CHAPTER 344
"She is at Drew's place…" Austin said, "Dad, this is not the time to be reprimanding Ava. The most important thing right now is to convince Uncle Brandon and Aunt Jennifer not to split the family up. Also, Aunt Jennifer stated very clearly that she wants to announce the split in public, and she means it. Anyone who knows our family will ask around to figure out the reason. If people discover that Ava went to Uncle Brandon's house to kill Luna's cat, who would dare marry Ava anymore? Ava is already of the age to be discussing marriage. If she gets an aggressive and violent reputation, how would she be able to marry anyone?"
"How… How dare she?" Bryson was so mad that his head was spinning. "If I knew she'd grow up like that, I shouldn't have taken her from the orphanage—"
Halfway through his words, he suddenly realized he had let something slip, so he hastily stopped.
Nonetheless, Austin heard it. "Dad, what did you say? Orphanage? Is Ava—"
"It doesn't matter. None of that matters anymore," said Bryson. "I'll go to the hospital right now. I'll apologize and compensate your uncle and aunt in Ava's stead. I hope they can forgive her for my sake."
"No, Dad, you have to make this clear," Austin said urgently. "What orphanage? Isn't Ava my biological sister? Was she adopted from an orphanage?"
With the slip of the tongue, he couldn't hide it anymore. Bryson was also getting fed up, so he gave up on hiding as he sighed and said, "Yes, Ava isn't your biological sister. Your mother and I adopted her from an orphanage… I have no idea whose blood runs in this adopted child of ours, but she simply cannot be relied upon. Among the five children, you, your two younger brothers, and Luna are children
of the Penham Family. You're all decent and well, but only Ava is unteachable. I've spent way more time on her compared to you and your younger brothers combined, but she still grew up like this. If I had known earlier, your mother and I wouldn't have adopted her in the beginning."
"Why?" Austin asked in shock, "Why would you and Mom adopt a child from the orphanage?"
"That's because your biological sister went missing." It had been twenty years, but at the mention of his missing daughter, Bryson still felt his heart breaking. "When your sister was only a few months old, your mother went to visit your grandmother with her. Your grandmother loved your sister, and she took your sister to the park to get some sun. In the end, someone came along and snatched your sister away. Because of the guilt, your grandmother fell critically ill. Your mother was terrified, so she suggested that we adopt a child from the orphanage to convince your grandmother that your sister was found. The child we adopted from the orphanage was Ava herself…"
"My goodness…" Austin gripped his phone and mumbled quietly, "I never knew that… Ava isn't actually my biological sister. Out of us three siblings, Mom loves Ava the most, though…"
His father said that Ava grew up all wrong because of her genes. He didn't retort to his father's words, but he knew in his heart that the reason Ava grew up wrong wasn't because of her genes; it was because his mother spoiled Ava.
Of the three siblings, his mother loved Ava the most. No matter what she requested, his mother would comply.
His younger brother was older than Ava by a mere two years. When his younger brother was still a child, he would fight with Ava for no reason. Most of the time, Ava was the one at fault, but his mother
always protected Ava and reprimanded his younger brother instead.
As time passed, Ava developed an arrogant personality, and her temper ballooned out of control. She was now selfish and haughty.
The brothers both knew that if they provoked Ava, their mother would scold them for not acting like older siblings, telling them they did not know how to take care of their sister. Their mother nagged them so much that they eventually learned to comply with everything Ava said. They dared not provoke her and simply let her have her way.
Spoiled rotten at the eldest son's family, when Ava interacted with the two younger cousins, she also wanted them to fawn over her and give her priority. As soon as the cousins complained about her, his mother would stand up for Ava, saying that the cousins didn't know how to respect their elder cousin.
His aunt Jennifer was a good-natured person, and she would advise the cousins to be patient. As time went on, the cousins stopped fighting with Ava and simply let her do what she wished, allowing her to be the tyrant in the family.
It could be said that Ava's terrible personality was a result of his mother spoiling her.
His mother loved Ava like the apple of her eye. He thought that it was because boys had to be brought up in strife whereas girls had to be brought up lovingly.
His sister was the only girl in their family, and she was also the youngest, so it made sense that his mother would favor Ava so much.
It was until now that he finally knew that Ava actually wasn't a biological daughter of the Penham
Family!
Since Ava wasn't a biological daughter of the Penham Family, why would his mother love Ava so much?
"Yes." Bryson sighed. "Your mother and I adopted Ava from the orphanage in secret, then lied to your grandmother that we found your sister. Children look more or less the same at a few months old, so your mother told your grandmother that since she was ill, your sister might catch the illness, so your mother didn't let your grandmother take a good look at the baby. She carried Ava and let your grandmother look from a distance. Your grandmother couldn't see the difference, so she believed your mother…"
His father said that Ava grew up all wrong because of her genes. He didn't retort to his father's words, but he knew in his heart that the reason Ava grew up wrong wasn't because of her genes; it was because his mother spoiled Ava.
He paused with a sigh before continuing, "Your grandmother thought that your sister had been found, so she recovered, and her body got healthier as well. After recuperating for a few months, her life was saved. Children change very quickly, so when your grandmother next saw Ava, Ava's face had already changed a lot. Your grandmother never realized that the child was swapped, so she made a complete recovery and her body got even better… It was because of Ava's adoption that your grandmother's life was saved, so your mother especially loved Ava, saying that Ava was the savior of our family."
"In that case, my grandfather, Uncle Brandon, and Aunt Jennifer don't know that Ava isn't my biological sister, do they?" Austin asked.
"They… don't…" Bryson said with some difficulty, "Your mother said that if too many people knew about it, word would eventually get out. If your grandmother learns of this, she might get worked up and fall ill again, actually losing her life this time round. In order to protect your grandmother's life, we have to keep it a strict secret."
Austin was shocked. "Even my grandfather doesn't know about this?"
"That's right…" At the thought of this, Bryson felt his heart pounding.
Hiding Ava's origins was the boldest thing he had ever done in his life.
However, at that time, his wife had kneeled down and begged him to keep this a secret in case his mother-in-law learned of this and lost her life due to the shock.
Someone's life was at stake here, so he could only agree.
"In that case, what about my biological sister?" Austin asked, "You adopted Ava back into our family, saying that Ava was my biological sister. What about my real sister, then? How did you look for her?"
Bryson didn't know how to answer that. Content is property © .
With his face turning red, he finally said quietly, "After your biological sister went missing, we immediately adopted Ava. We tried looking for her for more than ten days, but we couldn't find her before your grandmother turned gravely ill. She was in a critical condition, so we had no choice but to visit an orphanage and adopt Ava in place of the child, lying that your sister was found."
He continued, "Since she was technically found, we couldn't possibly look for her again… However,
missing children are more likely to be found within the first few days, but since we couldn't locate her after more than ten days, there wasn't much hope if we kept looking…"
Austin asked in disbelief, "Dad, are you saying that you and Mom only spent ten days looking for my sister, and once Ava replaced her, you never looked for her again?"