Bride behind the mask novel (Marguerite) novel Chapter 743

Fred clutched his phone with a grip that whitened his knuckles.

His eyes, narrow and gleaming with the first light of dawn, still couldn't believe the news.

He needed some time to process this.

If the paternity test was accurate, then Teresa was his child.

But in these three years, he had been with only one woman—Yuna!

And right after Hayes and Manley were born, he had rushed to get paternity tests done for them.

So, there was no way he could suddenly have another daughter out of the blue!

Fred had never felt as conflicted as he did today, and the events surrounding Hayes and Manley's birth played in his mind like a movie.

It quickly dawned on him that the paternity test might not have been entirely accurate.

Manley had been sickly, so Yuna had suggested using only Hayes’s blood for the test.

Fred had thought since the brothers were twins, using either of their blood samples wouldn’t make a difference.

But now, it seemed he was wrong!

Once the truth started unraveling, more and more of it came to light.

No wonder, despite being twins, Manley was significantly shorter than Hayes.

No wonder Yuna had blatantly favored one over the other from the start.

No wonder every time Jocelyn saw Hayes, she couldn't help but remark how much he resembled Margaret!

They were indeed his and Margaret’s children!

Teresa was! And so was Hayes!

As for who Manley’s biological parent was, it didn’t matter anymore.

Everything had been misdirected from the start.

The woman he had a one-night stand with, the woman who gave birth to his twins, had been Margaret all along!

So why had he been hurting her? Bullying her?

Even the resentment he harbored for three years now seemed utterly nonsensical.

And what added to his guilt and pain was the realization that the woman he had treated so harshly had been waiting all along.

Waiting for him to come back to her, to start over.

Margaret looked at the man before her, silent for a long time, then cautiously tugged at his sleeve, lifting her worried gaze to his.

This wasn’t their first kiss.

Many times before, his kisses had been tinged with vengeance.

But today, it felt different to Margaret.

With sincerity and passion, and a sense of relief, as if a burden had been lifted.

She didn’t understand why he had a change of heart suddenly, but it didn’t matter.

What mattered was that they could finally let bygones be bygones. She even felt grateful she hadn’t given up, now that he was willing to come back to her.

Tears welled up in Margaret’s eyes, unsure of how long Fred had kissed her.

She only felt him reluctantly pull away, as if to say something.

But his gaze suddenly shifted.

Following his line of sight, Margaret saw Maurice standing at the entrance of the ballroom, a glass in hand, smirking in their direction, his posture relaxed yet challenging.

For some reason, Margaret sensed a provocative air about him.

Fred looked away, tenderly kissed Margaret on the forehead, and said softly,

“Stay inside with Sandra, don’t wander off. I’ll be right back.”