Chapter 136
Although she had never heard William mention anything about Aiden's birth mother, it must have been a deeply memorable experience for him.
Since William had someone else in his heart, why should she get in his way?
Emily thought back to her last conversation with William.
He had told her himself that he once had a girlfriend, and later, that woman gave birth to a child and left.
According to William, he had no idea about any of this.
It wasn't until he stumbled upon Aiden by chance that he discovered the boy, though at the time, he didn't think Aiden was the child his ex-girlfriend had left behind.
As Aiden grew up, William noticed that the boy looked remarkably similar to himself.
If you looked at photos of William as a child, you'd see that Aiden was practically a miniature version of him.
William then recalled what had happened back then, went to the hospital for a paternity test, and discovered that Aiden was actually his biological son.
The whole story sounded incredibly strange and full of coincidences.
But later, thinking it over carefully, William figured that maybe Aiden had been deliberately placed in his path by his ex-girlfriend.
In other words, after giving birth, the woman probably couldn't afford to raise the child, so she sent him to William, and where she went afterward remained unknown.
Over the years, William had been searching for that woman but could never find her.
As time went on, he focused on raising Aiden well and gradually let the matter fade from his mind.
That was the answer William had given back then, and Emily hadn't thought much of it, but now she was really starting to have doubts.
But why would William stay at such an ordinary hotel?
Wasn't he wealthy? Even if he were short on money, he wouldn't be so broke that he couldn't afford a hotel room -- that didn't make any sense.
Someone like him would have an assistant, and whenever William traveled, his assistant would definitely arrange everything perfectly. There was no way they'd let William stay at an ordinary hotel.
Emily stood at the door for a long time until William noticed her. "Why aren't you coming in?"
Emily snapped back to herself, stepped inside, and forced a smile. "You all looked like you were having such a good time, I didn't want to interrupt."
"Mommy!"
One second, Nina was clinging to William; the next, she rushed into Emily's arms, nuzzling her neck.
"Mommy, where did you go? I missed you so much!"
Emily laughed at Nina's antics and gave the child's nose a gentle pinch. "That mouth of yours really knows how to sweet-talk."
"If I hadn't seen you holding onto Mr. Brown with my own eyes, I might have actually believed you," Emily said.
Nina waved a hand and jumped down from beside William.
Oscar spoke up then, "Come on, I'll take you outside to play."
"I don't want to."
Nina had already walked away a couple of steps, but hearing this, the child turned back around.
Grabbing William with one hand and Emily with the other, the child said, "I want to stay with you guys, I don't want to go running around outside."
"Be good."
Oscar's expression turned stern.
He could already tell that Emily and William had things to discuss, and the two of them being there was unnecessary.
Nina tried to resist, but Oscar just pulled the child out.
"Don't go running off, you two."
Emily followed them out, worried. "Just play in the hallway, and whatever you do, don't take the elevator downstairs."
"Got it."
Nina called back, and the two kids ran off.
Emily closed the door and returned to the hospital room. When she turned around, William was staring intently at her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Emily raised her hand to touch her face. "Do I have something on my face?"
William shook his head but kept his gaze fixed on her.
"Do you have something you want to tell me?"
He asked directly.
Emily's eyes flickered, and she quickly shook her head in denial.
William's lips curved slightly. "I've known you for quite a while now, I can pretty much guess what's on your mind."
"So tell me, what do you need?"
"I really don't have anything."
Emily thought about what Amelia had just said, and her thoughts were in complete chaos.
"Actually, I'll go get the doctor. The doctor was just here."
William stopped her. "There's no one else here. Are you sure you don't have anything to say to me?"
Emily wanted to say no, but the words seemed stuck in her throat, refusing to come out.
She had to admit, Amelia's words had gotten to her.
It wasn't that Oscar and Nina didn't want a father. Now that they were older and more understanding, they mentioned their father much less often.
Oscar almost never brought it up, and only Nina mentioned it occasionally.
But if you went back two years, when the kids were less mature, they'd ask Emily about their father every few days.
Especially when Nina was sick, the child would always have "Daddy" on their lips, and it broke Emily's heart to hear it.
She'd tried many ways to comfort the two children, and while things had improved, whenever she saw them looking enviously at other complete families, Emily still felt terrible.
But what could she do? After all these years, she simply couldn't find the man she'd had that one-night stand with.
Seeing William staring straight at her, Emily let out a long sigh and sat down in front of him. "I... I do have something to say to you, but to be precise, I should be asking you something."
Emily carefully chose her words, organizing them with great care.
William nodded. "Funny enough, I also have something I want to tell you."
The two locked eyes, and in that complex gaze, Emily seemed to understand what he meant.
But she quickly turned her head away with a faint smile. "Actually, it's nothing major. It's just that last time when you told me about Aiden's birth mother, you weren't very clear, so I wanted to ask a bit more about it."
Afraid William might read too much into it, Emily added casually, "Don't get me wrong, I just think that kid Aiden is really pitiful."
"From what you said, he's never even seen what his birth mother looks like. You're the one who raised him."
At this point, Emily's expression was utterly sincere.
"Kids without their birth mother around are always pitiful and easily picked on. Even though you protect Aiden, I imagine he must really long for a mother's love, right?"
"Yes."
William nodded.
The situation was exactly as Emily described. Aiden had been very sensible since childhood.
He was just like William as a child, never causing any trouble for his family and solving everything he could on his own.
But that was exactly what made it even more heartbreaking.
In front of William, Aiden had only asked about his mother when he was one or two years old. After turning three, he never asked again.
"Emily, you and I are actually the same."