Chapter 543 No More Games


    Sarah… was Tyler?


    Jean felt a flicker of surprise, but it didn’tst long. She had assumed that Tyler and Sarah must have known each other-may even had some kind of unspoken alliance. After all, the painting had been sharp, symbolic, even vicious in its irony. It made sense to think Sarah had coborated with the mysterious artist behind it. But the truth was far simpler, and far sharper.


    Sarah hadn’t just arranged the painting. She was the painter.


    In hindsight, it shouldn’t have been a shock. This was Sarah after all. In her second life, she had embraced the image of the strong, capable woman, umting skills and identities like armor. Having a secret artistic alter ego was hardly out of character.


    Jean felt no anger. Just a quiet, wry recognition. She hadn’t paid enough attention when she read the novel all those years ago. She hadn’t bothered to memorize Sarah’s many aliases. If she had, she never would have sought Tyler out in the first ce. Back then, when she’d approached Sarah-unknowingly-about the painting, the woman had resisted at first. That made sense now. Sarah likely hadn’t known who she was dealing with. But Jean had revealed just enough personal information to paint a picture. Not a name, but a family. A background. A few carefully chosen details meant to impress and persuade.


    It had worked.


    Sarah, sharp as ever, must have figured it out. And when she did, she agreed to the job-probably with a smile.


    Now everything made sense. The “True and False Phoenix” wasn’t just clever. It was calcted. And this banquet-Sienna’s birthday celebration-was the day Sarah had chosen to pull the curtain back.


    Jean felt a hollow sort of amusement. So she’d handed Sarah the perfect stage without even realizing it. It was… well yed.


    But if Sarah thought that revealing the truth would crush her, she was sorely mistaken. There was no hurt, no panic-just a quiet resignation. So be it. The only thing this revtion changed was the timeline. Jean would be leaving the Ginger family a little sooner than expected. That was all.


    In the center of the room, Sienna stood frozen, her expression unreadable. The shock hadn’t quite faded from her eyes. The artist she had admired for so long-Tyler-was her daughter?


    But then why the painting? Why deliver such a message this way?


    Was it a hint? A challenge? Some kind of smug performance meant to put her on the spot?


    Sienna’s admiration soured, twisting into difort. She didn’t like people who tried to outsmart her with ir and metaphor. She especially didn’t like being manipted.


    Sarah must have seen the shift in her expression, because her fingers curled around the edges of her purse with sudden tension. Her eyes flicked downward. Then, as if steeling herself, she reached into the bag and pulled out two neatly folded documents.


    She stepped forward without hesitation and held them out to Sienna.


    There was no more use in ying coy.


    “I didn’te here to beat around the bush,” Sarah said, her voice low but steady. “These are paternity test


    Chapter 543 No More Games


    results. One proves I’m your biological daughter. The other confirms that Jean… isn’t.


    The words dropped like a stone into the center of the room.


    Silence followed-thick, total, and absolute. The music had long since faded. All conversation stopped. People turned to stare. No one moved.


    The only sounds were the faint rustles of breath and the sharp, quiet inhales that followed.


    Until now, most of the guests had no idea what was happening. They hadn’t caught the quiet war of words between Sarah and Sienna. They had just assumed that Sarah was a reckless outsider with no sense of timing or etiquette.


    But now? Now they understood.


    So this girl hade looking for her birth mother.


    And her mother… was Sienna Ginger?


    The Ginger family had a missing daughter?


    Or no-worse.


    They had raised the wrong one.


    All eyes shifted-first to Sarah, tall andposed, then to the empty space where Jean had once stood.


    That girl… the one who was always so quiet, who had barely shown her face tonight…


    Was that why she was hiding? Did she already know?


    Had she found out the truth, and now she couldn’t bear to look anyone in the eye?


    The air rippled with whispers, unspoken but heavy, swirling like smoke through the silent room.


    And at the heart of it all, Jean stood just out of sight, calm as ever, watching the chaos she had once read about unfold in real time.


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    When the Book-Traveling Girl Meets the Reborn Girl