Chapter 472
Fifty-two?
She dressed so youthful, you'd believe she was twenty-five if she said so.
With today's medical advancements and the wonders of cosmetic procedures, it's not unusual to see celebrities in their forties looking like they're in their twenties. But aging is inevitable, and despite the best efforts, there are always telltale signs. Yet, looking at the woman in front of me, it was hard to place her age. Her mature aura was undeniable, but her face and neck betrayed no secrets.
"You're fifty-two?" Robin was shocked. It really didn't show.
"With the advancements in cosmetic treatments and taking good care of oneself, plus a positive mindset," Naomi said with a smile, her gaze settling on me. "Foebe... don't you want to have a chat with me? Biologically speaking, I am your mother."
I let go of Colin's hand abruptly, incredulous at the woman before me.
Mother? Hah... She had some nerve.
"So, I'm just some gic experiment from an organization? Do I even have a mother?" I scoffed, looking at Anthony's wife. "Wasn't I born to her after she carried me for nine months?"
"Mrs. Larson and Mr. Larson were infertile, with no viable eggs or sperm. The IVF procedure used my egg and... the sperm from another distinguished gentleman."
Naomi didn't hide anything, openly discussing this matter even in front of the police.
Clearly, after Damian's death, the organization wanted her to monitor my life.
"What does that have to do with me?" I challenged Naomi.
Naomi just smiled. "Foebe, both you and Phoebe... are my daughters."
"Pfft." I laughed. "You mean your experiments, right? Are you the leader of the Gene-Forge Collective? What, no longer hiding and coming out in the open?"
I was suddenly very curious about who my biological father was.
Since the Gene-Forge Collective selected prime specimens for their experiments, they must have chosen high-quality candidates for gic material. Naomi, with a doctorate in psychiatry, was undoubtedly exceptional. Her egg... combined with the sperm from another outstanding man, created the experimental embryo 'Phoebe Caldwell'. This embryo was then gically edited and artificially manipulated, and from the same embryo, cloning experiments produced multiple specimens.
Phoebe Caldwell and Foebe Larson, that's how we came to be.
"Foebe, what are you talking about? I don't understand," Naomi asked with a smile.
"Don't understand? Your people watch me every day, you might as well install a camera on my forehead... What don't you understand?" I looked at her warily.
She remained calm, skillfully
navigating through the emotional
and logical gaps in the conversation. "Foebe, you're suffering from paranoid delusions, and it's quite severe. Mrs. Larson, after all, is your mother by birth. She wants what's best for you, you need to come with me for treatment."
She was trying to frame me, slowly driving me insane before taking me away.
I had a feeling... the organization had been hit hard this time. Annora had torn off their veil, and they were in a rush to clean up.
And I, was something they had to reclaim.
Naomi's appearance was to 'legitimately' retrieve me.
After all, the police were already onto me, and only a 'legitimate' retrieval could silence them.
"Foebe... you have a sister, about
your age. Do you not want to meet her? Four years ago, Ethan and Phoebe's parents were involved in a highway accident. My daughter was in Ethan's car. She and Phoebe were identical twins, born from the same egg... looking almost exactly alike. She woke up with amnesia, but suddenly regained her memory recently, claiming she is Phoebe..."
And Phoebe, that's me, woke up with amnesia too, as if I had become a completely different person.
"I suspect, in the chaos of the
accident scene, the Fitzgerald
family's Dexter took the wrong child. He took my daughter, while the real Phoebe, was treated as my daughter and returned to my side."
I was tense, trembling as I listened to Naomi.
Even knowing Naomi was deliberately provoking me, aware of the holes in her story, my body couldn't help but shake.
Naomi's words were not just for me, but also for Colin.
"Colin, don't you want to meet the real Phoebe?" Naomi, as expected, turned her focus on Colin.