Married the Sick Uncle – Just Waiting to Inherit His Fortune
Chapter 149: Taking Care of Ian
After Stella left, Anne Sutton glanced back into the hospital room. The floor was still a mess from when Ian had knocked everything over.
Anne Sutton tidied up a little before sitting down. She looked at Ian and wiped away his tears. "Ian."
Ian threw himself into Anne Sutton’s arms. "Anne, you’re mean!"
’She’d only spent a few days with him, yet hearing him blame her now brought an unexpected pang to her heart.’
’He wasn’t her child, but she truly adored him and her heart ached for him.’
Anne Sutton asked, "What did I do?"
Ian said, "Why didn’t you come see me? You promised you’d be my mommy."
Anne Sutton gently pulled him from her embrace and looked at him tenderly. "Before, when your mother wasn’t here, I took care of you. But now she’s back. It wouldn’t be right for me to stay by your side all the time. You saw how unhappy it made her."
"I don’t care if she’s happy or not!" He’d had a good impression of Stella Shields before, but now he was starting to truly despise her. "She’s a bad person. She’s not nice to me at all. I don’t like her! She’s not my mommy. I don’t want a mommy like her."
Anne Sutton said, "You can’t choose your parents."
Ian said, "But she’s not nice to me at all."
Anne Sutton said, "Are you hungry? What would you like to eat? I can ask the cook to bring you something tasty."
Ian replied, "I want you to make it."
Anne Sutton looked at the sweet boy and said, "How about I make it for you after you get better and go home?"
Ian looked at her. "But you won’t come back to see me."
"I will," Anne Sutton promised. "Once you’re all better, I’ll make you your favorite dishes. How does that sound?"
Ian looked at Anne Sutton, his eyes welling up with tears.
Anne Sutton made a call and asked the cook to prepare some food for him and bring it over.
Because Ian was sick, the food was prepared to be light and simple.
Anne Sutton was holding a bowl, feeding Ian.
Nathan Fawcett walked in from outside. Seeing Anne Sutton there, he froze for a second. "What are you doing here?"
Anne Sutton looked up at him and said, "I heard Ian was sick, so I came to see how he was doing."
Hearing this, Nathan Fawcett thought of her and Charles Prescott and didn’t want to engage with her.
’He’d thought she would come back that day, but she never did. She probably ran off to have a good time with Charles Prescott.’
Nathan Fawcett looked at Ian and asked, "Are you eating?"
The housekeeper saw Anne Sutton and greeted her, "Madam."
Anne Sutton asked, "Did you just get back from the office?"
Nathan Fawcett didn’t answer. It was the housekeeper who replied in his stead. "Sir was worried about the young master, so he hurried back."
Nathan Fawcett sat down next to Ian. He glanced at the bowl in Anne Sutton’s hands and said, "Give it to me."
With Ian present, he refrained from criticizing Anne Sutton to her face.
Anne Sutton handed him the bowl, and Nathan Fawcett began feeding Ian himself.
Seeing her still standing there, Nathan Fawcett said, "You can leave. No need to linger. Just looking at you ruins my appetite."
Anne Sutton said, "I need to talk to you."
"About what?" Nathan Fawcett shot her a cold look. "About you and Charles Prescott?"
Seeing him misunderstand her relationship with Charles Prescott and being so sarcastic, Anne Sutton didn’t bother to explain.
’It’s not like he’s anything to me. He has a child with Stella Shields. What I do and who I’m with is none of his business, is it?’
Anne Sutton said, "I wanted to talk about Ian. He’s sick. You should be spending more time with him."
Listening to this hypocritical woman talk, her murky relationship with Charles Prescott reminded him of how she’d had an abortion for that man’s sake back then.
Nathan Fawcett said coldly, "He’s my son. How I raise him is my business! What’s it to you?"
Anne Sutton said, "Stella Shields doesn’t like Ian, and she’s not good to him. If you’re going to leave Ian in her care, you should at least have a word with her."
Having seen how Stella Shields treated Ian with her own eyes today, Anne Sutton couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
’Ian is so pitiful. No matter what, he shouldn’t have to suffer.’
That was why she was here, speaking up for Ian.
Nathan Fawcett couldn’t care less about Stella Shields, but hearing Anne Sutton’s words, he retorted, "No matter how bad she is, she’s still better than you, isn’t she? What, you think running around with Charles Prescott and completely ignoring Ian is what’s good for him? At least she’s been by his side for the past few days."
"Ethan Linden." Anne Sutton’s tone grew serious. "I’m telling you this for the child’s sake. Just look at Ian. Look how sick he is."
Nathan Fawcett glanced at his son. Of course, he loved the boy dearly.
He said to Anne Sutton, "He’s just unlucky. Saddled with an irresponsible mother, isn’t it perfectly normal for him to get this sick?"
Anne Sutton retorted, "I’ve never met a father like you. You’re making me furious. I can’t even be bothered with you anymore. He’s your son, anyway. It’s up to you whether you care about him or not!"
With that, she turned and stormed out!
Outside, Anne Sutton was seething. She could feel her hands trembling.
She clenched her fists, telling herself over and over not to be angry. ’Don’t be angry. Ian’s own parents don’t seem to care, so why should I?’
’To think she was here, trembling with rage, all for someone else’s child.’
And yet...
When she thought of little Ian, her heart ached unbearably.
Just then, Stella Shields walked over. She gave Anne Sutton a complicated look before entering the room.
Seeing that Nathan Fawcett was back, she said, "Ethan."
Nathan Fawcett looked up at Stella Shields. "Where have you been?"
Seeing his angry expression, Stella Shields certainly wasn’t going to admit she’d just been slacking off.
She had been on the phone, dealing with work.
She said, "I had something urgent come up. Since Anne Sutton was here to see Ian, I let her keep him company. I didn’t expect you back so soon. Did she upset you? I thought you were at the office and wouldn’t be back until tonight."
Nathan Fawcett remained silent.
Stella Shields said, "Here, let me feed Ian. Have you eaten yet?"
She reached for the bowl as she spoke.
Ian quickly ducked into Nathan Fawcett’s arms, eyeing Stella Shields warily. "Go away! I don’t want to talk to you!"
Stella Shields had just scolded Ian, and the boy had already seen her true colors, so of course he didn’t like her.
However, in front of Nathan Fawcett, Stella Shields didn’t let any of her true feelings show.
She smiled gently. "Ian, Mommy was only gone for a moment. Why are you ignoring me? Don’t tell me Aunt Anne said something to you just now?"
She was shifting all the blame onto Anne Sutton.
Nathan Fawcett, who was sitting nearby, looked at Stella Shields and said, "I’ll take care of Ian. You can go home for now."
He was mostly done with his work anyway.
Even though he hadn’t slept at all the previous night, he still wanted to stay here with his son.
With Ian being unwell, he couldn’t rest easy.
Ever since he’d first brought Ian home, the boy’s health had been delicate. He’d been born prematurely.
But Nathan Fawcett, as his father, had cared for him with unwavering patience, nurturing him until he’d grown to this age.