Of course Natalie hadn't done anything unforgivable. Jacob just didn't like her. But how was he supposed to say that? He couldn't exactly stand in front of all these people and admit he'd resented his late in-laws, or that his marriage had been suffocating and miserable. Or that he'd spent years pretending to care for his daughter, only to dump all his frustrations about everything and everyone onto her. No. That wasn't something he could say out loud. Natalie hadn't done anything wrong, but the truth was, her very existence felt like a mistake to him. Cassian, who'd said nothing since walking in, hadn't sat down. He stood right in front of Jacob, staring him down—unblinking, unmoving. The pressure was intense. Jacob started to sweat under his gaze, his mouth dry, his tongue tied. He couldn't get a single word out. Lillian and Rosalie, standing beside him, were clearly getting nervous too. Rosalie didn't dare speak, she just kept tugging anxiously at Lillian's sleeve. And Lillian? She was cursing in her head. What the hell is wrong with this Mr. Holland? What does any of this have to do with him? Why's he acting like the damn morality police? But the rest of the neighborhood? They were loving it. Cassian had cut right to the heart of the issue, and they were all here for it. Someone jumped in, voice raised, "Come on, Mr. Ashford, nobody just randomly disowns their own kid! That's your daughter! You think this is dating or something? You don't just ‘break up' with your own flesh and blood!""Exactly! You can't just open your mouth and say ‘we're not related anymore' and expect the rest of us to go along with it!" "Hell, how about this, I'll have my son raid your pantry tomorrow, and then tell you he's got nothin' to do with me. You cool with that?" Jacob stood frozen, bombarded by questions, and still couldn't say a single word. He couldn't help but start blaming Lillian in his head. What kind of messed-up idea was this? She was the one who pushed him into this plan, and now look, he had become the public's enemy number one. Realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Lillian quickly stepped in to salvage it. She raised her voice, clearly and deliberately, as she shouted, "I'll tell you all why! It's because Natalie isn't even Jacob's real daughter. She's the result of Scarlett's affair with some random guy!" The whole room erupted. Even the other homeowners, who'd already heard plenty of drama tonight, were stunned. But no one was more shocked than Jacob himself. He turned to Lillian, furious, jaw clenched. "What the hell are you saying?" he growled. He'd spent more than 20 years living with his head down, swallowing his pride—and now, just when he could finally stand tall, this woman goes and paints him as some pathetic cuckold? He knew better than anyone whether Natalie was his or not. Sure, Scarlett had her flaws—plenty, actually—but if there was one thing he never doubted, it was her love for him. Especially when she got pregnant with Natalie. That had been the best period of their marriage. From the moment they said "I do," they'd been practically glued at the hip. When would she even have had time to cheat? Still, back in his lowest years, when his self-esteem had hit rock bottom, he had looked at Natalie and wondered. She looked nothing like him. So one day, he secretly took a strand of her hair and had a paternity test done behind everyone's back. The results were clear—he was Natalie's biological father. The only reason she didn't resemble him much was because the Keller genes were apparently dominant as hell, even down to facial structure. He'd felt a weird kind of relief after seeing the results, but that didn't make things easier. If anything, he'd still felt suffocated. Which was probably why he'd grown so attached to Rosalie over the years—her looks, her personality, everything about her reminded him of himself. Unlike Jacob, Rosalie was delighted by what Lillian had just said. Wait, seriously? Natalie isn't Jacob's biological daughter? Rosalie's the only real daughter?! Lillian saw the shock written all over both of their faces and nearly cursed out loud. Goddamn it, so useless. Absolutely useless. I'm the one carrying dead weight over here. She leaned in close to Jacob and whispered through clenched teeth, "Your pride doesn't matter right now. Ditching this baggage is what actually matters. Did you forget why we came here today?" Then she straightened up and raised her voice to address the room. "I'm sorry, but this is about a man's dignity. Jacob didn't want to air something so personal in public, especially to protect the Keller family's reputation. But now that Natalie's stirred up this whole mess, I don't have a choice but to tell the truth—Jacob raised someone else's kid for over 20 years. That's been eating away at him all this time. And now what, you all expect him to keep taking the blame too?" The moment those words landed, the crowd around them practically exploded."Wait, Scarlett cheated on him?" "She didn't seem like that kind of woman. And the Kellers were super strict, especially her father." "People wear masks. You never really know anyone. Honestly, that Ashford guy never seemed good enough for her. Wouldn't surprise me if she met someone better and, well ... stuff happened behind the scenes." The Carters, who'd been planning to leave earlier but got stuck when Theodore and Cassian showed up, started whispering too. Emerson leaned over to Talia and asked, "You used to be close with Scarlett, right? You think she really ... ?" Talia rolled her eyes at him. "Did you seriously just ask that? Use your brain. That homewrecker's just talking crap." Emerson gave a small cough and glanced at Iris beside them. "Hey. Language. The kid's right here. Maybe keep it a little more civilized?" Still, it wasn't just Talia. Plenty of people were skeptical. Someone even turned to Jacob directly and asked, "Mr. Ashford, is what your wife said actually true? Or are you two just making stuff up to dodge responsibility?"