Belle walked over hand-in-hand with Germaine.
Finding the handsome man that she hadn’t seen in such a long time, Belle quickly shook off Germaine’s hand and ran towards Credence. It was probably due to the innate nature between father and daughter that she focused on Credence’s feet first.
She tiptoed and touched his legs, which were covered in plaster, and curiously asked. “Daddy, is Mommy sleeping? Shh, don’t wake Mommy up. Let’s talk in a softer voice. Why are you sitting in a wheelchair? What’s wrong with your feet?”
After that, she hooked her pinky finger and gently tapped on his plastered bandages. She asked nervously. “Daddy, does it hurt? Are you sick like me?”
“Don’t worry, Daddy. The doctor said that as long as you take your medicine and injections regularly, you’ll be cured in no time. So, Daddy, as long as you take your medicines, you will be all better.”
She tugged on Credence’s black suit leggings. She looked worried like she would never see him again.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you Belle.”
Credence patted her little head and ran his fingers through her soft, golden hair. It was very obvious that she’s lost a lot of hair. He felt a sharp pain in his heart. There was a surge of guilt in his eyes that caught him off guard.
He blinked hard. After blinking away the tears from his eyes, he lowered his head and asked his adorable daughter “Have you had your dinner?”
“Yup, godmama fed me some oatmeal and chicken soup, but it wasn’t very tasty and I’m still hungry.” Belle covered her mouth and turned towards Germaine, who was standing by the door. She blinked her big beautiful eyes innocently. She pretended to have said any of that!
Faced with such a cute little girl, what could Germaine say?
She looked at Belle who was acting cute and shaking her head. She took the opportunity to look at Dorothy, who was lying on the hospital bed. She stared at her silently before leaving.
Since Credence was taking such good care of Dorothy, she didn’t have a reason to stick around anymore.
…
Credence didn’t care if Germaine stuck around or not. For now, all of his attention was dedicated to Belle. He asked Belle with a broad smile on his face. “Are you still hungry?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Daddy, it’s not that I eat a lot, it’s just that all the food here tastes like water. I get hungry right after eating them!”
Credence remembered that she loved crispy French fries, fried chicken, and hamburgers. However, in her current condition, she couldn’t eat greasy food.
Thinking about this, his eyes darkened. Just as he was about to take his phone out to call Marvin to get her some food, the little girl ran towards Dorothy. She stretched out her little hand and patted her bulging belly. “Mommy, why are you still sleeping? Wake up, I miss you, I miss my little brother. I’m sure he misses me too.”
“Hey! Daddy, hurry up and give me your hand. My little brother just kicked me. Haha, he kicked my hand from Mommy’s belly. It’s so funny!”
Hearing her say that, Credence reached out with his right hand and placed it on Dorothy’s belly next to Belle’s little hand. He felt a kick from the baby, then it started kicking about.
Feeling this miraculous connection between them, he held his breath. His entire body started to tremble.
After some time, he withdrew his hand and looked at Dorothy. He then looked at Belle, who was happily smiling at him. For a brief moment, he felt incredibly satisfied.
Jonathan and Marvin pushed the door open and stepped in. When they noticed how much hair Belle had lost, they were stunned for a moment.
On the other hand, Belle was excited to see so many people around. She cheerfully welcomed them. “Mr. Jonathan, Mr. Jules, are you here to see my mommy and daddy?”
“That’s right, we’re also here to see you. Belle, look at all these wonderful gifts I brought you.”
Jonathan took out a large Barbie doll from Marvin and handed it to Belle. He smiled and said, “Isn’t it beautiful? Do you like it?”
“It’s beautiful! It’s very pretty!”
“I think you are much more beautiful Belle!”
“Mr. Jonathan, you’re right. I think so too.” Belle held the doll in her hands, she was very happy. She walked to the sofa and played with the Barbie doll eagerly.
Having successfully placated Belle, Jonathan walked over to Credence. Maintaining his casual expression, he whispered. “Credence, Belle’s illness seems to be getting worse.”
Credence closed his long and narrow eyes. Under the light, his handsome face was covered with a thin layer of sweat. “The doctor has given us a deadline. If we can’t find a match, she may not live beyond the next four months.”
Marvin said, “This leaves us with only three months to find a match.”
Marvin handed a box of takeout to Credence who was still in his wheelchair. He motioned for him to eat, and continued the conversation with a grave look on his face. “Credence, I don’t think we should get our hopes up in finding a suitable match for bone marrow. We should start looking for other options.”
“What other options?” Jonathan asked with enthusiastic surprise.
“We can start with Jeremy and his mother, Ysabelle.”
Marvin was much smarter than Jonathan when it came to logical analysis.
He frowned. “Credence, before we do this, we have to be 100% sure that Leilani isn’t Dorothy’s mother.”
After being friends for so long, Credence understood Marvin’s intentions. He placed the takeout box on the bedside table, glanced at the watch on his wrist, and nodded. “I can arrange that.”
It wasn’t eleven o’clock yet. For regular people, this was pretty late at night, but for Leilani, who was now rich, the fun had just begun.
Ever since Leilani and Dorothy had reconciled, she received a substantial amount of benefits from Credence. So long as he had more to give her when she asked, she would happily agree to any of his requests.
Credence closed his eyes, took the phone from Marvin, and dialed Leilani’s number. “It’s me! Dorothy seems to have symptoms of a possible miscarriage. She hasn’t woken up yet after her surgery! You’re her mother. Do you have time to come see her? Perhaps she will feel better and even wake up after hearing your voice.”
Leilani agreed to do so at the other end of the line. Credence quickly hung up, returned the phone to Marvin, and said rather coldly. “She’ll be here soon. It will take her around half an hour. Go and get ready.”
They needed to get a few strands of Leilani’s actual hair. Either that or they could draw some blood from her and see if it was a match with Belle’s.
Jonathan and Marvin discussed their plan before deciding on the simplest and fastest way.
Doing a blood test would be faster than a paternity test, the results would be out in a couple of minutes.
After their discussion, Jonathan and Marvin sent the now sleepy Belle back to her ward and urged Germaine to take good care of her. After doing that, they turned around and left.
They didn’t have much time, and there was a lot to prepare.
….
It was likely because Credence had called her in person that Leilani arrived so quickly.
She pushed the door open and anxiously spoke to Credence, who had his back towards her. “Mr. Scott, my daughter… Dorothy, how is she?”
She sounded like she was actually worried about Dorothy’s well-being. But on her very well-maintained face, even if she pretended to be worried about Dorothy, she couldn’t really hide her joy.
“Her condition is good.”
Credence pressed on the tires of his wheelchair, slightly shifting his angle, and met her eyes.
He saw the delight in the woman’s eyes. He was fairly confident this would be the case, but now, he was absolutely certain.
Even a vicious tiger wouldn’t feed on its own cubs.
If Dorothy really was Leilani’s daughter, she wouldn’t be so happy right now.
Judging from Leilani’s expression, this was proof that she wasn’t Dorothy’s real mother.
If that was the case, all of his previous hunches were correct!
But until he had some hard evidence, Credence couldn’t accuse Leilani just yet.
“Mr. Scott, how long has she been in a coma? She’s still pregnant. If she continues to be in this state, what will happen to the child? What will happen to Dory? What did the doctor say? How come I wasn’t informed about something as serious as this until now…”
Leilani walked over to her bedside and had her back towards Credence. She choked up and sobbed sorrowfully. “Dory, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was too late!”
She lowered her head and looked at Dorothy who was motionless like a corpse. There was a hint of pain in her voice, but the corners of her lips curled up sinisterly.
Leilani didn’t understand why Credence was looking at her so harshly, but she was aware that so long as she showed some affection and care for Dorothy, he wouldn’t have any doubts about her.
While Leilani was still secretly praising herself, she failed to notice a small infrared camera that was installed at a hidden corner of the room. The camera captured the entire scene and her face very clearly.
Jonathan squeezed up towards Marvin and snorted with disdain. “Let me tell you, Marv, there is only one reason why you’d look as happy as she does when you’ve seen your daughter in such a state. She isn’t Dorothy’s biological mother. Sh*t, no wonder I felt something was wrong the first time I met the old hag.”
“Do you know why? Because this woman looks way too flirty with everything she does. How can such a dubious old lady give birth to such a perfect woman like Dorothy?”
“Shut up!”
Marvin gripped the cigarette in his hand and wasn’t paying any attention to Jonathan. He was taking pictures of Leilani’s face on his phone and sending them to Credence.
As for what Credence would do next, that was his own problem. He and Jonathan were only responsible for going along with the plan.
Credence heard a slight beep from his phone. His face stiffened, as he slowly opened all the messages that he had just received from Marvin.
A dark aura emerged from him. His eyes turned bloodshot red. He straightened his back and called out with a guttural rage. “Marvin, you may begin!”