Claudia and Keith were quite satisfied that the authority issued a warrant against Theodore. They believed, with the footage they had submitted to the police, that Theodore would be proven guilty of kidnapping O’Neil and torturing him to death.
"He won’t be able to get out of jail in this lifetime," Keith said with confidence. "If he tries to act smart, we’ll use his grandfather and his beloved Bella to threaten him." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Claudia chuckled, a sly glint flashing in her eyes. "He thought he could defeat us. But he forgets that we are old players. Defeating us won’t be easy. Now, he will spend the rest of his life in jail, and we will enjoy the massive fortune of the Reids."
"Yes, darling." Keith pulled her into his arms. "We can finally be together. I can’t wait to announce our wedding." He pressed his lips against hers.
Claudia kissed him back fervently, slipping her arms around his neck. "Let’s go home first," she murmured between the kisses. "We need to tell Gina about us." Worry lines creased her brow. "I hope she will understand us."
Keith nodded reassuringly. "She is our daughter. She will understand us." He turned his focus on the road and pulled the car away.
They reached home in no time. Claudia had come there many times, but this was the first time she was nervous about entering the house. What if Gina was inside? How was she going to start explaining her?"
Sensing her anxiety, Keith reached out and held her hand. "Don’t worry, I am with you. Gina is a sweet girl. She will be shocked at first, of course. But we love her. Our love will make her understand."
Hearing his words, Claudia found her confidence to face Gina. She nodded, smiling a little. "We have got this."
They walked in, hand in hand. Their steps came to a halt when they noticed Gina in the hall sitting on the sofa with a gloomy face. The confidence Claudia had felt just now vanished altogether under her fierce glare, and she immediately pulled her hand back from Keith’s grasp.
However, it was too late. Gina saw it already. She sneered, bitter bile rising to her throat. "Welcome home," she greeted them with a hint of taunting in her tone. "I have been waiting for you."
Keith also felt uneasy. He cleared his throat and approached her. "We have got something important to tell you."
"Me too," Gina said coldly, her gaze moving to Claudia. Resentment churned her stomach. "Where are you standing there? Come here and sit down with Dad."
"Gina, darling..."
"Shut up!" Gina roared, silencing Claudia, who cringed in shock and disbelief. She jumped to her feet, her expression betraying the emotional turmoil within. "Don’t call me that. It disgusts me!"
"Gina, behave!" Keith growled. "Is this how you talk to your elders? Where is your manner?"
"Manner?" Gina spat. "Are you going to teach me manners? You – a man, who sent his woman to seduce another man! You are not qualified to discipline me."
"What nonsense are you spouting? Mind your language." Keith’s face turned red in anger.
"Why? Does truth sting?" Gina sneered. "You sent your beloved woman to Theodore’s father, let her sleep with him, and then watched them get married. You are so disgusting. You didn’t care about her, nor did you care about me. All you care about is Reid’s fortune."
Claudia’s heart sank. This was what she had feared the most. The resentment in Gina’s eyes wounded her deeply. She had thought she and Keith would be able to tell her the secret calmly. She had hoped that Gina would understand, but the secret had already been revealed to her.
"How did you find out?" The very question that was in her head came out of Keith’s mouth. "Has Theodore told you?"
Gina grimaced and threw the file she had found from the study. The photographs of Claudia with baby Gina in her arms and the birth certificate slipped out of the file.
Claudia gasped and staggered backward, her hands flying to her chest. "These are..." She had a feeling that her brain had just blown off.
"You sneaked into my study?" Keith roared. "Why?"
"I went to find something else, but I found these." Claudia flinched as Gina’s sharp voice pierced the air again, bringing her back to reality. "You thought you could hide this forever. You thought you would continue deceiving me, keeping me in the dark. But fate revealed your dirty secrets to me."
Gina smiled bitterly, her insides burning with a feeling of injustice. "And you!" She pointed at Claudia, her eyes ablaze. "You are a shameless woman," she spat. "You seduced another man while you gave birth to two children from my father. Just for the Reid’s fortune, you left the man you loved and married another man, leaving your newborn baby."
"No, Gina, this is not like that..." Claudia reached out to hold her hand, desperately trying to explain herself.
"Don’t touch me." Gina pushed her away with a force that rendered Claudia off balance.
Keith reacted swiftly and held her in his arms, stopping her from falling. "Gina! She is your mother."
"No, she is not," Gina snapped back. "I refuse to call her mother. My mother’s name is Sarah. This woman..." She jabbed a finger toward Claudia. "She is an evil witch – a home wrecker...She is not my mother. I hate her. I hate you! I hate everyone."
Claudia’s throat burned as tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She wanted to explain but couldn’t utter a word. Keith, however, still managed to stay composed.
"Listen, sweetheart," he started softly, "I know you are distraught. But let us explain. This is not true that Claudia abandoned you. We had our reasons. We did that to secure our future."
"Hah!" Gina laughed bitterly, rolling her eyes. Their explanation only added to Gina’s fury. But she didn’t stop him. She wanted to know what had made him take that drastic step and how they had trapped Theodore’s father.
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