CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 181: THE STERLING FAMILY SAW THAT BIRTHMARK

Timothy Walsh pressed his lips tightly together and didn’t speak.

What he said was not because he wanted the money, but because he wanted Ella Morgan to be obedient and stay abroad.

"I’ll hand over the money to Ella later, so please prepare the termination agreement," Ivy Summers said and then pulled Ella away.

Timothy Walsh frowned deeply, unsure of when the woman who used to be the most compliant to him had become uncontrollable.

...

"Ivy, you were so cool just now," Ella Morgan said as she clung to Ivy Summers’ arm on their way back to the hospital room, becoming her fangirl.

Ivy Summers gave a faint smile, "Have you really decided to cut ties with the Walsh Family?"

Ella Morgan looked serious, "I spent a year keeping the company afloat for him, was then sent abroad for five years, and now there’s fifteen million dollars involved; it’s enough, I’ve really paid it all back."

Ivy Summers was very relieved that she could break away from the Walsh Family.

"I’ll send you the fifteen million later."

"Okay, I won’t be polite about it."

She didn’t have the fifteen million now, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t in the future.

Ella Morgan was very aware that based on her abilities, she could repay this amount within three years.

"What are you holding in your hand?"

"Something Grandpa gave me."

"Transfer agreement of Lancaster Group shares!" Ella Morgan’s eyes widened, "Fifteen percent! Old Master Lancaster is so generous to you, what are you hesitating for? Sign it."

"The Lancaster Family wants custody of the three children."

Ella paused, "Meaning they have to go back to the Lancaster Family and change their last names?"

"Yes."

"Did you agree?"

"No, I’m hesitating..."

Ivy Summers understood that Old Master Lancaster made some good points; the Lancaster Family was unlikely to give up, and she wouldn’t either, leading to endless contention.

This battle would be torturous for her, the children, and everyone involved.

In this situation, someone would have to give in.

"None of them care about separating a mother from her children, they don’t consider the children at all."

"Oh, here." Ella Morgan took a bracelet out of her pocket and handed it to Ivy Summers.

It was something she had snatched back from Rachel Shaw during her kidnapping.

"What’s this?" Ivy Summers was taken aback.

"I snatched it back from Rachel Shaw, keep it safe."

Ivy Summers’ eyes welled up, and she hugged Ella Morgan tightly, "Ella, thank you."

"It’s nothing, you have to be tough with people like her."

...

Evening.

Ella Morgan and Ivy Summers were staying in the hospital room while Nathan and Leo were playing with Sophie in the hallway.

Suddenly, Sophie’s cries were heard coming from the hallway.

Ivy Summers and Ella Morgan immediately went out to see Gregory Lancaster and Seraphina Kennedy with a few bodyguards trying to take Nathan, Leo, and Sophie back.

But Sophie, who had returned with amnesia, didn’t feel safe around them at all, so how could she possibly want to go back with them?

Sophie didn’t want to return, and neither did Nathan nor Leo. The back-and-forth made Gregory Lancaster and Seraphina Kennedy anxious.

Ivy Summers quickly stepped forward, shielding the children behind her, "What are you doing?"

"Ivy Summers, is it you who told the children not to come back with us?" Gregory Lancaster, sweating from the hassle with the three children, questioned angrily.

"Sophie just got back, she can’t be without me."

With tears streaming down her face, Seraphina Kennedy crouched down and looked at Sophie with heartache, "Sophie, it’s Grandma who wronged you before, it was Grandma’s fault, can you forgive Grandma? Grandma won’t do that again, will you come home with Grandma?"

Sophie tightly pressed her little lips together, unwilling to speak to Seraphina Kennedy, burying her face in Ivy Summers’ embrace without even looking at her.

Seraphina Kennedy covered her mouth, choked with sobs, "Sophie, Grandma truly knows she was wrong, should Grandma send Annelise away for you? Don’t ignore Grandma, Grandma was really wrong!"

"Sophie can’t understand what you’re saying, she doesn’t remember what happened before."

Hearing this, Seraphina Kennedy and Gregory Lancaster felt even more remorseful.

"Sophie, Grandma will make it up to you, will you come to Grandma?"

"No, I only want Mommy."

"We also don’t want to go to the Lancaster Family, we want to be with Mommy," Nathan and Leo stuck closely to Ivy Summers, unwilling to leave.

Ivy Summers naturally didn’t want to be separated from the children either, "Let Nathan and Leo stay with me today, as for Sophie..."

Before Ivy Summers could finish her sentence, Gregory Lancaster outright refused, "No way!"

He was firm, with no room for negotiation.

Watching this scene, Ivy Summers recalled Old Master Lancaster’s words, if she didn’t grant custody to the Lancaster Family, they wouldn’t even feel reassured to let the children stay with her for even a day, fearing she would take them back.

But if she granted custody to the Lancaster Family, once Damien Lancaster remarried, would they really still allow her to see the children?

Ivy Summers was highly troubled, her tone turned firm, "Mr. Lancaster, these three children are originally mine, don’t I even have the right to keep them by my side?"

"They are the Lancaster Family’s children."

"I don’t deny it, but I gave birth to and raised these three children. I have the right to decide their future."

"I’m not Damien Lancaster. I won’t soften and go along with you. Here, you have no say."

In Gregory Lancaster’s eyes, Ivy Summers was just a temptress.

She forced his son to kneel and made the three children distant from them. If she’s not a temptress, what is she?

Seeing this, Ella Morgan worried Ivy couldn’t handle it alone, so she called Damien Lancaster.

At that moment, Damien Lancaster was still at the company, his office brightly lit.

In front of the desk, the man’s sharp eyes glanced over the documents in front of him and sneered, "The Shaw Group, what sheer audacity."

Julian Jacobs nodded. Uncovering every secret revealed just how much shady business the Shaw Group was involved in.

"Have our planted spies continue investigating. I want a decisive blow."

Damien Lancaster had previously warned Phillip Shaw.

If he wanted the Shaw Family, he had to sever ties with Rachel Shaw, abandoning her to fend for herself abroad.

Unfortunately, the Shaw Family dismissed his words, thinking the matter would just pass and he wouldn’t bring it up again.

In reality, he remembered it all carefully.

If the Shaw Family was unwilling to abandon Rachel Shaw, then the entire family could face the consequences together.

"Understood. Should the engagement party still proceed? The Shaw Family has mentioned it many times, as has your wife on a few occasions."

Despite the last incident, when the Shaw Family was kicked out of the Lancaster home,

Gregory Lancaster and Seraphina Kennedy still didn’t want the relationship with their future in-laws to become too strained, so they eventually forgave them.

Julian Jacobs said, "If the engagement party goes ahead, it might be somewhat..." Embarrassing!

Damien Lancaster didn’t care about that, his thin lips curled into a cold arc. "If Gregory insists on marrying, let him. He should get a lesson, even if it means losing face."

Julian Jacobs felt his master’s smile was somewhat unsettling.

It was like a tiger baring its sharp claws.

"Then the date is approximately set for a month from now. Madame said November 1st is a good day."

"Hmm."

The phone rang. Damien Lancaster glanced at it and answered.

"Come to the hospital quickly, your parents are fighting Ivy for the children."

Damien Lancaster hung up, stood up, grabbed his coat, and quickly headed out.

...

Gregory Lancaster and Seraphina Kennedy were unwilling to back down. They believed Ivy Summers couldn’t care for the children properly and would teach them to be distant from them.

In the hospital corridor, during the pulling and shoving, Gregory lost patience and ordered someone to snatch the children.

Sophie cried in fear, clinging tightly to Ivy’s clothes, refusing to let go.

Nathan and Leo struggled in the arms of the bodyguards, who couldn’t even hold them properly.

Ivy Summers felt a tightness in her chest, suffocating with anger.

Since they found out she had children, she had envisioned such scenarios.

Ivy Summers was well aware that this was just the beginning and certainly not the last time.

Hearing the children cry pitifully, Gregory felt both heartache and frustration, directing his anger at Ivy Summers, "Ivy, don’t be so hard-hearted. Even if you hate the Lancaster Family, you shouldn’t use the children to get back at us."

Ivy held Sophie, whose little face was red from crying, in her arms, looking at Gregory.

"Ignoring the children’s feelings, forcibly taking them—do you call that love? Your actions are no different from kidnappers. Sophie already has psychological scars, and you still want to forcefully take her back to the Lancaster Family. You’re not fit to be her grandfather."

"Am I fit or not, it’s not up to you to say?"

While Ivy and Gregory were arguing, Sophie quietly called someone from the Sterling Family.

Kyle Sterling received the call and immediately stood up from his chair, his face icy as he walked out.

Old Master Sterling saw him and asked, "Where are you going so late?"

"The hospital! The Lancaster Family wants to take Sophie back. She’s in danger." The sound over the phone was chaotic, and Sophie’s cries nearly broke his heart.

Old Master Sterling frowned, "The Lancaster Family? How could this be? That young Lancaster doesn’t seem like that kind of person."

"Not sure." Kyle Sterling clenched his fists and was about to leave.

Old Master Sterling stood up, "I’ll go with you."

"Grandpa, why would you go?"

"Do you think the Lancaster Family is easy to deal with? Their people are stubborn to death."

Chloe Caldwell sighed, "You both should make a trip. That little girl Sophie is truly pitiful, she hasn’t been well for long, and now the adults are making such a mess."

"Dad, there’s something else. I previously thought it was a coincidence, so I didn’t mention it to you."

Now that Sophie was brought up, Chloe continued, "The other day, when I was changing Sophie’s clothes, I saw a birthmark on her."

"Mom, why are you talking about birthmarks now? You’re wasting time." Kyle Sterling was anxious to get to the hospital to save Sophie.

"No, the birthmark is pink and crescent-shaped, on her shoulder, just like the one on Grace’s shoulder."

Old Master Sterling’s hand grasping the cane tightened, looking at Chloe for a long time without saying a word.

A birthmark by itself doesn’t prove anything.

But this pink crescent-shaped birthmark—not only did his daughter have it, but his wife did too. At the time, he joked that this beautiful birthmark might be inherited through generations, and now... Sophie has it too!