Chapter 858 Humiliation of a Ten-Year Bond

"I started by looking for photos of the Pierce family and the Graham family, which are pictures of two families of four, but I couldn't find a single photo. That was fine, as it could be chalked up to them being lost over time.

"Then, I tried to track down the former household staff of the Pierce family and the Graham family, hoping that they could identify Mrs. Filo from a photo. But I couldn't find a single one of them either.

"That's where things got really strange. There were at least 20 household staff between the two families. How could they all disappear like that?"

Emelie hummed in acknowledgment, switching to a new plate as she mechanically resumed peeling the sweet potatoes.

"So, I dug deeper. Some of those household staff had passed away naturally, and some had left the family homes to follow their children elsewhere. As for the rest... someone had bought them houses, found them jobs, and given them money to leave their original residences."

Lyle's voice grew serious. "They were forced to leave their homes so that no one could find them."

Emelle hummed again. It was a sound of agreement and acknowledgment that she was listening,

"I kept searching and finally found two former household staff of the Pierce family. When they saw Mrs. Filo's photo, one said that she looked just like Mrs. Pierce, while the other said that she was Mrs. Pierce. They also described Mrs. Pierce as lively, cheerful, and generous. These are traits that match Mrs. Filo."

Lyle licked his lips. "So, I believe that Mrs. Filo is the same Mrs. Pierce who was said to have jumped into a river in despair after her husband was sentenced to death and her son was kidnapped by human traffickers."

In other words, she was Emelie's biological mother.

Emelie lowered her head, her face expressionless.

She hadn't done a DNA test with Wesley because that would have been too offensive and would have humiliated the bond they had built over the past ten years. Besides, she couldn't bear the cold, hard facts laid out in black and white.

Still, she wasn't someone who could turn a blind eye and pretend not to notice. She wanted to know the truth of it all.

That was why she asked Lyle to investigate this matter for her.: text © owner.

And Lyle had conducted an extremely thorough investigation.

"I also found two former household staff of the Graham family. They told me that around 28 years ago, Norman suddenly claimed that he had lost a gemstone worth millions of dollars. He believed that a maid had stolen it. Since no one confessed, Norman had fired every single one of them in a fit of anger.

"When those two former household staff of the Graham family looked at Mrs. Filo's photo, they were certain that she was definitely not Hannah."

Emelie hummed for a third time, and the pile of sweet potatoes on the plate kept growing.

But while most people would become more skilled the more they peeled, her sweet potatoes were becoming more and more uneven, not as neat and smooth as they had been at the start. This seemed to show that her feelings were not as calm as she appeared.

"Based on the testimonies of the household staff from both families, I think the story from back then pieces together like this..." Lyle said.

"Mrs. Pierce didn't jump into the river, and she didn't die. She faked her death and then went to the Graham family before switching identities with Hannah.

"After that, Norman fired all the household staff because they had seen the real Hannah. He then hired new ones. The new staff, having never met the real Hannah, believed that the woman calling herself Hannah was the real one.

"Mrs. Pierce did all of this to escape being silenced by the Davis, Swanson, Collins, and Middleton families. Ten years later, the woman who had become Hannah divorced Norman, returned to the Filo family in Faldoria, and became the Mrs. Filo we know today. "So, if we now know that Mrs. Filo is Mrs. Pierce, then what about Wesley?"