CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: HE WAS PRETENDING BEFORE; THIS IS HIS TRUE FACE

Even though the Thornton Family’s wealth doesn’t compare with the Gallagher Family.

The Thornton Family has been dealing in antiques since the Ming and Qing dynasties, with an incredibly solid and abundant foundation. With a 70 billion asset, they rank ninth on the Audenburg wealthy list.

However, these assets are merely estimates made by outsiders; the Thornton Family’s real assets are much more than this. Moreover, the Thornton Family is the only true elite family that doesn’t go public, doesn’t seek financing, and doesn’t owe any debts.

They are far from comparable to those so-called billion-dollar fortunes that actually have more foreign debt.

But unfortunately...

The Thornton Family prospers in wealth but not in heirs, passing down only one child per generation. By Josephine’s generation, she is the only girl left.

"...Grandfather, Josephine will definitely be fine."

Master Thompson wore a gloomy expression, emanating authority, "You’d better pray she’s okay."

Master Thompson’s nickname in his younger days was Freak Thompson.

In both the world of antiques and the entire feng shui community, he is a highly respected figure. If the Thornton Family were to truly stand against the Gallagher Family, they wouldn’t necessarily lose out.

"Go kneel at the door of the operating room; as long as Josephine is not out of danger, you are not allowed to get up."

Nathaniel Gallagher swallowed a heavy sigh, hesitated for a few seconds.

A real man can bend and stretch.

Indeed, it’s his fault, and kneeling is not unjust.

He got up, walking to the door of the operating room with a dejected and guilty expression, kneeling down.

Of course, in all of Audenburg, only Master Thompson could make him kneel.

Master Thompson was also so angry that he clutched his chest, sinking into a chair.

The maid, Auntie Lena, quickly took out a few fast-acting heart-saving pills, "Master, don’t panic. Miss is blessed and will definitely be fine."

Master Thompson took the medicine, breathing deeply while closing his eyes to pray.

Nathaniel Gallagher knelt there, silently praying for Josephine Thompson’s turn to safety.

Vivian Shaw saw this and cautiously comforted him, "Nathaniel, don’t be so tense, sister-in-law... sister-in-law will definitely be fine."

After speaking, she gave a resentful glance at the operating room. Secretly cursing that Josephine Thompson wouldn’t make it, it would be best if she died.

...

Half an hour later.

The operation was still ongoing.

Mrs. Gallagher, having received the news, rushed hurriedly to the hospital.

"What on earth is going on? What trick did Josephine pull this time?"

Mrs. Dixon, accompanying Mrs. Gallagher all the way, kept fanning the flames, "Just now, Vivian called me, saying that Master Thompson ordered the young master to kneel for the young lady!"

"A man’s knees have gold; they only kneel to Heaven, Earth, and parents. How could there be a reason to kneel for a wife? Moreover, what kind of person is our young master? How dare he makes the young master kneel? Relying on his old age, he doesn’t see who he’s bullying?"

"Not even a murderer deserves beheading, old people like these using age as an advantage, daring to insult and abuse people."

Mrs. Gallagher was already furious, and hearing Mrs. Dixon’s instigation, she was even more boiling with anger, "This is simply bullying too far."

Soon.

Mrs. Gallagher aggressively arrived at the door of the operating room and indeed saw her son kneeling there.

"Nathaniel, what are you doing? Get up quickly!"

Nathaniel Gallagher wore a dejected face, his knees almost numb from kneeling, "Mom, leave it alone, please go back first!"

Mrs. Gallagher frowned, then angrily walked to Master Thompson, "Master Thompson, isn’t it too much to have Nathaniel kneel?"

Master Thompson slowly opened his eyes, his murky gaze swept like a hawk towards Mrs. Gallagher, "Too much? If it weren’t for your son, would my granddaughter be lying in there? The Gallagher Family is impressive, but don’t think of bullying in front of my Thornton Family."

"Huh, what wrong did my son commit? To suffer such humiliating punishment?" Mrs. Gallagher crossed her arms, her tone sharp.

Master Thompson wore a gloomy face, too angry to respond to her.

Nathaniel Gallagher furrowed his brows tightly, irritably said: "Mom, I want to kneel here myself, leave it alone."

Hearing this, Mrs. Gallagher was even more infuriated, "Nathaniel, get up immediately, what would it look like if others saw this?"

"Exactly, young master, our Gallagher Family is respectable. If this gets out, it will disgrace our Gallagher Family."

Nathaniel Gallagher became increasingly agitated, "Stop it, can you all be quiet for a moment and stop bothering me?"

Mrs. Gallagher and Mrs. Dixon were stunned, not daring to persuade further.

Though usually very filial, when he loses his temper, no one can help but be scared.

Then, after more tormenting minutes of kneeling.

"Ding--"

The light in the operating room finally went off.

The door of the operating room opened, and two nurses and two doctors walked out with solemn expressions.

Seeing this, Nathaniel Gallagher staggered to his feet to inquire.

Standing too quickly, his knees went numb, almost causing him to fall.

"Doctor, how is my wife?"

Master Thompson also stood in anxiety, "Is Josephine okay?"

The doctor removed his mask, gravely said, "The surgery was relatively successful, Mrs. Gallagher has been rescued."

Hearing this, Nathaniel finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, doctor, as long as my wife is safe."

"However, Mrs. Gallagher’s uterine cavity is severely damaged and needs proper rest. For at least three years, she cannot conceive."

Nathaniel felt a pang of heartache, saying, "...That’s fine, as long as my wife is fine."

Hearing this, Master Thompson finally relaxed. As long as his granddaughter was safe, whether to have children in the coming years didn’t matter.

After all, they already have a great-grandson.

"Can we go in to see her?"

"Mrs. Gallagher needs to be observed in the ICU for two more days."

Mrs. Gallagher still fumed, "I wonder how Josephine could be so careless? Not even knowing she was pregnant."

Master Thompson remained silent, just casting a piercing glance at her.

He’s been dealing with antiques his whole life, never making a wrong judgment.

Except for once, misjudging Mrs. Gallagher.

Back then, when they pleaded for his granddaughter’s hand, they showed such sincerity, making grand promises.

The old master thought she would be a kind and reasonable mother-in-law.

But now, it appears...

Forget it, the old master didn’t want to say more.

After all, he had his granddaughter’s fate foretold, she would eat from two households, an inevitable marriage ordeal.

Now that one ordeal is fulfilled, once she recovers, getting a divorce decisively would be enough.

"I was thinking of having you prepare for a second child this year, to have a baby sooner. But now, it’s impossible for three years. What’s more regrettable, this hard-to-come natural pregnancy just got carelessly miscarried."

Mrs. Dixon echoed, "Isn’t it so? What woman doesn’t know she’s pregnant?"

Nathaniel completely lost his temper, coldly said: "Mom, Mrs. Dixon, stop creating trouble, we should be thankful Josephine pulled through."

"I will stay here to watch over Josephine; you all can go back!"

Vivian Shaw: "Nathaniel, godmother just cares for you and sister-in-law."

"Everyone should leave, don’t bother me anymore!"

"Alright, we’ll leave first, notify us if there’s any news."

Nathaniel then turned to Master Thompson, "Grandfather, I’ll stay here with Josephine; you should go back and rest!"

"No, I can’t let it go, I want to personally watch over Josephine."

"...Alright then! I’ll have a nurse arrange a VIP ward for you, so you can go there and rest. If there’s any situation with Josephine, I’ll inform you immediately."

Master Thompson listened, said nothing further, and nodded with a grim expression.

...

The next day.

Josephine Thompson had been in a coma for a day and only finally woke up the next day.

She groggily opened her eyes to the harsh glare of fluorescent lights and the various medical instruments attached to her.

"...Where am I?"

Seeing her awake, the nurse hurriedly went over to check, "Mrs. Gallagher, you’re awake?"

Then, she swiftly changed a few bottles of IV fluids for her.

Another young nurse quickly went out to inform the doctor, "Mrs. Gallagher is finally awake; I’ll go notify the doctor and President Gallagher."

"What’s happened to me?" Josephine Thompson felt utterly drained and in pain.

"Mrs. Gallagher, you had a miscarriage which led to heavy bleeding. The doctor performed surgery on you. For now, just focus on resting and recovering."

Upon hearing this, a deafening roar echoed in Josephine’s ears, "...What did you say? Miscarriage?"

"Yes, you had a miscarriage. You need to take good care of yourself now."

Bang!

Josephine was dumbfounded, trembling uncontrollably, as if she were in an ice cave.

She incredulously touched her abdomen.

How could she have gotten pregnant?

Nathaniel Gallagher clearly said he had low sperm count, and there was no way for her to conceive naturally.

After they got married, they could only resort to IVF to have a child.

She had endured countless ovulation induction shots, suffered so much.

After the embryo was implanted in her.

Due to her body’s rejection, she had been getting nine progesterone shots daily from the second month of pregnancy. To protect the baby, she’d been bedridden for half a year, afraid to even get up.

But now...

His body was perfectly fine.

Why did he deceive her?

"Clack!" The door to the ward was pushed open.

The doctor and nurse walked in.

Nathaniel Gallagher followed behind.

"Doctor, President Gallagher, Mrs. Gallagher is awake."

The doctor walked up with a solemn face and conducted an examination.

Nathaniel let out a sigh of relief, a hint of guilt in his eyes, "Josephine, you’re finally awake?"

Josephine’s gaze was sharp like a knife, wishing to pierce his heart, "Nathaniel Gallagher, I beg you to tell me the truth, why did you lie to me?"

She didn’t have the energy to scream, but her voice, hoarse to the extreme, was as piercing as a knife tearing through cloth.

"..." Nathaniel was taken aback, his pupils flashing subconsciously.

Josephine pushed the doctor aside, struggling to sit up, "Your body clearly has no issues, why did you deceive me into doing IVF?"

"You’re clearly blood type O; why did you lie to me that you were blood type A? Is Henny truly my child? What exactly are you hiding?"

Nathaniel’s pupils flashed inadvertently, and his exceptionally handsome face showed an indescribable complexity.

"Honey, you just had surgery, you’re still very weak now. Once you recover, I’ll slowly explain it to you..."

Josephine’s eyes were bloodshot, she pulled off the IV from her hand and hurled it at him, completely losing control, "I want to hear the truth right now, why did you lie to me? Why?"

The doctor was terrified, rushed forward to restrain her, "Mrs. Gallagher, please don’t get agitated!"

"You’re at risk of tearing your wound, which could lead to another hemorrhage."

Josephine completely broke down, screaming uncontrollably for the first time, "Nathaniel Gallagher, I want to hear your explanation today."

Only now!

She finally realized Nathaniel Gallagher wasn’t the gentlemanly, considerate husband she thought he was.

The elegant, amiable, humorous man from before, was just a facade he put up.

And the real him was cruel, deceitful, impatient, fickle.

"I... I didn’t lie to you! I did have low sperm count before, but I was undergoing treatment, and it... it might have improved." He lied instinctively again.

"You’re still lying to me, why? Why? I just don’t understand, why are you lying to me?" Josephine trembled with agitation, tears uncontrollably streaming down.

She believed herself to be a qualified wife.

Loyal to their marriage, accommodating and forgiving to him, giving all her maternal love to their son.

She just couldn’t understand, why did he treat her this way?

"Mrs. Gallagher, your hand is bleeding, you can’t get so agitated."

"Nurse, quickly get a sedative, give Mrs. Gallagher an injection."

"Alright, alright."

Blinded by rage, Josephine struggled to get out of bed, "Don’t touch me, all of you go away."

Nathaniel too panicked, rushing over to restrain her, "Josephine, you’re emotionally unstable right now. Once you feel better, I’ll slowly explain everything to you."

Soon.

The nurse brought over a sedative.

The doctor clumsily administered an injection.

With the injection of the drug.

In just a few seconds, she fell into a coma again.

"President Gallagher, please step out for now, Mrs. Gallagher’s wound has torn and needs to be sutured again."

Nathaniel gasped, being forcibly pushed out of the ward by the nurse.

Outside the ward.

Nathaniel looked distressed and dejected, supporting his body with one hand on his forehead and the other against the wall.

Why did he lie to her?

He didn’t know either; he could only say he was impulsive at the time.

The Gallagher Family had made their fortune in the gambling industry.

Though gambling was legal in Audenburg, it was also the most lucrative industry. But there were many wolves, few prey, survival of the fittest. At the same time, it was the riskiest industry.

He had been mingling in the social circles with his father since he was fifteen or sixteen, witnessing the treachery of the world and the unpredictability of human nature.

By twenty, he was already handling things on his own, capable of supporting the Gallagher family’s business. He also had to face threats from all sides and various dangers, which made him trust no one at all.

At twenty-seven, when his father fell gravely ill, the Gallagher business suffered a severe blow. He urgently needed to find a wife from a wealthy family who could support him.

That’s when Josephine Thompson appeared.

He hadn’t thought of actually getting married at the time; it was just for a business alliance to help the Gallagher business through the crisis. It was also to let his father see him marry and settle down before dying.

His initial thought was to marry, live together for three or five years, then find a reason to divorce. But surprisingly, Josephine Thompson was indeed very good, a very accomplished wife!

Now he didn’t want a divorce anymore.

"Clack!" The ward door was pushed open.

The nurse hurriedly came out.

Seeing this, Nathaniel rushed forward to inquire, "Nurse, how is my wife?"