Chapter 986

No.1

After covering the exorbitant medical costs, they struggled to afford even basic meals.

When the bank discovered the fifty-billion-dollar loan had vanished, they immediately shuttered every Montgomery Group factory, along with all their hotels and properties.

They issued a five-day ultimatum for debt repayment before initiating asset liquidation.

The Montgomerys' relatives and friends, terrified of being entangled in the disaster, fled instantly. None wished to be associated with the catastrophe.

Even all the household staff abandoned the manor. Senior Montgomery, Richard, Gregory, Penelope, and the rest remained confined to the hospital, surviving on inexpensive hospital food.

Overnight, the Montgomery family's glory evaporated, replaced by desperate circumstances.

Every financial news outlet and social media platform exploded with headlines:

[The Nation's Top Real Estate Empire Declares Bankruptcy!]

[Montgomery Group Shuts Down Operations!]

[Montgomery Family Swamped with 50 Billion Debt!]

No.2

[Victoria Kensington Absconds with Family Fortune—Manhunt Underway!]

Comment sections flooded with shock and disbelief.

[Unbelievable! Victoria actually stole their money and ran!]

[That innocent-faced Victoria committed such an act?]

[Isn't she the Montgomery heiress? Even without stealing, she controlled sixty percent of shares. Why would she do this?]

[She fled with the money, making herself universally despised. Is she insane?]

[This year's most sensational drama! Can't wait for the full truth to emerge!]

The public watched the spectacle with morbid fascination. Some investigators dug into the Montgomery family history, uncovering their profound foolishness—they were arguably the most gullible family imaginable.

Victoria had been their favored child since infancy. They invested enormous sums in her upbringing, enrolling her in piano lessons, language courses, and countless other trainings.

Their expenditure on her far exceeded what they spent on their other children. What could have driven her to such betrayal?

No.3

BANG!

A sudden, explosive noise reverberated through the hospital ward.

Isabella glanced up to see Sophia hurling the food container across the room. The plastic lid popped off, scattering rice and vegetables over the linoleum.

Sophia clawed at her own hair, pulling strands loose from her ponytail. Her eyes were wild with frustration.

"I can't do this anymore! This room smells like disinfectant and misery. I refuse to sleep propped up in that plastic chair again. And this slop they call food? Unacceptable! I need proper lobster. I need to feel human again!"

Eleanor moved to comfort her, hands fluttering nervously. "Darling, you must be patient. The authorities are tracking Victoria across six continents. They'll find her. We just need to hold on a little longer."

"Hold on? With what? Hope?" Sophia's laugh was brittle. "What if she's already blown through everything? What if there's nothing left when they finally catch her? I'm done with this pathetic existence! Fix this, Mother! You have to fix this now!"

A heavy silence filled the room. Gregory shot a venomous look toward Richard and Eleanor. "Look what your family's incompetence has brought upon us. Clean up this mess. That other daughter of yours—the Montgomery heiress. She's rolling in money. Find her. Make her pay for decent accommodations. At least get us out of this hospital hellhole."

Eleanor's head snapped up, a sudden idea flashing in her eyes. She turned to Richard, her meal forgotten. "She's right. Isabella! That ungrateful wretch we took in. This has her fingerprints all over it. Victoria would never do this. She loved us! Isabella must have threatened her. Forced the transfers. Maybe even... eliminated her afterward?"

Richard went rigid, the color draining from his face. The unspoken horror of it settled over everyone.

No.4

Penelope shot to her feet, the plastic chair screeching. "Of course! It makes perfect sense! Victoria was the heir. Why would she throw that away? Risk prison? Unless she had no choice! That Montgomery viper! She could have arranged the whole thing! She could have had her killed!"

The air grew thick with dread. Just as Theodore drew a breath to reprimand them, the attorney burst through the door, disheveled and breathless.

"I found something! In the waste bin... pieces... I pieced them together..."

Eleanor snatched the reconstructed page from his trembling hands. The family crowded around, their breaths held.

The handwriting was frantic, desperate.

Why... why wasn't I born a Montgomery? Why is my entire life a lie balanced on a knife's edge?

This constant fear of losing it all is torture! I'm losing my mind!

What gives you the right, Isabella? Just blood? You want to steal the twenty-three years of love I earned?

Why didn't you just die in that damned village?!

Victoria's breakdown was etched in every jagged word. She'd torn the evidence of her turmoil to shreds, a futile attempt to hide her crumbling sanity. The attorney's meticulousness had unearthed her secret.

No.5

The paper trembled violently in Eleanor's grip. Her world tilted on its axis.

Victoria... wasn't hers.

Isabella... was?

Impossible.

She had cradled Victoria, had fed her, had soothed her nightmares. Isabella was the charity case, the child from the trash.

This couldn't be real.

Richard stood frozen beside her, his mouth agape, unable to form a single word. The truth was a physical blow.

“This can’t be true! Victoria would never write this! There must be some error… Look into it immediately!”

“But… I’ve already verified the handwriting. It’s unmistakably Victoria’s. The document even carries her fingerprints,” the attorney explained helplessly.

What more evidence could they possibly need?

No.6

Adrian entered at that precise moment. “There’s no need for further investigation. Isabella is your biological daughter. Years ago, Victoria’s birth mother and Eleanor gave birth in the same hospital. Her mother was dying after delivering Victoria. To secure a better future for her child, that woman secretly switched the babies. She took the true heiress, Isabella, and abandoned her in a trash bin. That’s how Victoria became the Montgomery heiress. This is why your heart ached when you found the baby in the bin. This is why you always treated that foundling better than Victoria.”

Eleanor felt as if struck by lightning. Her pupils dilated in shock.

It was true—her heart had wrenched at the sight of little Isabella in that bin. She had always favored the child she rescued over Victoria. But was that really enough to believe Isabella was her actual daughter?

It sounded absurd.

Everyone in the hospital room was stunned into silence.

Isabella—Eleanor’s real daughter? Victoria was just a swapped imposter? It was too dramatic to believe. It felt like a plot from a soap opera.

Adrian handed over a DNA report. “The day after you exiled Isabella five years ago, she asked me to collect strands of your hair for a DNA test outside Westchester. She tried calling everyone to come home, but all her calls were blocked.

“This new DNA test was conducted yesterday using Isabella and Benjamin’s blood. She always intended to show you, but never got the chance.”

Eleanor, Richard, Theodore, and the others crowded around to read the report. The results were clear: Isabella was undeniably the true Montgomery heiress. She and Benjamin shared the same mother.

The first test might have been done at a hospital outside Westchester, but Grace Memorial was owned by the Blackwood corporation. No matter how powerful Isabella was, she could never have bribed Blackwood staff…

No.7

“So… Isabella is actually my cousin?” Sophia murmured, still dazed.

“It does make sense, though,” Gregory added. “Victoria ran off with the money because she knew she wasn’t a real Montgomery. She wanted to destroy the entire family.”

Adrian laughed mockingly. “Oh, it’s much worse than that. Victoria discovered the truth when she was eight. First, she manipulated Benjamin and Isabella, rendering them useless. She planned to seize every share of the family fortune. Five years ago, during Isabella’s engagement party, she overheard Victoria conspiring with Alexander. That’s why they pushed her down the stairs! Victoria has been a demon lurking in the shadows since she was eight, plotting against all of you. And you treated her like royalty! How utterly hilarious.”

His scornful words echoed through the room.

Eleanor’s body jolted violently. Overwhelmed, her blood pressure spiked. She collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Richard quickly lifted her onto an empty bed. The room descended into chaos again.