Chapter 2

Early the next morning, I went straight to Mr. Lane’s house.

Mr. Lane was the Kinsley family’s retired butler. He had copies of the security footage from the Kinsley family villa stored at his home.

Back then, we installed the cameras years ago to protect against anyone with ulterior motives. However, the Kinsley family’s security system was top-notch, so the footage had never really been needed in all these years.

Besides me, only my husband and Mr. Lane knew about it. Now, it certainly made investigating my own son much easier.

The first footage I pulled up was from my previous business trips. The more I watched, the colder my heart grew.

We had never intended to hide the truth from Wendy. She had always known that she was not biologically related to the Kinsley family. We only kept her informed because we were afraid someone might take advantage of her not knowing and use her birth circumstances against her.

What I never expected was that my 'well-behaved' son had been using it to torment her every single day.

“Be a good girl, Wendy. Otherwise, I’ll have Mom and Dad kick you out! You eat our food and live in our house. Can’t you at least be grateful? You’re just some kid we picked up. Who do you think you are, acting like you’re on my level?”

In the footage, she never dared fight back. She could only bite her lip and hold back her tears.

Her pocket money was all snatched away by Desmond. Even the pretty dresses, jewelry, and tablet we bought for her were taken away.

She had never told me a single word about any of it.

I watched the videos one after another, my fingers trembling. Suddenly, I remembered something.

One year, I bought her a brand-new schoolbag. Yet the next day, she showed up with that same old, tattered cloth bag.

Her teacher had even tactfully reminded me that, as a parent, I should not be treating my child that way.

When I got home, I brought it up with Desmond, and he quickly reassured me, “Mom, Wendy likes the color white. She doesn't like that pink bag you bought her.”

I frowned, then I happened to see Wendy standing there with her little tattered bag.

I could not help scolding her on the spot, “Do you have any idea how embarrassed you made me today? Your teacher actually had to say something to me! Can't you be more like Desmond and give me one less thing to worry about?”

She wanted to say something, but in the end, she could only hold back her tears.

Back then, I had thought she was being overly sensitive. Now, I finally understood that I had taken Desmond’s side and shut down the last thing she wanted to tell me.

It was not that she did not like the bag. It was that it had not even been in her hands for a full day before it was taken from her.

The person who stole it had been standing right beside me at the time. Moreover, I even told her to learn from him.

I shut off the footage involving Wendy. My stomach churned.

A moment later, I pulled up the footage from the day my biological daughter, Nicole, came home.

Desmond cornered her against the wall when no one else was around, his expression vicious.

“Blood doesn’t make you family. Know your place. This family doesn’t need some little nobody like you! If you want to stay here, then behave yourself. Don’t reach for things that aren’t yours.”

Nicole was so frightened that she could only nod repeatedly, tears welling in her eyes.

As though that was not enough, he added, “Just because you’re back with your real family doesn’t mean you can walk all over me. I’m the only heir to the Kinsley family.”

I kept watching.

The gifts I had given Nicole when we reunited—a bracelet, a necklace, and a bank card were all taken by my son.

I checked the bank account. Every last cent had already been spent.

I stared at the still image from the security footage, my chest tightening as though an invisible hand were crushing my heart.

Mr. Lane could no longer hold back.

“Ma’am, you need to keep a close eye on that woman named Linda who’s always around Desmond. Whenever you were away on business, he would give Wendy’s jewelry to her.”

My hands curled into fists. My head throbbed with rage.

That evening, I went to check on Wendy and Nicole. Wendy was in the kitchen, carefully cooking a pot of stew.

The moment she saw me, she instinctively took half a step back. “Mom, I was just really hungry. I wasn’t trying to sneak into the kitchen and steal food. Mom, please don’t kick me out.”

Her head hung low, and her voice trembled so badly that the words nearly broke apart. Beside her, Nicole looked up at me with wide eyes, her voice trembling with tears.

“Mom, I didn’t bully Wendy. I just came with her to make some stew. Mom, I don't want to be kicked out either…”

In that instant, it felt as though something had lodged itself in my throat. I walked over and gently pulled them both into my arms, my nose burning with tears.

“I’m not kicking either of you out. I'm here. No one can take you away from me.”