Chapter 295: Can We Fix This?

Blood dripped from Bil's hand, flowing down his arm. Just then, my mom came downstairs and saw the scene. She turned and quickly returned with the first-aid kit. Bill didn’t say a word. The silence was suffocating, and I didn’t dare to make a sound. All I could do was watch as the thick, scarlet blood dripped onto the paternity test report. The sight of the blood seemed to mock his stupidity. He had tormented his wife and daughter for twenty years, all for something so foolish.

Mom walked over with the first-aid kit. Bill had stayed up all night; his eyes were bloodshot, and he instinctively tried to hide his hand. But Mom grabbed it and gently began to clean and bandage the wound with a cotton swab and iodine.

“These next three days, I’m still your wife,” she said softly.

Bill said nothing, just leaned back against the sofa, his other hand wiping away tears that fell silently. Mom methodically bandaged his wound, using the task to calm him. But I could clearly see his shoulders trembling with quiet sobs. No one could accept that the daughter they had loved for twenty years was someone else’s child. How could he bear such a revelation? Yet, Mom was kind enough not to take advantage of his suffering. She didn’t mock him in this moment of despair.

Bill’s voice was hoarse when he spoke. “If you want to laugh at me, then go ahead.”

“No one will laugh at you, Bill. At least you still have Zoey. She will always be your daughter.”

Mom couldn’t bring herself to mention the baby growing inside her. After all, she wasn’t even sure whose it was. Revealing that now would only add fuel to the fire.

Unable to control his emotions any longer, Bill pulled Mom into an embrace, muttering apologies over and over. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Mom sighed softly and gently patted his back. Sometimes, silence was the most comforting gesture. But Bill knew, deep down, that there were only two and a half days left. In just two and a half days, he would lose her completely.

Once his emotions seemed to settle, I continued, “From the very beginning, Monica had ulterior motives when she got close to you. Years ago, she drugged you to make you believe you’d slept with her. Then, she used her pregnancy as a wedge to drive a rift between you two. She did all of this to gain something for herself, using you to get money to support her lover.”

Bill wiped his eyes and looked at me, his expression dark with stormy shadows. “You mean Zack?”

As expected, he had already figured it all out last night.

“Yes, it was him.” Mom finally understood why that man had come to greet us that day. Driven by vanity, he dared to crawl up to the elephant’s nose, believing his presence would somehow elevate his own status. However, an ant remained merely an ant; could it endure the impact of an elephant’s footfall?

Mom turned to me and asked, “Zoey, you knew about all this?”

“It’s not like I knew everything right away. I only found out when I followed Monica the day she came to town. I overheard their entire plan from their own mouths. Dad, has Monica bought you a huge life insurance policy recently?”

Bill’s gaze turned icy. “Yes. After I cut ties with her, I helped her and Sadie find a place to live. She cried and said that they had no security. She bought me a few insurance policies, claiming that if something happened to me, Sadie and she would be the beneficiaries. I already had a lot of insurance, so I didn’t think it mattered. I agreed.”

Mom asked, “Zoey, do you think she’s planning something against your father?”

“Actually, it’s her lover who’s been pushing Monica. Their original plan was to get Monica pregnant with Dad’s son, but Dad refused to sleep with her because of what happened with Sadie all those years ago. So, their plan failed. Plus, Dad wouldn’t let Sadie enter the company, nor did he give them any shares. And then, you ended up pregnant. That’s a huge threat to them.”

This revelation hit Mom hard. “So, you and Monica never—”

Bill lowered his head, ashamed. “No. I was unconscious that night, and she took advantage of me.”

“No wonder you—” Mom’s face turned bright red, as if she had just realized something. I could guess what she was thinking. All these years, Bill had only been interested in Mom, and Mom had always resisted him, refusing to cooperate or even take medicine afterward to avoid getting pregnant by him. That rejection only fueled Bill’s desire, leading to this deepening misunderstanding. From Zoey’s memories, I knew Bill had always returned late at night and left before dawn, only desiring Mom. But Mom always rejected him because of Monica, which only deepened the misunderstanding. Bill had mistaken her avoidance for missing Nicholas, which made him even more aggressive toward her, leading to a disastrous end for both of them.

Who was to blame? As an outsider, I couldn’t say. In the end, this was all Bill’s fault. What kind of man torments the person he loves like he did?

Though my actions led to their divorce, at least I had helped them clear up years of misunderstanding. I laughed lightly, pulling both their thoughts back to the present.

“The lover has been manipulating Monica, drugging Dad to slowly make him lose his senses, forcing him to sign documents that would benefit them. When he’s no longer useful, they plan to kill him, making it look like an accident. That way, Monica and her daughter will get a huge insurance payout. As for the baby in Mom’s womb, their plan was to make her abort it, leaving only me as a potential heir, but I had married. They have already transferred Dad’s assets to Monica and her daughter, and the company is now in the hands of the lover.”

Mom’s face turned pale as she absorbed the full extent of the plan. “What a vicious scheme!” This wasn’t about jealousy—it was about killing Bill!

“If I’m right, Monica will brainwash Sadie next and have her deliver food to Dad every day. Who would suspect their own daughter of betraying them?”

Bill raised his hand, about to strike again, but Mom stopped him. “Calm down. At least Zoey knows everything now. There’s still a chance to fix this.”

He looked at her, his voice full of sorrow. “But what about us? Do we still have a chance to fix this?”