CHAPTER 170: CHAPTER 170: JOY’S SUDDEN ILLNESS

Tanya Sinclair then opened her computer, planning to take a look at some core materials from the Veridia Project sent by Professor Carter, laying the groundwork to quickly start her job in the future.

The phone on her side lit up.

Tanya Sinclair picked it up and glanced at it; it was a message from Julian Poole.

Julian Poole: [Are you home?]

Now, she had already guessed that Julian Poole might have some feelings for her. If she continued to play dumb and just treated him as a nice person, it would be a bit pretentious.

But since Julian didn’t explicitly say anything, she couldn’t directly ask.

Right now, Tanya Sinclair wasn’t in the mood for any romantic affairs.

She simply replied: [Yes.]

The other party was typing, but after a while, it seemed like he typed something and then deleted it, finally sending: [Then rest early, sweet dreams.]

Tanya Sinclair: [Okay.]

On the other side, Julian Poole, waiting nervously for a reply, saw the simple word "Okay" and gave a helpless, bitter smile.

She used to reply with "Good night."

Now, she probably guessed his feelings and started to keep her distance.

Tanya Sinclair tried to read the materials for a while, but her reading speed was much slower than usual, unable to calm her mind.

In her head, the red exclamation mark next to Joy’s name kept lingering.

Tanya Sinclair felt a heavy weight on her heart.

In her daughter’s heart, she probably could never compare to even a tenth of Cindy Lynn...

It was already pointing to eleven o’clock at night.

Tanya Sinclair was about to take a shower and go to bed when, at this moment, she received a call from Caden.

Tanya Sinclair answered immediately, her tone gentle: "Caden, what’s wrong?"

Usually calm Caden, this time, had an unusually flustered and helpless tone: "It’s Joy. She seems very uncomfortable, keeps having nightmares, shouting ’Mom, save me,’ and saying ’Don’t abandon me.’ I woke her up, and she started vomiting..."

Tanya Sinclair’s heart tightened.

These symptoms suggested extreme fright, resulting in a confused mind and unclear consciousness. The body would exhibit synchronized reactions, with vomiting being one of them!

Tanya Sinclair comforted her son first: "Caden, where’s Dad? Is there any adult at home?"

"After dinner, the driver brought us back. Dad went somewhere else with Aunt Cindy and hasn’t come back. I called Dad, but he didn’t answer. Aunt Tawny is at home; she’s already informed Dr. Sullivan to come over."

Tanya Sinclair shook with anger.

Vincent Hawthorne, that bastard, couldn’t even answer his child’s call for the sake of a date with Cindy Lynn!!

It would take her nearly two hours to rush back to the villa, and if Joy was unwilling to see her, going might just add fuel to the fire.

Tanya Sinclair forced herself to calm down and comforted her son: "Caden, don’t worry, your sister will be fine, Dr. Sullivan will be there soon. Hand the phone to your sister and see if she wants to talk to Mom."

"Okay..."

Caden complied, handing the phone to Joy, "Joy, it’s Mom’s call..."

But as soon as Joy heard the word ’Mom,’ she cried out again, "No, don’t answer the call! I don’t want to... I’m not a bad kid!"

Listening to her daughter’s crying and resistance towards her, Tanya Sinclair’s heart nearly shattered.

She struggled to maintain her composure and spoke with a tremor: "It’s okay Joy, if you don’t want to talk to Mom, that’s fine. I’ll hang up now. Sweetheart, be good, Dr. Sullivan will be there soon."

After hanging up, Tanya Sinclair gradually calmed down.

Initially, what Joy said was not to not answer, but "can’t answer"... Could it be someone forbid her from answering?

Tanya Sinclair frowned deeply; clearly, everything was fine between her and Joy at noon today, and this change happened after Joy had dinner with Cindy Lynn!

Could it be that Cindy Lynn threatened her daughter?!

The mere thought of this possibility made Tanya Sinclair’s blood boil with anger!

At this moment, ensuring Joy’s physical well-being was most important. She called Ian Sullivan, and as soon as he picked up, Tanya couldn’t wait for him to speak before urgently saying, "Dr. Sullivan, please keep me updated on Joy’s condition as soon as possible."

"Okay, I’ll be there in five minutes. Ms. Sinclair, don’t worry too much."

How could she not worry?

That was her biological daughter!

Tanya Sinclair bit her finger and paced back and forth in her room, waiting for Ian Sullivan’s update.

Daisy Bell finished her work call, walked in, and seeing Tanya Sinclair in this state, asked about Joy’s illness and that Vincent Hawthorne, that scumbag, was on a date with Cindy Lynn and didn’t even answer his child’s calls!

"Damn, how can there be such a beast? And he still dares to fight for custody with you?!" Daisy Bell cursed angrily.

This reminded Tanya Sinclair to send this incident to Zane Shaw, and Ian Sullivan could serve as a witness at the time.

Soon, Ian Sullivan called back.

"Ms. Sinclair, rest assured, Joy is physically okay. She just ate too much for dinner, and may have watched some horror film or something, got a bit scared, and was overly anxious before sleeping.

Although Joy appears chubby, she’s physically weak, so she couldn’t handle it and reacted so strongly."

Ian Sullivan then carefully explained Joy’s pulse and symptoms to Tanya Sinclair.

On the spot, Tanya Sinclair prescribed a calming and blood-enriching concoction for her daughter, adding two sweet herbs to make it easier for Joy to drink.

"Dr. Sullivan, please prepare the medicine according to the prescription, send it to the villa, and hand it to Aunt Tawny. Have her prepare it for Joy, giving her a small bowl every morning and before bed for five days."

"Alright. Ms. Sinclair, please don’t worry too much." Ian Sullivan reassured.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"It’s part of my job. I’ll arrange for someone to get the medicine ready." After hanging up the phone, Ian Sullivan walked out, calling a colleague on duty at the pharmacy to prepare the medicine.

Just as he reached the doorway, the door swung open.

Vincent Hawthorne had returned, the night breeze following him in through the open door, bringing with it the scent of a woman’s perfume on him.

Ian Sullivan: "..."

It seems Vincent Hawthorne went on a date with Cindy Lynn until this hour.

"Dr. Sullivan?" Vincent looked slightly taken aback to see Ian there, then immediately frowned with concern. "Is Joy sick again?"

The one most prone to illness in the family was Joy.

The little one loved to eat and couldn’t control her cravings, which often led to trouble.

Ian Sullivan tried to keep his tone calm, maintaining the basic courtesy of an employee towards his employer.

"Mr. Hawthorne, Joy is quite uncomfortable. I’ve already examined her. Additionally, Ms. Sinclair has prescribed some medicine for Joy, and I had a colleague fill the prescription, which should be delivered in about two hours. Please make sure someone is home then."

But in the end, Ian couldn’t hold back, and added a sarcastic remark.

Vincent didn’t pay attention to the latter part of Ian’s words, only catching the first part.

"Tanya Sinclair is back?" He looked up towards the upstairs, his throat inexplicably tightening, and he strode upstairs.

Ian Sullivan: "Ms. Sinclair isn’t back. She’s just been checking on the kids over the phone."

"..." The brief anticipation in Vincent’s eyes collapsed. He nodded slightly to Ian in thanks, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."

He then headed upstairs to the children’s bedroom.

"Joy!"

Caden was worriedly sitting by his sister’s bed, holding her small hand, pressing his forehead to hers, whispering. When he saw Vincent come in, he didn’t rush to greet him, but instead frowned sullenly, got up, and made room for his father.

"Joy, how are you feeling?" Vincent took his daughter into his arms, looking at her little face scrunched up in pain, he frowned slightly, feeling uneasy.

"Tell Daddy, where else does it hurt?"

Joy shook her head slightly. She was nestled in Vincent’s arms when she suddenly sniffed something, then pulled away in resistance, burrowing back under the covers.

"What’s wrong, Joy?" Vincent was puzzled.

Aunt Tawny came in with a bowl of hot porridge at this moment, and she caught a whiff of the perfume on Vincent, guessing it must be that wretched Cindy Lynn.

Tonight, Mr. Hawthorne was with Cindy Lynn all night!

She commented with obvious sarcasm, "Mr. Hawthorne, the perfume on you is too strong, it’s bothering Joy."

Vincent knew Aunt Tawny never liked Cindy Lynn, and he didn’t take her words to heart. Once he was sure Joy was okay, he felt slightly relieved.

"Joy, Daddy’s going to change, then I’ll keep you company."

Just as Vincent walked out of the room, Caden, who had been silent all along, followed him out and called after him.

"Dad!"

"What’s up?"

Caden had a hint of redness in his eyes.

"Even if you’re going on a date with Aunt Cindy, you can’t ignore calls from home!" he said softly, not wanting his sister to hear. "When my sister can’t find you, she’ll be really scared."

Actually, he was scared too.

No matter how smart or mature Caden was, he was just a five-year-old child. When there was something he couldn’t handle, he’d look for his mom or dad.

But now, he could only find his mom...

Vincent recalled he had put his phone on Do Not Disturb mode.

Tonight, Cindy had asked him to accompany her for a walk around Crestwood University, revisiting the campus nooks where they used to roam...

"I’m sorry, Caden. Tonight was my fault," Vincent crouched down to apologize to his son, "Daddy won’t let you go without us again in the future."

After comforting Caden, Vincent returned to his room.

He entered the closet, pulled open the cabinet to get his pajamas, and his eyes rested on the row of clothes that belonged to Tanya Sinclair.

She hadn’t even taken with her those pajamas he once bought her...

While walking with Cindy around the school, Vincent had actually been distracted the entire time. Those places Cindy considered memories, he had once walked them with Tanya too.

She would obediently sit on the steps beside the basketball court, holding his jacket and water, her eyes shining like stars as she watched him play.

The tree-lined path covered with sycamore leaves in the fall was where Tanya would often wait for him.

She would pick out the prettiest sycamore leaves and collect them.

This was Tanya’s habit.

Every time she waited for him, she would pick up a fallen leaf.

Vincent remembered she had collected a full jar of them.

Just then, his phone rang. At this hour, it must have been Cindy calling to check if he’d arrived home. He didn’t bother to look at the caller ID, and just answered, starting with, "Cindy."

On the other end, there was the sound of restrained breathing.

Followed by Tanya’s voice: "Sorry to disappoint. It’s me."

Vincent froze, his throat inexplicably dry, his voice inadvertently tense.

He suppressed the ’Tanya’ that nearly slipped out, reminding himself that they were in the midst of a divorce.

"...What is it?" Vincent made an effort to sound indifferent.

The divorce was something Tanya Sinclair was insistent on!

This ungrateful woman had no idea that he once argued with Father Hawthorne to keep her position as Mrs. Hawthorne!

Tanya’s icy voice came through: "I called to ask you clearly, what exactly did that wretched Cindy Lynn do to my daughter tonight?!"