CHAPTER 74: CHAPTER 74: WE BATHE TOGETHER

My mind buzzed, and instinctively, a slap landed on his face.

Timothy Xavier was stunned. After all, this slap was truly baffling to him.

But I really couldn’t control my emotions.

How could he give away my child and still want to have another one with me?

Timothy, enraged by the slap, suddenly grabbed my wrist, his tall figure closing in on me, and said, "Who gave you the guts to lay hands on me!"

"That’s because you disgusted me!"

I almost bit down on my words, saying each one forcefully: "Have you forgotten? We’re about to get a divorce. I’ll give birth to anyone’s child but yours!"

"Is that so? Want to have a child with Ethan Xavier?"

He sneered coldly, and the next second, he kissed my neck with a nibble.

I struggled while lowering my voice, "Bastard! Are you crazy? Doris is outside!"

Just then, Doris knocked on the door, her childish voice following, "Daddy, Auntie Ellison is in the shower, what are you doing inside?"

Every nerve in my body was on edge.

Timothy paused, his Adam’s apple rolling silently twice, and slowly let me go.

I staggered to the side, putting some distance between us.

The knocking outside continued persistent, wrapped in a child’s unique clarity: "Daddy, the teacher said boys shouldn’t peek when girls are showering!"

"Daddy’s talking to Auntie, I’ll be right out."

Timothy’s face returned to its usual coldness as he turned and opened the door.

Doris tilted her small face, peeking over, her little brows furrowed: "Eh? Auntie’s not in the shower!"

He squatted down, speaking gently, "Of course, Auntie isn’t in the shower, otherwise, wouldn’t Daddy be a big bad guy? The teacher is right, boys shouldn’t be near when girls are showering. So Doris, when you shower in the future, no boys can come close, okay?"

In front of his daughter, he navigated effortlessly, lying without blinking an eye.

Doris nodded emphatically, emphasizing like a little adult, "I know! Daddy says it all the time; nobody should see or touch what’s between a girl’s neck and knees!"

"Really smart."

Timothy ruffled his daughter’s hair, "Alright, Daddy will take you out so Auntie can shower in peace."

In a few words, he successfully changed the topic, actually making Doris forget to question further.

While I, against the door, felt all my energy drained, inside, I couldn’t find peace for a long time.

...

I woke up just as dawn broke the next day.

After all, it was my first time attending my daughter’s parent-child activity, so it was hard not to care.

Doris specifically asked me to braid that style from last time, spinning in front of the mirror with a bit of longing in her little voice, "So pretty... If only mom knew how to braid too."

I followed up with her words, "Doesn’t mom usually braid your hair?"

"The maid does it every day," Doris lowered her gaze, her voice softer, "Mom’s too busy with work to do these things."

Looking at her fluffy head, my throat tightened.

How I wanted to tell her that I am her mom. I could braid her different styles every day and do anything she wanted.

All my impulses turned into a gentle promise, "If Doris wants a pretty braid in the future, come find me anytime, okay?"

"Okay!"

The little girl agreed while carefully packing the cookies we baked last night into a box, pulling my hand, "Let’s go, let’s go! I told everyone in the class group yesterday, they’re all waiting!"

I agreed with a smile, taking her soft little hand.

As we were about to leave, Doris waved to Timothy, "Goodbye, Daddy!"

He stood where he was, his dark eyes complicated and hard to read, merely responding lightly.

On the way, my heart was filled with anticipation. Doris, humming a nursery rhyme in the passenger seat, swayed her little feet happily.

But just as we arrived at the kindergarten entrance, a red Ferrari suddenly cut diagonally in front of my car.

Doris’s eyes lit up, "That’s mommy’s car!"

A sense of foreboding immediately gripped my heart as I got out of the car, holding Doris’s hand.

Serena Sawyer, in black sunglasses and a mask, her face fully covered, also got out of the car.

Seeing her, Doris immediately let go of my hand and ran over, sweetly calling, "Mommy! Why are you here? Didn’t you say work was busy?"

Serena squatted down to hug her daughter, her voice sickeningly tender, "No matter how busy, I have to be with my baby."

Doris tilted her head and asked, "Mom, are you joining my parent-child sports event? But you said you’re a big star and can’t show up?"

She smiled, a finger brushing her daughter’s little nose, "Mommy really can’t appear, but today we’re not going to the sports event. Mommy is taking you to the amusement park to play all day, okay?"

Doris’s eyes instantly sparkled like stars, "Really? I haven’t been to the amusement park in forever!"

Saying this, she suddenly remembered something and looked at me, then the cookie box in her hand, whispering, "But... I promised my friends last night to share the cookies I made with them."

Serena paused for a moment, then gently said, "Alright, Mommy will give the cookies to the teacher to share with everyone. You go wait in the car for Mommy, and I’ll have a word with Auntie Ellison."

Doris nodded obediently, "Then Mommy must tell them the cookies are made by me, so they will admire me!"

"Rest assured, Mommy will remember."

I stood aside, taking in her deliberate performance.

Even now, I still couldn’t fathom—does Serena know that Doris is my daughter?

As soon as Doris got into the car, the gentleness on Serena’s face disappeared instantly.

She raised her hand and threw the cookies we worked hard on last night into the trash bin nearby.

"Can’t have a child of your own, so you try to win over my daughter with some trashy cookies?"

Her tone was full of disdain, "Miss Ellison, Timothy despises you right now, and you want to use Doris?"

I couldn’t be bothered to bicker with her, directly hitting where it hurts: "Right back at you. Aren’t you using Doris to stay by Timothy’s side? After all, Timothy has neither me nor you in his heart. No one should know better than you that the one he cares about is Naomi Sawyer."

Serena’s tone turned vicious, gritting her teeth, "No matter what, Doris is my daughter! She calls me mom!"

"Are you sure?"

I squinted my eyes, not hiding my ridicule: "Don’t you know if you gave birth or not?"

Her face changed dramatically, angrily questioning, "What exactly do you want to say?"

I didn’t speak further, just stared at her intently, as if trying to see through her facade to the filth within.

Serena was watched by me until she got goosebumps, leaving a hateful remark, "I advise you to stay away from Doris! Otherwise, Timothy will never let you go!"

After saying that, she almost fled as she opened the car door and got in.

I took a deep breath, dug my nails into my palms.

They robbed me of my daughter, and now they want me, her biological mom, to stay away?

Why should I!

I returned to my car, calming my emotions for a long time.

On the way back, I called Nanny Lowell and asked her to bring over some more baking cookie ingredients.

Because I didn’t want Doris to be disappointed.

When she was so delighted, thinking her classmates would taste her creations, how heartbroken would she be to find the cookies vanished?

Back in the ward, I didn’t say a word to Timothy but focused on making cookies with the ingredients from Nanny Lowell.

Timothy put down his documents and walked behind me, frowning, "Didn’t you make a lot last night? Why are you making more?"

I thought he would ask me, didn’t you go to the parent-child sports day with Doris?

But at this point, he wasn’t surprised at all that I was back.

I turned to look at him, "Was it you who sent Serena to the kindergarten?"

Timothy’s expression, cold and composed, seemed perfectly reasonable: "Yes, I asked her to accompany Doris more."

I couldn’t help but tighten my grip on the bowl in my hand and continued to ask, "So she threw away my cookies, was that your intention too?"

Timothy paused slightly and said, "I didn’t ask her to do that."

I said coldly, "But she threw all the cookies Doris had eagerly anticipated into the trash. Timothy, do you truly believe Serena raising Doris is without issue?"

Timothy’s eyes darkened, looking at me suspiciously: "Did you say something to make others uncomfortable again? Serena is usually quite generous; she wouldn’t do such a thing unless provoked. You should know, even a rabbit will bite when pushed to the brink."

I muttered helplessly and powerlessly, "Right, a rabbit will bite when cornered."

But is Serena a rabbit?

No, she’s a venomous snake spewing poison!

Timothy saw me keep busy with the cookies, almost suggesting I was bringing this upon myself!

By midday, I finally finished baking the cookies, packed them into sealed bags, and delivered them to the kindergarten.

Jenna happened to be there today.

I asked her to help deliver the cookies to the teacher and instructed, "Make sure Doris’s classmates know she made them herself."

Jenna looked at me sympathetically, "Zoe, I hope one day this child understands your efforts."

"She doesn’t need to understand. A mother does whatever she must for her child."

I felt incredibly happy doing these things.

Ten minutes later, Jenna returned to the office, smiling, "All done as you instructed, your Doris had quite a moment this time."

She sighed, "Don’t be fooled by how Timothy spoils the child; she doesn’t really have friends at the kindergarten. Moreover, with each parent-child event only her dad attending, other children often say she’s a motherless child. She doesn’t get recognition at the kindergarten, which makes her desperate to prove herself."

I was stunned, filled with pain, "These things... why hadn’t you mentioned any of this before?"

Jenna sighed, "I always thought she was Timothy’s child with some other woman. Plus, the kid used to bully you along with Serena, so I felt she deserved it. But thinking back, what malice can children have? It’s all taught by adults."

At that moment, my phone vibrated in my bag.

As soon as I held the receiver to my ear, Timothy’s cold voice pierced through, "Zoe Ellison, where are you?"

"Didn’t I mention? Delivering cookies to the kids at the kindergarten." I said.

"Come back right now!" His tone was icy and added, "Or else, bear the consequences.

The call abruptly ended, and my heart became heavy, suspecting he intended to renegotiate, not planning to spare Ethan.

I quickly bid farewell to Jenna and headed towards the hospital.

Back in the ward, Serena, who was supposed to be with Doris at the playground, had returned.

Except the little girl stayed beside Serena, her head hanging low, sneaking glances at me, timidly.

My heart tightened, "What happened?"

Timothy sat on the sofa, his face as hard as a sculpture, "That’s a question I should be asking you. Doris, what happened at the kindergarten yesterday, tell me!"

My heart skipped a beat; looking at Doris’s guilty eyes, I knew Serena had gotten the story about the pineapple allergy out of her easily.

Timothy’s voice was like an ice pick piercing my heart, sinister: "No wonder you’ve been acting strange lately, showering Doris with attention, teaching her to bake cookies. Turns out, you had a bigger plot!"

"Plot? What kind of..."

I swallowed my words, fingers digging into my palm, "What kind of plot could I have against Doris?"

Just then, Serena suddenly shed tears, placing her hand on Doris’s forehead in an intimate, glaring gesture.

"Miss Ellison, Doris has a severe pineapple allergy, last time she barely survived! She’s still just a child, how could you... how could you..."

Timothy’s gaze turned stormy, his tone intensified, "Speak! What are you and Jenna Sutton plotting?"

I looked into his furious eyes, feeling an urge to laugh.

If he knew, that I too was allergic to pineapple, would he still be so righteous?

I only discovered my own pineapple allergy a year ago, but by then he scarcely cared about me, and opportunities to communicate with him were rare.

Thus he remains unaware even to this day.

"Jenna Sutton genuinely didn’t know the snacks contained pineapple powder."

I took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent emotions and explained, "The kindergarten menu didn’t list it, confirmation only came after allergy tests. I hid it from you to avoid the same misunderstanding you’re having now!"

Timothy’s fierce expression didn’t soften, "I’m suing St. Jude’s Kindergarten. The Sutton Family’s kindergarten won’t survive in Veridia!"

"Timothy, you can’t do that!"

I hurriedly pleaded, "Jenna genuinely didn’t know, she..."

Timothy coldly interrupted, "I’ve said before, whoever targets my daughter, I won’t let them off! You should be grateful I haven’t found direct evidence of you harming Doris. Otherwise, do you think you’d still be standing here talking to me?"

At that moment, Serena cried more intensely, "Timothy, I’m so scared... Doris is too risky at the Sutton Family’s kindergarten, can we transfer her? If she gets fatally hurt, we’d regret it when it’s too late!"

I abruptly looked up, blood rushing to my head.

Doris is only at The Sutton Family’s kindergarten where I can stay close to her and visit her often.

Yet Serena wants to take even that right away from me!

Could it be she already knows I discovered Doris is my daughter?

And Timothy gently patted Serena’s back, comforting, "Alright, we’ll transfer Doris tomorrow."

He didn’t even spare me a glance, as though I was a mere stranger of no importance.

Regarding everything about Doris, he and Serena have the authority to decide, but I, the biological mother, have no right to intervene in my daughter’s matters!

My heart felt like it was being crushed by a boulder.

But I know, without evidence now, even if I try to stop them, they won’t listen.

They might even get alarmed and hide Doris further away.

However, once the paternity test results are out, I would reclaim my daughter’s custody!

At that moment, my phone rang, displaying a short number on the screen.

I immediately took my phone outside, and the voice on the other end said, "Is this Miss Zoe Ellison? I’m from Veridia Central Hospital’s paternity test center."

I couldn’t help but grip the phone tighter, lowering my voice, "Is the result ready?"