Chapter 142: Chapter 142: Noelle Lockwood, You Are Not Christian’s Biological Mother

Wait, what?

Dr. Walsh’s passionate speech was caught in his throat, leaving him unable to speak as his face turned beet red.

The few patient family members who had just been filled with righteous indignation also froze, looking at each other in confusion.

’What does Mr. Sloan mean... He got married seven years ago?’

’Then... what does that make Noelle Lockwood?’

Estelle Lockwood instinctively turned to look, her eyes filled with just as much surprise as anyone else’s.

’Nathaniel Sloan actually announced in public that he was married?!’

She had thought this time would be just like all the others—that Nathaniel, worried about Noelle’s health and protective of her reputation, would choose to remain silent and let Estelle take the blame once more.

But now, he had publicly announced his marriage!

A bittersweet pang went through Estelle Lockwood’s heart. It wasn’t joy; she couldn’t even quite parse her own emotions at that moment.

’If only these words had come sooner...’

Noelle Lockwood could barely keep the smile on her face. Rose Lowell, her expression panicked, raised her voice to cover up her guilty conscience.

"Nathaniel, what nonsense are you talking about! Even if you don’t like Noelle, you can’t do this! Noelle has been by your side for so many years. She deserves credit for her effort, if not for her achievements! And you—you’re just going to make up an excuse that you’re married? What does that make our Noelle!"

Rose Lowell desperately tried to stop Nathaniel Sloan, but he remained perfectly still.

’Trying to play the sentiment card to smooth things over again?’

"It seems Ms. Lowell’s memory isn’t very good, to have forgotten that you yourself were present on the day I got married."

Nathaniel said slowly, "I still have the wedding video. Does that jog your memory, Ms. Lowell?"

Rose Lowell’s face fell. ’A wedding video?! B-but I attended that wedding as Estelle’s mother! If he plays that, it would be throwing Noelle to the wolves!’

Rose Lowell immediately lost her aggressive edge, forcing an awkward, fawning smile. "N-no need for that, Nathaniel. It was all so long ago..."

Nathaniel ignored Rose Lowell’s expression, which had twisted into a grimace from the effort of her forced smile. "Since you both know I’m married, who gave you the confidence to believe I would abandon my own wife to become a pair of ’fiancés’ with Noelle Lockwood?"

The room fell completely silent.

’Mr. Sloan is just slapping Noelle Lockwood and Rose Lowell right in the face!’

’Just a moment ago, Ms. Lowell was calling Yara a shameless mistress for butting in. But Mr. Sloan is married, so isn’t the one constantly promoting herself as the fiancée to a married man the real mistress?’

’As if one is any more noble than the other!’

"I’m sorry, Nathaniel, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant."

Tears welled in Noelle Lockwood’s eyes. "I never wanted to take my sister’s place, I never dreamed of marrying you. It’s just... Christian is getting older, and I wanted to give him a complete family..."

Noelle implied, "After all, I’m Christian’s mother. He used to get bullied, and I couldn’t bear it..."

Rose Lowell caught on. "Yes, yes! Noelle didn’t do it on purpose! How can you curse her for interfering in someone else’s marriage? She was doing it all for the child!"

The crowd suddenly fell silent.

’It’s true. No matter what you say, there is a child between them.’

’Maybe Noelle really did do the wrong thing for the child’s sake?’

Noelle Lockwood lowered her gaze. She wasn’t worried that Nathaniel would deny her claim. After all, the fire had just happened, and she had already leaked plenty of information. By now, many people online knew about Estelle’s suicide attempt five years ago and how it had implicated the entire hospital.

If Christian were revealed to be Estelle’s son now, he would also be subjected to vicious online attacks, and Nathaniel would never allow that to happen to him!

Nathaniel’s eyes turned ice-cold.

He couldn’t help but recall his conversation with Christian.

Christian had said that although he was only five, he wasn’t ignorant; he knew good from evil and could distinguish right from wrong.

Christian was close to Estelle and played so well with Zachery and Mia. Nathaniel had no doubt that his son already knew the truth.

The reason he had hidden the truth and proclaimed Noelle to be Christian’s mother—apart from Laura Jennings meddling and taking matters into her own hands—was truly to protect Christian.

But now, his son was standing firmly by his biological mother’s side. Christian had chosen to protect Estelle.

So, what was there for Nathaniel to hesitate about?

’Some things are best cleared up all at once.’

"For the child?" Just then, Estelle Lockwood suddenly spoke up.

She was sitting to the side, resting her chin on her hand with a look of great interest. "I had no idea Miss Lockwood loved children so much, hmm?"

Noelle Lockwood bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears. "Yara’s sister, you have children yourself. You know that we mothers always want our children to grow up healthy and happy."

Estelle’s smile widened.

’How touching,’ she thought.

Too bad for them, she loved to cause trouble.

Estelle Lockwood sat in her chair, crossed her legs, slowly took out her phone, and gave it a little shake.

"Is that so? Well then, Miss Lockwood, I suggest you call the police. Someone must have impersonated you when they answered my call."

Noelle Lockwood didn’t understand at first. ’What does she mean—’

The next moment, a phone recording suddenly began to play!

—"Noelle Lockwood, where is Nathaniel Sloan? Put him on the phone! Christian is waiting for him!"

—"Yara’s sister, Nathaniel is taking care of me right now. Are you really going to disturb our private time together? How pathetic can you be? Even if it’s something life-or-death with Christian, it can wait."

—"You can always have another child, but I’m the only one he truly loves. Do you really think Nathaniel will go soft just because Christian is sick?"

—"Yara’s sister, what do you and Christian Sloan even mean to Nathaniel? He wouldn’t even glance your way if you both died. I’m the one who’s most important!"

Then, the sound of a child’s labored breathing could be heard over the phone.

Noelle had scoffed, "You’re pretty good at faking it," and hung up.

The air was so quiet it felt like it had frozen solid.

Estelle put her phone away, a slow smile spreading across her face. "Since you claim to love Christian so dearly, Miss Lockwood, then the person who answered that call couldn’t have been you, right? Would you like me to call the police for you?"

The color drained from Noelle Lockwood’s face. Her lips turned white, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead!

Seeing her reaction, was there anyone left who didn’t understand?

"So that’s what Noelle Lockwood is like behind closed doors? She doesn’t even care if her own son lives or dies, and she still wanted to use him to tie Mr. Sloan down!"

"Is Young Mr. Sloan really her biological son?"

"How can there be such a vicious mother! Her child is sick and she doesn’t care, and even says let him die?"

"No wonder Mr. Sloan isn’t interested in her! That poor Young Mr. Sloan, to be stuck with a mother like that..."

Nathaniel’s eyes were frigid. ’Estelle had called him?!’

And that call, the very first one made after Christian fell ill, had been answered by Noelle, who then deleted the call history!

"No, Nathaniel, it’s not like that, listen to me..."

Noelle Lockwood realized this was a disaster. She never expected that Estelle would have recorded the phone call!

’What do I do now? Right, right, I just have to deny it to my dying breath. I’ll say... I’ll say Estelle was being deliberately provocative, that I didn’t think things through, that I didn’t know Christian was really sick!’

"Nathaniel, I’m Christian’s mother! How could I not love him? It was just a misunderstanding. If I had known, I never would have said those things..."

Rose Lowell also stammered, "Nathaniel, Noelle has been so good to Christian all these years, you’ve seen it for yourself. R-really, our Noelle loves Christian very much. What kind of mother doesn’t love her own son? Th-this is all because Yara has been sowing discord..."

"Enough!"

For the first time, Nathaniel felt the urge to make Noelle Lockwood disappear forever. Losing all patience, he cut them off coldly.

An icy chill emanated from his eyes as he spoke, enunciating every word. "Noelle Lockwood, you know perfectly well whether or not Christian is your son!"

"Or, let me put it another way—"

"Noelle Lockwood, you are not Christian’s biological mother at all!"