Chapter 362 Do You Know Whose Daughter She Is?
Steven looked at her and asked, "You gonna answer that?"
Laura sat up, rubbing her lower back. She shot Steven a look and grabbed the phone. "Josephine?"
Steven wrapped his arms around her and started massaging her back.
Josephine's voice came through, "Laura, if you're tired, just go back to sleep. It's nothing urgent."
"I'm up, it's fine," Laura replied. "So, how did things go with Gerald last night?"
"It went well," Josephine said, her voice a bit shaky. "I feel... I don't know, it's like this warm, beautiful feeling inside."
"That's awesome," Laura said. "Are you heading back to the Kalmien Family today? Want me to come with you?"
"No, I'll go alone," Josephine said. "I need to do this."
"Don't let them treat you badly again. They didn't give birth to you or raise you; you don't owe them anything."
"I know," Josephine said. "Actually, I wanted to ask, how should I tell Stuart about all this?"
"What's the fuss?" Laura pondered. "How about I break it to him?"
It could be a good opportunity to encourage him to treat Josephine more kindly.
"Sounds good," Josephine replied. "I'll swing by the Kalmien Family first."
After hanging up, Laura still felt uneasy. She dialed another number. "I should tell Stuart, let him go with her."
Steven got out of bed and handed her a glass of warm water. "Here, drink some water first."
Laura glared at him, "Last night you... Stuart?"
Stuart answered, "Yeah, it's me."
"There are two things I need to tell you."
Stuart already had a hunch. Gerald had been acting weird, and his behavior had made Stuart suspicious.
Steven had checked with a few identification agencies, so it wasn't exactly a secret. With Gerald's attitude, Stuart had pieced it together.
Sure enough, Laura said, "First, Josephine turns out to be the long-lost daughter of the Clarence Family. The paternity test sealed the deal."
Stuart was still a bit shocked. "How about Josephine? Is she doing okay now?"
No wonder Josephine called him last night, asking Jeffery to stay at Haustia Manor. He didn't get to see her.
"She's doing okay," Laura said. "Second, Josephine is going back to the Kalmien Family. I'm worried they'll mistreat her, so I wanted to ask if you could go with her."
"Got it." Stuart hung up, went downstairs, got in his car, and drove to Todd's place.
Upon arrival, he noticed Josephine's car was already parked there.
Josephine lived closer to Todd's place, so she'd been there for over ten minutes.
Todd had gotten Josephine's call and was waiting for her at home. He and Esther thought Josephine had come to apologize.
But when Josephine walked in and saw them, the first thing she said was, "I'm not your biological daughter."
Todd and Esther were stunned.
They had kept this secret for over twenty years; how did Josephine find out?
The only ones who knew were Percy and his wife, but they had passed away long ago.
"You..."
Before Todd could say anything, Josephine continued, "All my life, I thought I wasn't good enough, that's why you didn't like me."
Her eyes welled up, and she gave a bitter smile. "Turns out it wasn't that. No matter what I did, no matter how good I was, you would never like me."
Todd said, "What are you talking about? You're our only child. Isn't it normal for us to have high expectations of you?"
Esther chimed in, "Exactly. Without our strict demands, would you have gotten into such a good college?"
Josephine shook her head. "You don't need to say any more. My real family has found me, and the paternity test is done. I'm not your child."
Todd's face turned red with anger. "You ungrateful brat! No wonder you didn't care when the family was in trouble. You had other plans all along! If I had known, I wouldn't have raised you all these years!"
"Exactly!" Esther was fuming too. "Don't you know that the grace of raising you is greater than the grace of giving birth to you?"
Josephine's voice was steady. "If you consider picking me up and then ignoring me, treating me coldly, as a form of grace, then yes, you did raise me."
"Didn't my parents raise you? Without my money, could they have raised you?"
Josephine nodded. "Yes, I have never denied the kindness of the two elders. I just want to ask, since I wasn't your biological child, why did you adopt another daughter after having me?"
"Don't you know why?" Esther snapped. "Tell me, what benefits have we gotten from you! We told you not to get a divorce, did you listen? And now, you've brought an illegitimate child back from abroad. Do you know what people are saying about me and your dad? You've made us a laughingstock!"
Todd added, "Exactly! I wish we had never raised you! You've embarrassed us so much, and it's all your fault!"
"Fine, it's all my fault," Josephine said, her eyes welling up. "Let's go public with our relationship. Since I'm not your flesh and blood, let's cut all ties. From now on, anything related to me, Josephine, has nothing to do with you."
"We raised you all these years, and you think you can just sever ties like that?" Esther said. "First, you need to sign a document stating that you won't take a single penny of the Kalmien Family's company shares!"
Todd said, "How did your Grandpa and Grandma treat you? And this is how you repay us? The family is in trouble, and you don't care. Now you want to sever ties? If I had known you were like this, we wouldn't have raised you!"
"I'll never forget how Grandpa and Grandma treated me," Josephine said. "I don't care about the shares, but I won't let their company end up with outsiders."
"So, you still can't let go of the shares. And who are the outsiders here? It's you!"
"Grandpa and Grandma's will clearly states that I have the right to distribute the shares."
"That's based on the premise that you're a member of the Kalmien Family! Now that you want to sever ties, what do the Kalmien Family's shares have to do with you?"
"Exactly!" Esther's voice grew sharper. "You're shameless!"
"You two are the real shameless ones! You're not even worthy of being called parents!" Stuart's voice suddenly rang out.
Josephine turned around, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Stuart stood beside her. "How could I not come when you're being scolded like this? Why be polite to people like them?"
He then looked at Todd. "I'm really glad Josephine has nothing in common with you. People like you, Josephine should have left you long ago! As for the shares, who cares?"
"Stuart, that's not how it works. The act of raising her carries more weight than just giving birth. No matter what, the Kalmien Family raised her!" Todd's tone was somewhat flattering. "Don't you agree?"
Stuart smiled. "I just have one question. Since Josephine isn't your daughter, do you know whose daughter she is?"
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