CHAPTER 33: CHAPTER 33: INVESTIGATION

Declan Hawthorne dialed the number.

It rang a few times before the person on the other end answered.

After he explained his intention, the person hesitated, "I’m afraid it won’t be that easy to find out."

Overseas hospitals have always been good at maintaining confidentiality. Even with extra money, it’s hard to access client information.

Especially since Declan Hawthorne was inquiring about a mother he had no social ties with.

If the person on the line didn’t know Declan well and his character, they might have thought he was investigating his own illegitimate daughter.

Absolutely not possible.

If a woman had given birth to Declan Hawthorne’s child, she would have come running to claim it already.

After all, it’s the Hawthorne Family.

Upon being told this, Declan Hawthorne felt the same way.

But he still wanted to investigate.

He preferred seeing direct and accurate data to curb his current irrationality.

Heather Underwood knocked on the door.

She brought in a fruit platter and placed it by Declan’s side.

"I have a colleague, a nice young woman, quite a match for you. Do you want to meet her?"

It was obvious she was on a mission given by Mrs. Hawthorne.

Heather and Declan grew up together and were closer compared to other Hawthorne family members.

Mrs. Hawthorne was anxious, even more so after seeing Iris Quill.

Not daring to urge him directly, she asked Heather, who had a good relationship with Declan, to talk to him.

Declan took a bite of the apple, "No."

"You won’t even meet her?"

"No. I’m busy with work."

Heather sighed, "No matter how busy work is, you need to settle down. Aunt won’t be at ease until you marry and have children."

"Marrying and having kids don’t necessarily put her at ease either."

Speaking bluntly, Declan hit the nail on the head with each sentence, "Have you settled your mother’s worries by marrying and having kids?"

Declan’s aunt, Ms. Valerie Barrett, is Heather’s mother.

Since Heather got married, she often endured grievances.

Ms. Valerie Barrett once flew all the way from The Western Expanse, wielded a machete, smashed the Quill Family’s door, and cursed at Heather’s mother-in-law for two days straight before Heather’s situation improved a bit.

But since then, her husband started staying out more often.

Living alone outside.

He doesn’t care about the child, sends money monthly, and although he meets Heather often, their relationship doesn’t resemble what a couple’s life should be about.

Declan Hawthorne pondered and asked, "Does your husband have someone else outside?"

Heather’s smile was slightly strained.

She ate a piece of watermelon to ease the embarrassment, "No such thing."

Looking at her expression, it seemed unusual if there wasn’t someone else, and Heather seemed to be aware of it.

Heather, enduring her husband’s infidelity silently.

"Why?"

He wasn’t one to meddle.

Rarely would he discuss emotional matters with Heather, but knowing he cared, Heather felt somewhat grateful and gave a bitter smile.

"Sigh... it’s all for the child. I don’t want Iris to be a kid from a single-parent household."

She herself came from a single-parent family.

Though Ms. Valerie Barrett, known as a strong and brave woman, made her feel secure and loved.

But the absence of a father still cast an indelible shadow over a child’s childhood.

Heather looked down, "Let’s wait, until Iris gets a bit older. If Iris turns out to be a resilient child, I might consider divorce, but he really likes his dad."

"I can’t let Iris grow up like I did. Even though his father’s overstepping doesn’t cross to me, I choose to endure."

Declan Hawthorne’s throat tightened.

He glanced at Heather.

"And yet, you still urge me to marry?"

Indeed, there was no persuading him.

For a marriage to persist, it often requires one party to be exceptionally tolerant.

Heather served the fruit platter and before leaving, she heard Declan say, "I remember, you weren’t like this before."

Heather stiffened but smiled.

"People change. Once a woman becomes a mother, she gets trapped."

-

The night fell over the sky.

Poppy Hale, holding a tablet, watched her daughter’s IV drip while sketching her designs. The deadline for the designs was nearing, and she needed to finalize the draft with the client in the next few days.

A child’s sharp cries interrupted Poppy’s train of thought.

She looked up.

Iris Quill, carried by Declan Hawthorne, strode in, closely followed by the hurried Heather Underwood.

It seemed she hurriedly ate snacks and had her throat blocked by a walnut shell, leading to her vomiting several mouthfuls of blood.

Iris Quill was only two, nearly the same age as her daughter.

For kids that age, choking on food can be life-threatening.

Poppy understood.

Florence Lynch, awakened by the commotion, rubbed her eyes, "Mom, what’s happening?"

"It’s nothing, just a chubby kid with something stuck in their throat."

Soon, people arrived at the end of the neighboring bed.

Iris Quill inhaled anesthetic, a half-centimeter walnut shell was extracted, and she cried loudly and intensely.

Even after many attempts, Heather couldn’t console her.

Florence looked over, her little face serious, "Iris Quill, stop crying."

The previously intense crying was so loud it could be heard across several rooms, but after Florence spoke, Iris Quill seemed like a switched-off device.

The crying ceased abruptly.

Even Heather felt amazed.

She didn’t recognize the mother and daughter as the ones she met last time in the emergency room, even clashing with her mother-in-law there.

"Are you a classmate of Iris?"

Florence nodded.

The small child articulated clearly, "Hello Auntie, I’m Florence Lynch, Iris Quill often bullies me in kindergarten and teases me about having no father, but I do have one."

"Even though he tore my clothes and threw away my medicine, her uncle compensated for it all."

"Recently, he hasn’t bullied me, but last Friday he ate my afternoon tea."

The kindergarten that Florence and Iris attended was quite expensive, with a monthly tuition fee of ten thousand.

Poppy Hale’s initial reason for choosing the school was its good food, with afternoon snacks including fruits and milk to ensure her daughter’s nutritional intake.

It was only now that Poppy learned how severe Iris’s bullying of her daughter had been.

She felt like a negligent mother.

Florence turned to look at Poppy, like a little adult, "Hello, Mom. I intentionally didn’t tell you. You’re the best mom in the world."

Poppy felt a pang of heartache.

Florence was only a little over two years old.

How did she understand so much?

Poppy’s mother, Mrs. Hale, usually wouldn’t say such things, so it must have been Florence observing and already starting to empathize with her.

Poppy’s eyes turned red, "Why didn’t you tell Mom?"

"Mom, you’re busy and tired. These things I can endure, no need to bother you."

Poppy turned her head aside.

She held back the acidity and bitterness welling in her eyes.

Declan Hawthorne stood on the other side of the ward.

Just in time to see her with reddened eyes, tears dripping from their corners, quickly wiped away by her.

Heather was also shocked.

Embarrassment and anger mingled within her.

Now realizing that Iris had embellished her reports back home.

After scolding Iris, Heather’s face flushed with shame.

"How could you snatch someone’s food?"

Iris shrank her neck.

Only to hear Florence say, "Auntie, it’s not his fault, it’s because he said his grandma doesn’t feed him well, he’s often hungry."

"I’m well-fed at home, my grandma makes me lots of delicious food, so I could let him have my snack once."