The Comments Said She’d Replace My Daughter? Not on My Watch Chapter 07

The Comments Said She’d Replace My Daughter? Not on My Watch Chapter 07

Silence fell over the room.

On the sofa, the Ford elders coughed awkwardly.

“And you are?”

“I’m Nina’s best friend. We grew up together.”

“Is what you said true?”

Tessa nodded and thought for a long moment, as if making up her mind.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I know you love your daughter unconditionally, but the other party deserves to

know the truth.”

I picked up my teacup, took a sip, and said slowly, “Go on then.”

She bowed to me before beginning.

“Nina was my neighbor on the same street. We grew up together. She used to be called Sonny. She had a happy family, she was the oldest, with a younger brother and sister.”

“Wait,” I stopped her. “You’re saying Nina had a happy life in that family?”

Tessa twisted her fingers and nodded.

“But according to my investigation, Nina was beaten at the drop of a hat. Because she was adopted, she started doing housework and looking after her siblings at eight. Even then, she was slapped and cursed at whenever they felt like it. The tattoo on her chest is covering a burn scar.”

Just saying it out loud made my hand tremble around the teacup.

The details I had casually mentioned were enough to make her childhood-friend testimony

worthless.

Tessa shook her head frantically.

“No, that’s not it. Her mom and dad are good people…”

“Being good people means they treated Nina well?”

“What kind of loving parents name their daughter Sonny?”

Tessa trembled where she stood and dared not speak again.

I crossed my legs and gestured to her. “Continue.”

Tessa closed her eyes, then went on.

“Sonny was rebellious and unmanageable since childhood. She never studied. You’ve seen her test scores. It was only because I kept urging her that she barely finished high school. But not long after the exams, one day after school I saw her go into a motel with some gang type from the auto repair

shop…”

At that point, the elders’ faces had already darkened.

Only Felix Ford watched Tessa’s face with interest.

“So, do you think she gave herself to him?”

Tessa’s shoulders trembled. “I don’t know. The next day, I was worried because she hadn’t come home all night, so I went to the motel to look for her. I saw her leaving with that man, her clothes a mess. He warned me to mind my own business.”

After hearing her story, I politely asked the Ford family to leave.

When my daughter came back, she found me and Marcus sitting on the sofa while Tessa stood opposite us. The silence was so thick you could hear a pin drop.

“What’s going on?”

Seeing her return, Tessa finally burst into tears. “Nina, I think I said something wrong today.”