CHAPTER 351

After the guests took their seats, the maids served up some refreshments.

"Mr. Eddie, I've come to send you an invitation," said Sebastian as he handed a red, gold foiled invitation to Eddie with both hands. "Maddie and I got married overseas, but we still haven't held a wedding to this day. Now that she's back, my father hopes that we can see to it. I hope you can join us for this celebration."

"Of course, of course." Eddie smiled as he took the envelope from Sebastian. "Congratulations, Sebastian."

"Thank you, Mr. Eddie." Sebastian smiled with delight. "Actually, I have another purpose for visiting today…"

Eddie's heart skipped a beat upon hearing so, but he still wore an amiable smile on his face. "Please tell us about it. Mr. Philip and I go way back, and it's all thanks to him that I can have all that I do today. Whatever request you have, I'll do all that I can to see to it."

As nervous as he was, he was fortunate that he made sure Ava got the punishment she deserved. Hence, he still had some confidence in dealing with what Sebastian would throw at him—or so he thought.

If Sebastian had come to question what Ava did, he'd have his men bring the young woman out to show Sebastian what he had done.

Surely the man would have nothing more to say after seeing Ava's condition, no matter how upset he was.

What else would Sebastian want when Ava has already been beaten to this degree? Surely he can't be thinking of killing her just because she insulted his sons, right?

However, before Sebastian could speak up, Penny lost her cool and interjected, "Mr. Hart, have you come because of the nonsense Ava blurted to your sons when she was drunk? If so, you can rest assured that she has been severely punished…"

She began crying halfway at the thought of her beloved daughter's miserable state. "Ava has been mangled from the fifty plank beatings she suffered. I believe the issue should be dropped now, albeit Ava did make a grave mistake. She—"

"Shut up, and not another word!" Bryson growled as he turned grimmer by the second the more he listened to Penny's words. "Don't speak if you don't know how to use your words! Don't go around spouting nonsense!"

"How am I speaking nonsense?! Have I made anything up?!" Penny bawled. "Did Ava not suffer from fifty plank beatings? Is she not covered in blood? Yes, Ava shouldn't have said whatever she said while drunk, but she's already paid the price for it, hasn't she?! What more do you people want?!"

"I see…" Sebastian smiled plainly. "But I want nothing other than to show Mr. Eddie something…"

At that, Quinton tacitly handed Eddie a dossier folder.

Meanwhile, Sebastian recounted leisurely, "Earlier today, my wife took our boys out for some shopping. They left pretty happily, only to come home dejected because they were insulted for no apparent

reason. As such, I had my men dig into it to see just whose daughter it was that could be so presumptuous and rude…"

With that, he turned to Eddie and smiled. "Later, they told me their findings, and I learned that it turned out to be your granddaughter, Mr. Eddie. But…" He gazed at the elder and enunciated, "Do you know this granddaughter of yours isn't actually your biological one?"

Eddie froze mid-opening the envelope and looked toward Sebastian in shock. "What did you say?"

"I said that she's not your biological granddaughter." Sebastian quirked a brow. "What's wrong? Are you unaware of this, Mr. Eddie?"

Eddie was stupefied for a long time before he could come to himself, and he glared at both Bryson and Penny. "What is up with this?!"

He didn't doubt Sebastian's words, for he knew the Harts had the world's most brilliant information team with the best intelligence agents.

Plus, Sebastian was the brightest of his generation in Dusktown, so whatever he said would certainly be accurate.

Bryson's face paled in response, and Penny looked worse than him.

Though livid with rage, Eddie didn't hurl the newly brought out teapot and teacups as he had scruples about Sebastian, who sat across from him. "Speak up, Bryson! Is Ava actually your birth daughter?!"

"Yes, Ava is most definitely our daughter!" Penny interjected. "Dad, you watched Ava grow up. Of

course, she's a Penham and our daughter!"

No one can ever know that Ava isn't a Penham! My baby girl is right at the age of finding a suitor! A beloved daughter born in the Penham Family and an adopted one are night and day!

With her identity as the eldest daughter of the Penham Family, Ava could choose whichever young man from an affluent family in Dusktown to be her husband. However, once her cover was blown, her selections would drop at least a league or two.

My Ava deserves only the best. No one can ever find out Ava's true identity!

Too bad Eddie didn't believe a word she said and glared furiously at Bryson. "Speak up, Bryson! Is Ava your biological daughter or not?! If you insist that she is, we'll do a paternity test. If the test says that you've lied, you can forget about ever being my son again!"

"I see…" Sebastian smiled plainly. "But I want nothing other than to show Mr. Eddie something…"

Now at a crossroads, Bryson took pains to reveal, "Ava, s-she's not really my daughter…"

"What are you talking about, Bryson Penham?!" screeched Penny as she threw herself at Bryson and thrashed him. "What nonsense are you talking about?! Ava is our daughter! She's ours!"

"Are you done?!" Having had enough of her, Bryson shoved her away and bellowed, "We could keep it a secret when no one dug into it, but Dad is asking questions now! Do you think we can still keep it just between us?! Ava isn't our daughter, and my blood doesn't run in her veins. Anybody will know as soon as they verify it! What's the point of being stubborn? Are you—"

He wanted to ask if she was insane, but at the thought that she was someone he pleaded and begged his father to let him marry and that she was the mother of his two sons, he swallowed his words back down.

There was only one thing running through his mind right then as he looked at Penny; he had to be sure to keep a close watch on his sons when it was their time to marry. He had to see that they married an intelligent woman. She didn't have to be beautiful, but at least she was someone with intelligence and a kind personality. They could not marry a woman with all looks but nothing else, or look at what happened to him!

Austin had already learned of the truth from his father earlier, so he watched all that was unfolding before him with a numbed face. Justin and the Penham cadet family, on the other hand, knew nothing of this, so all of them were rendered gobsmacked.

Meanwhile, Eddie was so livid that he nearly passed out. "Just what the heck is going on? Who's daughter is Ava if not yours? Why do you want to raise someone else's daughter for them?" he asked Bryson in a shaky voice.

At that, Bryan lowered his head and related the story. He said, "We had no other choice, Dad. My mother-in-law's life was hanging by a thread, and that was the only way to save her. Therefore, we…" Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.

"You b*stard!" Eddie couldn't give a damn about the fact that Sebastian was still sitting across from him anymore and hurled the newly placed teapot at his eldest son. "You gave up finding your own daughter just days after she went missing?! You… Are you even human?!"