At this moment, Sylvia finally reacted. Her whole body trembled and she glared at Mellisa. The woman's face was red as a tomato as she shouted at Mellisa, "You… A wild woman like you dared to beat me ?! I…!"
Leonard, who had just helped Mellisa back into the wheelchair, immediately turned his head when he heard those words. His dark eyes locked onto Sylvia's figure. The man warned in a deep voice, "If you dare to insult her again, I will slap you this time. So shut up your dirty mouth!"
Sylvia opened her mouth to argue, but was stopped by Robert.
When everyone finally fell silent, Jenny let out a deep breath. "This is truly a wonderful reunion. I thought I could come and gather you all to explain things clearly today! But apparently, I was expecting too much,"
The middle-aged woman looked around with an icy gaze.
"After I struggled to get this case straight, my family member was being bullied by outsiders. Even worse, it happened right in front of the Irwan family," Jenny finished her words bitterly.
"Sis Jenny, it's not like that...!" Janice hurriedly explained. "We intended to stop it, right before you came!"
Instead of supporting his wife, Richard was silent with a pensive expression. After a while, he finally spoke up, "Sis Jenny, I admit that this was our carelessness. But it just so happened that everyone was here today, and things had to be cleared,"
Then Richard turned to his two daughters, who were standing side by side.
"And Lilia… sorry, I failed to protect you. This is my fault as your father," Richard bowed his head at Lilia.
His actions made Mellisa and Lilia stare at Richard at the same time. Their shocked expressions looked identical, almost like a twin.
At this meeting, the atmosphere inside Leila's room felt tense. Jean stood next to Lilia with his arm placed around her shoulder protectively. The other hand held the ice bag that was stuck to Lilia's cheek to soothe the bruise.
Mellisa was sitting in a wheelchair, Leonard's one hand resting on her shoulder. The man deliberately put his hand on Mellisa's shoulder in case she suddenly became impulsive again. That way, Leonard could prevent Mellisa if she tried to get up from her wheelchair.
Across the room, Simon and Jenny sat on chairs. Uncle Hardy, the butler, stood behind them. Richard and his wife stood on the other side of the room, while Leila remained on her knees on the floor.
Robert had pulled Sylvia to the corner of the room. The man looked very embarrassed by his wife's reckless actions.
Richard looked around at everyone, then he pointed to Leila on the ground. But his eyes were on Simon.
"Father, you just asked how my investigation turned out. I'm here today to tell everyone about the 'good deeds' Leila has done," Richard said sarcastically. "Leila has been known as a good girl in the eyes of everyone, the best daughter of the Irwan family. But we have all been deceived by her appearance,"
Mellisa rolled her eyes and muttered, "Isn't that what we've been saying since yesterday?"
Leonard gently squeezed Mellisa's shoulder with a sympathetic expression.
"Do you remember when Leila was accepted at the best public university in Jakarta?" Richard continued. "We are all very proud of her, but it turns out that the reason why she was accepted into the university wasn't that worthy to be proud of. She used the money given by the Pangestu family to bribe some people at the university!"
Lilia's gaze turned cold when she heard Richard's words. So that's what her family's money was for that she had to be sold into a contract marriage!
"Even more ridiculous, the main reason the college let Leila in was because of her status as the daughter of the Irwan family!" Richard said, his hands clenched tightly. "Within the Irwan Family, it's clearly forbidden to seek personal gain with your status! But Leila did that with a fully conscious mind so she's no longer worthy of being considered a part of this family,"
Leila's face turned even paler when she heard that. She looked up and looked at Richard with teary eyes.
"D-Dad, I...!" Leila tried to beg, but Richard refused to listen to her.
"Besides, during the investigation, I discovered something else. There are DNA test results from five years ago which show that you are my daughter."
Richard looked at Leila as he spoke, but his tone was bitter.
"However, from the results of the DNA test that I personally got, you and I are not blood related. Leila, did you fake that report on purpose? Did you know that you weren't the daughter of the Irwan Family from long ago, so you prepared that report beforehand? Are you planning to continue tricking us after that incident?"
The tone of Richard's voice grew higher and higher, along with the mounting anger from his heart.
"You've really done whatever you wanted all this time! You deliberately enjoy the love and care of two different families at the same time! You've been treating us like idiots all this time, haven't you?!"
Although Richard said all of this in a high tone, his expression showed the opposite. His face looked deeply hurt and betrayed. There was a shadow of sadness behind the man's anger.
Richard thought back to everything that had happened. He had cherished and raised her as his own for 24 years. As a result, he left his biological daughter alone to be raised by a family that didn't love her at all. Even worse, he had been tricked by his beloved daughter, who tried to kill his older sister.
The Head of the Irwan Family clenched his fist so tightly that it injured his palm. But Richard was barely aware of the pain. Jenny's words were true — he was a completely useless parent!
Janice, who had heard everything Richard had to say, gave Leila a look of disbelief. If she still had any doubt about all of Leila's previous actions, then Richard's words just now had convinced her.
For a moment, no one spoke. They all stared at Leila, who was still kneeling on the ground with her head bowed.
At this moment, Robert couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward with a heavy sigh. The head of the Pangestu Family said, "Everyone, regarding this matter... you all seem to have misunderstood Leila,"
Robert's words made Lilia slowly close her eyes and smile ironically. All the evidence against Leila was neatly arranged, but Robert still refused to give up.
Robert's gaze passed everyone, and finally stopped on Lilia's face. He said, "Leila and Lilia are innocent. It was me and the child's mother who made a mistake. Previously, after we found out that these two children were switched, we were very hurt too. We wanted to make amends for this mistake, but we didn't know what to do,"
Robert spoke very smoothly and fluently. His appearance looked very convincing in everyone's eyes.
"When we first got in touch with Leila, we wanted to take her back to Pangestu's house. But ... Lilia is also the child we raised over the years. I don't want to hurt her feelings by bringing another girl."
The man lowered his head and wiped something from the corner of his eye, as if wiping away his tears.
"I have irrevocable responsibility for a situation like today. If Mr.. Richard wants to blame someone, the child's mother and I are willing to take this blame."
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