He choked out, “She was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to handle the blow of her passing so soon after the loss of your child. Hence, she asked me to raise the child for half a year first before telling you.”
In the short span of a year, I had experienced the woes of grief. I kept my gaze locked on the ceiling. My eyes hurt and my vision was slightly blurry. However, no words fell from my lips.
After a period of silence, I finally found my voice and asked, “Who told her about me?”
She had been pregnant. In the month after my incident, I stayed with Marcus. During that time, I had attempted to take my life through various methods.
Marcus was busy taking care of me and did not have time for anyone else. Given his character, if I hadn’t insisted on seeing Macy, he would not have sought her out on his own, much less provoke her intentionally.
Such an evil deed…
“It was Jared’s assistant Kristina!” He blurted, his tone cold.
Kristina!
I frowned and thought about the well-dressed young lady. The same young lady that had been humiliated by Rebecca at Imperial Hotel.
“Her?”
Jackson nodded. “She went to see Macy. I’m not clear on what exactly transpired between them, but Macy’s mood soured after their conversation. Just as Macy was about to leave, she said to never tell Jared about the child.”
Never tell Jackson about the child?
I stopped speaking. In life, one needed to be at least a little fierce. If you show how weak you are from the beginning, everyone will zero in on you as prey who could be easily taken advantage of.
Jackson watched as I went back to staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. He called out softly to me, “Letty, you…”
“I’m fine!”
I pushed down all the surging emotions within me and said to Stacey, “You might need to help me with this.”
Stacey was momentarily stupefied before she nodded. “Sure!”
I nodded back at her. “Thank you!”
“You don’t need to thank me. It’s the least I can do!” She sounded rather stern.
I knew she was just thanking me for helping her with Felix. However, I was still grateful to her.
I looked at Jackson and tried to move my body. Unfortunately, my body still hurt terribly. “Jackson, when will I be able to leave the hospital?” I asked.
“The doctor suggested that you stay and recuperate for a few days!” He saw how I was trying to get up and helped me before he continued. “It’s almost spring. Letty, promise me you’ll take it easy. Let’s have a nice spring together, okay?”
I nodded and plastered a smile on my face. “Okay. But, I want to go back to K City for a while. I still have some work to do there. Once I’m done, I’ll come back to Jadeborough and we’ll spend a happy spring together with the child.”
He frowned slightly. “Can’t it wait till a later date?”
I shook my head. “I might need to go back tonight. Louis Stovall is now my godfather. I have to go because I’ll be written into the family register tomorrow night.”
“Louis Stovall?”
I nodded. “Yes!”
He furrowed his brow. “Is it because of John?”
“Yes!”
He pursed his lips and remained silent.
Sometime later, he looked at me and said, “Fine. I’ll wait for you to come back to Jadeborough to spend spring with us.”
“Okay!” After a moment, I asked him, “The child… Does she have a name yet?”
He shook his head. “We were waiting for you to name her. Macy’s instructions were for the child to take your surname. This way, you’ll really be a family!”
My chest contracted painfully, and a vein throbbed in my temple. It was painful to speak. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
“A girl!”
“Her name shall be Summer.”
Jackson was slightly stunned. “Summer Stovall. What a beautiful name.”
I nodded as tears welled in my eyes. “I hope she’ll receive all the warmth and joy that I wasn’t able to share with Macy!”
He nodded and pondered for a moment. “I love the name.”
“It’s a great name. It’s full of old-fashioned charm, yet it’s not outdated.” Nick voiced his agreement.
I nodded. Perhaps it was due to the excessive talking, or because my body was weak, to begin with, but I was utterly drained.
Stacey noticed how exhausted I was and said, “You should rest in the hospital today. The banquet is tomorrow night, right? You should rest up and save your strength.”
I sighed heavily. The day passed slowly as I remained within the confines of the bed.
By the time I traveled from Jadeborough to K City, it was the afternoon of the next day. John picked me up at the airport. When he saw the dark circles around my eyes, he sneered, “I can’t believe one trip to Jadeborough reduced you to this. Did you see a ghost or something?”
I climbed into the car and muttered, “I was short on time and didn’t manage to rest properly.”
“We’re headed for gown fitting. You can take a rest at my place later. I’ll go get you at night,” said John as he started up the engine.
I looked at him and a smile tugged at my lips.
He cocked an eyebrow when he saw my smile. “Why are you staring at me so creepily?”
I turned my gaze away from him and murmured, “Has anyone told you that you’re looking more and more like an older brother?”
