I Read Their Tragic Fates, and My Family Reads My Mind?

Felix Lynch was the first to react. As the man of the house, he asked, "What’s going on?"

Felicity Lister hurried forward and briefly explained the situation to him. Felix Lynch’s expression darkened. In a cold voice, he said, "This isn’t the place to discuss this. Let’s go to the second floor. Zane, you stay here and entertain the guests."

Pushed out of the circle by his elders due to his junior status and forced to linger on the outskirts, Zane Lynch was speechless. ’No, I want to go up and listen too!’

Wanda Chamberlain, however, remembered Felicity Lister mentioning that Zane Lynch had personally invited Arabella Donovan and Eloise Donovan. She had a mind to let him join them upstairs, but Felicity once again stopped her.

Wanda Chamberlain knitted her brows. Though confused by the other woman’s action, years of tacit understanding made her swallow the words that were already on the tip of her tongue.

With no objections from the other in-laws, Felix Lynch turned his gaze to Eloise Donovan and Arabella. "Would you two young ladies be willing to come with us?"

Eloise Donovan turned to look at Arabella Donovan questioningly. Arabella quickly raised her hand and said, "I’m good with whatever."

So Eloise Donovan nodded as well.

Felix Lynch let out an imperceptible sigh of relief. He arranged for a few more people to help Zane Lynch entertain the guests before leading the group upstairs.

The moment they entered the study, Wanda Chamberlain couldn’t wait to ask, "Could you tell us in detail about you two being switched at birth? We... we’re just so curious."

No matter how curious they were, it was still rather rude to make such a request of people they had just met. Eloise Donovan once again looked to Arabella Donovan for her opinion.

Arabella Donovan didn’t really mind; it wasn’t exactly a shameful secret.

Strictly speaking, both she and Eloise Donovan were victims. And the sole beneficiary...

Arabella Donovan glanced at Cassandra Lynch, who had silently followed the group in, but ultimately left the decision in Eloise Donovan’s hands.

Eloise Donovan had naturally noticed Cassandra Lynch’s presence as well. It was just that compared to Felix Lynch and the others, she wasn’t particularly concerned with this stranger to whom she had no blood relation.

"I can tell you, but I need to know why."

"Well..." The elders exchanged glances, their faces showing hesitation.

But Wanda Chamberlain was an impatient person. "Because my sister—the one I just mentioned who looks a lot like you—also gave birth to a child back then, at XX Hospital in Yarrow Province."

Upon hearing this, Eloise Donovan feigned a surprised expression. "So, you now think I’m your family’s child?"

Ryan Sullivan and the others remained silent. Instead, Felix Lynch suddenly turned to look at Cassandra Lynch. "What do you think..."

After the initial panic, Cassandra Lynch had completely calmed down. She thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Forgive me for being blunt, but you’re both healthy, right?"

"Of course."

Cassandra Lynch immediately lowered her head, a sad smile on her face. "I don’t know why this young lady looks so much like Mom, but they’re both healthy. Unlike me, who was handed a death sentence at birth, saddled with a disease that means I’ll be dealing with hospitals for the rest of my life."

Cassandra Lynch said this to remind everyone that Arabella Donovan and Eloise Donovan were both healthy; a swap between them could easily go unnoticed.

But she was born with congenital heart disease. How could swapping a sick child for a healthy one possibly go undetected?

Mrs. Lynch and the others stiffened, clearly just realizing this point as well.

Only Arabella Donovan, who held the "script," saw through her little scheme in an instant.

’Brilliant, truly brilliant! She reacted so quickly. She must have mentally rehearsed this scene countless times after learning the truth. A pity she ran into me. Everything happens for a reason, and I am your karma!’

The Donovan Family and Caspian Rhodes, who had moved to an adjacent room on the floor below to secretly "eat melons": PFFT...

This did sound like a major logical flaw. Swapping a healthy child with one like Cassandra Lynch, who had a congenital disease, would be easily discovered. But it seemed even fate was helping the mother and daughter pair.

The medical system back then wasn’t as meticulous or advanced as it is today. On top of that, a natural disaster had caused a series of car accidents, leaving the hospital overflowing with patients and its systems on the verge of collapse.

At the time, the only person who knew about Cassandra Lynch’s condition was the doctor in charge of infant check-ups. As it happened, when Holly Wagner brought the child to see him, she caught him secretly taking bribes and kickbacks—a serious disciplinary issue.

The Donovan Family: "..." ’What kind of ’chosen one’ is this? Isn’t this a bit too convenient!’

The result was predictable. Holly Wagner used this as leverage to make him alter Cassandra Lynch’s and Eloise Donovan’s information in the system.

’That doctor died from an illness six years ago. Cassandra Lynch probably knew this all along, which is why she’s deliberately bringing it up now. She’s betting on the fact that dead men tell no tales.’

Arabella Donovan wasn’t wrong. After learning the truth a year ago, Cassandra Lynch had paid her biological father to help her confirm many things. She also erased many of the traces Holly Wagner had left behind, knowing the doctor was long dead.

But Wanda Chamberlain wasn’t so easily convinced. "There are plenty of strange things in this world. Sometimes, the most impossible-seeming things are the most likely to happen."

Towards this aunt-in-law who had never thought much of her, Cassandra Lynch now felt nothing but extreme hatred. Yet, her face still held that pitiable look, with lowered brows and a bowed head. "If that’s what you think, Aunt, there’s nothing I can do. I’m just stating my own thoughts. How to discern the truth is up to the elders. After all, I was just a child back then. What could I have possibly known?"

Wanda Chamberlain was at a loss for words. Initially, her impression of Cassandra Lynch hadn’t been that bad.

Until one time, when she came to the Lynch Family’s home to visit, she happened upon Cassandra Lynch hiding behind Zane Lynch, weakly and softly recounting a "small conflict" she was having with the daughter of another family friend.

Even though the whole story sounded perfectly fine on the surface, it made Wanda Chamberlain’s skin crawl.

Especially after the girl who was being denounced stormed off in anger, Cassandra Lynch, still hiding behind Zane Lynch, suddenly revealed a strange smile filled with a dark, chilling aura.

Mrs. Sullivan, whose bitch radar was at maximum level, felt her heart skip a beat. She instantly sensed the trickery involved. But she also worried she was being too sensitive and had wrongly accused the child, so she began observing Cassandra Lynch even more closely after that.

After a few more times, she was finally certain: the girl had simply gone bad!

At the time, Cassandra Lynch was only six years old. Wanda Chamberlain naturally assumed the Lynch Family hadn’t taught her well, and it even made her doubt their character.

However, after being around her for a long time, Wanda Chamberlain changed her mind again, realizing the problem lay with the child herself.

And for that very reason, Wanda Chamberlain grew to resent Cassandra Lynch’s presence more and more.

The girl she had practically watched grow up was youthful and beautiful, bright and generous—like a little radiant sun, impossible to forget after just one glance.

How could such a person give birth to such an affected child, one who loved to scheme behind people’s backs?