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Chapter 98
The sudden silence in the tent seemed to freeze the air.
Eileen was curiously eyeing two strange men.
A shocked old man. And a middle-aged man who looked worked up.
Eileen grabbed the tent curtain, turning to Egbert, “You’ve got stuff to do, so I’ll just go ask them
myself.”
With that, she was about to leave.
“Hold on.” The middle-aged man suddenly blurted out.
Eileen stopped and looked back at him. “You…”
Just then, Egbert stepped forward, grabbing Blake’s shoulder to stop him from speaking.
Blake looked at Egbert.
Egbert turned his head and said to Eileen, “Go on, I’ll stay.”
Eileen didn’t understand what they were up to, she mumbled an “Okay” and left the tent.
The sound of the girl’s footsteps gradually faded away. Only then did Blake somewhat regain his
senses.
He closed his eyes, lightly rubbing his temples.
“Egbert.” Derek sat on an uncomfortable folding chair and said in a deep voice, “I need an explanation.”
Egbert glanced at Derek, then patted Blake on the shoulder, signaling him to sit down.
Blake sat down. Egbert also pulled over a chair to sit.
41 Jigh
He placed his hands on his knees, fingers interlaced, faced two stern gazes, then started speaking,
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Nathan rescued her from a drug dealer’s den in
Vietnam.”
This was a story from a long time ago.
Egbert had started investigating after Isabel insisted on calling Eileen auntie. He had investigated for a
long time and most of the information was clear.
Nineteen years ago in April, Nathan led a team that cracked a cross-border drug trafficking case.
During the process of capture, a woman was accidentally injured and died while trying to escape, and
she was holding a one-month-old baby girl.
“April.” Blake immediately said, “That fits. My sister was kidnapped in March.”
“Yes,” Egbert continued, “Nathan brought her back to his country at that time…”
But when he got back, Nathan found that his wife Sarah had given birth prematurely.
Sarah was seven months pregnant. Excessive sex during pregnancy led to injury, premature birth, and
massive bleeding. Nathan was devastated when he heard the news. He had been abroad, so how
could this happen to Sarah?
Obviously, Sarah had betrayed him.
Sarah had an affair with Ableson while Nathan was abroad, and while the two elder members of the
Howard family were seeking medical treatment in the capital and conducting research at the National
Science Institute, she even engaged in risky sexual activities during her pregnancy, which resulted in a
premature birth and a life-threatening situation for the child.
Sarah was lucky, she survived, but the baby, due to being born prematurely and with congenital
deficiencies, was critically ill.
By the time Nathan rushed to the hospital, Sarah had already run away. The baby was in the ICU; the
doctors said she might not make it through a few days.
The next day, the baby died at three in the morning. Nathan cried in pain, handling his daughter’s
funeral alone.
He sent the little girl he found to a welfare institution. They told him that younger children were easier to
adopt, but finding the child’s biological parents might be difficult.
A month later, the elder Howards returned home from their work outside, but they didn’t see Sarah who
was about to give birth..
Nathan wanted to tell his parents the truth, but in the end, he didn’t. Sarah’s affair and the premature
death of her granddaughter were blows that the two elders of the family couldn’t bear.
It was then that Nathan thought of the baby girl he had sent to the welfare institution. The baby girl’s
age was roughly the same as his daughter’s.
He went back to the institution and found out that the child hadn’t been adopted yet. So he went
through the procedures and formally adopted the little girl he had saved.
Nathan named the child Eileen Howard. That was the name he had originally chosen for his biological
daughter.
The two elders of the Howard family didn’t know that the child had been switched, and even Sarah
probably didn’t expect Nathan to replace the child she had given birth to with another one.
The only person who knew the truth was a friend of Nathan’s, a comrade who had fought with him. It
took Egbert a lot of effort to find that retired soldier and get this information.
After saying all of this, Egbert looked at Derek and Blake across from him and calmly said, “Nathan
raised her as his own, she was pampered in that family, without a care in the world.”
Derek’s expression turned sour.
“As Eileen’s biological father, I am grateful to him, but Eileen has the right to know the truth.” Derek
said grimly.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBlake then asked, “Did you do a DNA test? What are the results? Is it a match?”
Egbert looked up, “I did a kinship test, using her blood sample and Isabel’s. It’s not very accurate but
it’s basically consistent.”
Blake said in a deep voice, “Father is right, she has the right to know the truth, and we also need a
formal paternity test. Only by telling her the truth can we get her blood sample. It’s inevitable.”
Egbert was silent for a moment, then said, “I have her blood sample.”
Blake was taken aback, then said, “Right, you just said you matched her blood sample with Isabel’s.
How did you get her blood sample?”
Derek’s expression and voice suddenly turned serious, “Did you harm her?”
“No.” Egbert pursed his lips and finally said it. “I arranged for a blood donation van to be parked at the
entrance to her hotel. The promotion was, donate 200 milliliters of blood, get a $200 supermarket
voucher. She donated 400 milliliters on the spot.”
Derek was speechless for a moment. Blake looked surprised.
Egbert added, ‘The blood samples are well preserved, there’s a lot left. I’ll send them to you when I get
back to the country.”
Derek and Blake both fell silent. After a while, Blake finally asked, “So even if the DNA test results
match, you don’t want us to meet her, do you?”
“You can meet, but it would be best to take it slow.
“What does ‘take it slow’ mean?” Derek frowned.
Egbert explained, “First, let her get used to you guys. Don’t scare her. She has a father that she loves
very much. To her, you guys are just strangers.”
Derek took a deep breath and lowered his head in thought.
Blake glanced at his father, then at Egbert. With a hint of jealousy, Blake said to Egbert, “We have to
take it slow, but you get to be with her every day?”
“Yep.” Egbert responded bluntly, “I’m her family.”
Egbert calmly stated, “That’s what she said.”
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