Chapter 574

Marguerite stood there, momentarily stunned, before her brow furrowed and she shot back, “Are you joking with me?”

Miley was taken aback. She had braced herself for Marguerite’s shriek of disbelief, but her response was far more composed than when Miley herself had first discovered the truth.

Did her bestie even have emotions?

Her daughter was incredibly gifted and all Marguerite could do was question the fact?

Miley immediately jumped to Teresa’s defense, “Joking? If Teresa saw your reaction, she would be heartbroken! How can you not trust that she’s got the talents?”

Marguerite shook her head, clarifying, “It’s not Teresa I don’t trust-it’s you. You’re always exaggerate things, Miley. I don’t know what to believe.”

Miley hastily lifted three fingers in a solemn vow, “I swear! I’m not exaggerate things this time! Teresa is the Terry! In all my years as a private investigator, every face we’ve reconstructed from surveillance footage was thanks to Teresa’s help!”

Miley’s eyes were red with earnestness, yet Marguerite’s emotions were a tangled mess.

She had seen Teresa’s drawings before, even a projection of her own older self.

Back then, the little girl had fibbed, claiming it was just a random doodle, but it was clear now there was more to it than that.

Marguerite should have been elated for Teresa, but instead, she was swamped with confusion.

“What’s going on in that little head of hers? I’ve been searching for my son for three whole years, she knows that. With her talents, why didn’t she lend a hand?”

Miley was slapping her thigh in excitement, eager to explain on Teresa’s behalf.

“I know this one! I asked Teresa the same thing. But the kiddo said, without a snapshot of your son, she couldn’t conjure up an image.”

“But she could have tried to reverse-draw a likeness from pics of me and Maurice, right?” Miley looked dead serious, “She tried. But she said when she looked at photos of you and Maurice, she just hit a wall–no inspiration!”

Marguerite was baffled, “No inspiration? Why not?”

“Who knows! Maybe back then, she was just a fledgling artist and couldn’t quite grasp it yet?”

Miley crossed her arms, letting her imagination run wild before she threw her hands up in a grand gesture, “Instead of doubting here with me, why not head home and ask her yourself? She’s not going anywhere, she’ll cough up a masterpiece eventually.”

Miley’s logic was sound, but Marguerite’s confusion ran deeper.

What she couldn’t fathom was why Teresa would keep such a secret from her.

Yet, at the same time, Marguerite could finally breathe a sigh of relief. With Teresa’s skill, she would no longer be at Maurice’s mercy over the whereabouts of her missing son.

She placed all her hopes on Teresa, determined to have a heart-to-heart with the little whiz kid when she got home.

Meanwhile, at the Winston Mansion.

Manley glared at Hayes and Teresa, his belly bulging and jiggling with each breath he took.

His small hands were balled into fists at his sides, the very picture of fury.

“I don’t want to see you guys anymore, I don’t want to be friends, and I’ll never trust you again!”

The words of “Aunt Marguerite” haunted him from the past few nights.

He vividly remembered her saying daddy didn’t love him, only Teresa and Hayes.

He recalled her saying daddy wanted to kick him out of the house!

He despised “Aunt Marguerite,” and he despised Teresa and Hayes!

They were all in cahoots, all villains!

At Manley’s accusation, Teresa’s anger surged to her head, and she pointed at Manley, “You don’t want to see us? Well, the feeling is mutual! You lied, and now everyone’s got the wrong idea about my mom!

I don’t trust you either!”

Teresa had a fiery temperament, and seeing this, Hayes quickly pulled her aside, gesturing with his eyes to the recording children’s smartwatch on her wrist.

Teresa smacked her forehead in realization. Oh, boy! Mom sent her to fish for info, and here she was, bickering with Manley again!

This definitely wasn’t the way to go!