Chapter 1660: She’s not my mother
[Bennet Mansion]
In the mansion’s study room, Charles, Haines, Atlas, and Zoren sat tensely around the couches. Their expressions were grim, the tension in the room at an all-time high.
Hugo was also present, but he chose to keep his distance, leaning quietly against the window.
"That’s impossible," Charles muttered after a prolonged silence.
His eyes were fixed on the photo laid out on the table. It wasn’t the same one he had seen among Slater’s things — this was a printed copy of an old family portrait. A family of four: an old woman, a boy, then a young couple standing behind.
Slowly, he lifted his dilated gaze to the person sitting across from him.
Zoren.
"That... that woman is your mother?" he asked under his breath.
Zoren nodded. "Like First Brother said, the photo you saw with Third Brother was a portrait of my mother. He said he accidentally took it with him when my grandmother showed him some old pictures."
Atlas, seated beside him, cast a quiet glance in Zoren’s direction. However, he said nothing — they had to protect Slater’s cover for now.
"But—" Charles began, then shifted his eyes toward Haines, who sat quietly in the single-seater armchair.
Haines’s brows were furrowed, his gaze locked on the portrait, full of conflicting emotions. Even when he sensed Charles looking at him, he didn’t look up. It took a few moments before he finally lifted his eyes and met theirs.