Lachlan Wyatt apparently only knew about Noelle Rivers and Jeremy Carter’s relationship, but had no idea about Noelle’s pregnancy.
So when he heard Iris Crawford’s exposé, Lachlan was a bit surprised. He put down his spoon, reached for his phone from the bedside, "Should I give Jeremy a call?"
Iris hesitated a little, "Maybe you shouldn’t. Noelle ca to , asking for secrecy, and she may need my help after the child is born..."
"You an," Lachlan squinted, "we’re having another child?"
Hearing "we", Iris’s expression changed imdiately, as if they were an old married couple. She tugged on Lachlan’s ear, "You’re really good at seizing opportunities, aren’t you?"
Lachlan made a prayer gesture, "I beg you, my lady, please grant this."
In response, Iris gave a cold sneer and rolled her eyes.
And it was a particularly graceful roll.
Lachlan could only finish his late-night snack and lie back on the hospital bed, then he called to Felix Crawford, "Son, co, let daddy hold you!"
Felix didn’t hesitate and climbed up, lying in Lachlan’s arms and looking at the bandage on his hand, "Is your hand going to be useless too?"
"It’d be fine if it was." Lachlan lazily curled his lips, seemingly not frustrated at all, as if that hand was a re dollar bill, "Your mom lacks a right hand, I lack a left hand, aren’t we a perfect match?"
"..." Iris didn’t say a word, feeling a current coursing through her heart, the pain stirring her blood into a boil, her whole heart felt like it was on fire.
Felix seed to understand, reached out and grasped Iris’s right hand, "Mommy, are you good with your left hand now?"
"Much better, don’t worry." Iris patted Felix’s head, "You don’t have to feel sorry for . On the contrary, I feel honored."
"I’m proud of both of you too."
Felix held both Iris’s and Lachlan’s hands, with Iris’s disabled right hand resting on Lachlan’s bandaged left hand, like two gears perfectly fitting into each other’s gaps at that mont.
No one has ever gone through fire and water for like you.
Iris took a deep breath, squeezed Lachlan’s hand through the bandage, causing the man to yelp, "Are you trying to hurt ?"
"A bit of pain is fine."
Iris remained expressionless, her face pale but beautiful, "You deserve it."
Lachlan didn’t retort to Iris; now that they were willing to stay with him in the hospital, he was content.
Later that night, Martin Hawthorne and Patrick Pierce left the ward, with Iris and Felix already asleep beside Lachlan’s bed. Patrick wanted to wake them, but Martin stopped him and shook his head, then walked out with Patrick, "Is it true about Noelle?"
"I heard rumors." Patrick, once a force in the entertainnt industry, could still catch small pieces of news despite being retired. He told Martin, "I suspect that Jeremy’s family doesn’t approve of Noelle. I heard he’s been going on blind dates lately."
Noelle’s occupation was indeed hard to accept for most, sothing most people didn’t consider respectable. Plus, she rose to fa thanks to Jeremy, which made The Carter Family despise her.
They heard about Noelle’s closeness with Jeremy, so The Carter Family hurriedly arranged blind dates to prevent her from becoming a social climber.
Martin’s gaze drifted as if recalling sothing, and Patrick knowingly hit a nerve, "I heard your family also pushed you to date?"
Just stepping outside the hospital, Martin heard Patrick’s comnt and frowned, "You just know how to hit where it hurts, huh?"
"No wonder you react like that when it’s about Jeremy dating." Patrick taunted ahead, "Your family couldn’t push Jude, so they shifted the pressure onto you, right? If I recall, you severed ties with The Hawthorne Family long ago."
Martin pinched his brow, clearly discontent, "So elders only see family honor and continuing the bloodline."
"Such is the traditional mindset passed down, hard to change overnight. It must start with our generation gradually adjusting."
Patrick, hands in pockets, maintained his unisex allure, and as they walked, so nurses discreetly watched their silhouettes, thinking they’d make a perfect couple.
When they got into the car, Martin irritably tossed his phone aside, "Why don’t we go find Jeremy?"
"What’s the point?" Patrick started the car, "He’s got a new girlfriend now; probably won’t be interested in Noelle’s matters."
Martin thought of Noelle, then Jeremy.
Were they truly in love or just pretending?
Perhaps Jeremy himself couldn’t answer, being so indulgent, easily falling for anyone.
Patrick led Martin back to their office; it was the calm before the storm as everyone conserved energy for the final showdown with Jonas Kingsley.
Unexpectedly, Jude Hawthorne was waiting for them, a rare visitor at that hour, and as Martin’s elder brother stood at the door, "What are you doing here?"
"The family wants you to return."
Jude tossed a token to Martin, who caught it, then sneered, "Don’t think The Hawthorne Family truly wants you to succeed. This family is ultimately mine."
"I never had any intention to compete for The Hawthorne Family." Martin wore his icy expression, "I won’t return."
An archaic, feudal family hardly worth inheriting.
"If you don’t return, The Hawthorne Family will have no descendants." Jude’s voice was tinged with bitterness, "I haven’t been interested in finding a woman lately."
Martin sneered, "What about Seraphina Colbert?"
Those words seed to strike a nerve in Jude; his shoulders trembled and he said to Martin, "The child she bore isn’t mine."
It’s Silvan Caine’s.
Five years gone, almost strangers now.
Watch as he faced backlash, seeing Seraphina’s and Silvan’s daughter already five, helpless to do anything.
"Seraphina can’t see the way you are now."
Martin’s voice grew cold, "And I’m not interested in won anyway. Tell Mom and Dad and the grandparents to just let it go. I won’t be returning to The Hawthorne Family."
"So, in their eyes, you’re the unfilial son."
"Indeed." Martin Hawthorne’s expression remained unchanged, his gaze extrely cold. "Back then, because of my sexual orientation, The Hawthorne Family kicked out, and now because you don’t want to have children, they’re ordering to co back and continue the family lineage. I find this ridiculous and unacceptable."
Martin rarely spoke at length, and this speech left Jude Hawthorne at a loss for words.
He had missed too much in the five years with Seraphina Colbert.
"It’s better to cut it off."
Martin handed the token back to Jude Hawthorne and turned towards the office.
Where was his ho? Here, the office was his ho.
Without looking back, Martin waved his hand at Jude Hawthorne, aning, take care of yourself.
******
That morning, Iris Crawford was lying by Lachlan Wyatt’s bedside. As the sun ward the side of her face, she felt the slight warmth, her eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.
On the hospital bed, Lachlan Wyatt and Felix Crawford were peacefully facing each other while sleeping. The child’s chubby cheek even had so drool on it.
Iris laughed and went to wipe her son’s drool. She then got up to take a walk outside and buy breakfast, but when she opened the door, Number Nine was already standing there.
Holding breakfast in hand, Number Nine said, "I went to get you breakfast."
Iris widened her eyes, "You’re so considerate."
"I’m your robot; I can handle these things."
Number Nine brought the food inside, unpacked it cleanly in front of Iris, handed her the chopsticks, and then went over to tuck Lachlan and Felix in again, moving quietly like a high-end nanny.
Iris lowered her voice, "How did you pay? You don’t have a phone."
"I had them bill it to Lachlan’s company." Number Nine smiled, giving a thumbs-up, "See? Artificial intelligence is quite smart, right?"
Iris smiled ruefully, "Indeed, a bit too smart. I’ll get you a new phone later."
After quietly finishing breakfast, with Felix and Lachlan still asleep, probably exhausted, Iris decided not to wake them and even had Number Nine draw the blackout curtains to let them sleep more soundly.
After finishing everything, Iris took Number Nine’s hand gently, "Co on, I’ll get you a phone."
"You an, to buy my companion?" Number Nine pointed at itself, "I’m artificial intelligence, and you’re buying a smartphone?"
Isn’t this like a nesting doll?
Iris pondered but felt buying a phone was essential for living as a human, and they also needed to register an identity for Number Nine, although they couldn’t fake identities now...
Iris looked at Number Nine and said, "I’ll give you a makeover and say you’re a family mber trafficked abroad, only recently found. Ok?"
The word ’family’ made Number Nine pause, it said, "I have a family."
Iris didn’t understand what it ant, "But... they were all destroyed. You’re the last unit of artificial intelligence Lachlan created."
"I have a family." Number Nine murmured, as if caught in so virus, "I have a father, I have a mother, I also have a brother..."
Iris was taken aback, "You have mories?"
Number Nine jamd for a mont, then said, "The computer malfunctioned earlier, so strange, I need to check if there’s a Trojan in my body, just now for so reason, a program code I had never seen activated inside ."
Could the word ’family’ be the switch?
Perhaps behind Number Nine lies an unfulfilled wish from soone. Just like Pearl Winters.
Iris beca interested, "Tell , I’ll help you find your family, so you won’t be alone."
She bought Number Nine a phone, though it had no SIM card, it could still use so daily apps, "I’ll give you my backup WeChat, you can use my paynt code to pay in the future."
Holding Number Nine’s hand, Iris entered her password, "Rember the password, okay? It’s 52CY."
"52CY." Number Nine repeated, "Stored in brain’s mory now."
Its computer was filled with all kinds of things about Iris Crawford.
When discovered and studied many years later, it might astonish people.
This robot, all its programs were activated for a woman called CY.
But at that mont, soone called out to Iris from the opposite direction.
"Birdie!"
Hearing this na, Iris’s skin tingled, and she looked up to see Jordan Jacobs not far away.
After kicking him out last ti, she’d thought never to et Jordan Jacobs again; yet, unexpectedly, buying a phone led to an encounter!
Upon seeing the Number Nine beside Iris, Jordan Jacobs’s expression beca quite a sight, "You’ve changed again? This isn’t Lachlan? Iris, how many n will you toy with before you’re satisfied?"
His reproachful tone caused passersby to stop and see what was happening.
A handso guy was pointing at the beautiful woman opposite him, speaking in heart-wrenching earnest, "How can you have no self-respect or dignity like this?"
People were surprised, looking in the direction the handso guy pointed, and saw another handso guy behind the woman, their hands together as if they had just bought a new phone and were setting sothing up.
Jordan Jacobs walked over and looked unfriendly at Number Nine, "Who are you?"
Danger alerts rang in Number Nine’s mind, protecting its owner, it automatically switched to berserk mode.
The bionic skin on its arm began to writhe slowly, the steel blade hidden underneath seed about to unsheathe itself.
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