Walker listened as she recounted the process of the last paternity test. His striking brows arched slightly, and he let out a scoff. "System malfunction? Data wiped? You actually believed that?"

Chloe: "..."

She looked down again at the paternity test in her hands, her face still etched with bewilderment. "But why would he do this? Why lie to me? To keep me from knowing I’m not their daughter?"

But Walker pointed out, "After that paternity test, you were kidnapped. That person didn’t do anything to you, right?"

Chloe nodded slowly.

She had been drugged unconscious. When she woke up, Walker was there. She had no idea what had happened in between.

Walker’s eyes grew cold. "All sorts of dangers started appearing around you from that point on. When you went for that paternity test, you leaked your true identity. The person disguised as a sanitation worker came specifically to verify who you were. Once they had confirmation, the assassination attempts began."

His dark eyes fixed on her, his gaze holding a new level of focus and suspicion. "Chloe Reed, what is the truth about your past? The other party is so wary of you. Are they that afraid of you going back?"

Chloe’s hands clenched into fists. "I want to know, too."

A corner of Walker’s lips curved up, a glint flashing in his eyes. "This is starting to get more interesting for me, too. I’ll get to the bottom of it. For now, not only do you need to stay away from Preston Vance, but you also have to be on guard against Miles Hawthorne. We don’t know what role he’s playing yet. What we can be sure of, however, is that he is undeniably connected to the assassination attempts against you."

"I..." Chloe wanted to say more.

But Walker spoke again, "At the very least, you can’t find an excuse for what he did. There’s no justifying why he would create a fake paternity test to lie to you."

Chloe: "..."

She fell silent.

He was absolutely right.

Before, she had been convinced that Miles Hawthorne would never hurt her, but now, that conviction was wavering.

He had fabricated lies. He had approached her under the guise of helping, but it was all to probe into her past and, in doing so, open the door for those terrifying people.

Chloe took a deep breath, composed herself, and said, "I understand."

She suddenly found it strange. ’Maybe I’ve just been through enough that I can accept these things so quickly?’

Her gaze fell, landing once more on the paternity test. The shackles that had bound her heart seemed to vanish in an instant.

’So I wasn’t their biological child after all.’

It was as if all their unfair treatment of her suddenly made sense. ’But... do they know?’

Charles Reed had even called her, saying Autumn Linton’s health was failing and that she should go see her.

’What are they thinking?’

"I need to treat my wounds."

Just then, the man’s deep, magnetic voice broke the silence, pulling her back from her thoughts.

Chloe looked up at him. "You can do it yourself."

"I can’t reach the wounds on my back," Walker said, his expression calm. "It’s just applying some medicine. You wouldn’t refuse to help with something so small, would you? We’re partners now, after all."

Chloe stood up and left the study, taking the paternity test with her. Walker watched her go, a brow raised slightly.

’It wasn’t hard to guess what she planned to do with it.’

She quickly came out of the guest room. Seeing he was still in the study, she asked, "I thought you needed your wounds treated?"

A flicker of light sparked in Walker’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it and stood up to walk out.

The doctor had prescribed a lot of medication—both oral and topical—and using them together would help him heal faster.