Chapter 31
The slap mark on his face was too obvious. Nathan felt embarrassed and begged his mother for a long time, finally taking two days of “sick leave“.
Walking home with some meds, he spotted two plain–clothed folks peeking through the door.
He hurried over, asking, “Whatcha doin‘?”
Startled, the two jumped in fright..
Dominic had done his homework–he’d checked out the Saxon family and recognized Nathan right away, flashing a flattering smile. “Hi, we’re Aria’s foster parents. We came all the way to see our daughter.”
Dominic knew how much the Saxon family valued Silvia, so he used Aria
as a cover.
The money transaction could only be done privately and must never be known by the Saxon family.
Alice chimed in at this time, “We’ll just take a look at her and leave. We won’t disturb her.”
Nathan had just found out about Aria’s old name. Too plain, he thought, frowning slightly. “Her full name was Madelyn?”
His sister’s name, Silvia, was carefully chosen by his parents, meaning pure and noble, beautiful and poised.
Before Madelyn came to the Saxon family, his parents had pondered long and hard, naming her Madelyn, meaning gentle beauty, full of vitality.
As he came to think of it now, no one seemed to have ever mentioned her
old name.
Nathan gave them a thorough once–over, suspicion rising. “Aria’s already married. Why come here instead of the Cole family? And it’s been two
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Chapter 31
years–why now?”
For an average family, 2 million would be more than enough to live comfortably.
But judging from their clothes, Nathan couldn’t help but suspect they were here for money.
Dominic knew rich folks were tricky, so he had a story ready. “Madelyn… she blocked us. We didn’t even know she got married. How’s the guy she married treatin‘ her?”
As he said that, tears welled up in his weary eyes.
Seeing this, Alice quickly dabbed at the non–existent tears from her eyes.
As he saw no hint of the two acting, their sincerity evident on their faces, Nathan’s doubts were largely dispelled, replaced by a strong sense of dissatisfaction towards Aria.
‘No blood relation, but these folks raised her for twenty years. Blocking them? That’s cold–hearted,’ he said inwardly.
“Aria moved out ages ago. Go find her there!” Nathan straight–up gave them the address.
Dominic and Alice’s faces stiffened a bit.
Dominic chuckled awkwardly, “Young man, you look a bit like my Madelyn. Are you her younger brother?”
Nathan raised an eyebrow, almost wanting to find a mirror on the spot to check if he resembled Aria.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Anything else?”
Dominic glanced at Alice, who looked conflicted. “Um… can we see Silvia?” she asked hesitantly.
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Chapter 31
Nathan’s face instantly darkened, his voice icy. “What? 600 thousand not enough? You want more from my sister?”
Everyone knew about Silvia going to the countryside to find her birth parents. Seeing her upset, no one mentioned it, but they looked into it privately and found out the whole story.
Dominic’s heart skipped a beat. He waved his hands in panic. “Not for money. We just want to see her. If it’s inconvenient, that’s fine. As for the money Silvia gave…”
Tears rolled down his wrinkled face, and his voice choked. “I was thinking of saving it for her wedding. We never raised her. There’s so little we can do… Sorry, we’ll leave now.”
Seeing a middle–aged man cry in front of him for the first time, Nathan suddenly felt guilty. Just as he was about to comfort Dominic, the man suddenly straightened up and hurried away with his wife.
He sighed, scratched his hair, and swiped his face to unlock the door.
Only after turning the corner completely did Dominic let go of Alice’s hand and walk on his own.
Alice looked anxious and caught up with Dominic in small steps. “Dominic, are we not asking Silvia for money anymore? What about our son?”
Dominic’s face was grim, his voice suppressed with anger. “Stupid woman, didn’t you hear Nathan say we already got money from Silvia? If we offend him, we won’t get a chance to see her! We have to avoid the Saxon family when looking for Silvia.”
Alice sniffled and didn’t say more.
Early the next morning, Silvia was discharged from the hospital.
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Chapter 31
Except for Logan, who was at work, the whole family came out to pick her
- up.
Seeing the wound on his granddaughter’s forehead, Joseph looked
heartbroken. “You were discharged so soon. What did the doctor say? Will it leave a scar?”
“Grandpa, the doctor said it won’t leave a scar. I was dead bored in the hospital for so long.” Silvia’s voice was soft and nasal, her pale lips and sickly appearance adding to the overall impression of frailty.
Even so, Silvia still smiled brightly, trying to cheer everyone up.
Everyone present couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
Seeing Nathan still standing there, Silvia asked, puzzled, “Nathan, I’m home already. You should go to class now!”
Nathan tugged at his mask and mumbled, “I took two days off, gonna go back to school the day after tomorrow.”
Caleb asked, “Now that we’re home. Why are you still wearing a mask?”
Last night, Nathan had been on nursing duty, saying he didn’t like the smell of the hospital and had kept the mask on.
But now that they were home, he still hadn’t taken it off.
Nathan instinctively covered his face, his eyes darting around before meeting his mother’s warning glare.
He looked away instantly. “I’m a bit allergic.”
Silvia was shocked, reaching out to pull off his mask. “What’s going on? Let me see. Why didn’t you get checked at the hospital?”
Nathan stepped back. Afraid of hurting Silvia’s injury, he didn’t dare to move much. “It’s just a little bit, Silvia, you-
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SWB
The mask was pulled off, revealing half a face with five finger marks.
Everyone was stunned except for Zoe.
Joseph’s eyes narrowed. “What happened! Who hit you?”
That slap from Aria had been brutal. Even after Nathan had iced it for a long time and applied medicine, the finger marks were still obvious.
Silvia and Nathan had always been close. Now that he was hit, tears welled up in her eyes. “Nathan, why didn’t you say anything?”
Seeing her about to cry, Nathan quickly waved his hands. “No one hit me. It was just a misunderstanding.”
Luke chimed in, “What misunderstanding requires such heavy-
handedness?
“Didn’t you go find Aria with your mom yesterday? Did she hit you?”
The room fell into dead silence instantly.
Joseph got so angry that his head hurt, banging his cane loudly on the ground. “What gives her the right to hit a Saxon?”
