Chapter 359
Chapter 359
"Why?" Leigh frowned. "Uh... It is a little disgusting! I can't say it..."
She then turned to Madeline. "Maddie, you tell him."
Everyone's gaze shifted to Madeline's face.
Resigned, Madeline could only explain, "Because Leigh was the girl who was taken away by Walter back then."
As her words weren't direct, Bryson only reacted after a short moment of being stunned. His eyes went wide as he stared at Leigh, and he stammered, "Y-You are my daughter?"
"I am sorry, but I am not your daughter." Leigh looked at him mockingly and stated, "Shefford is my last name. I am the daughter of the Shefford Family."
After staring at her for a long time, Bryson shook his head and insisted, "No, no. You are my daughter. Upon closer look, you look a lot like Luna. You definitely are my daughter!"
"In terms of blood relation, yes. I used to be, but I am not now." Leigh laughed. "Your daughter is Ava Penham! Did you forget that? She went missing before, but you found her after searching for more than ten days. Everyone who is familiar with your family knows that Luna is the biological daughter that was lost and found!"
Bryson, who was flushed from agitation, immediately paled when he heard that.
He was no fool.
He could tell that Leigh's words for him were filled with mockery.
Leigh was ridiculing him for giving up after a search that only lasted for about two weeks, and had brought someone else back home with him to replace her. He even publicly announced that the Penhams had found their biological daughter.
With his credulous personality, Bryson had agreed to getting a new daughter without giving much thought because of how Penny had cried and begged him.
It wasn't like he didn't regret his decision then.
In fact, he often had dreams about the daughter that he had abandoned.
In his dreams, she would be living a terrible life, and would sometimes even be dead.
He was filled with regret and guilt, but there was no way he could reveal the truth when he had already announced to the public that Ava was the daughter that they had lost. Left with no choice, Bryson could only keep it a secret only he knew.
He had never thought there would come a day his birth daughter would return to him.
His birth daughter sitting across from him was supposed to be the person he was closest to, but she was now looking at him contemptuously.
He was sure that she hated him, and there was nothing wrong with that; he thought that it was well-
deserved.
A self-proclaimed loyal and honest man like him had ended up betraying his own daughter.
The rest of the Penhams were shocked as well.
This was probably what a 'coincidence' was.
Leigh turned out to be the daughter who was replaced by Ava in the house.
As Penny stared at Leigh in a daze, she suddenly thought of something and abruptly got up to rush toward her. "My daughter! My dear daughter! You have to save your mother! Please, for me, beg your father to not let him divorce me, and also your grandfather so that he doesn't kick me out of the house! They will definitely listen to you!"
Leigh had turned out to be her biological daughter!
Eddie and Luna both counted on Leigh to ease the situation. As long as Leigh was willing to help Penny beg for forgiveness, everything that happened today could be written off, and Penny could go back to living her old life.
Penny was so distressed her whole body was shaking as she ran in front of Leigh and tried to hold her hand.
Seeing this, Madeline protected Leigh behind her and shoved Penny away.
It wasn't that Madeline was afraid Penny would hurt Leigh. Instead, she was worried Leigh would lose
control and kick Penny.
Even though Madeline, too, looked down on Penny, Penny was still Leigh's biological mother. It wouldn't be something worthy of bragging about if Leigh had laid her hands on her own mother.
Leigh wanted to dart toward Penny, but Madeline held her back. Hence, the former had no choice but to stand behind Madeline and sneer at Penny, "Have you got sh*t for brains? You abandoned me and have never raised me a day in your life, but now you want me to beg for mercy on your behalf? You should be glad that I haven't avenged my parents whom you have killed!"
"I killed your parents?" Penny was stunned. "Am I not your mother? What do you mean I killed your parents? Aren't you the daughter of Bryson and I?"
"I used to be, but I haven't been for a long time. My father is a Shefford, not a Penham!" Leigh looked at Penny coldly and hissed, "Didn't you say that I was born under a lonely moon, and am a jinx to my family and relatives? If that is so, you should have killed me back then instead of dumping me on others! Walter abandoned me in front of my parents and asked them to adopt me. If it is as you said, doesn't that mean I was the one who killed my parents?"
As Leigh spoke, her eyes gradually turned red.
Madeline immediately frowned and scolded, "Leigh, don't say something like that? What do you mean you were born under a lonely moon and are a jinx to your family and relatives? Didn't Walter already say that that was nonsense they made up to fool Penny Walker?!"
"But she believed it!" Leigh glared at Penny. "She believed it! She believed that I was a jinx, and that was why I was abandoned! But why would she not kill me, and had my parents adopt me instead if she
really thought so? How could she be afraid that I would jinx her relatives, but not worry about how I would jinx someone else?!"
The Penhams immediately fell silent upon hearing that.
It might sound ridiculous, but it actually made a lot of sense when they thought about it.
Penny got rid of Leigh out of fear of being jinxed by the girl. However, they couldn't comprehend how Penny knew how to fear for herself, and yet wasn't worried that other people would be jinxed.
If Penny really believed in such superstitions, wasn't she just passing the bad luck to someone else when she had someone else adopt Leigh.
The train of thoughts only further confused the Penham Family.
After some time had passed, Bryson spoke again. "Leigh, don't believe whatever nonsense that is about the so-called lonely moon and jinx to family members. She was deceived by Walter. It is only because she is stupid and toxic that she believed those baseless lies and abandoned you."
"She is stupid and toxic? And what about you?" Leigh looked at him ironically. "Surely you don't feel proud, and think you are clever and kind in front of her?"
"I…" Not knowing what to say, Bryson stopped speaking before he even started.
"The pot is calling the kettle black, huh? Didn't you know that you two are birds of the same feather, and are a match made in heaven?" Leigh scoffed. "You gave up on searching for your biological daughter in just more than ten days, and took someone else's child from somewhere as a replacement!
Do you think you gave birth to a puppy or a kitten? I must have done something immoral in my past life to be born into the Penham Family in this life!"
Bryson's face was as red as a tomato after he heard that.
"How could you say something like that to your own father?! No matter what, you are Bryson and my child! We were the ones who gave birth to you. You wouldn't even be in this world if it wasn't for us. You should be grateful!" Penny complained.
Leigh let out a small laugh at that. "It is true that you were the ones who birthed me, but you are still my enemies who killed my parents! If you didn't abandon me to my parents, they wouldn't have passed on so young! There is no way I will ever reconcile with the people who killed my parents. So what if you brought me to this world? You are still people I will never want to live under the same sky with!"
Bryson's emotions only went into a deeper turmoil after that.
As ridiculous as that logic sounded, it did make a lot of sense. How absurd was this?!