- 7.
Julian Hayes froze, as if struck by a sledgehammer.
His phone slipped from his fingers, crashing onto the marble floor with a sharp, piercing sound, but he seemed not to hear it.
Only one sentence echoed in his mind:
She… was telling the truth.
Every explanation he had once sneered at as “acting,” every plea she had cried, saying she hadn’t done it–each word now felt like a steel needle, piercing from his eardrums into his heart.
“No… impossible…”
He mumbled, his eyes bloodshot, picking up his phone like a madman:
“My mom forced you, right? That video wasn’t fake! Anya betrayed me! She lied to me once, and now she wants to lie to me a second time?!”
The butler on the other end was utterly bewildered: “Mr. Hayes, I don’t know which video you’re referring to, but Miss Anya has
10:45 AM C
The butler on the other end was utterly bewildered: “Mr. Hayes, I don’t know which video you’re referring to, but Miss Anya has always lived in the Hayes family estate, under full surveillance. Mrs. Hayes personally assigned people to record her daily schedule and conversations. How could she do anything to displease you?”
“Even if Mrs. Hayes is biased, she would never joke about the family lineage.”
This sentence was like a bucket of cold water poured over Julian’s head. His heart tightened abruptly.
Yes.
Even though his mother cherished Anya, she also cared deeply about the Hayes family’s heir. How could she tolerate any misbehavior from her? Anya was protected meticulously at home; how could he have overlooked such basic logic?
Guilt surged like a tide. Julian’s hand, holding the phone, was trembling.
Just then, the phone was forcibly taken over. After a few seconds of static, a familiar, hoarse cry came from the other end:
“You monster!! Give me back my daughter!!”
“Julian Hayes, how could you be so heartless? Anya was sent to the Hayes family when she was three, I treasured her and raised her with all my love, but how did she end up being forced to her death by you?!”
“Want to know the truth? Get back here and see for yourself what that scheming hussy outside has done!!”
The call ended abruptly.
Julian Hayes froze in the car, his face ashen.
He stumbled into the house, almost collapsing. As he entered, he saw his mother slumped on the sofa, her eyes red, a thick stack of documents spread on the table.
He lunged forward, grabbing the top document. His eyes seemed to lose all light as he flipped through
it
Hospital visit records, daily surveillance logs, medical reports proving her virginity, psychological evaluations…
Page after page of black and white, each one crushing the “truth” he had once firmly believed in the most ruthless way possible.
The butler walked up, holding a pregnancy test report, his expression complex:
“Mr. Hayes, Serena’s supposed five–week pregnancy was actually nine weeks–at that time, you didn’t even know who she was.
“And this.”
He played a video.
Julian froze.
The scene was familiar, the structure was familiar, even the angles were identical.
But the voice was not Anya’s.
“Serena spent three million dollars hiring someone to get plastic surgery, imitate Miss Anya, and film this video.”
“Everything you saw, from beginning to end, was a lie.”
In that moment, Julian’s world completely collapsed.
અમારા હોવાનું એ
કે હું ન
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10:46 AM
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His body swayed, then he fell to his knees, tears instantly gushing from his eyes.
“Anya didn’t betray me… she never did… And I…”
“I treated her as an enemy, did so many things to her… What have I done?!”
The butler sighed softly, saying nothing more.
www
M
Julian, like a madman, struggled to his feet, then slammed his head against the corner of the table behind him. Blood streamed from his temple, but he felt nothing.
“She was my Sister Anya… the person I loved for over ten years, and I personally sent her to her death!”
“She must still be waiting for my explanation. I haven’t even told her I believed her…
believed her!”
He swayed, then fell heavily again.
Finally, his fingers dug fiercely into the tiled floor, and he dragged his body, crawling towards the basement.
Reaching the door, he almost tore it open.
But what met his eyes were mottled bloodstains.
