Chapter 31 If Two Ride a Horse
He took a long, long time to calm himself down after that, and he finally resumed his usual self. He called his eldest and youngest son, summoning them back home. He had four sons and a daughter. His eldest sons, Jonathan and Joseph, were twins. His youngest sons, Connor and Cedric, were also twins as well. Jonathan was the eldest, while Cedric was the youngest.
He and Crystal had four sons before they finally had a girl, and they treated her like a princess. They loved her for more than twenty years, but now, he realized his love had been poured onto the wrong person.
He blamed himself every time he thought of the suffering Madeline went through. Having twins ran in Crystal’s family. Crystal’s brothers were twins, while she gave birth to two sets of twins too, and Madeline also gave birth to twins. Why didn’t I think of that when Madeline gave birth to the boys?
Cameron is Crystal’s half-sister. Crystal got the tendency to birth twins from her mother’s side. Cameron has no such genes.
Five years ago, Madeline gave birth to two beautiful sons just like his wife did so many years ago. Why didn’t I suspect her of being my daughter? If I had known the truth after she gave birth to the boys, I could have taken care of her and her boys for a few more years.
Those beautiful, intelligent boys are my grandsons! That idea excited him. He wanted to hug them, kiss them, and tell them he was sorry. If he had known they were his own grandkids, he would have taken them in and cared for them himself. He would never have let them live under the Taylors’ tyranny.
The more he thought of that, the more upset he was. When he called his sons, they could hear the solemnity in his voice, and they were nervous. They wanted to know what was wrong.
He didn’t answer them. He only asked them to return quickly, but before he hung up, he told them to get a driver to drive them home in case they got themselves in danger because they were in a hurry.
He only called two of his four sons home. He had handed his company to Jonathan, and his eldest was managing it well as the president. His youngest opened a gaming company and made a lot of money too. His second was a national researcher who worked at a research center. It was common for him to stay in the lab for long periods of time. He didn’t call Joseph back in case it got in the way of his job, while Connor worked with the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics. It was a strict department, and he couldn’t come home whenever he wanted, so Michael didn’t alert him.
Half an hour later, his sons came into the study. When they saw the dark look on their father’s face, it unnerved them. “What happened, Dad? You sounded like you were in a hurry on the phone. What happened?”
“A few things. All important. I don’t want to repeat myself. Give me a moment.” He clicked around and sent two online conference invitations to his other sons.
Joseph and Connor accepted it, though they were surprised to see their father and brothers around.
“What happened, Dad? This seems serious,” Joseph asked.
“This is important.” Michael handed the file to Jonathan. “Jonathan, read the content out loud for your brothers.”
“Alright, Dad.” He took the file from Michael, and as he read, he and his brothers started to look solemn as well. Once he was done, a dead silence fell on them.
A long, long time later, Cedric looked at his father. “This isn’t true, right?”
“I’m afraid it is.” Michael shook his head. “I’ve sent someone to look into this, and Cameron did say the exact same thing written on this file. She even called your mother a fool despite her being the so-called ‘legit child’. She said she played them all like a fiddle and got your mother to work for her.”
Jonathan frowned. “She said Mom’s a fool who got played and is working for her? Is she talking about Mom raising Angie as her own?”
“Probably, and look at this.” He took out three photos. “This is Angie, Madeline, and your grandmother’s photos. Of course, your grandmother’s photo was taken when she was young.”
The Wendel brothers compared the photos, and the results made their blood go cold. Madeline looked slightly similar to their grandmother, while their ‘sister’, Angie, resembled nothing like their grandmother.
“See? Madeline’s obviously one of us.” Michael closed his eyes in agony and scrolled through his phone. “This is Xander’s photo. I got it from a friend who knows him.”
He put Xander’s photo together with Angie’s, and they noticed the slight resemblance. But since the genders were different, it could only be seen if observed closely. If no one suspected it, they wouldn’t have been able to tell.
Michael looked at his sons. “Now, I’m sure that Madeline is your real sister. The thing that stops me from being definitely sure is a simple paternity test. So…” He scanned his sons. “What do you think?”
The brothers looked at one another.
Jonathan said, “The first order of business is that paternity test. We need to be completely sure about this.”
Michael nodded. “I’ve already sent someone to prepare the jet. I shall be flying to Dusktown in half an hour.”
Joseph said, “If Madeline is really our sister, we have to take her in.”
Michael answered, “Naturally.” She’s one of us. More importantly, she’s my daughter. I can’t let her live the life of a drifter.
“What about Angie, then?” Cedric asked.
“And that’s why I summoned you here,” Michael said. “If Madeline is indeed your sister, what should we do with Angie? Should we let her stay, send her back to the Colts, or hand her over to Cameron?”
Jonathan frowned. “Dad, from what I know about Madeline thus far, if Angie stays with us, she would never recognize us as her family.”
