However, after spending a few anxious hours, it was not Thomas Smith who arrived first, but Charles Smith.
Alia Garcia’s phone was off, so Charles Smith’s call went to Christopher.
"Mr. Hart, how have you been since you were discharged?" Charles Smith first inquires about Christopher’s recovery, as courteous and gentle as ever.
Christopher never held much regard for him, and now that he knows their connection to the woman he loves, his feelings are even more complex.
"Not bad, thank you for your concern, Doctor Smith."
"Even if your recovery is good, you shouldn’t rush it. During this period, you should focus on bed rest. Rember to return for a follow-up in half a month."
"Hmm."
The intention was not in the drink, Charles Smith paused, and then changed the subject: "Could I speak with Clarke Norton?"
Christopher’s expression remained unchanged, his tone indifferent: "What do you need her for? You can tell what you want to say."
"I think it’s better to speak with her directly."
"It’s not convenient. Either tell or there’s no need to say anything."
After a mont of silence on the other side, he could only compromise: "Alright, could you please ask her when it would be convenient? My father wants to et her in the Ancient Town."
"What for? If it weren’t for the last eting, none of this would have blown up. Our normal lives are affected now, and if they et again, it might be captured by soone with ill intent and beco a never-ending issue."
"Yes, my father feels very guilty about what happened last ti. The owner of the restaurant tracked down the person who took the photos and originally wanted the person to co and apologize in person, but later worried about further complications, so they dropped it. However, that person has already paid a heavy price."
Christopher stayed silent and didn’t respond, only turning on the speaker while listening to his explanation.
Alia listened clearly from the side.
At this point, whether the culprit apologized had beco a secondary matter.
She couldn’t even say whether this whole situation was good or bad.
Because if it hadn’t happened, her true identity might not have co to light, clearing her ties with the Garcia Family.
The two exchanged a glance. Seeing Alia’s unchanged expression, Christopher guessed she didn’t want to et and said, "These days are inconvenient, and besides, there’s nothing more to say between them. If it’s for business, I’ll visit Mr. Smith personally when I’m better."
"Mr. Hart, my father ans well, why are you so guarded?"
"Good intentions led to bad results, isn’t that clear now?"
This left Charles Smith speechless, and both sides fell into silence.
In the end, Christopher gave a formal farewell and hung up.
Alia glanced at him, her shoulders slightly drooping.
She couldn’t understand why Thomas Smith still wanted to see her.
Seeing her worried, Christopher held her hand and reassured her: "It’s okay. If you don’t want to et, then don’t. If you don’t want to acknowledge it, then don’t. You have and the children now; it doesn’t matter if you’re short of a father."
Alia nodded and didn’t speak.
————
At the hospital, Charles Smith was getting off work and made the call to Christopher from his car.
Having hit a wall, he frowned slightly and sent a voice ssage to his father on WhatsApp: Dad, I contacted Christopher. Didn’t even get to talk to Clarke Norton before he refused.
Soon, the phone rang.
"Dad."
"Couldn’t arrange a eting?" On the other side, Thomas Smith had just arrived at the hotel and, due to the online scrutiny, had beco much more cautious in his outings lately.
"Yes, Christopher is very adamant, seems like he wants to cut ties with us."
Thomas Smith was silent for a mont, probably also helpless, and sighed: "Let’s put this aside for now. Are you coming over for dinner?"
"I already have plans with friends in the evening, can’t make it." Charles Smith replied to his father while starting the car and driving out of the parking lot, asking, puzzled, "Dad, I’m also curious, why are you so concerned about Clarke Norton? Is it just because she’s Aunt Norton’s daughter?"
Thomas Smith hesitated for a mont, his tone carrying so uncertainty, "A few days ago, I visited your Grandpa at the nursing ho, asked about things from the past... there are so doubts I want to verify."
"Doubts?"
"Yes, I’m not sure yet, just a guess."
Charles realized sothing, his tone beca more serious: "Is it about who? Aunt Norton? Or Clarke Norton?"
"Clarke Norton." Thomas replied, then after a pause, continued, "Maybe... she isn’t really a child of the Garcias."
"What?" Charles was shocked, "What do you an? She... she’s not a Garcia child, then whose? Could it be..."
He didn’t finish his sentence, but the silence on both ends of the phone let each know they had the sa suspicion.
Ending the call with his father, the astonishnt in Charles’s heart lingered.
The phone chid, and as he checked it at a red light, his eyebrows rose slightly.
It was that girl nad Snow again.
Over the years, the number of girls proactively pursuing him was countless, but to chase him by bringing a whole swarm of relatives to register under his expert care — she was the first in history.
Indeed, WhatsApp was asking again: Doctor Smith, my aunt’s back is still acting up, are you sure her spine is okay? Should we co back for another check-up?
The red light began counting down, not having ti to type a reply, he opted for a voice ssage: "Sure, I’ll be seeing patients all day tomorrow."
Snow imdiately replied with a voice ssage: "Great! I’ll register right away!"
Charles thought, maybe he could see Clarke Norton through Snow.
As a doctor, he knew better than anyone the most effective way to test parentage — as long as he could et in person, everything would be manageable.
On her way ho from work, Snow, hearing Charles Smith’s voice reply, would have danced with joy if her hands weren’t on the steering wheel!
This kind of great news, she had to share with soone!
First, she sent a voice ssage to her cousin, saying she’d need to borrow her aunt again tomorrow morning, then imdiately video-called Alia Garcia.
Alia sat sullenly, still pondering what to do next, when the spare phone rang.
Startled, she stood up to pick up the phone.
Christopher’s face was stern, "Who is it? Is it those Smith father and son again?"
"No, it’s Snow." Knowing it was a video request from Snow, Alia breathed a quiet sigh of relief and connected the call, "Hey, Snow."
Snow was driving, with her phone fixed on the dashboard, so it wasn’t quite centered on her face, "What are you up to? You said you’d call later, I’ve waited all afternoon without hearing from you."
Alia was annoyed, realizing she had forgotten about it, she honestly replied, "I forgot..."
"Hmm, you’ve got a man, now you’ve forgotten your bestie." Snow teased.
"No... I’ve just been really stressed."
"Yeah, I get it. Even though Chairman Smith responded, the online buzz hasn’t died down at all. Plenty of netizens are trying to dig up his identity, but they haven’t found anything specific, just knowing that the ’Smith Family from the Imperial Capital’ is extraordinary. They can’t even search out what’s actually going on. I even heard that so netizens were caught as spies for prying into national secrets!"
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