Chapter 104 The Dead
As soon as Timothy heard that Elizabeth was going to meet Natalia.
"Take bodyguards with you," Timothy thought for a moment, still feeling uneasy, "I'll go with you."
Elizabeth was also worried that Natalia might set a trap for her.
So she arranged to meet Natalia in a park.
A public place, to prevent Natalia from scheming against her.
"Okay, you come with me. Thank you, Mr. Robinson."
Natalia sat on a park bench waiting for Elizabeth. Natalia knew Elizabeth was being cautious around her.
But Elizabeth would never guess that she had no plans to do anything to her in the park.
Natalia smiled slyly.
Today she wore a fancy dress, with white gloves on both hands, looking radiant.
Natalia looked up and saw Elizabeth walking over.
Elizabeth had brought Timothy along.
Her gaze fell on Timothy's face.
Timothy was really handsome.
Natalia felt a bit jealous of Elizabeth. "Sis, I'll only tell you this secret."
Meaning Timothy beside Elizabeth had to leave first.
Timothy glanced at Natalia coolly. Just that one look, and Natalia felt the coldness.
Elizabeth asked Timothy to move farther away. He could still see her, just couldn't hear their conversation.
Before leaving, Timothy handed Elizabeth a large black bag he was carrying.
Natalia's eyes flickered. "Sis, did you bring the cash?"
Natalia had demanded Elizabeth give her five hundred thousand dollars in cash, with the rest transferred to a bank account.
"It's here," Elizabeth handed the black bag to Natalia. "You tell me the secret first, then I'll transfer the money."
Natalia smiled. "Sure, I'll show you a photo."
Natalia opened her purse, took out a photo from inside, and handed it to Elizabeth.
"You really attract old men. This is a photo I saw in Mr. Smith's study."
Elizabeth took the photo and looked at it.
A scandalous photo.
Her face instantly turned cold.
Natalia snatched the photo back, laughing lightly. "Don't worry, this is an AI-generated deepfake, not real, but it looks very realistic."
She put the photo back in her purse.
Elizabeth's eyes turned cold. "This is the secret you wanted to tell me? You're messing with me?"
Natalia laughed. "Of course not. I still want the rest of the money. How could I trick you?"
Now the Howard family had gone bankrupt and was in debt.
Natalia really needed money.
"Sis, haven't you ever wondered about your background?"
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked expressionlessly.
Who would question their own background for no reason? Before Elizabeth was eight, Calista had treated her pretty well.
"You're not Mom's biological daughter. When Mom went back to her hometown to visit family graves, she found you abandoned on the roadside."
"You should thank my mom for taking you in. Otherwise, who knows if you'd even be alive now."
Natalia said nastily, "Elizabeth, you're really ungrateful. If it weren't for my mom, do you think you'd have had the chance to marry into the Johnson family? And get so much money after the divorce?"
"You're such an ungrateful wretch! Mom just panicked and used your orphanage photos to pressure you into giving some money to save the Howard family, and what did you do? You heartlessly sent my mom to jail."
Elizabeth looked at Natalia. She didn't know if what Natalia was saying was true or false.
Whether Calista was her biological mother could be checked with a DNA test.
Elizabeth didn't fully believe Natalia's words.
Elizabeth said calmly, "If Calista had told me this, maybe I would have thanked her for taking me in, but she didn't."
Natalia knew Elizabeth wouldn't easily believe everything she said.
"My mom was worried that taking you without reporting it to the police would cause legal trouble, so she didn't mention it."
"It's all your fault for being so cruel, making me marry Ian, that old man, at such a young age."
Natalia glared at Elizabeth resentfully, then turned and left with the bag of money.
After turning around, excitement filled her eyes.
The fact that Elizabeth wasn't Calista's biological daughter was true. As for the rest, if Elizabeth believed it, that was her problem.
Anyway, it had all happened over twenty years ago.
Even if Elizabeth wanted to investigate, she wouldn't find anything.
"Elizabeth, are you okay?"
Elizabeth sat in the car in a daze.
Timothy held her hand.
"Natalia said I'm not Calista's biological daughter."
Elizabeth turned to look at Timothy with a somewhat confused expression.
She repeated what Natalia had said, telling Timothy.
After more than twenty years, suddenly having someone tell you your parents are someone else felt very strange.
Timothy said, "You can't believe everything Natalia says. I'll have someone get Calista's hair and do a DNA test first."
"Okay."
Elizabeth's mind was a bit confused right now.
Timothy quietly stayed with her.
"Joe, pull over up ahead."
Timothy had Joe drive today, just in case there were any unexpected situations.
Joe found a place to stop.
Timothy asked Elizabeth to wait in the car while he got out.
Elizabeth looked through the window and saw Timothy's tall figure cross the street and walk into a convenience store across the way.
After a few minutes, Timothy came out of the convenience store, returned to the car, opened the door, and bent down to get in.
"Elizabeth, have some ice cream. When Mabel's unhappy, she loves to buy this."
Timothy bought a container of ice cream and explained gently.
Elizabeth was stunned for a moment. She took the ice cream, then smiled. "Mr. Robinson, thank you."
Joe really admired Timothy's emotional intelligence now.
Very high emotional intelligence.
That evening, it started raining.
Ivan Franklin was inspecting a murder scene in the heavy rain.
A victim had died in an alley near Faith Residence community, time of death around midnight.
At daybreak, the rain stopped.
Today Elizabeth and Timothy had planned to go furniture shopping. Timothy had been worried about her mood and wanted to cancel, but Elizabeth refused.
Shopping was also a way to relax.
Elizabeth got up in the morning. She hadn't eaten breakfast yet when she received a call from Mabel.
"Elizabeth, you need to come back. A police officer is looking for you."
Mabel glanced at the serious-faced officer Ivan.
Elizabeth was puzzled. "Okay, I'll come back now."
"Mr. Robinson, we can't go shopping today. I need to go back to Faith Residence. A police officer is looking for me."
Elizabeth changed clothes while telling Timothy, who was working.
Timothy put down his work. He also went to change clothes.
Why would a police officer be looking for Elizabeth?