Chapter 333: Recording Content

Owen Ward clicked on the separately locked folder and hit play on the single audio file inside.

Joanne Cheney: “Stark, look, it’s these two photos. Doesn’t the one on the left look just like that good-for-nothing Bridget Walsh when she was a kid?”

Ken Ward: “How the hell would I remember what she looked like? But now that you mention it, she does look a lot like you. Are there any other photos?”

Joanne Cheney: “Yes… and these are from when she grew up. They’re screenshots from some variety show she was on. She still looks like her, even all grown up. If you ask me, this is definitely that good-for-nothing! She even changed her name to some Nina Jennings.”

Ken Ward: “Have you forgotten everything I’ve taught you?! Don’t spout nonsense about things you know nothing about! She’s so rich, how do you know she doesn’t have parents? Do you have any idea what kind of family she comes from, spreading rumors like this?!”

Joanne Cheney: “Oh, I know, I know. It’s just the two of us in here. I won’t go around blabbing once I step out that door. Maybe she was adopted by a rich family to be a child bride? If it really is her, don’t you think we’ll strike it rich this time? How is that wretched girl so damn tough? We finally managed to sell her off back then, and somehow she didn’t get her heart, liver, and eyes gouged out. She even survived this long. And if that’s not enough, she’s now some kind of vice-chairwoman of a multinational corporation!”

The recording went silent for a moment before Joanne Cheney’s voice started up again.

“Stark, say something! Hurry up and think of a way to get some money out of that little wench! No, we should make her give us all the money she’s earned! We’re the ones who gave her that miserable life! If I hadn’t given birth to her, would she have even lived this long? Think about it, our son just started college. He’ll need to get married in the future, and that’s a huge expense!”

Ken Ward: “Enough! Did a dog eat your damn brain?! Huh?! Are you incapable of understanding human speech?! There are so many people who look alike. How can you be so sure that’s the good-for-nothing you gave birth to? If it’s not her, our whole family is finished, you know that?! Who the hell do you think you are? This woman is backed by so many rich and powerful people. She’s treated like a princess, a young miss. All she has to do is say the word, and you won’t even know what hit you!”

Joanne Cheney: “But when I see someone who looks so much like that good-for-nothing doing so well for herself, it just eats me up inside! All of that should have belonged to our family, to my son!”

Ken Ward: “Now you listen to me. If you want to get money from this ‘Jennings’ woman, you’d better get those unsavory ideas out of your head! From now on, I don’t want to hear you or anyone else say the words ‘good-for-nothing’ ever again!”

Joanne Cheney: “Stark, you have a plan?! Don’t worry, I promise you, I definitely won’t call that good-for… Miss Jennings that again!”

Ken Ward: “I have indeed thought of a way. Whether she’s Bridget Walsh or not, we can get money from her.”

Joanne Cheney: “Well, hurry up and tell me! What is it?”

Ken Ward: “Go public online and claim she’s our long-lost daughter.”

Joanne Cheney: “No way! What would our son think? He’s grown up believing he’s an only child. How are you going to explain it to him?”

Ken Ward: “Can you stop being so shortsighted? We can just make up an excuse for our son later. Besides, I’m not asking you to actually acknowledge her. It’s just for show. We’ll say she got lost when she was a child, and we’ve been searching for her for a long time without success. We happened to see her childhood photo online, thought she looked familiar, and now we want to get in touch for a DNA test, just to find some closure. We won’t point fingers directly at Nina Jennings. We’ll just ask netizens to help us find the little girl in the photo. We’ll play the victim. Most netizens these days are brainless anyway, perfect to use as our pawns.”

Joanne Cheney: “But we don’t have any of her childhood photos. We don’t have any missing person posters or anything. How can we put on a show?”

Ken Ward: “It’s not that I want to criticize you, but how is it that your brain finally works for once, but not all the way? Our son bears some resemblance to her. We can just use a couple of his childhood photos to pass off as hers, can’t we? We’ll say she got lost when we took her with us to find work. Our family was so poor back then, it wouldn’t be strange not to have many photos. Then we can print out some missing person posters, age them, and crumple them up. And we’re all set, right? When the time comes, all the neighbors can testify to how hard our lives were back then and how we built everything from scratch later on. These big corporations and powerful families can’t stand the pressure of public opinion. A little spit from every netizen is enough to drown them! So there’s no way they can avoid the DNA test. If it really is Bridget Walsh, then all her money will be ours. If it’s not, that’s fine too. The rich can do whatever they want. We can claim she tampered with the results just so she wouldn’t have to acknowledge us. Eventually, they’ll get fed up and will have to negotiate with us, offering hush money to shut us up…”

Joanne Cheney: “Whoa, that’s a great idea! Stark, you’re so smart! So when do we start?”

Ken Ward: “No rush. We’ll discuss it in more detail when we get back to the city tomorrow. We still have a lot to prepare, and it’s not like she’s going anywhere.”

Joanne Cheney: “Okay! When the time comes, I’m going to demand a hundred million from her! Oh no, a hundred million is too little. At least a billion!”

…

The recording ended there.

Nina Jennings kept her eyes lowered the entire time, listening to it all with a blank expression as if she were a mere outsider.

Owen Ward put his phone away and glanced cautiously at the person across from him.

His voice was tinged with shame. “The people speaking in the recording… are my parents…”

The short half-hour had Miles Morgan on pins and needles. He shouldn’t have stayed. He should have just gone back to work earlier!

‘Oh my god, I just got all the hot gossip!’

‘What the hell is going on? The son brings evidence of his parents’ secret plot to the very person they’re targeting?!’

‘Waaah, this “suspected” past of Nina’s is so pitiful and tragic (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`;)’

‘And also, now that I know so many things I shouldn’t, am I going to be silenced?! (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`;)’

Yvonne Lowell’s gaze remained fixed on Nina Jennings. Without even turning her head, she threw a backhand punch at him.

“Did your fucking hemorrhoids burst? Why are you fidgeting like a goddamn idiot?!”

Miles Morgan winced in pain but didn’t dare cry out in such a serious situation, so he could only bite his lip resentfully.

‘See? Those kinds of crane’s beak red-flavored words are perfectly normal coming from Lowell.’

‘Nina’s earlier outburst made him suspect she’d been possessed by Lowell.’

Nina Jennings lazily lifted her eyelids.

“So, you came to see me all by yourself today and played this recording for me. What’s your angle? Are you trying to convince me to let your parents off the hook? To skip their whole act and just pay them to shut up?”