Chapter 713: A Blatant Threat

Chapter 713: Chapter 709: A Blatant Threat

“St-strangers?”

Hearing that word, a flicker of anger crossed Leopold Hughes’s face. He roared, “How could we be strangers? I’m your father, your biological father! She’s your sister, your biological sister!”

“What are you yelling about?” Beau shot back at once. “If not strangers, then what are you? Has Lily ever even met you? She didn’t even know you existed! You just show up out of nowhere and expect her to accept you? Life doesn’t work that way!”

Connie added, “If I’m not mistaken, you’re the ones who abandoned Lily, aren’t you? Since you chose to get rid of her back then, why come looking for her now? Is it for money?”

“We… we…” Leopold Hughes stammered, at a loss for words and clearly flustered.

Tanya Hughes turned to Lily Sterling, adopting a reasonable tone. “Lily, Mom and Dad had no choice back then. If things hadn’t been so difficult, who could bear to abandon their own child? I hope you can understand them.”

“I understand.”

Lily Sterling nodded slightly, her words taking everyone by surprise.

Leopold Hughes’s face lit up. “You’re a good kid, Lily. I’m glad you understand. We truly had no other choice.”

Lily Sterling watched them impassively, unmoved by their emotional displays. “The reasons I can imagine are pretty standard. Either you had too many mouths to feed, or you wanted to try for a boy and had to get rid of a girl.”

Her words hit so close to home that the father and daughter were momentarily stunned.

But Lily Sterling continued, “Whichever reason it was, I can understand. And in turn, I expect you to understand me.”

“For twenty years, I never knew I was adopted after being abandoned by my birth parents. My mother, sister, and brother gave me a wonderfully complete and happy childhood. As far as I’m concerned, that is the only family I have and the only one I will ever acknowledge. As for you two, there are no feelings between us. Even if we are biologically related in the truest sense, it changes nothing for me.”

“You gave me life, but you also abandoned me. The fact that I don’t resent you is the greatest mercy I can offer.”

“As for anything else, I will ask nothing from you, and I have nothing to give you in return.”

As they listened to Lily Sterling’s words, a range of expressions flickered across their faces.

Finally, it dawned on Leopold Hughes. ‘So she has no intention of acknowledging me as her father at all?’

“How could you do this? You won’t even acknowledge your own father?” Leopold Hughes shot up from the sofa.

Lily Sterling met his gaze without a trace of fear. “And why not? You were able to throw away your own daughter, so why can’t I refuse to acknowledge you?”

“You—You’d better watch it, or I’ll expose you!” Leopold Hughes was clearly getting desperate.

Lily Sterling was unfazed. “Go ahead. In fact, you should tell the whole world. Tell them the daughter you threw away refuses to acknowledge you. Let’s see who gets more sympathy—you or me.”

Seeing her father about to lose control, Tanya Hughes quickly grabbed his arm. “Dad, calm down! We didn’t come here to fight!”

But Lily Sterling had no intention of being any kinder to her so-called twin sister.

‘They’re just playing good cop, bad cop. Aren’t they after the same thing?’

“I know you didn’t come here to fight.” Lily Sterling looked at Tanya Hughes and cut right to the chase. “You came for money!”

“Lily, how could you think that of us?” Tanya Hughes feigned shock.

Lily Sterling sneered. “Afraid to admit it? Don’t tell me you came here for some laughable idea of kinship. You feel nothing for me, and I feel even less for you.”

“And there’s no money, either. I won’t give you a single cent. Do whatever you want.”

Tanya Hughes was speechless. She and her father exchanged a look, both clearly stunned that someone with Lily Sterling’s gentle appearance could take such a hard-line stance against them.

“Lily, Mom and Dad are getting old. They saw you on TV and realized you were still alive. They just wanted to see you, that’s all,” Tanya Hughes said, unwilling to give up and now resorting to a sob story.

“‘Realized I was still alive.'” Lily Sterling repeated the words, a humorless smile touching her lips as she nodded. “‘Realized I was still alive?’ So you were well aware that by abandoning me in a park in the middle of autumn, I would most likely freeze to death? You had already written me off as dead, hadn’t you?”

“But I didn’t die, so now you want to come see me?” Lily Sterling looked at Leopold Hughes and asked softly, “Why did you want to see me? To find out if I’m doing well?”

“Well, let me tell you, I’m doing wonderfully. For the first nineteen years of my life, my family wasn’t wealthy, but we always had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear. I have the best, most understanding and supportive sister in the world, the most loving mother in the world, and the most thoughtful little brother in the world.”

“I grew up surrounded by love, and so I love them. I’m studying a subject I’m passionate about and doing a job I love. I can earn hundreds of dollars for a single role, and thousands for an endorsement deal. A lot, isn’t it? I give all the money I earn to them, because they are my family. They are the foundation of who I am today.”

“And everything I have now has absolutely nothing to do with you!”

“I will not acknowledge any family ties besides them, so you can stop wasting your breath. That’s all I have to say, and that is my final word on the matter.”

Having said her piece, Lily Sterling rose to her feet, turning to Connie as the other two watched, dumbfounded. “Connie, I’ll leave the rest of this to you. Let them make a scene if they want. As long as they stay within the bounds of the law, we don’t need to interfere. But the moment they cross a legal line, the company shouldn’t hesitate. Call the police immediately.”

“Got it. I know what to do,” Connie said, understanding at once and giving a nod.

‘Lily might look like she’s washing her hands of this, but that “legal line” she mentioned was quite subtle. Where exactly is that line drawn? Leopold and Tanya Hughes probably don’t even know.’

Beau, who was standing to the side, couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“You’re going to have us arrested?” Leopold Hughes stared at Lily Sterling in disbelief, his face flushing red with anger.

Lily Sterling reminded him coolly, “As long as you obey the law, you’ll be fine.”

“This is Lorcain. It has a lot of rules. I’m just reminding you to be careful and not waste your energy.”

Leopold Hughes stared wide-eyed at his daughter, but Tanya Hughes just gave her father a slight shake of her head.

‘Because in that instant, an immense pressure had emanated from Lily Sterling. She was obviously threatening them.’

‘A blatant threat!’