Your Guise Is Slipping, Miss Pearl

Richard moved to embrace Pearl, but she gently pushed him away, her emotions swirling inside her.

"This isn't right," Pearl murmured, her thoughts in disarray. She hadn't wanted to reject his hug, yet she couldn't reconcile the possibility of their familial connection.

"It's not wrong." Richard kept his head buried on her shoulders and added hoarsely, "Even if… we're cousins, there's nothing wrong with hugging each other." Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

After a long silence, Richard proposed, "Let's get a DNA test. I don't want to leave this unanswered."

"Okay," Pearl agreed, knowing it was their last chance to resolve this uncertainty.

"I'll go now then."

Pearl plucked a strand of hair for him and watched him leave.

*

At the hospital, Richard encountered someone he least wanted to see.

"Rick, it's been a while. You're always healthy. What brings you here?" Hugo greeted him with a sly smile, clearly aware of the reason behind Richard's visit.

When he learned Pearl's mother had gone to the Waldorfs, he could guess why Richard came to the hospital.

Of course, Richard would find it unacceptable and doubt that he and Pearl were biologically related. It seemed he liked Pearl more than Hugo had imagined.

"It's none of your business," Richard replied curtly, unwilling to engage with Hugo.

"Don't be so touchy. I can imagine why you're here. Did you find out you're related to your wife?" Hugo taunted, trying to provoke Richard's anger.

Richard clenched his fist calmly. "If you have nothing else to say, get out of my way."

"Stop pretending like you don't care. You must be panicking. It's absurd, isn't it? Two people in love are forced to separate because of their family ties. How tragic!" Hugo continued with a sneer, relishing in Richard's discomfort.

But Richard refused to let Hugo's taunts affect him. His calm expression only seemed to frustrate Hugo further.

"You're quite calm." Hugo heaved a sigh.

"Are you done?" Richard turned to leave, but Hugo stopped him. He tensed, waiting for the latter's next words.

Hugo paused for a moment before revealing, "I orchestrated this. I intentionally reunited Pearl with her mother. Soon, you'll learn the truth, and you'll see that you can never be together."

Richard recoiled at the cruelty of Hugo's scheme. Not content with simply sabotaging their relationship, Hugo had a hand in exposing their blood ties.