Orphan To Unbreakable Queen - Chapter 135: Chapter 135

All eyes snapped at Alice, and she panicked, "I..."
"Aubree, like I told you last time, no way I'll sign this. You're Wilson by blood, and you can't just walk away from this family!" Alice blurted out, scrambling for an excuse. Her eyes flashed a warning glare, clearly threatening Aubree not to say anything reckless.
But that's exactly why I'm here: to stir up trouble,' Aubree thought.
Aubree curled her lips, thinking, 'Ronald built his empire from scratch, but Alice didn't. Alice is the daughter of the Diamonde family in Südlichen Strand. In the business world of Lumanon, the saying goes: Turner in the North, Diamonde in the South.
'Although the Diamonde family has declined in recent years, a fallen titan is still a titan. Ronald has remained devoted to Alice even after reaching his current status because the Wilson family's success has, to some extent, relied on the Diamonde family.
'Back then, Ronald was already a rising star in business circles. The Diamonde family saw his potential and intended to marry Alice to him.
'They first believed Ronald had the potential to grow stronger, making the match fairly well-suited. Second, Ronald wouldn't outdo them and thus wouldn't dare mistreat Alice.
'Therefore, to take on the Wilson Group, confrontation with the Diamonde family is inevitable.
'I must come up with something to make Ronald and Alice turn on each other. Although I haven't found anything solid to spark a real fight between them, the fact that Alice had known I was in the orphanage back then but still pretended not to know and insisted on bringing Carmen back to the Wilson family is already a perfect crack to exploit.
'Ronald is arrogant and paranoid; he'll definitely dig to the bottom of this. I don't even need to lift a finger, Ronald will lay the truth bare all by himself.'
Aubree scoffed at Alice, "Easy for you to say that. If not because Ronald was against it, you would've signed that document happily, wouldn't you?"
She lowered her gaze, sweeping a glance at the papers scattered across the floor, and smiled with sarcasm.
"Rumor has it that after the human traffickers abducted me, you were so distraught, couldn't eat or sleep, and even had a mental breakdown. That's why the Wilson family adopted Carmen. But now that I, the real daughter, have returned, why do you cast me aside like a worn-out shoe?" Aubree said, smiling.
But to Alice, that smile was utterly terrifying. 'How dare she say these things?' she thought.
Ronald was also present, and Alice was no fool. If she hastily interrupted Aubree now, Ronald would be suspicious and start questioning her. But if she let Aubree finish speaking, he would still end up investigating and asking questions anyway.
'In any case...' Alice thought, face ashen, her fingernails digging deep into her palms.
Speaking of which, both Carmen and Ronald were puzzled. When Aubree first returned, Carmen had been on high alert, treating her arrival like a mortal enemy, mainly because everyone knew how much Alice loved her daughter, and nearly lost her mind with grief when the girl went missing.
So naturally, everyone assumed that when Aubree came back, her mother would surely protect her like the apple of her eye.
But no one would have expected that, out of everyone in the Wilson family, Alice was the harshest toward Aubree, unlike a mother and daughter, but more like sworn enemies.
"By the way, you're in the dark, aren't you?" Aubree gazed at Ronald with a sly smile. Despair filled Alice's eyes; she bit her lip so hard that it started to bleed, yet she seemed completely oblivious.
Ronald frowned in confusion. "What are you getting at?" he asked.
Aubree shot Alice a cold glance. "Rightfully, I was abandoned twice."
"What do you mean?" Ronald asked, his eyes filled with bewilderment. Alice shrieked, "Enough! Stop it!"
Alice's unusual outburst instantly drew Ronald's sharp, suspicious gaze. "You knew what she was going to say?" he said.
Faced with Ronald's interrogation, Alice panicked. Aubree gave a slow, mocking clap and said, "Why bother pressuring her? I'll just say it myself."
"When I was five, I was kidnapped by traffickers. And when I was ten, Alice abandoned me in the orphanage," Aubree said.
"What?" Ronald's face paled instantly. Carmen froze, utterly bewildered. 'What does that mean?' she wondered.
"I've given you a chance. It's been over a month since you first came to me. Did you think I just made empty threats when we met?" Aubree asked.
Alice's face turned deathly pale. She couldn't imagine what Ronald would do when he found out the truth.
All this time, I've been trying to secure Carmen's position in the Wilson family. But because of my schemes, not only has my plan backfired spectacularly—now Aubree is going to expose everything!' Alice thought anxiously.
"What happened?" Ronald asked, his piercing gaze locking onto Alice with undisguised fury.
Carmen was brought into the Wilson family three years after Aubree went missing, when Aubree was eight years old. At that time, Carmen wasn't even in Rithol City yet.
Aubree continued, "When I was five, I was abducted. I don't remember how I escaped the traffickers, but I just ended up in an orphanage, though not in Rithol City at first.
"When I was seven, the orphanage relocated here. Then, when I was ten, Alice came to the orphanage under the pretense of taking photos for a charity project. But in reality, she came to see me. So at the very least, when I was ten, Alice already knew my whereabouts."
Alice was silent, her body trembling and her face ashen.
"I was brought back to the Wilson family at fifteen; it's been three years since then. When I returned, Alice, you kept saying that I'd grown up outside for fifteen years and I must be full of bad habits and vices. You used that as an excuse to 'educate' me, abusing me in all sorts of ways. You even turned a blind eye when Carmen framed me in front of Bryan and the others. No, you didn't just turn a blind eye. You fueled the fire.”
"You used that as an excuse to 'educate' me and abuse me in many ways. You even turned a blind eye when Carmen framed me in front of Bryan and the others. No, you didn't just turn a blind eye. You fueled the fire.
"By your logic, my character was already set at fifteen. So why didn't you bring me back to the Wilson family when I was ten? Wasn't I still malleable then?" Aubree asked.
Ronald was too stunned to speak. "Ten years old? How could it be?" He muttered to himself, then suddenly looked at Aubree and said, "We only got news about you three years ago; that can't be wrong."
Aubree shot Ronald Wilson a look of utter contempt. "You know jack shit," she said.
"Not only did Alice conceal the fact that she'd found me when I was ten, but her so-called 'mental breakdown' was completely fake!" Aubree said.
"Ronald, you're not stupid. Think back; was adopting Carmen just because you were afraid Alice would lose her mind? Or did she have a hand in orchestrating it all?"
Is Aubree implying that Alice, to adopt Carmen, not only turned a blind eye to the daughter she had lost for five years but also pretended to have a mental breakdown?' Ronald thought.
Ronald's breathing quickened as he stared at Alice and asked word by word, "You really did this? Eight years ago, you deliberately chose not to bring her home?"
"I didn't!" Alice protested desperately. 'Seeing Aubree was well-supported and doing fine in the orphanage, I just wanted to wait until Carmen's position in the Wilson family became more secure. Otherwise, if Aubree returned too soon, what should Carmen do if she were pushed aside?' she thought.
Aubree crossed her arms with a cold sneer. "Right, you didn't. You just happened to visit the orphanage and conveniently forgot who I was," she said.
Nonetheless, Aubree was Ronald's flesh and blood, his only daughter after having four sons. At least before she turned five, he truly doted on her as a father, showering her with all his love.
After she went missing, Ronald indeed mobilized all resources to look for her. 'But what happened after that? Why did he change?' Aubree wondered.
Ronald closed his eyes. After Carmen came into the family, he had stayed out of family affairs. He adopted Carmen, thinking that she could at least keep Alice company. It might stop her from having those mental episodes.
Carmen was sweet and well-behaved. Alice would, whether intentionally or not, subtly influence Ronald by constantly praising Carmen. Gradually, he transferred the fatherly affection he once had for Aubree onto Carmen, growing to love her as his own.
Eventually, Ronald fully accepted Carmen as his daughter. He even told himself that if Aubree had truly died out there, then Carmen could replace her.
After Aubree was found, Ronald was consumed with guilt. He tried his best to make amends and made sure she lacked nothing. But by then, Aubree was already fifteen, and as her father, he found it hard to truly reconnect with her.
Moreover, Alice was solely responsible for raising and disciplining the children; Ronald, at most, only asked about their schoolwork.
Alice constantly told Ronald how ill-behaved Aubree was, listing all her bad habits. All he knew was that her grades were terrible, and by comparison, Aubree was nothing but an embarrassment to him. Naturally, he favored the brilliant adopted daughter.
As Ronald followed Aubree's line of reasoning, his eyes suddenly froze in realization.