"Toph, there's no need to go through all this trouble again." Renee spoke, her voice filled with sincerity. She looked into Toph's eyes and confessed, "I am not Pamela."
Toph's hands trembled, almost causing the instant noodles to spill. Despite mentally preparing himself, hearing the admission directly from Renee still came as a shock.
Renee extended her hand and continued. "Let's get to know each other again. My name is Renee Thompson. Thompson..."
She paused, biting her lip before continuing, "As in Melvin Thompson's Thompson."
A moment of silence hung in the air before Toph murmured, "So you're indeed Melvin's daughter."
Renee questioned, "Indeed?"
Toph looked up, explaining, "We always felt that you resemble him, so we made an educated guess, and it turned out to be correct."
Renee lowered her head, a soft smile gracing her lips. "I hope I never resemble him."
Taking a deep breath, Toph asked, his voice tinged with concern, "Why did you both conspire to deceive Uncle Nicholas and Aunt Linda? Do you know how desperate Aunt Linda was to see her daughter? Can you bear to deceive them?"
Renee kept her expression neutral, avoiding eye contact with him as if it could keep them apart. Deep down, she knew they could never truly bridge the gap between their worlds—they were clearly from two different worlds.
After a while, Renee's soft voice broke the silence. "Toph, if... and I'm just saying 'if' here, if your mother had an incurable disease, would you do anything for her?"
"Of course!"
"Then you should understand why I lied to them."
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