Chapter 635
"Indeed."
"But the world is fair; intelligent couples might have less intelligent children. The competition for each generation\'s heir in the South family is always fierce. Besides choosing the heir, they also select the top ten candidates. The heir for the next generation is chosen from the children of these top ten individuals. In other words, only the children of the top ten have the qualifications to compete for the position of the next heir."
Keira was taken aback. "But my mother wasn\'t in the top ten of the previous generation, so I don\'t have the qualifications to compete..."
She and Isla would have been switched at birth. If her mother had been among the top ten competitors of the previous generation, Isla would also likely have become one of the candidates for the South family\'s current generation. But that wasn\'t the case. Having grown up with Taylor and his family, Keira was very familiar with the family members\' lifestyles and routines. Isla had received no interference from any external forces.
Matthew said, "That\'s right, your mother wasn\'t in the top ten of the previous generation. But have you ever considered something else?"
"What is it?"
"Daughters of each generation compete with their peers, yet there is only one successor. For those who fail by just a little bit, how could they be content in such a scenario? They would certainly pin their hopes on their daughters, so the losers would try hard to have children. However, these people, after striving in the outside world for many years, might suffer physical damage and not be able to have children or might not be able to produce female offspring. Obviously, it\'s not right to ask them to give up at that point."
Upon hearing this, Keira vaguely realized what had happened with Keera\'s adoptive parents. "So?"
Matthew sighed. "Therefore, if those who lost and even the successor of the previous generation were unable to have children, they could adopt the children of the losers. As long as these children carry the South family\'s genes and their parents or adoptive parents are among the top ten of the previous generation, they would become competitors in the next generation."
Keira\'s pupils narrowed. "So, after my mother gave birth to Keera, she was stolen by someone from the South family because someone from the previous generation couldn\'t have daughters?"
"Exactly."
Matthew continued, "Most of the South family\'s successors are cold-hearted without steady partners. They only want daughters and typically don\'t need a man around. Your sister\'s adoptive mother had her womb damaged during the competition due to someone\'s scheme, rendering her unable to have children. She found out about your mother\'s whereabouts by chance and sent people to kidnap the child."
Matthew sighed. "Your mother wasn\'t among the top ten; she was a loser, doomed never to leave the South family. That was why she concealed her background and never underwent prenatal check-ups while she was pregnant, so she didn\'t even know she had twins. Keera\'s adoptive mother stole her, and your own mother had no idea.
"Keera was raised in the South family until she was five, then taken by her adoptive mother\'s subordinates to settle in Clance, Crera. To outsiders, those two subordinates were her adoptive parents, which was why her adoptive father also has the surname South. It was because he was a servant of the South family."
Having said all this, Matthew added, "In the past, the South family zealously nurtured their progeny, but daughters are becoming increasingly scarce in the South family nowadays. To my knowledge, there are only nine contenders in your generation—one child from each of the top ten families of the previous generation, with one family lacking a daughter. Given the current circumstances, your sister holds a significant advantage because she has Amy."
Amy...
Keira suddenly remembered that both Vera and Fox had mentioned taking Amy away in their messages. Was Amy now a sought-after prize because it was difficult for the South family to produce heirs? Keira pursed her lips, understanding the logic behind it.
At that moment, she suddenly received another call. Keira glanced down, and her pupils immediately contracted. The incoming number wasn\'t unknown; it was stored in her contact list under the name Fox!
Keira said promptly, "I need to take this."
After that, she hung up on Matthew and answered the call from Fox.