Chapter 417: Chapter 417: A Moment’s Hesitation
Once she went inside, Cyrus Hawthorne took out his phone and called Mark Joyce.
"President Hawthorne, is there something you need to instruct me on?"
"Oceanic Transport seems to be very idle." The man let out a low chuckle, a blend of indifference and coldness in his voice.
Mark took two seconds to process this, then quickly understood, "Yes, I’ll have the acquisition documents submitted to you by tomorrow."
The Kensington Family, who were courting disaster, had just been dealt with, and now the next one was rushing in so soon.
After putting away his phone, Cyrus pushed open the door to the ward, about to step inside...
"Mrs. Bellamy, don’t blame me for speaking frankly, but this whole incident was instigated by your child from the start. Moreover, little Jasper Vaughn has been seriously ill for a long time, yet he still unhesitatingly went to save your son; you shouldn’t speak about him like that..."
Teacher Ward helped Mrs. Bellamy up while softly reasoning with her to prevent her from clinging to the issue. Suddenly, a deep voice inquired from behind.
"What do you mean by Jasper Vaughn being seriously ill?"
Teacher Ward turned around and saw the deep, icy expression of a man, fear rising from within her, "Mr. Hawthorne?"
Cyrus Hawthorne narrowed his eyes slightly, "I am Jasper Vaughn’s father."
Father, his father?!
Not just Teacher Ward, but even Mrs. Bellamy, whose arm was broken and lips were trembling in pain, was stunned, her eyes wide in disbelief!
That child, wasn’t he a bastard with an unknown father?!
How could he be Mr. Hawthorne’s son? There hadn’t been the slightest rumor about Mr. Hawthorne having a child!!
She had just insulted the little prince of the Hawthorne Group as a bastard?!
At this thought, Mrs. Bellamy rolled her eyes and fainted dead away.
"Little, little Jasper Vaughn has, has leukemia..." Teacher Ward was also quite frightened, her mind frantically searching for any oversight on her part towards Kenny.
She even forgot Annie’s instruction to her to keep Kenny’s illness a secret...
Leukemia?
Those three words sent waves crashing through Cyrus Hawthorne’s previously calm eyes, dark as ink, freezing over.
Inside the ward.
Ann Vaughn coaxed the sleeping Kenny to drink a bottle of restorative medicine, then, using the medicinal liquid, gave him acupressure treatment. Next, she checked his pulse, which had started to stabilize.
Although there was some slight pain initially with the acupressure, once it was done, it felt soothing and warm, like soaking in a hot spring.
As Little Dumpling was so young, Ann couldn’t bear to use needles on him, so she created a set of acupressure techniques suited to his constitution.
Seeing Little Dumpling’s furrowed brow relax, and no longer seeing distress on his little face, Ann finally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned down to kiss his cheek.
At this moment, Cyrus Hawthorne pushed the door open and entered the ward.
Ann looked up to see a group of doctors in white coats following him inside, and among them, some faces seemed familiar, perhaps seen in some authoritative seminars...
"Who are these people?"
"Top pediatric specialists from overseas." Cyrus cast Ann a deep glance, then nodded to the group of experts with a solemn tone, "Please, go ahead."
"You’re too kind, it’s our honor to serve you." The leading expert nodded with a smile.
They communicated entirely in the language of Country D, which Ann could recognize but was not fluent in, making her feel that their appearance at this time was not by chance.
About an hour later, the specialists returned Kenny to the ward after completing the examination and then reported to Cyrus Hawthorne.
The more he listened, the colder and more frightening Cyrus’s expression became, his hand at his side clenching into a fist.
Premature birth.
Leukemia.
Weak and sickly constitution.
Each statement made Cyrus feel blood rising in his throat uncontrollably, his body tense, and his thin lips pressing into a tight line.
No one knew better than he how poor Ann’s health had been at the time.
Yet, she had gritted her teeth to give birth and raise the child all alone, which showed her care for the child far exceeded expectations.
If he had chosen to face it with her back then, instead of making decisions for her by keeping secrets, even if she eventually still chose to have the child, then during those four years...
At least he could have provided company and protection, instead of drowning in the abyss of lost love.
Now, he couldn’t blame her for keeping Kenny’s illness a secret.
A single moment’s decision, indeed.
...
Ann Vaughn waited for quite some time in the ward. When she saw Cyrus Hawthorne enter, she immediately approached him, completely forgetting to mention she had just taken Kenny’s pulse, "How was it? What did they say?"
Looking at her anxious little face for a moment, Cyrus’s expression deepened; he then stretched out his arm and pulled her into an embrace.
Ann blinked, her eyes filled with confusion as she looked at the handsome face inches from hers.
Suddenly, she remembered something very important!
The experts had examined Kenny, which meant...
Kenny having leukemia could no longer be hidden!
"You don’t need to worry about the marrow; I’ve already sent people to look for it."
This statement cleared Ann’s foggy mind somewhat, surprising her as she met Cyrus’s deep, ocean-like eyes. The seriousness and sincerity there made her heart flutter slightly.
"You... don’t blame me for not telling you?"
"You must have had your reasons for not saying anything."
Just like that?
Ann’s lips parted slightly with a hint of confusion. Since when did he trust her so unconditionally?
All the scenarios she had worried about, after he learned the truth, none occurred as she expected...