The guys in the room all looked pretty chill.
Laura, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves, pacing back and forth.
Steven grabbed her arm. "Laura, sit down and chill. The facts aren't gonna change."
Laura shot back, "How do you know? What if someone can't stand Josephine doing well and tries to mess things up?"
"Come on, that's not gonna happen," Steven said, pulling her into a chair. "Relax."
Gerald glanced at Laura. He hadn't thought of that, but as soon as he saw Josephine, he had someone look into it.
For this paternity test, he had multiple labs working on it at the same time.
Sure enough, they found out that Alfonso had tampered with the previous test results.
In the past couple of days, Gerald had also had someone dig into Todd's background.
Gerald was almost certain Josephine might be the lost child of the Clarence Family.
But he'd been let down too many times before, so he had to wait for the test results to be sure.
Even though he'd done so many tests before, this time he was the most nervous.
The three of them anxiously awaited as Gerald quickly answered his phone—it was another lab with the results.
Gerald's voice shook a bit. "Send it to my phone."
Laura glanced at him. She was pretty curious about this legendary Gerald.
Gerald's wife had died young, and even though he had a son, it hadn't slowed down his career at all.
Now he was a big shot, and among the young elites in Celestia Springs, he was definitely number one.
Due to this, numerous affluent families sought to wed their daughters to him, despite his grown son. Some young women in their twenties even professed their fondness for him. Gerald was in his forties, but he was well-maintained and didn't look his age. He was handsome, with sharp features, and a great build.
His noble and dignified aura made girls swoon. Without knowing his age, one would think he was in his thirties.
At least in Laura's eyes, Gerald didn't look any older than Stuart and Steven.
Had to admit, these guys were all pretty impressive.
Laura stared at Gerald, and Steven, feeling jealous, squeezed her hand.
Laura looked at him. "What's up?"
Steven lowered his voice. "What, is he better looking than me?"
He always felt a bit insecure around Laura.
Laura laughed. "Yeah."
Steven gave her a playful glare.
Laura squeezed his hand back. "Silly."
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Laura tensed up. It was a staff member with a stack of documents.
He handed the documents to Gerald. "Please take a look, the test results are all here."
Laura asked, "Don't look, just tell us, are they related by blood?"
The staff member looked at Gerald, and seeing him nod, said, "The samples sent in confirm a parent-child relationship."
The samples were a strand of Josephine's hair and one from Gerald's mother.
In other words, Josephine was indeed the lost daughter of the Clarence Family, Gerald's younger sister!
Laura was so happy she almost jumped up! Gerald, on the other hand, stayed calm, but his fingers holding the documents trembled slightly. He flipped through the pages one by one, and at the end, he saw the test result.
Actually, the call he had just received had already told him the result. He already knew that the test confirmed Josephine was his biological sister. Now, this agency's result was also out.
It was certain that this matter was no longer in doubt.
Once, they had searched nationwide with high hopes. Despite their wealth, influence, and connections, they had spent over twenty years fruitlessly looking for his younger sister.
Countless cycles of hope and letdown had taken a toll on Nicole's health.
Gerald even thought that perhaps in this lifetime, he would never find that sweet little sister. But who would have thought, just when the whole family had let go of their obsession, thinking they would leave this life with this regret, God brought Josephine to them.
Gerald propped his elbows on his knees. He lowered his head, and no one could see the expression on his face.
Laura was extremely excited. She grabbed Steven. "What do we do? Should we tell Josephine this news now?"
Steven gestured for her to be quiet, glanced at Gerald, and then said, "Let Gerald arrange it, we shouldn't interfere."
Laura said, "I know, I know, I'm just too happy! There were people who said Josephine's family background wasn't good enough for Stuart, now I think it's Stuart who is reaching up!"
Steven made a shushing gesture, signaling her to look at Gerald.
Gerald's shoulders were trembling slightly.
This tough-as-nails Gerald was now displaying his vulnerability in full view.
Laura felt quite lucky to witness this moment in her lifetime.
Gerald was someone who was strong-willed, with an iron hand, and had done many extraordinary things.
He was a man who was fearless in the political arena. Who would have thought he had this side to him?
Steven went over and patted his shoulder. "Gerald, this is a good thing, you should be happy."
Gerald mumbled an acknowledgment.
Steven said to Laura. "Let's go out first and wait for him outside."
The two followed the staff member out, leaving Gerald alone inside.
Laura was thrilled. "Do you think Gerald cried? It's a shame we missed seeing him tear up!"
"What's so interesting about him shedding tears?"
Unaware of the envy in Steven's voice, Laura remarked, "The contrast is striking! Gerald, such a tough guy, shedding tears—it's something worth recording!"
"What are you talking about?" Steven said helplessly. "Who's recording? You're just talking nonsense."
"I'm just saying." Laura's eyes curved into a smile. "It's really good, ah, so good!"
Steven knew she was genuinely happy for Josephine. He was quite happy too. After all, Laura and Josephine were like sisters. Seeing Josephine doing well made Laura happy, and that made Steven happy too.
They waited for more than ten minutes before Gerald came out. He looked almost the same, except his eyes were a bit redder than before.
Laura whispered to Steven, "I can't wait to see how he reacts when he sees Josephine."
Steven said, "The way he looked at Josephine that day was already unusual. It seems like there's a real family connection at play here."
Laura asked Gerald, "So are we going to find Josephine now?"