CHAPTER 355

Brandon and Jennifer knew that Sebastian was trying to make Madeline look good and to let the Penham Family know that he respected his wife a lot.

Hearing that, Jennifer pleaded to Madeline earnestly, "Mrs. Hart, we would like to ask for your approval on that!"

"Leigh is like my sister, so I'll never force her to do anything. Nonetheless, I'll pass her the message. Whether or not she's willing to treat Old Master Penham and your daughter, I'll fully respect her choice."

Jennifer was rather disappointed after hearing what she said and pleaded, "We hope that you can put in a word for us… We believe that Dr. Shefford is a kind person, and it's only because Ava gave her a bad impression of the Penham Family. However, Bryson's family has nothing to do with our family anymore as we have decided to split both families and live apart. We can guarantee Dr. Shefford that our family is kind and upright, unlike the arrogant Ava."

"What's the point of splitting both families?" Eddie howled. "Just get your brother to divorce Penny! Also, Ava is not of the Penham lineage, so just get someone to remove her records from the Civil Affairs Bureau. From today onward, Penny and Ava are mortal enemies of the Penham Family!" Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

"No, please don't do this to me. I don't want to get a divorce!" Penny cried.

She immediately turned and looked at Bryson as she pleaded incessantly while shaking her head, "Bryson, please don't divorce me! I'm begging you! Please don't divorce me for the sake of our sons…"

Realizing that she could use her sons as bargaining chips, she immediately crawled up and staggered over to Austin and Justin. She stretched her hand out and grabbed onto them while wailing. "Austin, Justin! Quick, beg your father to not divorce me. Why should we separate when we are living well together?"

"Get your hands off my sons!" Bryson rushed over and pushed her away while glaring at her with bloodshot eyes. "You were unfazed when Austin was punished, but you made a big fuss when Ava was being punished. You would even hit Justin when he did nothing wrong. All you care about is Ava, the daughter of your lover. Austin and Justin don't even have a place in your heart! Both of them are my sons who have nothing to do with you. Get away, you vicious woman!"

Both Austin and Justin were stunned by what they just heard, and they couldn't believe the scene that was happening right then. In particular, poor Justin was still in the dark since Austin was already aware that Ava wasn't their biological sister. He was shocked to find out that Ava wasn't their sister but the daughter of his mother's childhood sweetheart.

Instead, their sister had been abandoned by their mother—no, their maternal grandmother was the one who lost their sister. Their grandmother liked their sister a lot. One day, she brought their sister out for a stroll when a stranger approached them to ask for directions.

After chatting for a while and giving directions to the stranger, their sister was nowhere to be found when their grandmother turned around. Because of that, their grandmother blamed herself for it and was so devastated that she almost died. Recalling that, Jutsin found it odd and asked, "Mom, did you ask someone to snatch our sister away from grandma?"

"No… I didn't!" Penny shook her head and cried as she denied it.

"Yes, she did," Madeline answered as she looked at Justin. "She was afraid that if she was the one who lost your sister, the Penham Family would blame her for it. Since she is competitive and egoistic, she wouldn't be able to live with such a flaw. With that, she chose to push the responsibility to your grandmother. That way, your mother would be pitied instead of blamed when your sister went missing."

"No, that's not true!" Penny shook her head desperately and howled at Madeline, "What nonsense are you talking about? You don't know anything, yet you are sputtering nonsense. You're slandering me!"

"Speaking of which, you might not believe this, but…" She looked at Penny before adding, "Sometime ago, Leigh asked me for a favor, and m-my…" Madeline didn't know whether she should address Sebastian as husband or hubby, and as she was trying to make up her mind, she looked over at him and blushed. Noticing that, Sebastian smiled as he raised his brow as he looked over at her.

She immediately avoided his gaze and continued, "My husband investigated Leigh's matter and managed to find out about a gang involved in child trafficking back then. All of them had been apprehended by the police and are currently still behind bars. Coincidentally, one of them was the one hired by Mrs. Penham. If you still think that I'm talking nonsense, we can report this to the police, and they can confront you about it."

"That's b*llshit! You're lying!" Penny howled, "Walter was the one…" Before she could complete her sentence, she noticed that she was revealing too much information and immediately paused. At that moment, she was horrified and her face was red.

"Walter was the one who took the child away, am I right?" Madeline questioned her.

What Madeline said earlier wasn't all true as she was trying to get information out of Penny. As Penny's emotions were currently unstable, she wouldn't be able to think calmly. Thus, she could easily sputter

the truth.

Madeline deliberately came up with a half-true story to lure Penny, who knew about the truth, to reveal it subconsciously. This trick would have been ineffective against those who were quick-witted and smart. However, it was the perfect trap for someone like Penny. It was a plan that suddenly came to her mind but proved effective when she tried it on Penny.

"Walter and you had actually planned it out. You found a way to get your mother to bring your child out for a stroll alone, and you gave your mother's house address to Walter. He then hired someone to play along to distract her while Walter took your daughter away…"

"No… That's not it… That's not it…" The horrified Penny looked at Madeline like she had seen a ghost.

How? How does she know every detail about our plan as if she had spectated the whole thing? Did Walter tell her, or are Sebastian's words indeed true? Is Walter still alive and that I've been fooled by him? Why, though?

She couldn't figure out why Walter would want to fool her. She loved him so much that she was willing to send her own daughter away and raise his daughter as her own. She couldn't believe that he had fooled her even when she had loved him so deeply.

"Penny, do you think that you're very smart?" Madeline was resentful toward Penny as she thought of how hard her best friend's life had been.

"Penny, do you know who was the one that asked for directions in order to distract your mother so that Walter had the chance to take your daughter away?" Madeline asked as she looked into Penny's eyes.