The Billionaire's Rental Wife Is A Hot Shot-Chapter 33: Belly And Laila

Zevian sighed and shook his head; Damien had always been very blunt about his work. Sensing Evelyn was almost paling, he quickly intervened, "Stop joking around, Damien."

Damien blinked in confusion but caught Zevian’s eye and faked a laugh, "Hahaha, I caught you there." He glanced at his assistant, who swiftly understood the signal and rushed to tell the team to pause for a while.

"Nicholas got bailed the day after our wedding. He was planning to flee the city, so they chased him down and locked him here since he’s our major suspect," Zevian explained to Evelyn. She nodded, trying to compose herself.

But a nagging doubt remained. Why did she feel like Damien wasn’t joking earlier? Whatever the case, she decided not to dwell on it. This family was called devils for a reason, and she just hoped Damien could help them.

"Get the stuff," Zevian ordered, keen to shift focus away from the tense moment and any embarrassing stories Damien might spill.

Damien nodded and instructed his team to set things up, revealing they had already been working on it. "We’ve been digging into everyone around you, and trust me, there were some thrilling revelations even I didn’t anticipate," Damien said, as his staff connected to the screen.

The day she was declared the false heiress of the Wright family, Zevian had put Damien on the task of digging into the scandal. Damien had wondered why his usually composed friend would go to such lengths for a woman, but now he understood.

"Firstly, let’s start with the prostitute/maid who came to the mansion claiming to be your real mother," Damien began, a profile appearing on the screen.

"Belly was indeed working for your family and tried to pin her pregnancy on your father. But when your grandmother kicked her out, she aborted the child, later marrying someone else, but that ended in disaster."

Evelyn gasped as old reports appeared on the screen. She was more shocked by Damien’s ability to obtain such old reports than the news itself.

"And coming to Annabelle, whom Belly claimed to have been raising all these years," Damien continued, moving to the next slide. A series of pictures appeared of the woman the maid claimed to have swapped with Evelyn. "Her name was Laila before, an orphan raised in one of the cities in Crumbac. At nineteen, she moved out and started working as a theater artist."

Evelyn was impressed by the detailed reports, even childhood pictures of Annabelle in the orphanage. She had been trying to dig into Annabelle for months but had only found the lies the maid had spread.

"But a year ago, she suddenly disappeared. A few months later, she was declared dead," Damien said, showing images of the body and a falsified forensic report of her drowning. "And that’s when she appeared here in Veleria City, with a complete transformation."

Two pictures were placed side by side: the real Annabelle with blonde hair and the current Annabelle with brown hair, identical to Evelyn’s.

"Belly and Laila spent a couple of weeks together, taking pictures at different locations—old houses, markets, modern areas—to create the illusion they had been living together for years," Damien stated, showing the pictures her private investigators had gathered, which had convinced Evelyn they were truly mother and daughter.

A gasp left Evelyn’s mouth, not expecting whoever was behind this to go to such lengths, even to the point of murdering people who might be a hassle in the future.

"So, we conclude that Annabelle was brought in just to push you, their first hurdle, away from your position, which they seem to have done successfully," Damien summed up, concluding the presentation.

"But Annabelle is the real daughter! I’ve secretly had repeated tests done in all the top labs in the city," Evelyn insisted, still unsure if she was truly her father’s daughter. When the results came out, she secretly collected her father’s and Annabelle’s samples and tested them. The results stayed the same; her DNA didn’t match William’s, but Annabelle’s did perfectly.

"But have you ever sent the tests to labs outside this city? In nearby cities or, better yet, a different state?" Damien questioned, his tone suggesting the answer. When Evelyn turned silent, he added, "If the culprit behind this could kill someone and label it as cancer, handling a few labs wouldn’t be difficult."

True! How could she not think of that? The mental torture she had endured had made her give up and assume she was the fake heiress.

"That brings us to the list of suspects," Damien said, taking a tablet from his assistant and sitting in front of the couple.

When Evelyn looked at the first profile, she scoffed, expecting her stepmother to top the list. "I have a hunch it’s really her," she mumbled, barely glancing at the other names on the list—mostly people who disliked her in their social circle.

"Care to give a valid reason?" Damien asked though Nicholas had already confessed that it was Sophia who had given him the bottle to threaten Evelyn. Even the thugs who had attacked her in the ice cream shop had mentioned Sophia’s name during brutal interrogations as per orders given by Maverick.

"Well, a few months ago, my dad’s trusted assistant suddenly retired when he still had two more years on his contract." Even Zevian, new to this information, listened carefully. "Uncle Roger texted me to meet privately and told me he was urging my father to reconsider his decision to hand over the company to Elias. He saw potential in me, and my father seemed a little moved by it."

Pausing for a small sigh, Evelyn continued, "It was also my mom’s last wish to see me in his seat, and Uncle Roger was merely trying to remind my father of it. The news spread in the office and reached Sophia’s ears, who forced him to retire and appoint a new assistant for my dad herself."

"She’s doing all this just for the CEO position, I guess," Evelyn concluded, and both men found it reasonable. People in their circle would go to great lengths for power and position, and this fake or illegitimate daughter drama was nothing new.

"We’ll help you teach her a lesson, don’t worry," Damien said, sensing Evelyn’s mood darken. They were still a family, and he understood how she felt, having been ill-treated by his stepmother similarly.

"Let’s start by getting real DNA tests," Zevian suggested, and Damien nodded. Turning to Evelyn, he asked, "Will you be able to get samples again?"

Evelyn nodded. It wasn’t a tough task, as a few maids in the mansion were still willing to help her. Elias, with his adolescent anger, could also get the job done easily.

"Keep digging into Sophia more," Zevian ordered, determined to make her pay for hurting his Eva.

"John will take you home. I have some other business to discuss with Damien," Zevian said to Evelyn, still not done with Nicholas.

Evelyn nodded and got up to leave. As they were about to walk out, she received a call from Agatha. "Ahh, I forgot about it!" she cursed, realizing she had promised to pick Kiana up from school.

Answering the phone, she said, "I’ll come directly to the school, Agatha. Can you wait for me with Kiana?" A frown formed on her face as Agatha’s shaky voice delivered shocking news.

"What’s wrong?" Zevian asked, seeing her expression pale.

"Sabrina is at your house. She showed up with an official court order to take Kiana away."

Zevian’s heart sank, his expression darkening. Evelyn added in panic, "She has brought a lawyer and is demanding to hand Kiana over immediately!"