CHAPTER 9

But they had gone too far.

"He's not home. Come later," Colleen said, not wanting to waste any more words, as moved to close the door.

Fiona, expecting this, quickly pushed the door open and stepped inside.

“Fiona, what do you think you're doing? Get out of my house right now!" Colleen shouted, her anger flaring.

"Mom, who's that?" Tessa asked as she descended the stairs. Seeing Fiona, her face twisted in annoyance. "Fiona, what are you doing here? This is my home."

Despite being blood relatives, their disdain for Fiona was unmistakable.

Fiona felt a stab in her heart but maintained her composure. "I'm just here to collect the reward for saving Mr. Robinson." Her words elicited a mocking laugh from Colleen.

“It was Tessa who saved Mr. Robinson. What does that have to do with you?"

Even though Fiona was her biological daughter, Colleen, who had always lived a life of luxury, looked down on Fiona, who had grown up in the countryside. She saw Fiona as uncouth, unreasonable, and unrefined, someone who could never fit into high society.

If people found out about Fiona's existence, it would surely ruin the perfect image she and Flynn had built in the public eye.

Fiona glanced at Colleen, then at Tessa, and smiled. "You two really are mother and daughter. You lie without even batting an eye. The Great Wall has nothing compared to the thickness of your faces."

"Fiona, shut up!" Tessa snapped, clearly not wanting to hear Fiona's words. She turned to Colleen and said, "Mom, she's just here for money. Give her fifty thousand dollars and make her leave."

"Yes, you are right," Colleen nodded. "I'll go get it now."

“If the Darwin family isn't short on money, then give me the ten million dollars for saving Mr. Robinson. After that, we're even," Fiona's words were shocking.

"Fiona, don't be so greedy," Tessa glared at her. "We'll give you at most a hundred thousand."

"Take the hundred thousand and leave this City immediately. As for the Robinson family, they only recognize Tessa as the savior. Besides, do you have any proof that you saved Mr. Robinson?" Colleen asked.

"Do you think deleting the video and stealing the ring means I can't prove it? Don't forget, I have records from the delivery app showing I was at that intersection that day," Fiona said, waving her phone.

"While the delivery records might not be absolute proof that I saved Gabriel, Tessa didn't even have a delivery order that day. Won't Gabriel be suspicious? But instead of causing a scene and possibly not getting the reward from Gabriel Robinson, I'd rather let Tessa have it."

In reality, her delivery that day never reached the customer, so she couldn't prove she had passed that intersection. That's why she didn't refute Tessa’s lies in front of Gabriel. Although the delivery app records weren't solid evidence, they were enough to scare the guilty Darwin family.

"You..." Tessa didn't expect Fiona to have a backup plan. Afraid that Fiona might expose her to Gabriel, she asked, "How much do you want?"

"Considering Mrs. Darwin gave birth to me, I'll give you a discount. Just Nine million dollars," Fiona said.

Colleen scoffed, "Nine million? You're dreaming."

Tessa added, "Fiona, you must be out of your mind."

Coming from a poor, remote area, how dare she ask for such an outrageous amount? Of course, Tessa and her mother couldn't accept Fiona's threat.

Fiona didn't waste any more words. She stood up and made a move to leave. "If you won't agree, I'll go find Mrs. Robinson. As the matriarch of the Robinson Family, she'll make the decision."

Tessa still couldn't understand why the old lady, Mrs. Robinson should favour her so much. Fiona's presence felt like a significant threat to her.

"Wait," Tessa called out. "My mom and I need to discuss this with Dad. You wait here."

With that, she pulled Colleen along. "Mom, let's go upstairs and call Dad." The mother and daughter went upstairs, leaving Fiona waiting downstairs.

However, knowing how deceitful the Darwin Family could be, Fiona was worried they might be plotting something underhanded. She decided to follow them upstairs.

Since Long Creek Villa was an old house, the soundproofing wasn't great. She could vaguely hear their conversation from outside the door.

After listening for a while, she didn't catch any signs of them planning something dirty against her or her foster parents. She couldn't help but mock herself for being overly cautious, realizing she might have been a bit paranoid. She was about to head downstairs when she suddenly heard the words "adoptive parents... car accident."

Curious, she pressed her ear against the door to listen more closely.

"Fiona is uncontrollable and looks exactly like me. Keeping her around is a threat. Besides, with the knowing that Mrs. Robinson is so fond of her, how am I supposed to marry Gabriel?"

"Tessa, I understand, but we've already crippled her adoptive father to force her to donate bone marrow to your brother. Do you really want to go further?"

"Mom, are you out of your mind? As long as Fiona is alive, she'll be an obstacle to me marrying into the Robinson Family. Unless... unless you can cripple her too!"

At this point, Tessa’s voice rose sharply, filled with urgency.

Standing outside, Fiona heard every word clearly. A chill ran down her spine, and she felt a surge of blood rush through her veins.

A little over two months ago, Flynn and Colleen Darwin had suddenly appeared before her, claiming they could take her back to the Darwin Family, but only if she agreed to donate bone marrow to her leukemia-stricken brother.

Since Tessa’s bone marrow didn't match her brother's, they had no choice but to turn to her. Naturally, she had refused.

Then, a month ago, her adoptive parents were suddenly involved in a car accident. While they were critically injured and hospitalized, Flynn and Colleen reappeared, offering to pay for her adoptive parents' medical expenses if she agreed to donate bone marrow to their younger son.

At the time, Fiona had been suspicious of the sudden accident and the Darwins’ reappearance.

But she had ultimately dismissed the idea, thinking that her biological parents couldn't possibly be so cruel.

And now...

She had been too naive.

She was furious, shaking with rage. She gripped the doorknob tightly, ready to burst in and confront them.