Not One, But Two!
Chapter 212

Chapter 212

Chapter 212

What lay within the secret chamber took Abigail by surprise, for there was nothing in here save for aphoto.

It was a wedding photo, or rather, it was a photo taken right outside the Civil Affairs Bureau. Uponcloser inspection, Abigail saw that the people in the picture were none other than Philip and Adeline.

Didn't he say he had no photos of her? Is he so dead-set on preventing me from looking for her? Why?If he truly hated her parents as much as he said he did, then surely Abigail's presence would onlytorture them more than anything else, and it was unlikely he would pass up the chance to rub salt intheir wounds.

Unable to explain the workings of her father's twisted mind, Abigail shrugged this off and went on totake a picture of the photo.

Adeline was a beauty back in the day, certainly more so than Stanley's drawing had made her out tobe. However, anyone could tell from the photo that she had not been happy. The smile on her lipslooked forced and did not reach her eyes. In fact, the camera seemed to have done an excellent jobcapturing her bitter resentment.

Abigail saved the picture she took into a specific album and began rummaging around. She frownedwhen she found no traces of the poison Quinn told her about, and she wondered if she had been senton a wild goose chase.

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door of the study. She had yet to leave thechamber when she heard Emma whine, "Dad, Abigail went into your study to snoop around! I don'tknow what she's up to, and she locked the door to keep me out!"

Emma played the pity card. Abigail snorted at the award-worthy performance and thought it a shamethat her sister did not invest in a good performing arts school. What a waste of raw talent, she mused.

Outside, Philip panicked when he heard that Abigail had gone into his study. He quickly unlocked thedoor and stormed in, only to see her sauntering out nonchalantly from the secret chamber behind thebookshelf. At this sight, he barked grimly, "Who the hell let you in?"

Behind him, Emma was trying to peer past his shoulder to see what Abigail had done to warrant aharsh scolding from their father, but before she could get a look, she was shoved aside. The doorslammed shut in her face, and her nose would have been flattened had she not stepped back in time.

"Dad!" she cried, stomping her foot angrily. Yet, Philip couldn't care less about her right now. He waslike a skittish cat with all his fur standing up as he snapped, "Who let you in?!"

Abigail knew that this was her father's sore point, but she didn't care that she would aggravate him asshe asked, "You said you didn't have any photos of my mom, so what was that I saw back in thechamber? Don't tell me it's you and Sasha in that wedding photo," she drawled icily, cutting to thechase.

"Get out!" Philip roared, sweeping the things off his desk and onto the floor. As the loud clattering filledthe room, the look on his face grew insidious and violent.

Abigail knew precisely why he had gone ballistic on her. She eyed him steadily and said, "I'll leave assoon as my questions are answered. I don't know what deal you made with Quinn, but where did youget the poison you gave him? Do you even know what you're getting involved in? You supplied poisonto a man who has his eyes set on the Reeves' business and fortune! Are you trying to start a war withthe Reeves?"

The Philip she knew was without sentiment, always a cutthroat businessman whose greedy and selfishways made him see everyone as a pawn in his chess game. As such, she couldn't help wondering

what he was getting up to and what he stood to gain from waging war against the Reeves while theKains were in the midst of a downfall.

At the mention of Quinn's name, Philip froze as he started to connect the dots, then asked, "You werethe one who cured Quinn's wife of the poison and messed with his plans?"

"That's right.'

"You piece of trash!" With that, Philip brought his palm down to strike her face, but she stepped to theside and dodged his slap neatly.

His palm ended up making contact with thin air. Then, he seethed in rage as he snapped, "How dareyou dodge!"

"You can't possibly be so stupid as to think that I would just stay in place and let you slap me, can you?What's going on in your brain, Philip?" Abigail countered.

She had not come here today to pick a fight with her father, but he clearly thought the opposite. In fact,he had been defensive and hostile the moment he saw her, and she had to admit that the feelingsucked.

He grew grim at her insult, but before he could say anything, she added, "Are you going to gambleaway the fate of the entire Kain Family just to replace my mother?"

Her question undoubtedly stunned him. For a long moment, all he did was stare at her wordlessly. "Getout," he finally growled, but he did not sound as malicious as he had a while ago.

At once, she knew she had guessed it right.

Despite what he said about Adeline, he still loved her, and never forgot about her. Right now, he wasputting the entire Kain Family at stake so that he could replace her.

Perhaps all these years of being cutthroat and calculative were just so he could amass enough powerand money to take on her birth father; maybe everything he had done in the last twenty-somethingyears was for the sake of searching for Adeline.

Is that it?

The possibility of this shocked Abigail, for if this indeed were the case, then her father was a hopelessromantic for sure. Alas, Adeline never reciprocated this love he had for her. Even if he replaces her, shemight not want to return with him. What will he do then? Suddenly, sadness filled Abigail. She hadcome here to confront and berate Philip, but in the end, she was at a loss for words. At last, shedecided to drop the matter, and if she could stall the Reeves, then she would. She inhaled deeplybefore she asked, "The poison you gave Quinn—where did you get it from?"

Philip stared at her. She had the same steely look in her eyes that Adeline had, and his rage ebbedaway when he drew the parallels. "Sasha was the one who gave it to me," he replied quietly.

"And where did she get it from?"

"How would I know? Ask her yourself if you're so curious. Now, get out of here; I don't want to see you."He grimaced at her and turned his back to her, acting like he would combust on the spot if he tookanother look at her.

For some reason, she found this side of him rather endearing. Then, she chuckled as she offered, "Youknow that old illness of yours that acts up every once in a while? I could take a look at it for you if you'dlike."

"No, thanks," he said primly, turning her down. "It won't kill me."

She did not try to force it on him, either. After all, she could always knock him out when the time cameand strap him to the operation table for surgical treatment. She was still legally his daughter at the end

of the day.

"I'll be leaving now, then. The Reeves are keeping an eye on Quinn now, so I don't think you cancontinue dealing with him. But, you know, you're not getting any younger, and while I hate Sasha'sguts, I still think she's been a good companion to you. So, it might do you well to spend the rest of yourlife with her."

She had not known his true identity back in the day, which led her to resent him. But now that she knewhe was only her uncle and that he had taken care of her all these years despite it, she could not bringherself to stay angry with him anymore.

"My business is none of your concern. Get out!" Philip barked frigidly, and his voice was entirely devoidof warmth.

This time, Abigail did not stay. Instead, she turned to leave, but just as her fingers were about to touchthe doorknob, she heard him ask, "What's going on between you and Greg anyway? Why are theBuckleys' men crawling around looking for you?"

Is this his way of showing me he cares about me? She dared not indulge in such a thought whilereplying curtly, "It's nothing."

"The Buckleys have impossibly high standards, and they give you a hard time after you marry into theirfamily. But, if it gets too unbearable, you can always come home. We'll always have a room for youhere."

She froze as she had never imagined these words coming out of Philip's mouth, and she couldn't helpthe warmth that coursed through her.

When she was a child, the one thing she craved the most was kinship. She wanted to know what it waslike to be loved by her own family, but she ended up being hurt by them instead. After that, she stopped

dreaming of the impossible because there could be no disappointment without hope.

To hear Philip say that they would always have a room here in the Kain Residence for her was morethan she could ask for, whether he truly meant it or not.

"I'll be fine," she said quietly, then opened the door and left.

At some point, while Philip and Abigail were in the study, Emma called Sasha and made her comehome. The both of them could not enter the study, so they huddled together in the living room todiscuss something in hushed tones. When Sasha saw Abigail coming down the stairs, she stood upfrom the couch and demanded, "What are you doing here?"

"It's none of your business." Abigail raised a disdainful brow at Sasha and walked straight for the frontdoor.

"Don't you dare leave this house until you tell us what you were doing in Dad's study!" Emma snapped,getting up to block Abigail's way.

Abigail took in her defensive stance and snorted ominously, "Are you sure you want to stop me fromleaving?" She put her hands together and started cracking her knuckles, the sound of which filledEmma with fear.

Emma bristled as she warily stepped aside and did not try to stop her from leaving.

"Loser," Abigail muttered scornfully as she shot Emma a contemptuous look, then brushed past her toopen the door and leave the house.

Emma said not a word to Abigail, but the moment the front door closed, she started whining. "Mom! Didyou see how arrogant she was? You can't just let her come back here and walk all over me like this!"

"Okay, that's enough now. We've agreed that plotting against her takes time."

Sasha had only just said this when the door to the study opened, and Philip came walking into theliving room. When he saw Sasha and Emma there, he said coldly, "I don't want to hear either one ofyou picking on Abigail the next time she comes back."

"Dad, what are you talking about? She's always been the one to pick on us!" Emma arguedbelligerently. What's going on? Dad never used to care about Abigail. Did he have a change of heartafter she became the best surgeon in the world and Greg's girlfriend? Desperate, she turned to hermother in disbelief. "Mom..."

Sasha was not pleased to hear this from Philip, either. "Philip, why did Abigail come back? Didsomething happen?"

"This is her home! Why must something happen before she's allowed to come back?" Philip countereddarkly. Then, he disappeared into his study, saying, "I won't be eating dinner tonight, so don't set aplace for me at the table." As though in a show of finality, he slammed the door shut.

Sasha was incredulous. She couldn't understand the meaning of this, and why Philip had called thisplace Abigail's home. If this was her home, then what are Emma and I? Chopped liver?

Something was off here, she could tell. It was unlikely that Philip would start caring about Abigail afterall these years of neglecting her. He was a ruthless businessman at his core, and one would have tooffer him some advantage if one wanted to get on good terms with him. So what is it that he wants fromAbigail?

She tried to think but could not come up with an answer. It didn't help that Emma was still throwing a fit.

"That's enough. Didn't you hear what your father said? Leave Abigail alone for the time being and stoppicking on her," Sasha said, her voice cutting above Emma's relentless wailing.

Emma was so taken aback by this that she stomped her foot. "Pick on her? Come on, Mom! It's not asif she already has a place among the Buckleys, so why are you letting her get away with this? I evenheard through the grapevine that she pissed off Old Madam Buckley, and now she's being huntedthrough Harrion by the old lady's henchmen!"

The revelation made Sasha's thoughts come to a screeching halt. "Is what you're saying true?" sheasked, eyeing her daughter gravely.

"Of course it is!"

A devious smirk suddenly tugged on Sasha's lips as she said, "In that case, I think I know what we cando to teach Abigail a lesson now."