Ch. 831..835
Chapter 831
Now that he recalled everything that happened that day, he was beginning to notice many peculiarly odd details... Which meant that she had been lying to him ever since that time?
She never meant to go with Thomas. She only went to Galston with him to save Aunt Tonya and the children!
He balled his hand into a fist and fell into an ominous silence for a long time. At last, he spoke,”How did she come to be depressed?”
“Sigh... After she went to Galston, she did everything she could to sneak back to Westchester City but Thomas caught her every time. He had several people’s hands chopped off to intimidate her and to send a message. This isn’t even the worst of it because later, he separated me from her and had her locked in a room where she could not even see the light of the sun or tell what time
of the day it was. He locked her up in there like an animal for three months before he finally let her out. | don’t
even know what he did to her in those three grueling months. By the time she came out, she was completely hysterical and covered in blood. | think it was because she clawed herself while she was stuck in there...”
Aunt Tonya became choked up as she revealed all of this. Odell stood tall and ominous before her.
“... She was just completely out of it. It frightened not only me but Thomas as well. Eventually, he agreed to let her come back on her own and said that if she could manage by herself until the next year, he’d let me come back as well.”
10 After she finished, she wiped away tears from her eyes. The corridor became silent.
Odell stood stiffly like a stone sculpture for a very long time before his voice broke out. “Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she at least give me a call..?”
Aunt Tonya choked up. “There was no signal at all where we lived. She couldn't escape and couldn’t get her hands on a phone to contact you with.”
Odell zipped his lips into a thin line and remained silent. His solitary figure stood still in front of the delivery room and did not even budge for the longest time. He recalled the day she returned.
There was heavy snow on that day. He had just gotten engaged with Lily as well. He remembered seeing her toward the end of the engagement ceremony and went after her. He said a lot of harsh things to her and left her all by herself in the snow and when he went outside, she had gone back to her place.
Her place was covered in dust at the time. He remembered how she carefully placed her new clothes
on the couch to make a place for him to sit without getting his clothes dirty. She smiled and pandered to him as much as she could just so that she could see the children.
Not only did he refuse, but he also barred the windows so she could not see the children. All she could do was lean against the wall like a thief just so she could hear their voices
Later, he ended up taking the children with him back to his old place. She still tried to sneak inside but to no avail.
During Ramona’s birthday, she expected him to bring the children to attend the banquet so she dressed up as a waiter to sneak her way into the banquet. The only thing she got from all that effort was public embarrassment , getting slapped by her sister in front of everyone, and drenched in wine...
It was only until he found out that she had depression that he conceded and let her see the children.
The entire time, he thought that she got dumped by Thomas and came back with depression. He assumed that the child belonged to Thomas and so responded by treating her condescendingly.
To think that ... All his assumptions were wrong the entire time!
She never got dumped, and the baby was never Thomas!
She never even loved
Thomas!
She was taken to Galston by force. Thrown into solitary confinement, all the fear and agitation led to her depression ... In all this time since her return, he had never extended any kindness toward her, not even once.
Time stood still for him for what seemed like eons.
Isabel and Liam came back from dinner and made sure to get some food for Aunt Tonya as well. Aunt Tonya finished eating and sat with them on the chair opposite the delivery room and waited for a long time.
Eventually, Isabel began to doze off and fell asleep in Aunt Tonya’s arms. Even Liam was beginning to doze off when suddenly, a loud cry emitted from inside the delivery room.
The man who had been standing still in front of the delivery room the entire time suddenly sprang to attention and turned around.
Chapter 832
The door opened from the inside
The nurse held a baby wrapped in a blanket and smiled at Odell. “Master Carter, congratulations, it’s a boy!”
Odell barely spared a look at the child and turned to the nurse with a frantic look on his face. “What about her? How is she?”
The nurse informed, “Both the mother and the baby are safe. She exerted a lot of strength during childbirth and is very tired. She’s asleep now and should be fine after being given some time to rest.”
Odell tried to go inside but the nurse stopped him from doing so.
The nurse smiled politely. “Please wait just a moment. We'll have her out in no time.” Odell halted.
“You should take the boy first, he’s adorable,” the nurse said and handed the boy to him. Odell finally took a good look at the boy.
His skin was smooth as silk and fair. He was a tiny boy.
The look in Odell’s eyes immediately softened, and he took the boy into his arms.
Perhaps the boy sensed Odell’s beating down, he pried open his eyelids to reveal two black pearls that were dark as onyx stone.
It was as if the boy was sizing him 1. “Oh, the boy is beautiful,” Aunt Tonya approached and exclaimed in awe upon seeing the boy closely. Odell smiled with pride. That was when the closed door was pushed open again, Sylvia was carted out in the hospital bed, still soundly asleep. Odell immediately passed the baby to Aunt Tonya and took a look at Sylvia. She was sound asleep. Her complexion was pale after exerting so much strength, and her brows were still fixed into a frown. He drew closer and put a hand over her brows to ease her frown, and quietly observed her expression with a pondering look.
Shortly after that, the doctor informed that Sylvia needed more rest and proceeded to have the nurse cart her to her ward. It was only then that Odell removed himself from her reluctantly.
The next morning, in a private ward. Sylvia, who had been sleeping all night, opened her eyes and found herself on a soft, feathery bed. Her head was still dizzy.
She looked at the ceiling above, then began turning around to get a sense of where she was. Soon enough, she identified the man sitting on a chair by the bed.
He was leaning against the back of the chair with his arms folded across his chest. He stared at her with a dark and sharp look in his eyes.
Sylvia’s first instinct was to quickly shut her eyes and pretend to be still asleep. Aplayful grin surfaced on Odell’s grim expression.
“Do you want to see the boy?” he asked.
His voice was filled with depth.
Sylvia was very tempted.
“Open your eyes if you want to see the boy.” Odell supplied.
Sylvia carefully opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at Odell to avoid upsetting him. “Where’s the boy?”
“Outside. Aunt Tonya, Isabel, and Liam are watching over him.”
Sylvia looked out toward the door.
The doors and windows were closed so she could not see anything.
She wanted to get up but her body was so immensely weak that she could barely sit up, let alone get out of bed.
She stared helplessly at Odell with a smile and asked politely,” Can you let them in?”
He did not answer and only regarded her with a sharp and indifferent look
Sylvia pursed her lips and muttered,”If you're not going to let them in, fine. But could you at least let Aunt Tonya in?”
She wanted to ask Aunt Tonya what she ended up telling Odell. Then she would get her to persuade Odell to let her see the boy. He sat motionless and announced,”She told me everything about what happened to you during your six months stay in Galston.”
Sylvia opened her eyes wide. “Did she tell you everything?”
Chapter 833
“Yes, everything there is to know,” Odell spoke with a tint of ice in his voice. Sylvia twitched her lips.
Odell refused to avert his intent gaze from her.
Astark silence descended upon the room.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he suddenly asked, breaking the silence.
Sylvia tried to avoid his gaze and wanted to play it off. “Tell you what?”
“That he forced you to go to Galston with him, that he was the reason you ended up with depression, and to tell me that the boy is my son!” He became more infuriated as he went on. He was practically shouting toward the end of his sentence.
Sylvia was not as frightened as she thought she would be.
Not only was she not afraid of his outburst, but she even found herself laughing uncontrollably like a mad woman. She mocked him, “You're already engaged. What's the point of telling you all this to begin with?”
She originally intended to tell him. On the plane back to Westchester City from Galston, she had already composed everything in her head.
She wanted to explain to him that she did not stab him so she could be with Thomas. She wanted to tell him everything that happened to her in Galston during the last six torturous months. She wanted to tell him that despite all odds, she managed to keep their child alive.
However, she received news that he was engaged as soon as she got off the plane.
The very moment she saw him embracing Lily after their engagement, she swallowed everything she wanted to say including the things she had composed inside her mind on the way back home.
“Odell, come down to it, we’re simply not meant to be.” Sylvia looked at him again. She seemed on the verge of tears but was smiling. “Thank you for coming here last night. I’ve never done anything with Thomas
and you can rest assured that the boy is yours. Since Isabel and Liam belong to you now, I'd like to keep the boy by my side. If it pleases you, I'll tell him that you're his father, but if you think that it would sour things between you and Lily, | will never tell him. You don’t have to tell Lily either. She doesn’t need to know that this boy even exists.”
She was still very weak and the exhaustion was showing in her voice.
Fortunately, the ward was quiet enough that Odell could still make out every word of what she was saying.
Something seemed to freeze inside his bottomless eyes.
He got up and sat beside her on the bed. He bent over and held her frail face in his large palms, bringing his face closer to hers. “You'd wish. | want both you and the boy,” he declared this with utter certainty. He had never been more confident than now. Sylvia’s eyes froze, and she felt something lurch inside her chest.
After several seconds, she shifted her eyes away from him and murmured,”I’m not going to be your mistress.”
Odell was quiet.
After debating over it for a while, he suddenly murmured,”Lily and | are only engaged because of circumstance.”
Sylvia turned to him with mild surprise.
“Huh?”
He looked at her agape eyes and explained, “We only got engaged to appease Master Springsteen. There was this misunderstanding some time ago that stirred up rumors that | was seeing her. Master Springsteen was so furious by those rumors that he ended up fainting.
It was quite an ordeal. In the end, she came to me and struck a deal to get engaged because she was worried about Master Springsteen's condition.”
Sylvia was still trying to make sense of the situation. “That means it’s not a real engagement after all?” “No, it’s more like a private collaboration more than anything.”
“Really?”
“Yes,”
She suddenly recalled her confrontation with Ramona and Madam Springsteen and asked suspiciously, “Then why did Ramona and Madam Springsteen come to me and warn me to stay away from you?”
Odell seemed alerted by this, evident by his sudden wrathful look. “They came to you?” At this point, Sylvia did not see a point in hiding things from him and owned up,“Yeah, they came to me.” “What did they tell you?”
She did not want to recall those hateful things they said to her and only stuck to the important details. “They told me to stay away from you and not ruin things between you and Lily.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t tell me that your engagement with Lily wasn’t real.” Sylvia scoffed grumpily. Odell narrowed the look in his eyes.
Sylvia quietly peered at him.
After a moment, he chuckled softly. “It’s my fault, | should’ve told you earlier.”
Sylvia’s eyes glowed up. She asked again in a slightly doubtful tone,“So, it was a fake engagement all along? There’s nothing going on between the two of you?”
Odell looked into her eyes. “Do you think I’d still be here if my feelings for her were true?”
Chapter 834
Sylvia made a look and smiled silently.
Odell watched her and could not suppress the urge to draw his face closer toward her and kiss her lips. After sharing a brief kiss, Sylvia drew her hand toward his neck and gently nudged him away.
Odell frowned and stared at her unhappily.
Sylvia suddenly brought up. “I just remembered something.”
“What is it?”
“If the engagement wasn’t real, why did you go on a date with her two days ago?”
“Who told you that | went on a date with her?” he expressed angrily.
Sylvia informed, “Isabel and Liam told me that you didn’t go home to see them on New Year's eve.”
Odell pinched her cheek and explained, slightly upset,”After you left that night, | went to Lush Heaven right away. | ended up drinking too much and fell asleep there.”
Something gleamed in her eyes. “Oh.” That was right. On the day of New Year’s eve, he came to visit her and ask her if she still loved him. Odell narrowed the look in his eyes and looked at her with a wicked expression. “Anything else?”
Sylvia pursed her lips and brought up. “Why did you hang up on me yesterday afternoon ? Was it because you were angry with me?”
Odell’s expression changed. “You called me yesterday afternoon?”
“| can’t remember when exactly because | was very dizzy at the time, but | remember very clearly that | called you at one point and you hung up on me the moment the call connected. | fainted after that.”
Odell took out his phone.
Noting this, Sylvia also went to get her phone underneath the pillow. She went to her call logs and found the record of her calling Odell. The information on the call log displayed that the call was not connected.
“Here, look.” She turned the screen to him.
Odell looked at the phone and immediately after that, his eyes darkened.
He proceeded to open the call log on his phone instead.
There was nothing indicating an incoming call from Sylvia from yesterday afternoon. During that general timeframe yesterday, he was still in Lush Heaven with Lily by his side. “What's wrong?” Sylvia asked carefully when she noticed the change in Odell’s demeanor. wicked expression. “Anything else?”
Sylvia pursed her lips and brought up. “Why did you hang up on me yesterday afternoon ? Was it because you were angry with me?”
Odell’s expression changed. “You called me yesterday afternoon?”
“| can’t remember when exactly because | was very dizzy at the time, but | remember very clearly that | called you at one point and you hung up on me the moment the call connected. | fainted after that.”
Odell took out his phone.
Noting this, Sylvia also went to get her phone underneath the pillow. She went to her call logs and found the record of her calling Odell. The information on the call log displayed that the call was not connected.
“Here, look.” She turned the screen to him.
Odell looked at the phone and immediately after that, his eyes darkened.
He proceeded to open the call log on his phone instead.
There was nothing indicating an incoming call from Sylvia from yesterday afternoon. During that general timeframe yesterday, he was still in Lush Heaven with Lily by his side. “What's wrong?” Sylvia asked carefully when she noticed the change in Odell’s demeanor. He answered solemnly, “She must’ve hung up on you.”
“She? Who's she?”
“Lily.”
Sylvia was floored by this.
Odell turned to her.,”| wasn’t awake when you called me. She was by my side.” ..
“Oh,” Sylvia only muttered weekly.
Sensing the change in her mood, he quickly clarified, “She came by after | fell asleep after getting drunk. | didn’t even know she was there and only saw her when | woke up.”
All of the misunderstandings between them stemmed from the fact that he never told her that his engagement with Lily was all a tuse this entire time. He decided that there would be no more secrets between them.
Sylvia's eyes gleamed.
“Oh.”
She seemed very satisfied to hear this.
Odell narrowed his eyes, then he lowered himself toward Sylvia and kissed her again. He pressed his weight on Sylvia, and she sank into the pillow.,
She did not have the strength to resist his passion. Her hands were bound by him so there was no room for resistance to begin with. She took it all.
Even after some time, he still refused to let go of her and only increased the intensity of his kiss. He kissed as if he was trying to vent his pent-up emotions.
Sylvia was quickly losing breath and grunted in a muffled voice. Odell finally let her ‘b
She quickly opened her mouth and gasped for air. That was when she noticed that Odell’s eyes were glowing red like he was holding back tears.
She asked with concern,“What's wrong?” “Why didn’t you come to see me?” “What?”
He held her face gently. “I've been waiting for you in the hospital for two days. Why didn’t you see me? Is it because you thought it was inappropriate just because I’m engaged to Lily?”
Sylvia realized what he was talking about. She met his gaze and confessed, “I went.”
Chapter 835 Odell seemed greatly affected by this. “When did you come ?”
“| went that morning immediately after Isabel called me to tell me that you got into a car accident. When | got there, | wasn’t expecting both Lily and Madam Springsteen to show up at the same time so | was afraid to head up there to see you because they were there as well. | hid somewhere and waited until they came out. That was when | heard them mention that you were fine, and | ended up leaving after that.” Sylvia relayed everything that happened during her visit to the hospital that day.
Odell frowned.
He remembered that Lily and Madam Springsteen had come rather early that day and had stayed with him nearly the entire noon before leaving.
It was only after Lily left that afternoon that he asked Cliff to send someone to spy on Sylvia, only to learn that she had been staying at home all day, doing nothing.
At the time, he thought that she could not be bothered to see him at all. Never in his wildest dreams would he expect that she had been at the hospital since that morning and had been waiting there for the better half of the day to learn how he was doing...
He felt a tightness in his chest and turned to meet her gaze.
Her complexion was still pale and frail, but her eyes glittered with energy. She did not try to avoid his gaze. After a moment of silence, he cupped up her face and kissed her again.
He was afraid to get too rough with her this time, but he could not deny his wants at the same time.
He clasped the back of her head and kissed her fervently for a moment before forcing himself to let go of her. He rubbed her face with his fingertips and whispered,”Don’t keep secrets from me from here on.”
“Okay.” Sylvia pursed her lips and whispered back, “You can’t keep secrets from me either.”
“I'll tell you everything you want to know from here on.”
He spoke gently and firmly.
Sylvia felt a great sense of relief. She felt something warm spreading inside her chest and smiled as she had never smiled before.
Odell smiled the same way and mentioned, “I'll bring them in.”
“Okay.”
He got up and went outside.
After a while, a stampede of footsteps tore through the silence of the room.
Isabel and Liam ran hand in hand.
Sylvia leaned back against the head of the bed and smiled at them.
The two of them hopped onto the bed and lay side by side, staring at her.
Aunt Tonya entered as well with the newborn baby in her arms.
“Sylvia, the boy just woke up, take a look,” Aunt Tonya said as she rested the child in front of her. Sylvia took the boy very carefully.
The boy did not cry or threw a tantrum as he looked at his mother with his pearly eyes.
He was like a giant marshmallow, very adorable.
Sylvia laughed heartily when she looked at her newborn son.
Both Liam and Isabel smiled cheerfully as well when they saw their mother’s joy.
“Mom, does my brother look like me?” Isabel asked with a grin, her eyes shaped into a crescent-moon smile. Sylvia turned to her and Liam. Then she smiled and said, “He looks a lot like you and your brother.” Isabel pouted. “But he looks more like me, doesn’t he?”
Sylvia looked at Liam, the boy was silently observing his newborn brother and did not seem at all bothered by this strange competition Isabel drew up. She smiled and said,”Yes, he looks a lot like you.”
“Hehe.”
Keep
your tablet safe Turn on Find My Mobile so you can locate and remotely control your tablet if... v
Odell’s tall figure leaned against the door frame by the entrance. He was taking in the dreamy view of the mother and her children, and the corners of his lips formed into a smile.
He had never smiled in such a soft and delicate way.
The warm atmosphere in the room seemed like it could last forever.
Until Isabel suddenly mentioned , “Mommy, he doesn’t have a name yet.”
Sylvia was taken aback.
It just occurred to her that she never thought about what to name the boy.
She turned to Odell.
Odell pursed his lips.
He only found out that the child was his last night and barely had time to think about a proper name.
He approached the chair beside the bed and sat down. He carried Isabel into his arms and asked her, “What do you think we should name your baby brother?”