CHAPTER 9: CHAPTER 9: SHE NEVER ABORTED THE CHILD

Ivy Summers’ face turned pale.

It’s over.

"Ivy, are you coming back?"

Ella Morgan’s voice.

"Mommy..."

Ivy Summers suddenly grabbed the phone and hung up.

Damien Lancaster frowned.

He heard it.

Someone called out "Mommy" on the phone.

His gaze fixated on Ivy Summers, his deep eyes narrowed dangerously. Seeing her tense demeanor, suspicion instantly arose in his heart.

"Mommy? Called you?"

Ivy Summers clutched her phone tightly, steadying her trembling self, "That was my friend’s child, calling for my friend."

"Friend’s child." Damien Lancaster coldly repeated those words, "Then why are you nervous?"

"Which eye of yours saw that I was nervous?"

"Ha."

Damien Lancaster let out a cold laugh. Even though Ivy Summers controlled her expression well, her eyes and actions still betrayed her.

"You’re lying, Ivy Summers. Do you know that your eyes tend to wander when you lie?"

"Damien Lancaster, are you interrogating me?"

"Yes, I am interrogating you. I’m very curious. Back then, who was the doctor that agreed to perform an abortion when you were seven months pregnant? Or did you not abort the child at all, and instead gave birth in Yrador, raising the child there? Was the child who just called ’Mommy’ the same child from back then?"

Every question Damien Lancaster asked sent shivers down Ivy Summers’ spine.

Because he guessed everything right.

Ivy Summers gritted her teeth, looking intently into Damien Lancaster’s eyes, "No, I already aborted the child back then. What are you suspicious about? Do you think I would have kept your child?"

Damien Lancaster had always doubted whether Ivy Summers really aborted the child.

After all, the child was already seven months old back then, with just over a month to go before delivery.

Would she really have been willing to abort the child?

Moreover, most hospitals would not agree to induce labor for a child that far along.

He originally had doubts, but his investigation into Ivy Summers’ life in the following years showed she lived alone, which slightly alleviated his suspicions. Yet the phone call just now reignited them.

Leo.

Mommy.

The more Damien Lancaster thought about it, the more he felt that perhaps she never aborted the child back then.

"Since you won’t admit it, call this number back to prove it to me."

Ivy Summers tightened her grip.

"Not daring? Did I guess right?"

Ivy Summers pressed her lips together as Damien Lancaster’s gaze bore into her, full of suspicion.

She knew if she didn’t make this call, it would be tantamount to admitting Damien Lancaster’s suspicions were correct.

Ivy Summers clenched her phone.

She had no choice but to take the gamble.

"Fine, you suspect me, right? I’ll call."

She opened her phone and dialed the number.

Damien Lancaster looked at her as if trying to discern clues from her expression.

The call was quickly answered, and in the quiet car, a woman’s voice emerged.

"Hello, Ivy, why aren’t you here yet? Leo’s getting anxious waiting."

Ivy Summers’ heart tightened sharply.

"Auntie Ivy, come quickly. Mommy and I are both waiting for you."

Damien Lancaster listened with pursed lips. It was the child’s voice from earlier.

Hearing this, Ivy Summers immediately understood and said, "Leo darling, I’m sorry. Auntie Ivy is dealing with something here and can’t come play with you tonight."

"Why not? Auntie Ivy, you promised you’d come play with me today."

"Auntie has encountered something here and needs to handle it."

"What happened?"

Ella Morgan also asked, "Ivy, what’s wrong? Did something happen? Do you need help?"

"It’s nothing, don’t worry."

"Alright then, when will Auntie Ivy come to play with me?"

"In a couple of days, Auntie will come in a couple of days to play with you."

"Okay, Auntie, goodbye."

"Goodbye." Ivy Summers hung up the phone.

Damien Lancaster furrowed his brow.

The child on the phone called Ivy Summers "Aunt," so the earlier "Mommy" must have been addressing the woman on the other end. Could he have been mistaken?

Holding her phone, Ivy Summers breathed a heavy sigh of relief inside, looking at Damien Lancaster, "If you still have doubts, you can investigate yourself."

Damien Lancaster said nothing, and Ivy Summers sensed his sudden cold aura.

Ivy Summers felt fortunate that they were so in sync; otherwise, Damien Lancaster would have figured it out tonight.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the three little ones and Ella Morgan all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Ivy Summers hadn’t returned for so long, answered the phone without speaking, and suddenly hung up. Something was definitely wrong, so when the call came again, Ella Morgan cautiously tested it out first.

As expected, something had indeed happened.

"Godmother, Sophie is worried about Mommy. Did bad daddy take Mommy away?"

Ella Morgan’s face was full of concern. It was clear that only when encountering Damien Lancaster would Ivy Summers hide the child’s identity.

So, Ivy Summers must currently be with Damien Lancaster.

"I want to rescue Mommy." Leo, with a serious expression, picked up his little backpack, ready to head out.

"Me too," Sophie immediately followed, the little one full of momentum.

Ella Morgan took hold of the two little ones, "Where are you going? You can’t go anywhere. Your mommy is most afraid of you being discovered. Are you planning to run and give yourselves away?"

"But bad daddy took Mommy. Mommy is in danger." Sophie was extremely anxious.

"Trust your godmother. Your mommy is not in danger right now. Damien Lancaster won’t do anything to your mommy. As long as you aren’t discovered by him, she will be fine."

"But Sophie is worried about Mommy." Sophie’s eyes reddened, on the verge of tears.

Ella Morgan quickly comforted her, "Don’t cry, Sophie. Sophie, your mommy just told you not to worry, so she must have a way. Can you stay with your brothers at godmother’s house for now?"

"But Mommy..."

Nathan came over and hugged Sophie, "Good Sophie, we need to listen to Mommy, and stay at godmother’s house. Otherwise, Mommy will worry. Do you want her to worry?"

"Sophie doesn’t."

"So Sophie needs to be good."

Sophie, with reddened eyes, looked at them and tried hard to wipe away her tears, "Okay, Sophie is the best."

Nathan looked at Leo, "Leo?"

Leo had no choice but to begrudgingly put down his backpack, "Leo will be good too."

With Leo and Sophie persuaded, Ella Morgan now had the responsibility of taking care of the three of them, honoring Ivy Summers’ trust. She managed to coax them back to their rooms to sleep.

The three little ones didn’t cause her any trouble, obediently lying down on their little beds.

Ella Morgan held her breath, gently closing their room door, then took out her phone to call Ivy Summers, intending to try to find out what happened.

But Ivy Summers’ phone was already unreachable.

Ella Morgan was anxious but there was nothing she could do. She knew very well that Ivy Summers was genuinely afraid of the children being discovered, so her primary duty was to look after these three kids.

Ella Morgan turned off the living room lights and returned to her room.

Half an hour later.

In the dark.

Everything was quiet.

A small figure quietly slipped out of the room, feeling their way through the dark, silently opening the front door.

The little figure slid out through the door gap with ease.

Gently closing the door, no one noticed as the little one, relieved, switched on a flashlight.

Two silhouettes ahead suddenly turned their heads.