Chapter 135
All along, Emily had assumed that the man was James. It had never crossed her mind that it could be anyone else.
The lighting was so dim that she couldn't even see what he looked like. After all these years, she had forgotten his voice as well.
But it was right around that time that James's attitude toward Emily took a sharp turn for the worse.
Before long, she discovered the affair between James and Sophia.
By then, she was already several months pregnant, and with triplets no less. The doctor didn't recommend an abortion.
First of all, it was her first pregnancy, and secondly, they were triplets. An abortion could easily cause severe bleeding, and she might never be able to get pregnant again in her life.
Left with no choice, Emily had to give birth to the babies.
Now, when Amelia asked her who the father was, Emily simply had no way to answer.
Amelia raised her hand and tapped Emily's forehead twice. "I'm talking to you. Why are you spacing out again? What are you thinking about?"
Emily snapped back to reality, turned, and pressed her hand against the cold wall, feeling nothing but a pounding headache.
When she turned back around, she said seriously, "Mom, whether Oscar and Nina have a father or not, I'll raise them properly. Maybe I'll get married again someday, and then I can find them a stepfather. Wouldn't that work out just fine?"
"Who says kids without their real father will definitely have psychological problems? There are plenty of kids in this world without their biological fathers, and they live just fine, don't they?"
"Why are you being so stubborn?"
Amelia got anxious. "I don't believe Oscar and Nina have ever brought up their father. How have you been dodging the question? Are you planning to dodge it their whole lives?"
"The kids are still young now, but what about when they grow up? All the other kids have fathers, but they don't. How sad must they feel?"
"Mom, please stop."
Emily was getting a bit irritated, too.
She understood everything Amelia was saying, but what could she do about it?
So many years had passed. How was she supposed to find that man now?
Amelia lowered her voice. "Emily, do you think I'm saying all this for nothing?"
Emily froze. "What else would it be for?"
Amelia said, her tone meaningful, "Haven't you noticed that Oscar and Nina look a lot like William?"
At these words, Emily drew in a sharp breath. "Mom, what are you thinking?"
"Never mind what I'm thinking. I am sure my guess is right."
Amelia nodded with certainty. "There's no such thing as this kind of coincidence. It would be one thing if just Nina looked like him, but Oscar looks like him too."
"Especially when they frown; they look exactly the same. Can this really be explained away as a coincidence? I don't believe you haven't thought about it."
Emily rubbed her temples. "Yes, I have wondered about it, but it's just speculation. It's absolutely impossible."
"Why?"
Emily spread her hands. "Why? It was at a hotel, a completely ordinary hotel."
"William's family is so rich. How could he possibly stay at an ordinary hotel when traveling? He would stay at least in a five-star hotel. I can't afford to stay in five-star hotels."
"In other words, we never even had a chance to meet in the first place."
It had to be said, Emily's reasoning made sense.
But Amelia still wouldn't give up. "What if he really did stay at an ordinary hotel? And just happened to run into you."
"That's impossible."
"How is it impossible? Who says rich people always stay at nice hotels when traveling? Maybe something unexpected happened? Otherwise, how do you explain why the two kids look like him?"
Emily was at a loss for words.
She really couldn't explain it, but it still seemed impossible no matter how she thought about it.
Never mind anything else, did William look like someone who was short on money? Even if he was short on money, he still couldn't possibly be unable to afford a hotel room.
Someone with Emily's ordinary background would never cross paths with someone like William in her lifetime, let alone get pregnant with his child. That was pure fantasy.
When Emily first met William, she was indeed startled by his appearance, but it was precisely because she thought of all this that she dismissed the idea.
"Mom, there are more than eight billion people in the world."
Emily gestured with her hand. "With such a large population, the chances of people looking somewhat alike naturally increase. This doesn't prove anything. Stop overthinking it. It's completely impossible."
"Never mind whether it's possible or not. Just try it, and you'll know, won't you?"
Amelia stuck to her opinion. "William is lying right there in the hospital room. You've been taking care of him these past few days. Why don't you take this chance to get a strand of his hair for a paternity test?"
"If it really is like I said, Oscar and Nina will have found their biological father, and you won't have to work so hard."
As she spoke, Amelia's eyes grew red. "My illness is serious. I look like a healthy person standing here, but I know in my heart that I don't know when I'll have another episode."
"You not only have to take care of two kids, but also take care of me. My heart aches for you."
"But it would be different if you had a man by your side. He could share your burden, and I could feel more at ease as well."
Emily let out a cold laugh. "Then wouldn't that man be really unlucky? Being with me just to help share my burden—do you think that's fair to him?"
"What's fair or unfair? Getting to the truth is what matters most."
"Enough, Mom. Stop making things even more complicated."
Emily raised her hand to stop her. "I'll handle my own affairs. Stop giving me advice. I know what I'm doing."
"I hope you really do know what you're doing."
Amelia let out a long sigh.
Why was Emily so stubborn? She had made it so clear, and getting a strand of hair was such a simple thing, but Emily just wouldn't do it. She had no idea what Emily was thinking.
But even so, Amelia already had an idea.
If Emily wouldn't do the paternity test, then she would do it herself. Getting a strand of hair wasn't hard. If she missed this chance, who knew when the next one would come?
Emily didn't want to talk to Amelia anymore and turned to leave.
When she returned to the hospital room, Oscar and Nina were already playing with William.
Nina, especially, was clinging to William. She hadn't seen William in so many days and missed him terribly.
If it weren't for William's injuries, he would have jumped onto the bed.
Watching this scene, Emily's heart trembled slightly, and she fell into deep thought.
Could what her mother said be true? Was William really the biological father of these two children?
But she couldn't make up her mind, and she didn't want to get a paternity test done.
It wasn't that she was afraid to do it, but rather that she felt it wasn't necessary.
What was more, William already had a son named Aiden.