Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 367: Prepare how?

Inside the car, silence settled thick and heavy between them. The city lights slipped past the windows, blurred streaks of white and gold, but Anna barely noticed them. Her gaze stayed fixed on Daniel, unreadable and intense enough to make him acutely aware of every movement he made.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, resisting the urge to glance at her again.

"Are you just going to keep staring at me," he finally asked, breaking the silence, "or are you going to tell me what you and Collin talked about?"

Anna did not answer immediately. She shifted slightly in her seat, folding her arms as if steadying herself. Daniel had expected anger when she dragged him out of the hospital earlier, or maybe hurt. But this was different. This was restraint. Thought.

And it unsettled him far more.

After a moment, she spoke. "I heard what you told your aunt."

Daniel’s jaw tightened.

"About me not being a Bennett," Anna continued, her voice calm but edged with something sharp. "You did not deny it. You sounded certain."

The car slowed at a signal. Daniel exhaled slowly, already knowing there was no way around this conversation.

He glanced at her briefly. "You were not supposed to hear that."

"But I did," she replied, finally turning fully toward him. Her eyes held his, unblinking. "So I am asking you now. How can you be so sure?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Her tone was heavier than before, weighted with expectation and something dangerously close to disappointment.

Daniel pulled the car over to the side of the road, the indicator clicking softly in the silence. He turned off the engine and faced her fully.

"I did not come to that conclusion lightly," he said. "And I never planned on throwing it in your face like that."he voiced clealy not expecting Anna to hear everything.

"That does not answer my question," Anna said quietly.

Daniel nodded once. "I know."

He leaned back, running a hand through his hair before continuing. "When I started investigating Collin, I had my team dig into everyone connected to him. That included your family. At first, nothing stood out. The Bennett records were clean. Too clean." he said her truthfully.

Anna’s brows furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means certain documents had been altered," Daniel replied. "Birth records. Medical histories. Things that should not have required revisions decades later."

Anna’s breath caught, but she said nothing.

"I cross checked hospital archives from the year you were born," Daniel went on. "There was a fire reported at the maternity wing two months after your birth. Several files were declared damaged beyond recovery. Yours included."

Her fingers curled into the fabric of her coat. She could tell that Daniel was saying the truth, but that truth hurt her more than she thought it to be.

"That still does not prove anything," she said, though her voice had lost some of its earlier certainty.

"No," Daniel agreed. "But then there was the blood work."

Anna stilled completely. "What blood work?"

"Hugo’s," Daniel said. "During one of his hospitalizations years ago. It was routine. But the blood type did not align genetically with what it should have been if you were biologically his."

Daniel had spared nothing when he asked Henry to dig deeper into the Bennett’s lives and somewhere through the investigation, he came cross things that confirmed his doubts regarding Roseline and Collin’s history and the child they have.

The words landed heavily in the confined space of the car.

Anna stared straight ahead now, her reflection faint against the window. "And my mother?"

Daniel hesitated. "Her records were... missing. Intentionally. Someone made sure of that."

Silence followed, thick and suffocating.

"So you believed it," Anna said finally. "Before Collin ever opened his mouth."

"I suspected it," Daniel corrected. "There is a difference."

She laughed softly, without humor. "Funny how suspicion can feel exactly like betrayal."

Daniel’s chest tightened. "Anna—"

"I am not accusing you," she interrupted, turning back to him. "I am trying to understand why everyone around me seems to know something about my life before I do."

He reached out, his hand hovering near hers, unsure. "I was waiting for confirmation."

"From whom?" she asked.

Daniel met her gaze. "From your mother."

Anna swallowed hard.

Collin’s words echoed mercilessly in her head.

’Ask her who your real father is.’

"So you and Collin," she murmured, "you were standing on the same truth from opposite sides."

Daniel nodded once. "Yes. Unfortunately"

Anna leaned back, closing her eyes briefly as if bracing herself. When she opened them again, there was no panic. Only resolve.

"Then I will ask her," she said.

Daniel studied her, concern etched deep into his features. "Are you ready for whatever answer you get?"

Anna looked at him, steady and unflinching. "I have been living with lies my whole life," she replied. "The truth cannot be worse than that."

And for the first time since they left the hospital, Daniel realized she was not breaking.

She was preparing for war.

"And you think she will tell you just like that?" Daniel’s voice cut through the silence, sharp enough to seize Anna’s attention.

She turned to him slowly, her brows drawing together. His question stirred memories she had tried to bury. Her mother standing rigid despite the evidence laid bare. The way she had deflected every accusation about Collin, even when the truth had been staring them in the face. Back then, Anna had believed it was fear or shame.

Now she was no longer so sure.

Her jaw tightened.

"I doubt it," she muttered, the words slipping out before she could stop them.

The certainty she had clung to moments ago began to fracture. Confrontation suddenly did not feel as simple as she had imagined. If her mother had lied once, if she had protected the truth for years, what reason would she have to surrender it now?

Daniel watched the shift carefully. He could see the resolve falter, replaced by something more cautious. More wounded.

"She will deny it," he said quietly. "Or twist it. Or turn it back on you."

Anna let out a slow breath. "She has always been good at that."

Daniel reached out then, his fingers brushing her knuckles before curling around her hand firmly. "That is why you should not go in unprepared."

She looked at him, her eyes searching his face. "Prepared how?"

Daniel didn’t say it right away but Anna could tell he had a plan.