Chapter 156 Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Chapter 156
Amelia

"Is this some kind of joke?" I asked, staring at her in disbelief. "That's the most expensive joke I have ever heard, because how on earth can I be your daughter, Adrian's sister, and this man's..." I pointed at Mr. Cole, who was glaring at me with nothing but disgust.

"I am not joking, and neither am I lying," Mrs. Cole said quietly.

Adrian immediately walked over to her, confusion written all over his face. "What are you talking about? I thought you said you did a DNA test with Mr. and Mrs. Davies, and the result showed that Amelia wasn't your daughter because someone had switched her again."

"I lied. I am so sorry," she admitted. She slowly turned to face me. The hatred that had always filled her eyes was gone. In its place was something I had never seen before—adoration, longing, and the kind of pain that came from years of regret.

"You are my daughter, Amelia, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell you because I couldn't afford to lose you again."

I stood frozen, completely unable to process the words coming out of her mouth. My mind went blank as I stared at her.

"There is no way that's possible. My former parents said..."

"I know," Mrs. Cole interrupted softly. "They lied." She lowered her head before continuing. "I begged them never to tell you the truth, the DNA test came out positive.”

I took an unsteady step backward, still trying to make sense of everything.

"When did you do the DNA test? When did you discover you were my mother? How is any of this even possible? Is this some kind of prank?"

Without saying another word, Mrs. Cole pulled out her phone. She unlocked it, searched through a few files for a moment, then held it out to me.

I hesitated. Part of me didn't want to touch it. I didn't want to see whatever was on the screen because I was terrified it might be a prank. After a few seconds, I slowly reached out and took the phone from her.

My eyes immediately landed on the document displayed on the screen. It was a DNA test report, I read through it once, then I read it again. The results clearly showed a ninety-nine percent probability that she was biologically related to the DNA sample.

My fingers tightened around the phone as my heart pounded violently against my chest.

"When I first saw you at the boutique that day Adrian and I met you, I was stunned," Mrs. Cole began. "You looked so much like my twin sister who passed away years ago. The resemblance was unbelievable, but I knew she never had a child."

She took a shaky breath before continuing. "I searched for more pictures of you and showed them to the rest of my family. Every single one of them said the same thing. There was no way on earth you weren't related to us. That was when I started looking into your background. I learned about your family, and something else caught my attention. There was a resemblance between Rhea and your father... I mean, Mr. Davies."

She paused for a moment before speaking again.

"I've always felt like a part of me was missing. Don't get me wrong, I loved Rhea, but no matter how hard I tried, I never felt that deep bond a mother is supposed to have with her child."

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at me. "But when I met you... I couldn't stop thinking about you. I wanted to get close to you. I wanted to know you. Yet I had to be careful because it would have looked strange if I suddenly tried to build a relationship with the woman everyone believed had destroyed my daughter's marriage."

I swallowed hard as I listened.

"I finally gathered the courage to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Davies, and together we agreed to investigate everything."

She let out a slow breath.

"That was when we discovered we had both given birth on the same night, at the same hospital, and around the same time. We had both delivered baby girls."

"We eventually found one of the nurses who had worked that night. She confessed that a senior nurse had paid her to switch our babies."

My heart skipped a beat.

"By then, the senior nurse had already retired, so we started looking for her. But before we could find her, we learned that she had been murdered the day before."

As she said those words, her eyes slowly shifted toward Mr. Cole. The look she gave him was filled with nothing but coldness.

"We carried out the DNA test, and it confirmed what we feared. Our daughters had been switched at birth."

She paused, fighting back her emotions.

"We planned to call both you and Rhea to tell you everything we had discovered."

Her voice became quieter. "But when I got home that day, I overheard my husband talking to someone on the phone. He was giving instructions, making sure someone wouldn't survive the hit, He told them to kill the person."

She closed her eyes briefly.

"That same night, the news reported that you had been shot. That was when I knew he was behind the baby swap and everything that had happened all these years."

Slowly, I turned my head toward Mr. Cole. "You were responsible for what happened to me back then?" I asked. My voice shook as I stared at him.

I slowly shook my head, unable to understand any of it. Why would a father want his own daughter dead? Why had he hated me since I was a child? "What did I ever do to deserve all of this?"

"You are not my daughter," he said coldly.

Before I could react, Mrs. Cole turned to him and slapped him hard across the face. The sharp sound echoed through the room. "But she is my daughter!" she shouted. "She is my flesh and blood, the very reason we are enjoying all these privileges today."

She was breathing heavily as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Your father died in a car accident not long after we got married," Mrs. Cole said as she looked at me. "Before he passed away, he made sure all of his properties and businesses were left to me in his will. After his death, I took over the company and everything he built."

She paused, trying to compose herself. "But I was lonely. Orion..." She glanced at Mr. Cole. "He used to be your father's friend. He stayed by my side throughout my pregnancy and was there for me until I gave birth. Eventually, I fell in love with him, and we got married. That was how Adrian was born."

She wiped away her tears. "I guess he did all of this just so everything would one day belong to his own son." She let out a broken sob before continuing.

"He would have killed me too, but my late husband's will clearly stated that if anything ever happened to me, eighty percent of my inheritance would immediately be donated to charity."

By then, I was crying uncontrollably. All these time, I had believed my parents had abandoned me. I had convinced myself that no one wanted me. I thought I was alone in this world.

"I had to beg the Davies not to tell you the truth," Mrs. Cole continued. "I asked them to tell you that you had been abandoned. I even had to pretend that I hated you until I could gather enough evidence to send him to jail."

Adrian slowly turned toward his father. His face was filled with anger as he grabbed Mr. Cole by the front of his clothes.

"Everything Mom said... is it true? You swapped her daughter because of greed? You even tried to have her killed?"

Mr. Cole simply smirked. That expression only fueled Adrian's anger. He slammed his father hard against the wall. Before he could do anything else, Mrs. Cole rushed forward and grabbed his arm.

"It's not worth it, honey. The police are on their way."

Almost on cue, the front gate opened. Several NYPD vehicles drove into the compound before coming to a stop. The officers stepped out of their cars and walked straight toward us.

One of them looked directly at Mr. Cole. "Mr. Orion Cole, you are under arrest for your role in the kidnapping of Mr. Sinclair, the attempted murder of Mrs. Sinclair, and the murder of the late Mr. David Ashwood over thirty years ago."