Chapter 852
Thomas’s reaction was nothing like what Kelly had expected, and for a moment, it left her stunned. At the same time, a fragile thread of hope unfurled in her chest.
“Thomas, I was thrown into prison by Carter. Why didn’t you answer my calls? Why didn’t you come to
save me?”
Thomas suddenly laughed. “Do you really need me to tell you why I didn’t?”
Her gaze flickered, but she forced herself to stay calm. “I… I don’t know what you mean…”
He let out a sigh. “Kelly, I already know you’re not the one I’ve been searching for.”
Her fingers tightened at his words.
So that was it. This was why he had abandoned her.
Her composure cracked, and emotion surged onto her face. “It’s Johanna, isn’t it?!”
Surprise flickered across Thomas’s features. “Kelly… how would you know that?”
She clenched her fists. “Because she came to me! Thomas, she isn’t the one you’re looking for-I am!
All she has is a pair of forged earrings. Beyond that, she knows nothing. She doesn’t know which garden
you heard the violin in, nor the time of day. She even came to my cell, trying to trick me into revealing
details so she could pretend to be me!”
The words tumbled out in a rush, her throat dry, but she dared not stop. If she faltered, Thomas might not
give her another chance to explain.
At her outburst, Thomas’s brows drew together. “Is that so?”
Her expression grew solemn. “Every word of it is true!”
She then recounted everything Johanna and Victoria had said to her-carefully omitting, of course, the
part about herself being an impostor.
Kelly knew suspicion already shadowed Thomas’s mind. Whether he would believe her now was another
matter entirely. But it didn’t matter. Even if he refused to trust her, she would never allow Johanna to win
his favor.
Thomas listened in silence, offering no response. With each moment that stretched on, Kelly’s heart climbed higher into her throat. She had no idea how much of her story he believed.
At last, he spoke.
“To be honest, when Johanna first came to me, I didn’t believe her either. But then-somehow-she
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produced an identical earring and accused you of being the impostor. She can play the violin, she can perform First Love, and she’s been living abroad in Marcentine for years. With all those coincidences stacked together… how could I not question whether I had identified the wrong person from the start?”
‘So it was Johanna who had approached him first! That wretched woman!’ Kelly fumed.
Rage surged through Kelly’s chest, her hatred burning black and deep. She had never cared for Thomas as a man, but he was her shield, her strongest support. Without him, she never could have faked her illness for so long. To lose him was like losing her lifeline-like losing her very family.
To steal her backer was tantamount to killing her. From that moment, her hatred toward Johanna eclipsed even the venom she held for Sharon. (1
“Thomas,” she pressed urgently, “apart from those earrings, she knows nothing. Her earrings must be
fake. You mustn’t let her deceive you.”
Thomas sank into thought. “Now you tell me she’s the fake. She tells me you are. You claim to know the garden and the time. She, on the other hand, holds an identical earring…”
He rubbed his brow. “The two of you are driving me in circles.”
Kelly, however, felt a flicker of triumph at his words. His doubt was proof enough. He hadn’t fully believed Johanna after all. Otherwise, he would never have spoken to her with such gentleness.
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