Chapter 62 Are We Also a Part of Your Game?
Samuel let out a long sigh and drifted into memories.
Catherine didn't rush him. She placed the warm milk Anna had brought on the table beside Samuel.
Samuel wasn't in good health and seemed to have long-term sleep problems. Drinking some warm milk would help him rest better.
"This whole thing makes me so angry! If that doctor who did the paternity test back then hadn't messed up, we wouldn't have only brought you back now!"
"We had it all figured out at the time. Juniper was a good kid, and your grandmother and I couldn't bear to part with her. If she wasn't our biological granddaughter and we couldn't find her family, we were going to adopt her. We would've just given her the Martinez surname!"
"But then we saw the test report saying it was a complete match for a parent-child relationship, so we felt relieved. Then a couple years ago, Juniper's research data won recognition. There was some trouble within the organization, and they insisted on proving her parents were actually her parents."
Samuel started cursing at this point.
"Turns out when they did the paternity test, they discovered she wasn't the Windsor family's child!"
"So why did the test come back as a match back then?"
Samuel was furious just talking about it.
"Guess what? That doctor back then saw the test results didn't match, and he assumed we would abandon Juniper. He thought the child was innocent and needed a family, so he changed the test results himself! What kind of idiot does that!"
Catherine had considered many possibilities, but she never imagined the incident back then was actually a misunderstanding.
But why they were switched at birth—they'd probably need to find the director of Angel's Haven Orphanage to know that!
"If it weren't for that incident, Juniper might have found her biological parents long ago, and you wouldn't have suffered out there."
Samuel's eyes filled with tears as he spoke. He patted Catherine's hand, full of self-blame.
"Grandpa, the grandmother who adopted me treated me very well, and Juniper had a good life with our family too."
Alexander had been quietly listening to their conversation. He only spoke up when Samuel turned away to wipe his tears.
"If Juniper needs my help finding her family, please let me know. The Howard Group has a pretty good network of connections."
Samuel snorted coldly. "Why ask? If you really care, just go do it yourself! Are you asking so Catherine will remember she owes you a favor? The Howard family people are all hypocrites with no class."
Catherine was stunned.
"Yes, I understand! But our family's way of raising children is actually quite good. If you'd like to know more, you can talk to my grandfather. He'd definitely welcome it."
"Forget it, forget it. Why would I go see him? At our age, I don't want to get into arguments with him!"
Just thinking about Felix's face made Samuel uncomfortable all over.
Just looking at him made him feel awful!
Samuel stood up, rising with Anna's support.
"Catherine, remember to come home this weekend. I want to ask you for a favor then! I'm tired, I'm going up to rest now."
"Okay, I'll remember."
Samuel was getting old. After talking for just a bit, he was exhausted. After greeting a couple people he knew at the party, he went to rest.
The yacht docked, and Alexander pulled Catherine away, striding quickly to the Rolls-Royce parked on the shore. He opened the car door and got in.
The night was deep. Across the entire open sea area, apart from the brightly lit yacht, everywhere else was especially quiet.
Not far away, a taxi was surrounded by people.
Esme was being held hostage by Ethan, clearly being used as a human shield.
Philip looked at Ethan with a cold laugh, his expression dark, like a hawk targeting its prey in the darkness!
"Ethan, I suggest you put her down right now. If you think you can take someone from the Windsor family out of Stellara, you must have a death wish!"
Ethan narrowed his eyes, looking at Philip standing on the dock.
"You couldn't do anything to me in international court, and now you think you can stop me from taking one person?"
Seeing how much the Windsor family cared about Esme, Ethan was almost certain this Esme was very likely the Phantom Doctor Moon he was looking for!
He took this risk coming to Stellara specifically to find Phantom Doctor Moon. Now that he'd finally found her, how could he just let her go!
Philip was getting annoyed.
He'd had a chance to go shopping and eat with Catherine tonight, but instead he ran into this mess.
Esme never did anything good!
"Ethan, don't underestimate the Windsor family. Leave her here now, or don't blame me for not being polite!"
Esme had her mouth covered with a stinking rag by Ethan, and tears were streaming down from the smell.
Philip was really something. She clearly had a chance to go with this person and make money. They must have found out about his order worth a billion dollars and wanted to keep all that money for themselves!
Esme struggled wildly, trying to signal that she wanted to speak.
But nobody cared about her at all. Ethan found her too troublesome and knocked her out with a couple hits, then threw her over his shoulder.
Philip smiled and reached up to unbutton his floral shirt, taking off his suit jacket in a leisurely manner.
This outfit was one Catherine had gone shopping with him to buy. It wouldn't be good if it got dirty in a fight!
Alexander looked at Catherine and frowned. "Looks like Philip is getting ready to fight."
"We can't let Philip and Ethan fight. Philip wouldn't stand a chance against Ethan."
As the third-ranked assassin on the dark web, Ethan was no match for Philip.
Catherine couldn't just watch Philip get hurt right in front of her.
And Esme couldn't be taken away so easily either.
Catherine took out the small computer she carried with her, removed the hairpin from her head to unlock the computer, and opened the system through fingerprint and iris verification.
[Auctioning one treatment session, time limit ten minutes. Phantom Doctor Moon.]
This message instantly caused a huge stir on the dark web, and Ethan's phone rang.
He was clearly hesitating.
"Moon just posted an auction on the dark web. The one we caught must be a fake. Let's just throw her in the ocean!"
"It's only been ten minutes and the price is already at twenty million dollars. Hurry up or it'll be too late!"
Ethan looked at the dozen or so people in front of him, gritted his teeth, and threw the unconscious Esme directly into the ocean, then got in the taxi and drove off!
Philip looked at the pitch-black sea surface and waved his hand impatiently.
He was in a hurry to get back and hang out with Catherine!
As for why Ethan suddenly let go, Philip had zero interest.
"Fish her out and send her to the hospital. Find out what's really going on."
"Yes."
Philip's people quickly pulled Esme out of the water, and the convoy disappeared from the port.
Two groups of people lurking in the shadows also quietly left.
Catherine's phone rang.
"Boss, the auction you posted was won by Nightfall for three hundred million dollars!"
"Aren't you two having dinner together tonight? What kind of romantic game is this? Throwing around three hundred million dollars and making the whole dark web play along with you—are we part of your love game too?"
Catherine was speechless.
Looks like she needed to find time soon to seriously clean up internal discipline.
Otherwise these people would say whatever came to mind!