Chapter4
I ignored the crowd’s insults and looked Jacob in the eye as I spoke, my voice steady yet piercing:
“We’ve been married for years. You said you wanted to stay home and take care of our son, so I worked tirelessly outside to provide a good life for you both.”
“You said you were worried about your parents living alone back home, so I brought them here.”
“All these years, I gave everything–without reservation–to make sure you and your family were well–fed, clothed, and happy.”
“But what about you?”
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“How have you treated me?”
My questions struck like a whip, and for a fleeting moment, Jacob’s expression wavered with guilt. But he quickly regained his composure and scoffed,
“What do you mean how we treated you? We’ve treated you more than well!”
“Haven’t we let you live like a pampered housewife, without having to lift a finger?”
“What more do you want?”
“You married me. That makes you part of our family”
“Isn’t this what you’re supposed to do? Or do you expect us to bow down and worship you just because you’ve done a little?”
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Margaret, his mother, chimed in with a wounded expression,
“Emily, we’ve been living under the same roof, but have we ever wronged you?”
“On the contrary, we’ve taken care of you like our own, even better than ourselves.”
“We’ve given our hearts and souls for years. Even if we don’t deserve gratitude, we at least deserve some recognition.”
“Why do you despise our family so much?!”
Watching Margaret’s heartbroken act, I couldn’t help but chuckle coldly. I met her eyes and said bluntly,
“Family?”
“But you were never a real family.”
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My words sent a shockwave through the
room.
“What does she mean?”
“Aren’t they family?”
“Wait… is there more to this than we thought?”
As murmurs filled the air, Jacob and his parents stiffened, a flicker of panic flashing across their faces.
That was when George, Jacob’s father, spoke up, seizing the moment,
“Emily, what nonsense are you spewing?”
“Jacob is our son. How are we not a family?”
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“Just becausese we exposed your cold and d heartless natatere, you want to turn us againsts each other now?”
“You already toaloEtEthan’s life. Isn’t that enough? Now youdere trying to tear our family apart to shift the blarame?”
“How can you be so croniel?!”
His righteous indignatiorow was almost convincing. His voice trerebibted with disappointment and angereasas if i had truly let
him down.
I regarded him with icy detachonerent, then sneered,
“Cruel?”
“Open your eyes and look at this!‘s.
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“Do you stitillavave the nerve to call yourselves family?“?”
With that, it held ldpup a set of DNA test results in fullviewewfof the crowd and the e live–streaming cataniera.
The comment sectioroaxexploded:
“Wait… Jacob isn’t biologogically related to them?”
“That’s… unexpected, butacadoption isn’t a big ddeal, right?”
“Yeah, I was adopted too. dt doboesn’t mean ththey’re not family!”
“Then why were they so desperatate to deny it eaarber?”
Theepotdookers began exchanging puzzzzted
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glances, suspicion creeping into their eyes as they turned back to Jacob and his parents.
Under their scrutiny, George finally exhaled and admitted,
“Jacob isn’t our biological son.”
“For… certain reasons, my wife and I were never able to have children.”
“So we adopted Jacob.”
“We hid it because we didn’t want people to treat him differently.”
Margaret quickly followed up,
“Every family has its struggles. We couldn’t just go around telling everyone we adopted him, could we?”
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“Besides welwelve raised Jacob for so manyny years he is is ourson, blood or not!“!”
“Does biology rendally matter that much?“?”
Tears welled up in indnery eyes, her voice thick with emotionon. The performance was s flflawless.
T The crowd nodded in sysypapathy, murmuring ththeir approval. Some eveven looked at them wwith admiration. n
Jajacob, however, turned to mene, his eyes blblazing with hostility,ty,
“ElEmily, so what if I’m not theirebiblood?”
“They’ve always loved me and givevem me eveverything.”
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“They’ve done the same for you and Ethan- without holding anything back”
“Ethan was your own son, and how did you treat him?”
“You stood there and watched him die just to save your job!”
The tide shifted again. The spectators–both online and in person–began condemning
- me.
“Exactly! Even without blood ties, they loved their grandson unconditionally.”
“But this so–called mother? Cold–blooded
monster!”
“Just look at her! Not a shred of remorse!”
“She’s pure evil. Her own son was her
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lifesaver, and she let him die?”
George let out a heavy sigh and shook hiss head dramatically,
“Emily, if you were unhappy with us, you could’ve just said so.”
“If we’re a burden, we can leave. We won’t hold you back. You can do whatever you want.”
“But why take it out on Ethan?”
“He was innocent.”
“You’ve truly disappointed us.”
The words were spoken with such magnanimity, such self–sacrificing sorrow, that even I had to applaud their audacity.
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I laughed coldly. “Disappointed?”
I pointed at my son’s lifeless body and said sharply,
“The real disappointment is that the one lying dead here… isn’t me, right?”
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