Chapter 310

After seeing the results, I actually felt a lot more at ease. The old man didn’t want Ella to be a part of the family because he cared deeply about the Smiths’ reputation—he didn’t want the stigma of an illegitimate child. But honestly, what I feared most was Ella ending up like Lynn: no blood ties, living under the same roof every day, pretending to be siblings and… you know how messy that could get. The second the old man saw the result, his face went from skeptical to accepting in just a few seconds. Then he pulled a matchbox out of the drawer, struck a match and set the report on fire. As the flames swallowed the paper, he looked at me with a serious expression and said, “Seems like I was overthinking it. Let’s leave it behind us. Don’t ever bring it up again—and don’t tell a soul you ran the test.” As soon as he said that, Jason Smith popped into my mind. I wasn’t sure if he’d gone to the lab because of me, or if he even knew I’d been there. But in the end, I didn’t bring it up to