Chapter 80

Laura's shock quickly turned into outright denial.She shook her head again and again, blurting, "No, that's impossible! Verena never even went to college. She only learned a little medicine from a village doctor.There's no way she could carry out a surgery like that. Alec, you don't really believe Verena can slice someone open and cure them, do you?"

Every timne Verena's name left Laura's mouth, a glint of scorn flashed in her eyes.

Annoyance rising, Alec slammed his fist against the coffee table, his expression severe. "Slater himself confirmed it, and Barrie heard every word when l spoke with him. Do you understand who the Lyons family is? Do you honestly think they would bother lying to us?"

Laura faltered, her lips trembling. "That has to be a joke,right?" Deep down, she still clung to disbelief.

Alec lost his temper when he saw she'd rather dismiss it as a joke than admit Verena's skill.

He shot to his feet, pointing a finger right at her face as his voice boomed, "Do you realize how terrifyingly powerful the Lyons family is? Compared to them, our family is nothing less than ants underfoot. They wouldn't waste their time deceiving us!"

The sound of his voice reached her,low and steady,and it struck something final in Laura. Whatever comforting lie she'd been clinging to slipped through her fingers.

Verena's strengths weren't the problem. What unsettled her was the truth buried beneath it all. She had placed all her hopes in the wrong child. The daughter she'd cherished, praised, and protected with everything she had turned out to shine far less than the one she'd cast aside. And now, to recognize Verena's worth felt like dragging her own failures into the light, like confessing she'd been blind all along.

Her knees gave out, and she sank into the sofa, Her mind suddenly recalled her conversation with Verena when she'd just arrived in Shoildon, before the Bennett family ever met her.

Back then, afraid Verena would humiliate her without a proper degree, Laura had ordered her to lie to the Bennett family, to say she was a graduate of Acorith College of Medicine. But Verena refused, boldly telling them she came from Pine Hill University instead.

The memory of her own face, flushed with fury and disbelief at that time, came rushing back. Yet now...

Her fingers dug into the armrest as she forced the words out. "Could it betrue... that Verena really did graduate from Pine Hill University?"

The name alone made Alec's breath catch. His head buzzed as he stared at her in shock.

"What are you talking about? Say it clearly!" His eyes widened, and he gripped her shoulders hard,demanding, "When did she ever tell you she was from Pine Hill University? Why didn't you tel: me something so important earlier?"

Alec's grip bit into Laura's shoulders, sending pain down her arms, but the weight of his questions made panic burn far more than the ache.

"... when she first mentioned it after coming to Shoildon, she sounded like she was making up wild stories, so l dismissed it. And honestly, even if I had told you then, you wouldn't have believed a word of it either."

Rage twisted through Alec, his teeth grinding hard.He shoved Laura aside and hissed through clenched jaws. "Foolish woman!"

Without another word, he stormed straight toward the study.

Inside,Alec dropped heavily into the office chair, his brow locked in a hard knot. For the first time, he saw how blind he had been to his eldest daughter. Verena had never concealed the truth, but their arrogance had kept them from seeing her worth. They had brushed her off as useless, refusing to hear her out. Gossip spread outside, painting her as selfish and deceitful, and he let it seep into his own mind. Time after time, he blamed her in his mind for disgracing the Willis family, even regretting her return. And when Laura had driven her out, he had let it happen without protest.

A long sigh escaped him as he buried his face in his hands, guilt pressing down until it was almost unbearable. Everything he had worked for could have been within reach if only he'd shown Verena a fraction of care. Instead, he had destroyed it with his own hands.

Then his thoughts snagged on a new question, and his movements stilled. Where had all those rumors about Verena come from? Hardly anyone had known of her existence before. Why would strangers target her so viciously?

Lifting his head, Alec reached for the computer with trembling fingers.

He dug into the night, searching relentlessly, until one group chat screenshot stopped him cold. His fists curled tight as he enlarged the image to be certain.

The chat was filled with the wealthy young people of Shoildon.

But what froze his blood was the familiar profile picture attached to one of the names. His own younger daughter, Kaia.

A bitter laugh pulled at his mouth, sharp with disbelief. The girl who had always acted gentle and dutiful was in fact the one who had started all the rumors about her sister.

The realization churned his stomach with fury, and for a moment, he wanted nothing more than to confront her. But sanity clawed him back. For now,making peace with Verena mattered most. As for Kaia-her reckoning would come later.

After Alec stormed away, Laura lay restless in bed,unable to find sleep. When she finally turned over with the thought of making warm milk, a shadow by her bedside jolted her into a scream. Her hand flew to the lamp switch, flooding the room with light, and she froze once she saw who it was.

"Alec, you nearly gave me a heart attack." She pressed herself against the headboard, trying to steady her breath.

His eyes lingered on her in icy silence. The longer he stared, the more unsettled she felt, until at last he spoke. "We owe Verena. Tomorrow, you're coming with me to give her a proper apology."

At the Bennett Mansion...

Flat on his back, Bobby held his phone above him,staring at his chat with Verena.

His thoughts tangled as he scrolled through their conversations, every word stirring an unease he couldn't shake. The way Verena wrote, the tone-he couldn't help but picture Kaia behind the screen.

Then it struck him like a blow. "That's right... Kaia was the one who gave me Verena's contact."

He bolted upright, clawing at his hair in frustration.

How could he have been so gullible? Kaia was never reliable-half her words were lies. Yet he'd swallowed them whole without a second thought.

If Dr. Willis and Verena were one and the same, but he somehow had both numbers, then one of them had to be fake.

Determined to clear it up, Bobby snapped a screenshot of Verena's profile and forwarded it to the Dr. Willis account, adding a question: "Dr. Willis, is this one yours, too?"

The reply came quickly. "No."

Bobby dropped his phone and buried his face in his hands.

Damn it. That meant the Verena he had been messaging all this time was most likely Kaia pretending.

For the first time, doubt gnawed at his own intelligence. Knowing Kaia's talent for scheming, he had still sided with her against her sister without once checking the facts. What an idiot he had been. Even if he hadn't said those cruel things directly to the real Verena, it didn't erase the truth-he had spoken ill of her.

And worse, in his petty attempts to oppose her, he had made himself look utterly foolish.

The more he replayed it all, the heavier the shame sat in his chest, until he wanted to tear his hair out.

No, he couldn't let it end this way. He had to talk with Verena and explain, to show her he wasn't the complete fool he had acted like. She had to see he wasn't beyond saving.

No wonder Isaac had lost his temper with him every time he spoke ill of Verena.