Chapter 105: Margaret

Jacob Fisher found himself speechless.

He had no words to refute what Hope said.

"I'm not dumb to not doubt my identity. Only a fool would believe that Sheila Thompson is my mother."

Hope had secretly conducted a DNA test. The test result proved her suspicion.

It was such a shame that she didn't bring the test result with her.

There was no doubt that Jacob was her father because she looked like him. She was the female version of her father.

"Who is my mother?" she asked him again.

Hope looked at her father's face. Jacob sat back on the seat. He was at a loss.

He was in a dazed state.

He suddenly remembered the woman who should not be named.

That woman was so cruel to him. Her memory suffocated him. She was the reason why he became like this.

He became miserable when she left him.

He had forgotten how to love again when she left. He was a total mess when she left.

Zarah saw the changes in her father's expression while staring into thin air.

Seeing his odd behavior, Hope felt frustrated.

Hope thought that it was useless to stay.

She got up from her seat and was about to leave. However, Jacob stopped her from leaving the room.

"Wait!"

Jacob looked at his daughter. He knew he had failed her a lot of times in the past.

Of course, he knew what Hope was talking about earlier. Hope was that woman's daughter.

He thought that woman had betrayed him. He ignored and neglected her deliberately because he was upset with that woman.

He could not bear to look at her before because of anger. He tried to avoid her and ignored her. Hope should not be in the same room as him.

Perhaps, Sheila and Felicity had bullied her because of his doing. Hope became the unwanted child, and he let that happen.

He thought that whatever his wife would do to her, Hope deserved it since he was not her father.

However, everything changed when he saw her face on her sixteenth birthday.

Jacob was stunned to see Hope's face. She resembled him a lot when he was a young lad.

Jacob instantly conducted a paternity test. He wanted to make sure he was right.

The paternity test result came back positive. Jacob could still remember his reaction when he read the result.

He instantly felt regret and guilt. However, there was a possibility that that woman was not her mother.

Sheila and that woman had given birth at the same time.

However, Sheila was adamant that Hope was not her daughter. So he ignored this possibility. He had no DNA left from that woman to have a comparison anyways.

The important thing was she was his daughter.

What Hope said earlier had slapped him with reality.

Regardless, his deliberate neglect had caused her to suffer.

He had to at least make it up to her.

"If you don't want to answer my question, I'll look for the answer myself," Hope said bitterly.

"Margaret Foster, that's her name."

Hope's eyes lit up after she had the name.

"Do you know where I can find her?" she asked expectantly.

However, Hope didn't expect that his answer would shatter all her hope.

"She's already dead."

Hope staggered when she heard this.

Her mind went blank, and her face turned pale.

Tears started streaming down her face, and she wiped them away.

"You're joking, right?"

"I wish I did." Jacob seriously said.

"How did she die?"

"She died in prison after she gave birth to you. There was a fire incident that time."

Prison? Fire incident?

'Did that mean our mother was a criminal?' Hope asked in her thoughts.

Regardless, she was still their mother. She had no right to judge her.

Then a sudden realization hit her. Hope gasped in reaction.

"Did you neglect my existence because my mother was in prison? Do you think she's a criminal, too?"

He was the one who cruelly sent her to prison.

He thought she betrayed him and their marriage.

When in reality, he was the one who cheated on her first.

However, she was a vicious person and even plotted against Sheila, who was pregnant too at that time.

Sheila was carrying his child and was in the third trimester. She almost had a miscarriage because of what Margaret did.

He didn't see any remorse on Margaret's face when he saw her.

He was already mad at her alleged betrayal of their marriage.

The evidence his men gathered proved that she was the culprit.

Hence, he sent her to prison despite being eight months pregnant.

Margaret had to give birth while she was in jail. Margaret did not get the chance to spend time with her babies. The infirmary doctor had to send them to the hospital due to birth complications.

On that same day, a fire broke out.

The news of Margaret's death was a shock to him.

He was about to rush to prison, but Sheila Thomas was in labor. So, he sent his men to check in prison.

His subordinate confirmed Margaret's death.

He should have enjoyed the arrival of his child, but he wasn't. His heart was mourning.

That was then that he realized he loved Margaret and not Sheila.

What he felt for the latter was a sense of responsibility for a one-night stand. He enjoyed Sheila's companionship, yes. However, what he felt was not love.

He was in denial of his feelings. It was already too late for him when he realized that he loved Margaret.

He was her legal husband. Hence, he got custody of her children. However, he never visited them.

Margaret's death had turned him the worst. He started blaming Sheila and their children.

He had lost his affection for them. He didn't even care when he heard that there was a child abduction in the hospital.

Unfortunately, Sheila's daughter got abducted.

He tried to coax Sheila. He promised to bring her daughter back.

Hope's twin was one of the abducted children. However, he did not care.

Now that he thought about it, there was a possibility that Hope's twin was his daughter, too.

Jacob felt guilty. However, there's no way he would confess it. He was utterly embarrassed.

"Margaret is not a good person," he tried telling Hope. However, he did not realize how pathetic he sounded. Jacob was trying to justify his actions.

Jacob's words had made the anger in his heart rise. She would never allow anyone to slander her mother's name without proof.

Hope found it hard to defend her mother because she had not met her yet. However, she would not let Jacob dirty the impression she had of her.

If her mother was not a good person, then she and her sister should be the same.

She believed that their mother was naturally a kind person, just like her sister.

Not all prisoners in prison are guilty of their crimes.

Hence, she wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. However, her father was a different case.

"How about you? Are you a good person?" she asked him back.

"No sane man would keep two women in his life," Hope added.

"Nevertheless, I think I should thank you for being my sperm donor. Regardless of what you said, she's still my mother. I'll believe her more than your words. That's how I'll honor her memory."

Hope stormed out of the room after she said that.

She could no longer hold back her anger.

Meanwhile, Jacob could not bring himself to stop or chase after him.

His reasoning was crooked. His mind was a mess.

He smiled mockingly to himself. He went to open his drawer and pulled out a polaroid photo under his desk.

"Our daughter hates me now. And I deserve it!"

He had been a mess. His reasoning was a mess. His mind had been a mess.

His indecisiveness brought this tragedy to his daughter's life.

Had he trusted Margaret back then, none of it would have happened. He should have believed her. Most importantly, he shouldn't have cheated on her with Sheila.

Everything that followed was his bullsh*t excuse to justify his actions.

It was too late for regrets now.

He knew that Margaret was probably mocking and angry for what he did.

He should have pulled his sh*t together before everything was too late for him.

While he was sulking like a desperate cow, his second wife was creating trouble for Hope.

As Hope headed out, she bumped into Sheila Thomas.

"The prodigal daughter has returned!" Sheila commented with disdain.

However, Hope ignored and bypassed her.

Hope's action had angered Sheila.

"You! Come back here! You ungrateful brat!"

Sheila was about to grab Hope's arm. However, the latter was quick to dodge.

"Don't touch me!" Hope bellowed in disgust.

All these years, she had been yearning for this woman's love and affection!

Nevertheless, she got nothing other than physical and emotional abuse.

Hope thought that she could earn the affection of her biological mother. Nevertheless, the news of her death crushed her hope to pieces.

Hope was hurt. Her heart was bleeding. Her father neglected her. The woman she treated as a mother had mistreated her. Felicity was never a good sister to her. Most importantly, Zarah was treating her like an outsider.

Was she destined to be alone?

Hope's sudden outburst caught everyone's attention.

"Did you just yell at me?" Sheila Thompson asked in fury.

"I just did! So what?!" Hope said indifferently.

After she found out that Sheila was not her mother, she had been waiting for this moment to happen.

She had left this house because she could no longer take the mistreatment. She moved out the day she was eighteen years old.

"How dare you talk back to me?! Have you forgotten who raised you?!"

"Raise me? It's more like a raise myself with the servants."

When Hope was a baby, they had maids to help clean the manor. However, when she turned ten, Sheila fired those servants. And then, Hope did all the chores for them.

Sheila hired stay-out cleaners who would come twice a week.

As mentioned, Jacob heard about it, but he did nothing to stop Sheila.

He ignored it.

"Yes, you bring food to my plate and a roof over my head. However, I did not earn it for free. I have worked hard for it. Now I understand why I receive such treatment from you. It turned out I'm not your daughter!"

She wanted to add more. However, Hope decided to keep the rest to herself.

Sheila was not stunned to hear this.

"So what? You deserve it anyways. Your existence annoys me. I should have killed you when you were a child. You were pretty useless anyways."

What Sheila said sent shivers down Hope's spine.

Sheila had her agenda for why she kept Hope alive. However, she started regretting it as her plan did not work.

Meanwhile, Hope had been aware of this for a long time now. However, it was a different story now that she heard it from Sheila's mouth.

Hope had the urge to protect her sister from this woman.

As long as she's alive, Sheila could never touch Zarah.

Hope looked behind Sheila and saw her father.

"What a shame. I bet you regretted your decision now, huh," Hope taunted.

Hope was not in the mood for any argument, though.

She only wanted to piss this woman off.

Hope could feel her phone vibrating inside her pocket.

She checked who was calling and found out that it was Zarah.

She hesitated to answer her call. She did not want anyone to know about Zarah. Hence, she rejected the call.

***