today to help you find your real father, Jessica. Let me say it again: if you can't come up with $200,000 by tomorrow, I don't know what I'll do."
"What are you planning to do?" Jessica questioned as she looked at him, a terrible premonition rising in her heart.
Carter threatened, "I've been playing the role of a fake father for over twenty years, and I'm fed up. If you can't get the money, don't blame me for ruining your mother's reputation. I'll let her old neighbors, colleagues, and friends see what a loose woman she was."
He continued, "Jessica, you're so filial. You wouldn't want your mother to be cursed at her grave, unable to rest in peace, would you?"
He added, "And you, if everyone at the hospital knew you were an illegitimate child with an unknown father, how do you think they'd look at you?"
Carter sneered, baring his bloody fangs like a ferocious wolf. He had nothing left to hide.
Jessica felt utterly powerless. She could abandon herself, quit her job, and move away. But Giselle couldn't. She had worked tirelessly, raising Jessica alone. She had already suffered so much.
How could she let Giselle be talked about, criticized, and have her reputation tarnished even after death?
This was something Jessica could never tolerate.
And it was her fatal weakness that Carter had seized upon.
Jessica pointed out, "Carter, do you not have any conscience left? Even if I'm not your biological daughter, my mother lived with you for decades. You were married for decades. How can you bear to ruin her reputation?"
Jessica's anger grew as she spoke, her eyes red with fury. She was trembling with rage.
"Married?" Carter sneered. Then he replied, "Have you ever seen a married couple sleep in separate rooms? We just had a piece of paper. In over twenty years of marriage, she never let me touch her, not even a finger. What kind of marriage is that?"
Jessica snapped at him, "Even so, you lived under the same roof for so long. All these years, your expenses, your food, your entertainment, which one wasn't paid for by my mother? She didn't even spend on herself; she gave it all to you."
Carter retorted, "She didn't do it willingly. She was afraid I'd reveal your illegitimate status, so she was forced to give it."
Saying this, Carter stepped forward and grabbed Jessica's chin.
Carter remarked, "Jessica, your mother wasn't some noble saint. You think she was so good? She did it all to protect you."
He threatened repeatedly, "I'll say it one last time. If you don't have the $200,000 by tomorrow, I'll expose all your mother's affairs and your identity."
With that, Carter walked away without looking back.
Jessica yelled at him, "Carter! You scoundrel! You heartless man!"
Jessica watched his back, cursing in sorrow and anger.
$200,000? Where could she get $200,000? Even if she sold herself, she couldn't come up with that amount.
She would never let Carter ruin Giselle's reputation. No matter who her father was, Giselle was the best mother in the world to her. She would never let her mother suffer any indignity after leaving this world.
But she didn't have that much money. What should she do?
Jessica hugged herself, unable to hold back her tears any longer.
After work, Jessica checked her bank balance. She had borrowed from everyone she could, but only managed to gather $40,000, far from the $200,000 she needed.
Now, there were only two people she could turn to: Grace and Gabriel.
Grace had gone to the company yesterday to prepare for a new show, practicing dance intensively for a month in a completely closed environment, with no communication devices allowed, not even a phone. So, she definitely couldn't reach Grace.
As for Gabriel...
Jessica looked up and sighed. They had just started this new relationship. Asking him for such a large sum of money made her feel uneasy.
What's more, it was for Carter. Before they got married, Gabriel had told her, "Jessica, your gambler father has a lot of shady debts. Don't expect me to pay any of them."
