Chapter 768

Evelyn said casually, “I’m fine. Just a small cut.”

Jennifer sighed. “You should still get it checked at the hospital.”

“No need,” Evelyn said. “A band-aid will do.”

Jennifer insisted, “You should get it checked just in case.”

So Evelyn went to a nearby hospital to have it dressed. Luckily, the X-ray showed no bone damage. Her leg was wrapped, but she walked with steady strength.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Jennifer asked in confusion.

“Mom’s been through so much. This pain is nothing,” Evelyn said.

Jennifer lowered her head in silence, her face complicated.

Evelyn thought Jennifer didn’t like her calling herself Mom and sighed. “Hannah, even if I’m not your real mother, I don’t want our generation’s grudges to affect you and Teresa. You two have already suffered enough because of me and Philip.”

Jennifer looked up and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “Let’s not talk about this. Let’s go find Teresa.”

After all, Teresa had found news about Jennifer’s birth mother. Jennifer wanted to see her real mom as soon as possible.

Evelyn held Jennifer’s hand. “Your arm is hurt too. Go get it treated.”

Jennifer said, “No need. It’s just a scratch.”

“Get it wrapped before we go. There’s no rush,” Evelyn said gently.

Jennifer looked down at Evelyn holding her hand, then finally nodded.

When Jennifer and Evelyn arrived at Teresa’s house, Teresa was already downstairs.

“Let’s go,” Teresa said. “Peggy is in Jarisburg.”

“Jarisburg?” Evelyn was puzzled. She thought Peggy was in Cerein.

“I’m not sure. Jonathan told me,” Teresa said. “That woman is staying at a hotel in the coastal district of Jarisburg. We can go check now and see if she’s really Peggy.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a black Maybach pulled up. Evelyn saw Jonathan step out and called to him.

“Evelyn, long time no see. What happened to your leg?” Jonathan walked over.

“I fell by accident. It’s nothing,” Evelyn said.

Teresa frowned, her eyes full of concern. “Be careful. Slow down when you walk–you’re not young anymore.”

“I know. I’ll be careful next time,” Evelyn said.

Chapter 757

“Yeah.” Donald took a deep breath. “If they try to stop me, I might give in.”

“I’m sorry. It was all my fault.” Jennifer tried to take Donald’s hand, but he pulled away coldly.

“We already talked this through,” he said. “I don’t have anything else to say.”

“So you really don’t want me?” Jennifer stared at him. “Did you know my mom now isn’t my birth mother? Teresa and I aren’t real sisters at all.”

“What?” Donald hadn’t known that. He was shocked and confused.

Jennifer was in agony. “That’s right. We’re not sisters. I don’t even know who my real mother is. If you don’t want me either, I won’t have a home. Then what’s the point of living?”

Donald felt a huge weight pressing down on him. Many times after the wedding, he had felt this pressure from Jennifer’s need to control things. Now it was even worse.

“Don’t do this,” he said. “I want our divorce to end on good terms.”

“How am I supposed to end on good terms? You married me and now you’re done with me,” Jennifer said. “Donald, you can’t treat me like this.”

Donald had been calm, but when Jennifer started hitting him, he grabbed her shoulders.

“And how did you treat me and my family? You always do this. You don’t see how you hurt people,” he said. “You only see your pain. What about mine? You always put yourself first.”

Jennifer finally went quiet.

In the end, Donald let go. “When the cooling-off period is over, we’re really done.”

“Donald, have some pity on me.” Seeing how firm he was, Jennifer kept begging. She clung to his hand and wouldn’t let go.

“I really can’t live without you, Donald. I can’t,” she went on. “I admit I was wrong with your family, but I never did anything to hurt you.”

“As for me lying about being pregnant, that was because-” Jennifer choked up.

Donald asked, “Because what? Weren’t you just trying to tie me down with a baby so I wouldn’t leave you?”

“I really was pregnant. It’s true!” Jennifer said.

“Stop lying to me.” Donald shook his head. Jennifer had told so many lies that he no longer trusted her.

Donald’s eyes were full of sadness and disappointment. “I don’t believe anything you say anymore.”

Jennifer’s face went pale. It felt like her heart had been stabbed over and over.

Donald walked inside without looking back and slammed the door shut. Jennifer had no choice but to leave with her head hanging low.

Cars rushed by on the street. People came and went.

Someone bumped into Jennifer on the road. The person cursed at her for not watching where she was going, but she didn’t react at all. She moved like a walking corpse.

She started wondering if everything really was her fault.

Jonathan held Teresa by the waist. “Get in the car, both of you. Evelyn, watch your step.”

Evelyn and Teresa got into the car.

Jennifer stood there, looking proud yet awkward. Because of the fake report incident, she and Jonathan’s family were bound to hold a grudge forever.

“Come on, get in,” Teresa said. “Don’t you want to find your birth mother as soon as possible? Don’t waste time.”

Seeing Teresa take the initiative to speak to her, Jennifer finally walked down the steps and got in.

Inside the car, Jonathan sat in the front seat while Teresa and Evelyn sat comfortably in the back.

Jennifer asked Teresa, “Where’s Mike? Did you leave him home alone again?”

“He’s enjoying life at his dad’s big villa.” Teresa looked toward Jonathan in the front.

Jonathan met her gaze in the rearview mirror. Their eyes locked for a moment.

Jennifer gave a cold snort. “You better be careful. Don’t let him take your son away.”

Teresa patted Jennifer’s hand. “Enough. Don’t say things like that right now.”

Jennifer shut her mouth and stayed quiet.

When they got to the airport, Jonathan had already arranged the best first-class seats. Evelyn sat down and finally felt a bit of relief.

“Thank you, Jonathan,” Evelyn said. “Teresa told me you put in a lot of effort to find my cousin. Thanks for helping.”

“No need to thank me, Evelyn.” Sitting beside Teresa, Jonathan spread a blanket over her legs.

“I’m not cold,” Teresa complained.

Jonathan pinned down her hand. “The baby in your belly might be. Just listen to me and keep it on.”

Jennifer watched this scene with a trace of jealousy. There was a time when she and Donald had moments like this too. Back then, she thought she was the happiest woman in the world, that she had love.

But now, she was alone again.

She couldn’t understand why fate was so unfair, why she had to lose everything she had.

When she went to Cerein, she had chosen economy class to save money. She thought she could make a good life for her family on her own. But now, she had to rely on Teresa’s ex-husband to enjoy a first-class seat.

All the way, Jennifer thought about the past and realized all her promises to her family had been just words.

She looked back on everything that had happened. Every argument had been her scolding Teresa, blaming Evelyn for not treating her well.

But now, Teresa and Evelyn were the two people closest to her. They weren’t her closest by blood, yet they treated her with kindness.

She started thinking maybe she had been wrong all along. She always hurt her family and took out her anger on the ones who cared the most about her.

As these thoughts filled her mind, Jennifer’s eyes grew wet behind her sunglasses.

When they arrived in Jarisburg, Jonathan showed Evelyn a photo and asked, “Is this Peggy?”

The woman in the photo had obvious signs of plastic surgery.

Evelyn shook her head. “She doesn’t look like her.”

Teresa said, “Mom, didn’t you say she had a lot of work done? Of course her face would look different.”

Evelyn nodded. “Looking at this face feels like looking at a stranger.”

Jennifer glanced at the photo too. Her feelings were complicated because the woman in the picture was nothing like what she had imagined her mother to be.

She knew Peggy had plastic surgery. Still, she had pictured her as a cool, strong woman who did everything with power and confidence.

But the woman in the photo only gave her a sense of meanness and deceit.

Jennifer hoped she was wrong. She believed Peggy might not be like the photo at all. She believed her real mother had to be a good and outstanding woman.

Jonathan wrapped his arm around Teresa’s shoulder and said, “I have a dinner arrangement near the International Trade Center. This woman named Peggy will be there tonight too. But I’m not sure if she’s the one you’re looking for.

“I’ll arrange seats for you. Then Evelyn can take a look.”

“Okay,” Teresa said.

Soon, they arrived at a restaurant.

On the other side of the hallway, Peggy, dressed in a white suit, was walking with a bald man.

“There are a few businessmen from out of town. You can meet them,” the man said. “Their wives love beauty treatments. You might get some new clients.”

Peggy leaned on the man with the beer belly, acting shy as she tapped his arm. “Thank you. You always think of me when there’s something good. You make me feel so flattered.”

But the next second, Peggy’s smile froze completely.

She saw Evelyn walking toward her from the end of the hallway. That familiar face made Peggy’s smile stiffen in place.