CHAPTER 525: NO BLOOD RELATION

The venue fell into sudden silence.

It was almost unbelievable that such words had come out of a father’s mouth.

Selina had already planned to sever ties, so Joe’s attitude meant little to her. What she was truly curious about was this:

"Chairman Morris, sometimes I really wonder—how does your brain even work, to think I should share any responsibility for this mess?"

"Was it me who made Angela so vain that she paraded a fake piece to steal my credit? Was it me who told her to bribe reporters, stir up trouble, and accuse me of selling off the Fortune Jade? Or was it me who made you lose your temper and smash it to pieces, despite my warnings?"

Joe’s face flushed crimson. He couldn’t refute a word of it, only stammer:

"But... but you shouldn’t have stolen Angela’s spotlight! Angela had just returned home, she was still uneasy. We only wanted her to take the lead, gain some experience. If you hadn’t exposed her..."

Selina raised her eyes, cold laughter curling on her lips as she shot back, word by word:

"So because Angela had just returned to the Morris Family, anything she did could never be wrong? Because she wanted to prove herself, I was wrong to stop her?"

"I was wrong to expose Hannah’s plagiarism, which cost Angela her qualification to collaborate?"

"I was wrong for not throwing myself in front of you when you smashed the Fortune Jade?"

Joe wanted to say yes.

But under the sharp, disapproving gazes of the crowd, the words stuck in his throat.

Selina’s smile only grew colder.

"The blueprints were my mother’s design. Without even checking, Chairman Morris, you handed the credit to Hannah. All I did was demand justice for my mother—and that was wrong."

"You, who claim to love her most, and Angela, who calls herself her daughter, both chose instead to feed off her work like leeches—and that wasn’t wrong."

"The Turner family personally named me the project lead. Angela, with no talent, no ability, and no character, couldn’t win their recognition—and somehow that was my fault."

"Angela, blinded by vanity, twisted right and wrong, and cost the Morris Group its partnership—and that wasn’t wrong."

"But me, who worked tirelessly to secure this collaboration, who built the bridge to Turner Group—that was wrong."

"With bias this deep, with such utter disregard for truth or fairness, I have to wonder..."

Her voice was steady, yet it cut sharper than any blade:

"Perhaps Mr. Turner was right. Joe, you are not my father."

Boom—

The words crashed over the crowd like thunder, shaking everyone’s hearts.

Yes! If Grandma Morris’s bias was expected, Joe’s was incomprehensible. The world knew he had "loved" Victoria, the whole world had heard his laments for his lost daughter. But now that his daughter had returned, what had he done?

He excused Angela’s schemes, her slander, her plotting as if none of it was wrong—while Selina’s strength, her talent, her dignity were wrong.

What kind of father thought like that?

A chill of panic rose in Joe’s chest, as if something precious had slipped from him forever.

"No, Selina, don’t say that! That’s not what I meant! I just want you to behave, to stay in your place. I treat you both the same—I’ve never played favorites!"

Angela bit her lip, tears streaming down her face.

"Sis, how can you say that? I know Dad and Grandma hurt you, but you can’t say you’re not Dad’s daughter. We’re sisters, we..."

"Are we?"

Selina suddenly laughed coldly.

"Chairman Morris, am I really your daughter?"

Joe’s heart sank, a creeping sense of losing control overtaking him. But still, he nodded stiffly.

"Y-yes... yes..."

"Then tell me, is Angela your daughter? Is Kyle your son? Is Grandma Morris your mother?" Selina pressed on relentlessly.

Joe felt an immense pressure bearing down on him. He wanted to resist, to shout, to demand why Selina—a mere junior—dared to be so disrespectful.

But the words wouldn’t come. A bead of cold sweat trickled down as he stammered, "Y-yes, yes..."

"Then, Chairman Morris, do me a favor and take a look at this."

Crash!

Ding-ding.

As the documents hit the floor at Joe’s feet, every phone in the audience buzzed simultaneously. Each person had received the same message—

DNA Test Report.

Selina and Grandma Morris: no relation.

Selina and Kyle: no relation.

Selina and Angela: no relation.

But years ago, Selina had done a parentage test with Victoria—it proved they were biological mother and daughter.

And since DNA tests can trace three generations, if Selina truly had ties to her supposed grandmother, brother, or sister, it would’ve shown. Yet with all three, there was no blood relation.

Which meant only two possibilities:

Either Joe wasn’t Grandma Morris’s son, nor Angela and Kyle his children...

Or Selina had never been Joe’s daughter to begin with.

So what was all that public spectacle about "acknowledging his daughter"? The whole world had watched, and now the truth said otherwise.

If Selina had no blood ties to Joe, then Victoria’s design drafts left to her had nothing to do with the Morris Family. This collaboration was rightfully between Turner Group and Selina—why was the Morris Family even meddling?

Those test reports completely overturned the situation.

—She wasn’t your wife. She wasn’t your daughter. Yet you seized her legacy, plagiarized her designs, and even tried to steal her rightful position as project lead. Could you be any more shameless?

Joe panicked, his entire world collapsing. Selina wasn’t his daughter? No. Impossible. He refused to accept it.

Victoria’s child had to be his daughter—she had to be!

"Lies! All lies! Selina is my daughter, Victoria was my wife! You’re all spouting nonsense!"

Kevin sneered. "Then show us your marriage certificate. Since Mrs. Victoria passed away, your marital status should clearly say widowed."

Joe’s face went deathly pale, as if his throat had been seized shut. He could barely make a sound.

"Let me lay it out for everyone," a sharp reporter jumped in, quickly sorting the facts. "Victoria is Selina’s mother. If Angela—this impostor—were also Victoria’s daughter, then she and Selina would be biological sisters, which DNA testing could confirm."

"But the results clearly show they’re unrelated. Which means Angela is not Victoria’s child. So if she looks identical to Selina, the only logical explanation is... plastic surgery, to impersonate her."

The crowd’s eyes turned with disgust.

The reporter continued: "And since Victoria was never married to Joe, then on what grounds did he exploit her work for profit? I suspect this is why the Morris Family went to such lengths to cling to Victoria’s name."

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

"How shameless!"

Selina blinked, amused. That reporter’s breakdown was sharp—it made everything crystal clear to the public.

Was he someone Logan had planted?

...

Meanwhile, inside a quiet teahouse, a woman in her late seventies sat across from Logan. Her smile was warm but carried unmistakable authority.

"Mr. Reid," she said, her tone both gracious and firm, "your reputation precedes you."