Chapter103 Ariana Is Father's Illegitimate Daughter
Soft warmth pressed against him.
Miranda's brain exploded with a bang, her whole body going rigid as wood.
Clifton froze too.
A faint sweet fragrance filled his nostrils, her unique scent mixed with body wash, drilling straight into his brain.
He'd only meant to tease her, distract her from heavy thoughts, but this unexpected benefit made a certain long-deprived man's mind wander immediately.
"Clifton!"
Miranda snapped back to reality, face red as a boiled shrimp, frantically reaching up to grab his dark hair.
"You... get up! Pervert!"
She tried hard to push his head away.
Clifton only felt his scalp tighten, forced to lift his head.
Those eyes usually cold as frost now seemed on fire, deep as black holes that could suck someone in, carrying undisguised aggression and desire.
"Miranda."
His voice was extremely hoarse, like he'd swallowed hot gravel, each word burning Miranda's heart.
"You..."
Miranda was about to curse when she suddenly felt something.
Against her thigh, something hard poked her.
As an adult, she knew exactly what it was.
Miranda's eyes went wide. She turned her head away, not daring to look at him, voice shaking. "Clifton! You're still injured!"
"The injury's on my back, doesn't affect the front."
Clifton chuckled low, his chest vibrating.
He lowered his head, burning kisses trailing from her delicate collarbone upward, landing on her slender, pale neck.
Hot, tingling.
Miranda shuddered like she'd been electrocuted.
"Mmm... don't!"
She struggled, pushing weakly at Clifton's broad shoulders, not daring to use real force, afraid of touching his back wound.
"You're crazy... the doctor said you need rest, no strenuous activity... don't..."
"Just a kiss."
Clifton caught a soft spot on her neck, gently sucking, leaving an intimate red mark.
He buried himself in the hollow of her neck, breathing heavily, like a beast forcibly restraining its instincts.
That rough breathing sprayed by her ear, making Miranda go weak all over.
"I won't move." Clifton's voice was muffled, carrying suppressed pain and satisfaction.
"Let me just hold you for a bit."
He just pressed against her, completely still.
The room fell quiet except for their alternating heartbeats.
After a long while.
The heat in Clifton's body finally slowly receded. He took a deep breath, braced himself, and sat up, pulling the blanket over Miranda's somewhat disheveled clothes.
"Alright."
He straightened his robe, voice still somewhat hoarse but back to its usual calm.
"Go wash your face. It's red as a monkey's behind."
Miranda shot upright, grabbed a pillow, and hurled it at him.
"You're the monkey behind! Jerk!"
Having cursed him out, she fled into the bathroom.
Looking at herself in the mirror with dewy eyes, Miranda covered her burning face, heart racing for a long time.
After his antics, those shadows about the hospital really did seem to dissipate quite a bit.
The next morning.
On her way to the hospital, Miranda's car had barely left Prescott Manor when a white Porsche blocked her path.
Harrison stood by his car, looking haggard, even sporting blue stubble on his chin, completely unlike his usual refined appearance.
Miranda rolled down her window, looking at him coldly. "Is Mr. Harrison playing highway robber?"
"Miranda, I need to talk to you."
Harrison strode over, hands on her window frame, pleading in his eyes.
"It's still about Ariana."
Miranda impatiently started raising the window. "If it's that letter of understanding, forget it."
"Miranda." Harrison urgently pressed the window. "Just sign it. Name your terms."
Miranda looked at the man before her, finding it absurd.
For Ariana, he could actually say something like this.
"Harrison."
Miranda pushed open the door, got out, gaze sharp.
"You think all harm can be compensated with money? When she was spreading rumors online trying to drive me to death, when she was scheming against me behind the scenes, did she think about leaving me a way out?"
"She just made a mistake. She really can't handle being in there. When I visited yesterday, she kept crying..."
"That's what she deserves."
Miranda got back in her car, hit the gas, and the car shot past Harrison.
Harrison stood there eating exhaust fumes.
He watched Miranda's car disappear, the pleading in his eyes darkening for a moment, hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Ariana was his savior, and she'd given him her first time. He couldn't not save her.
That evening, at the hospital.
Miranda was feeding her mother dinner when the door opened and Christian walked in.
"Christian, you're here." Miranda stood.
Christian kept their mother company as usual, but after a while he gave Miranda a meaningful look.
Miranda understood her brother had something to tell her.
Soon, using the excuse that Christian hadn't eaten, they left the ward.
They went all the way down to the hospital parking garage, getting into Christian's car.
"Christian, what's going on? All this secrecy." Miranda looked at her brother's serious profile, unease rising in her heart.
Christian said nothing, pulling a sealed document envelope from his briefcase and handing it to her.
"I found this recently while organizing Dad's old files. It was hidden in a secret compartment."
Christian's voice was heavy, carrying suppressed anger.
"And this is a paternity test report I secretly had done."
Miranda took the envelope puzzled, opening it.
By the dim car interior light, she saw the contents clearly.
An old transfer record, the recipient clearly showing Ariana's mother's name.
And that latest DNA paternity test, its conclusion landing on Miranda's head like a thunderbolt.
[Results support a biological father-daughter relationship between Sample A (Dominic) and Sample B (Ariana).]
Miranda's hand jerked violently, documents scattering across the floor.
"This... how is this possible..."
She felt like someone was strangling her throat, couldn't breathe.
Ariana, who'd been targeting her, framing her.
Was actually her father's illegitimate daughter. Her half-sister.
Christian slammed his fist on the steering wheel, grinding his teeth. "I wish it was fake too. But the facts are right there. Miranda, Dad lied to our entire family!"
Silence filled the car, only those scattered reports glaring and ironic in the dim light.