Chapter 843 Partiality
"What do you mean?" John asked.
Natalie took a sip of water. Her expression was indifferent as she said, "Caleb, I have no feelings for the Smith family and no memories of the Smith family. The only memories I have are unpleasant memories. Everyone knows what you did to me in the past, but now you want to recognize me? Don't you feel embarrassed?"
Without waiting for a reply, she continued, "Even if you don't feel embarrassed, I do."
Her last sentence silenced James.
"Natalie, all those things you experienced were done by your mother, Helen, not us!" Caleb said. Realizing that his words were not right, he added, "But your mother didn't know you were her daughter before. We didn't know. We sided with Susan because of our deep love for her. Now that you're about to become a mother yourself, can you not empathize?"
"If my daughter tried to intervene in someone else's marriage, I would've dragged her back and scolded her. If scolding didn't work, I would spank her. In any case, I would never do anything to an innocent woman and blindly support my daughter"
With each word Natalie spoke, Caleb and James' expressions turned even grimmer.
"So, do you understand now? Regardless of whether your past actions were intentional or not, I can't let bygones be bygones. You can continue to treat Susan as your daughter, and I won't return to the Smith family," Natalie said impatiently, "I have made myself clear, right?"
Martha, who was listening from the side, wanted to applaud Natalie's eloquence and logic. Once again, it struck her that she made the right choice in choosing Natalie.
"Natalie, no matter what, family ties can't be severed!" Caleb said stubbornly. Natalie resembled his late wife too much. She was once his late wife's most beloved granddaughter! Not bringing her back would weigh on his conscience!
"Samuel, have you lost your voice? Say something!" James said.
Samuel looked at his father, who was both angry and anxious, and said, "There's something you don't know yet. Mother almost caused Natalie to lose her child. Oliver was planning to send her to prison. I was able to bring her back because Oliver said it was to repay her favor of giving birth to Natalie."
In other words, Natalie owed nothing to the Smith family for giving birth. In fact, considering the number of times Susan and Helen had harmed Natalie and how every member of the Smith family, except Samuel, was an accomplice, there was no need for 'repayment'. After all those events, everything sounded absurd.
"You..."
James was rendered speechless. Even his son did not stand on their side!
"Are you done talking? Natalie is pregnant and needs rest," Martha said bluntly. She did not care about the Smith family's feelings. Then, she said to Natalie, "Natalie, go back first. I'll be back in a while."
"Alright." Natalie did not ask much and reminded Marjorie, saying, "Take care of yourself, don't get too excited."
After all, elderly people are prone to illness when agitated.
'I won't get excited,' Martha thought, 'With these fools from the Smith family, what's there to get excited about?'
When the Smith family heard Marjorie telling Natalie to 'go back first' and Natalie agreeing, they inexplicably thought that Natalie agreed to return with them.
'As expected, how could Natalie not want such a noble family like our Hastings family?'
However, when they saw Natalie leaving, they finally realized they had misunderstood.
"What? Did you think she was going to go back with you?" Martha asked knowingly, ignoring Caleb's glare. She continued to embarrass them, saying, "Originally, Natalie could have spent more time with you, but she needs to rest and recover now thanks to Helen."
James and Caleb's expression turned unsightly immediately. They could not refute those words at all. Indeed, Helen had put Natalie and her child in danger.
James already had little affection for Helen, and after Martha's words, he began to resent his wife.
'If it weren't for that ignorant and malicious woman, my daughter wouldn't have treated the Smith family like this!'
In fact, James did love Susan. However, the affection was quickly eroded by the truth of Natalie's background. Natalie looked like his mother, had a good reputation, exceptional professional abilities, and most importantly, she married well. Moreover, it was clear that Oliver listened to her a lot!
Comparing his biological daughter to his fake daughter, who was now in jail and had a tarnished reputation, the difference was like night and day.
"Furthermore," Martha continued to say as she looked at James and Caleb, "Don't think your Smith family is so important. She doesn't need your support. It's enough for her to have my support!"
…
The Smith family returned home feeling defeated and humiliated. They were rejected by Natalie in the first half and then mocked by Martha in the second half of their visit.
Martha had exposed all the unpleasant things the Smith family had done to Natalie in the past, and she knew even the details of what they said and did to Natalie when she was abroad.
By bringing up these things again, she was essentially exposing their hidden shame and telling them, 'You don't deserve to have Natalie back, let alone demand anything from her.'
"I won't give up. Natalie is the Smith family's daughter. She must return to the Smith family!" Caleb muttered to himself.
Samuel looked at him, feeling speechless. After a moment, he asked, "Grandpa, have you investigated what had happened back then?"
"What is there to investigate?"
"How did the wrong person get brought to the family? Why does Susan's DNA test show she was related to us?"
"That was so long ago. How could we investigate? It was probably a careless mistake. Susan did look a lot like Natalie when she was young, and the DNA test might have been a mistake by the hospital. Susan was so young back then," Caleb said. He emphasized the words, 'Susan was so young back then', implying that Susan was too young back then to have tampered with the DNA test.
Samuel's eyes darkened, and a hint of sarcasm could be seen in his eyes. They had no intention of investigating the past and giving Natalie an explanation, but they still wanted to bring her home?
'Keep dreaming!'
Samuel knew that Caleb and James did not want to investigate the matter, it had nothing to do with the matter happening so long ago.
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