As for Lia Aiken, Tom Aiken treated her like a precious jewel, almost as if he feared she would melt in his mouth or break in his hands. But that beloved daughter he adored for six years was eventually not his biological daughter.

Tom Aiken recalled the past with a heart full of hatred, hating his own brother and the former wife who deceived his feelings. How could they do this to him!

"Miss Aiken, I'm really sorry. My dad doesn't want to see anyone right now, so you'd better not go in."

Lia Aiken's voice faintly came from outside as Tom Aiken was reminiscing about past events.

Lia came?

She must have seen the trending news online, right?

"I want to see Dad."

Lia said coldly, "Violet, I don't want to argue with you right now. Please step aside. Whether Dad sees me or not is up to him."

"Dad? How dare you call him Dad? You should call him Uncle. My dad doesn't have a daughter like you," Violet Aiken sneered. Recently, she had been suffocated by Lia, and today she finally had a chance to confront her. She didn't want to miss this opportunity.

Seeing Lia's face turn pale, Violet felt immensely satisfied.

This woman, who was better than her in every way, wasn't even Dad's daughter, just a niece. Haha, great, since she's not Dad's daughter, Lia can forget about getting a penny of the family's wealth. Also, the title of the Aiken family's eldest daughter shouldn't belong to Lia anymore, Violet thought.

"What's going on?"

Ivan Horne only came upstairs at this moment. He had been parking the car, and Lia, in her urgency, had come up without waiting for him.

Upon seeing Ivan, Violet changed her demeanor, quickly linking her arm with Lia's, and comforted her considerately, "Sis, whether or not you're Dad's daughter, in my heart, you're my sister. Besides, cousins are also sisters, and we both have Aiken family blood in us."

Yet inwardly, she was full of hatred, wondering how Ivan hadn't abandoned Lia despite her disgraceful status. He even accompanied Lia here.

Oh, right, the trending news online had all been removed, and the links to Lia's mother's scandal couldn't be accessed anymore. Who orchestrated this? Violet was not foolish and guessed it was Ivan, as only Ivan had the capability to make those scandals disappear from the internet in such a short time.

Lia forcefully shook off Violet, taking a few steps to stand before the door. She knocked on it, asking through the door, "Dad, can I come in?"

Because Ivan was present, Violet couldn't mock and stop Lia like before, so she could only stand aside and persuade, "Sis, stop knocking. Dad is very angry, his face is all dark. He even broke many things and threw me out. He said he doesn't want to see anyone right now and wants some peace."

Finally, Violet added, "You know Dad is very prideful; those photos, those reports are practically slapping him in the face."

Ivan gave her a cold look, and Violet, who wanted to say a few more words, didn't dare to speak further under his cold glare, grumbling internally: What's the use of you protecting her? She's not my dad's daughter, and her mom is a whore!

"Dad."

Lia kept knocking on the door.

Inside the room, Tom Aiken neither responded nor opened the door for her.

"Lia."

Ivan pulled Lia to his side and said in a low voice, "Let me."

He raised a hand to knock on the door and solemnly addressed Tom inside, "Mr. Aiken, it's me, Ivan Horne. I have something to discuss with you; please open the door."

There was still no response from inside the room. Just as Ivan was about to knock again, the door opened. Tom Aiken cast a gloomy glance at Lia, then stepped aside to let Ivan in. Ivan took the opportunity to pull Lia into the room, while Violet wanted to follow them in. Tom Aiken coldly said, "Violet, stay outside or go back to your room."

"Why? Dad, I'm also your daughter, can't I even listen?"

Tom didn't pay attention to his younger daughter anymore, closing the door with a bang.

Ivan pulled Lia to the sofa to sit down.

Tom Aiken came over with a stern face. After sitting down, he picked up a cigarette and lit it, starting to puff away. The air in the room was thick with the smell of tobacco, indicating that he had smoked a lot.

"Dad——"

"Since you've seen it, you don't need to call me Dad anymore. I think you don't want to call me Dad either. For the nineteen years, when I was bad to you, you deeply resented me," Tom exhaled a cloud of smoke and said without looking at Lia, "You're not my daughter."

Lia's purpose in coming was clear to Tom Aiken.

At this point, Tom Aiken's eyes turned red. He bowed his head, preventing the young people opposite him from seeing his tears, and said hoarsely, "The paternity test is real; you're...their child!"

The daughter he cherished for six years and raised for twenty-five years was not his biological child.

The first six years, he loved her to the core, and the next nineteen years, he hated her to the bone.

Tom Aiken actually didn't feel good about it either.

Lia initially came to confirm her background, but before she could speak, Tom Aiken proactively told her.

Suddenly, Lia didn't know what to say.

"Your mom and your biological dad used to be lovers, but I didn't know. When I was with your mom, they had already broken up. If I had known they'd rekindle their old flame, I would never have intruded on their relationship."

Tom Aiken turned his head to look towards the window. Outside, the blue sky and white clouds shone brightly, but they couldn't penetrate the darkness in his heart or warm his heart that was surrounded by ice. Recalling the past, he felt only a penetrating cold and a heart full of resentment.

It's not that he was unreasonable; it was because his ex-wife had caused him to become unreasonable.

"When I married your mom, I truly loved her deeply and treated her very well. But since I was busy with work, the time I spent with her after marriage decreased. Your biological dad and she rekindled their old love, and then had you. They cheated on me for six years behind my back. Grass had grown so high over my head, yet I knew nothing about it. The daughter I adored was not even mine. Think about it, when did they start betraying me?"

Tom Aiken pursed his lips, blinking forcefully to banish the stinging tears that threatened to fall. Even after nineteen years, facing it again, the old hurt still tore at his heart.

"I hated, but I never thought about taking your mom's life. She ended it herself. She'd rather die than leave me. After knowing about her and your biological father, we could have divorced, but she chose death. I didn't even have a chance to ask why she treated me this way, or if she ever loved me. Lia, I truly hated, and I transferred my hatred for them onto you. During that time, I constantly thought about strangling you, but every time I heard you sweetly call me Dad, I couldn't do it."