Chapter 404

Gwendolyn and Cedrick exchanged glances when they saw Kieran standing in the doorway, not expecting him to be there.

Kieran was completely drenched.

He didn’t want to go inside and dirty the carpet, so he remained outside. His usually-cool gaze was fixed on Gwendolyn.

Confusion filled Gwendolyn. She suddenly recalled the incident at the Harris residence a few days ago.

“Why didn’t you use an umbrella? Is there an emergency?” she asked coldly.

Kieran calmed his breathing and answered, “Kiddo, I was being watched for the past few days. That was why I didn’t come and see you. Since tomorrow is the homecoming feast, I had to lose them and sneak here.”

Her heart immediately softened. She looked over her shoulder at Cedrick. “Get a thick towel for him and make some soup to warm him up.”

“Okay.”

With the thick towel, Kieran managed to dry himself partially to a state where he was no longer dripping wet. Only then did he enter the living room.

Cedrick went to make soup while Gwendolyn took a seat on the couch.

“Just say what you want to say, Kieran.”

Kieran nodded. He was never the type to beat around the bush.

“Although Alban is my mentor, I don’t trust the results of his paternity test entirely, and that’s why I brought this.”

He took out a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his suit. A few strands of Marcus’ hair were tucked between the folded cloth.

Shock filled her, and her gaze turned grim. “But Kieran, it’s already the middle of the night. Even if you use your connections and send it to the hospital for a test, you won’t make it tomorrow.”

Kieran shook his head. “I don’t trust anyone else, so I’ll do it myself this time around. You only need to provide me with a silver staining reagent and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.”

“All right. I can get those items from the Jenson family’s medical team and have Nico deliver them here.”

Kieran nodded before lowering his head. After contemplating briefly, he asked, “I didn’t say anything on the day something happened to Dad. Do you… blame me for it?”

Anger poured through her at the mention of that dreadful day.

Heaven knows how ostracized and lonely I was facing those distrustful bunch of relatives. It’d be unnatural of me to deny feeling any anger over it. That isn’t who I am.

She shot a haughty glare at Kieran, walked toward him, and punched his shoulder.

“Of course, I blamed you. I even considered ignoring you for the rest of my life and pretending you weren’t my brother.”

Kieran dejectedly hung his head as guilt flooded him.

Despite that, Gwendolyn continued, “Now that I’ve punched you. That settles it. You’re forgiven.”

The light in his eyes returned. He grabbed her wrist and used it to smack his chest.

“Your punch didn’t even hurt. It was like being scratched by a kitten. You can hit me a few more times if you’re still mad at me.”

Gwendolyn burst into laughter and retracted her hand. “All right. I’m not mad anymore. Really.”

Kieran exhaled a relieved sigh, but his expression turned gruff as he remembered something else.

“I’ve been taking care of Dad these few days and found something in his room. Also, someone in the family… is behaving oddly.”

When she caught the complicated look in his eyes, the gravity of the situation dawned upon Gwendolyn.

As she silently listened to his description, her heart began to sink.

Kieran told her about everything he found out over the past few days. When he caught the somberness in her countenance, he immediately assured, “This is just my speculation, and there’s no certainty behind it. We can’t simply accuse him of any wrongdoing. Tomorrow is the homecoming feast. You have to listen to his explanation.”

Gwendolyn wasn’t unreasonable, so she nodded.

Knock! Knock!

A loud knock rapped against the front door of the villa.

She glanced at the clock and was surprised. “Wow, Nico is quick. I just texted him a few minutes ago, and he’s already here with all the stuff.”

She got up and went to get the door. Kieran followed behind her.

When the door opened, she saw the man outside was drenched by the rain too. His chest was rising and falling heavily, proof of him jumping over the fence and running to her house as well.

However, the man wasn’t Nico.

It was Treyton.

Gwendolyn gazed at Treyton from head to toe, then looked over her shoulder at Kieran, who had wet hair too. A chuckle escaped her throat.

“What is up with tonight? Why are you guys running to my house in the rain? It sure is a lively night!”

Treyton was squeezing rainwater from his blue suit as he beamed at Kieran. “Hey, what a coincidence that you’re here too, Kieran!”

Kieran didn’t greet him back as he wore a haughty look.

Gwendolyn asked, “What brings you here today, Treyton?”

Treyton’s expression turned solemn. “I found the real cause behind Dad’s accident,” he replied in his deep voice.

The smile on Gwendolyn’s face dimmed.

“Who was it?”

“It’s…” Treyton opened his mouth but didn’t answer her, thinking it wasn’t appropriate at the moment.

“Let’s go inside, and I’ll explain everything to you slowly.”

She passed him a towel for him to dry his hair.

Making himself at home, Treyton took it and started drying himself off.

When Cedrick came out of the kitchen, he immediately saw another uninvited guest in his home.

With a smirk, he joked, “Even Treyton is here. Did you guys catch a whiff of my soup and come here for some?”

Treyton chuckled. “I haven’t tried your soup before. What good timing! It’s not a wasted trip.”

Everyone laughed, filling the living room with a harmonious atmosphere.

Each of them took a seat on the couch and started discussing the next day’s homecoming feast.

Cedrick had just set two bowls of warm soup on the coffee table when a knock sounded from the front door again.

It was Nico this time.

The rain was pouring outside, so despite Nico having an umbrella, his clothes were sodden by rainwater since he ran in the rain with the things Kieran requested in his arms.

He let out a couple of sneezes when Cedrick opened the door.

His face scrunched into a pitiful look when he caught the pleasant scent of the soup, taking a page from Cedrick’s book.

“It has been hard on me, Cedrick! I was having a nice dream when Gwendolyn woke me up for work. I need the soup you made and a raise as a reward for my hard work.”

Treyton’s laughter echoed from the living room.

Perplexed by the laughter, Nico poked his head inside the house and saw Kieran and Treyton were there too.

He instantly withdrew his head as regret filled him over his embarrassing actions.

He wanted to press the invisible rewind button at the mortification of him acting like Cedrick’s lackey in front of an audience.

Cedrick took pleasure in Nico’s misfortune and reached for the stuff in his hands.

“I made extra servings of soup today, so feel free to grab a bowl.”

“All righty!”

Nico was a social butterfly. He quickly got over his humiliating moment and joined the discussion in the living room after beating himself up for a few minutes.

Finishing the bowl of soup, Kieran went to an empty room on the second floor with the apparatus and started running the test.

The silver staining reagent and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were the most rudimentary method of DNA testing.

Worried about making a mistake, Kieran cautiously ran the test a few times for a consistent result.

When he ran the DNA test in the room, Gwendolyn, Cedrick, Treyton, and Nico stood by the door and waited nervously.

Even though it was already midnight, none of them were sleepy. All of them were nervous and had serious looks on their faces.

Kieran running the test personally was their last chance and the most reliable way for them to get the result. Every second was torture as they waited in trepidation.

Another half an hour passed, and the sound of the door knob twisting could be heard.

Kieran had finished the test, and he walked out of the room with steady steps.

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