Chapter 97 Molly Was Taken Away by Cassidy
Before Arabella could speak, Daniel couldn't stand it anymore. "Enough! What happens to my future is my own business—what does it have to do with her? What's our relationship anyway? Why should she sacrifice for me? Even if she were my real sister, there'd be no reason for her to do this much for me. Mom, can you please do something with some brains for once? Having a mother like you in this lifetime—I'm so sick of it!"
Marilyn looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean, having a mother like me? What have I done to you? I... I'm doing all this for you!"
Daniel's eyes reddened slightly. He didn't want to say another word to her and walked away with a dark expression.
Sometimes he really hated it—why did he have to have a mother like this! Since childhood, how much he'd hoped his mother could be like other mothers—speaking gently, being kind to others, knowing how to respect people. But his mother was like an unreasonable shrew—sharp-tongued, mean, and trying to control his entire life.
He was so sick of it!
Marilyn looked at his retreating figure with hurt, sadness and grievance flooding her heart while also grinding her teeth in hatred. "What a debt collector! I gave birth to a debt collector!"
Arabella and Alexander had no interest in watching this drama unfold. They got in their car and quickly left.
Marilyn stood downstairs for a while, wiped away her tears, then turned and went upstairs. After entering, she found Percy sitting in the bedroom, holding a notebook in his hands with a dazed expression, not knowing what he was thinking about. This immediately made her furious, and she walked over with sarcastic scolding:
"Lost in memories again? That bitch has been dead for three years, and you really can't forget her. What did you marry me for? Think I'm eager to serve you? I work so hard taking care of you, and you won't even help me with such a small thing. If you'd just said a few words to your daughter, she wouldn't dare be so arrogant with me!"
Percy turned to look at her, his expression ice-cold and unforgiving. "If you're willing to give up the fifteen hundred dollars Arabella gives you every month, you're free to leave. If I wasn't afraid of Arabella worrying about me again, you think I'd want to live with you?"
Marilyn put her hands on her hips and cursed angrily, "You shameless old bastard, saying this now—have you no conscience? When I was wiping your ass and helping you piss, why didn't you tell me to leave then? You're just a shameless bastard! Your whole family are shameless, despicable bastards! Useless cowards!"
When she cursed, she never directly answered questions, as if she could concentrate all the most vicious and disgusting vocabulary in the world and vent it out. Percy listened to her shrill voice and responded with silence as usual.
After Marilyn finished cursing, she kicked over a chair and returned to her own room, the loud crash indicating she hadn't finished venting.
Percy looked down at the notebook—this page had only one number, left by an old war buddy years ago. For three years, neither of them had dared to contact the other.
That incident was like a nightmare hanging over both their heads. That crazy woman Marilyn was right about one thing—he really was a shameless person, a useless coward.
Recently, he'd been increasingly uneasy. He didn't know why, but though that incident had clearly passed, he always felt it wasn't over, always felt danger could come at any time.
Besides Arabella, he had no other concerns left in this world. Arabella couldn't have anything happen to her—he couldn't bear such consequences.
After much hesitation, he still picked up his phone and dialed the number from the notebook.
The phone rang for a long time before being answered. A cautious, somewhat disbelieving voice came through the receiver: "Percy?"
Percy's voice trembled slightly. "Brian, it's me!"
Brian Cooper choked up. "You... didn't we agree never to contact each other again in this lifetime? This is... you're being foolish!"
Percy closed his eyes, and a muddy tear fell. "Brian, I've been having ominous premonitions lately. Nothing's happened on your end, has it?"
Brian sighed. "Everything's fine on my end. You were the one obviously exposed back then—otherwise it wouldn't have brought such big trouble for you. I hid early on, so what could happen to me?"
What Percy feared most was Brian being watched and that incident resurfacing. Hearing Brian's words, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Good that nothing's wrong."
Brian advised him, "You just overthink too much. What's past is past. I know these three years have been hard on you, but at least we still have our lives. Just guard your daughter and live well—don't dwell on those things anymore!"
Percy said, "I know, I know. Brian, let's pretend this call never happened. However we've been these three years, that's how we'll continue."
After hanging up, he stared blankly at the family photo of three on the table and heavily closed his eyes.
On the other side, after Arabella and Alexander returned home, Alexander suddenly asked her, "Actually, this way is pretty good, don't you think?"
Arabella was startled. "What's pretty good?"
Alexander coughed, hung his suit jacket in the entryway, unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and rolled them up a few times, had her sit down, then said methodically, "Look, both our families worry about us being alone, with no one to care for us when we're old. But I can't really marry a woman and have children, and after being so hurt, you probably won't look for anyone again either. We two really don't need to do this short-term thing—why not just live together long-term like this? What do you think?"
Arabella hadn't expected him to discuss this with her. What made her even more flustered was that she actually thought what he said made sense, but somehow felt something wasn't quite right. She struggled and said, "But we agreed at the beginning..."
Alexander smiled. "I can understand your feelings—you still want to eventually return to living alone. But look at the current situation. Your dad is very concerned about you. If we divorce later, his worries won't decrease. And after you adopt a child, a stable family relationship will only benefit her, not harm her."
Arabella felt somewhat swayed. She knew what he said was true, but... was this really appropriate?
Alexander observed her expression and added another strong dose: "How about this—starting next month, I'll give you all my salary except for fixed expenses to manage. We'll run this like a real family. When your adopted child comes, I'll also fulfill my responsibilities as a father. If nothing else, when the child has parent-teacher conferences later, she'll be looked down upon by other classmates if she doesn't have a dad."
Arabella opened her mouth. She always felt something was off but couldn't figure out what for the moment. Seeing her silence, Alexander smiled and extended his hand to her. "So it's settled then?"
Arabella instinctively reached out and grasped his hand. After realizing what he meant, she was about to speak when Alexander said, "I'll go rest in my room first then."
Arabella could only temporarily swallow her words. She didn't know what to say now anyway—going back and forth would just be repetitive words. Better to think it over carefully first.
Alexander calmly walked back to his room and closed the door.
Then he couldn't help but clench his fist and excitedly whisper "Nice!"
After Arabella finished her shower, she finally realized what felt off.
Everything Alexander mentioned seemed to benefit her—giving her his salary to manage, letting her live in the house, even being a father to her adopted child. What good did maintaining this marriage do for him? Why was he so actively and proactively fighting for it?
Just to put Chloe's mind at ease? That was too big a sacrifice.
But thinking of his kindness, it seemed reasonable. He wasn't a man with strong material desires, and he was kind and filial—making such a decision didn't seem strange.
Still, she'd need to talk with him again another day. A marriage of convenience wasn't a real marriage—there was no need to give her all his salary. If they were going to live together, each could contribute a portion for household expenses.
Arabella lay in bed calculating these things and gradually fell asleep.
Early the next morning, she went to the orphanage with Philip. Yesterday she'd arranged with Ella to pick up Molly today.
On the way, she told Philip about Alexander's proposal and asked, "Do you think I should agree?"
Philip listened with his heart in his throat. Arabella didn't know what this meant, but he did—it meant the FitzRoy family truly wanted to treat her as a daughter-in-law for life.
Before, he and Daisy had helped Chloe thinking they'd divorce eventually anyway, so fooling Chloe could earn some pocket money. Plus Arabella was being targeted by the Watson family and needed the FitzRoy family's support—killing two birds with one stone, why not?
But now, clearly the FitzRoy family was getting serious.
He didn't dare give random advice. "What do you think?"
Arabella said conflictedly, "I actually think it's pretty good—it could save a lot of trouble. It's just too unfair to Alex."
Philip was scared by this answer, his hand trembling as he glanced at her. "Well, if—I'm just saying if—what if Alexander doesn't like men? What if he likes women? Would you still agree to his proposal?"
Arabella immediately said, "How could that work? If he liked women, we never could have had this cooperation from the start."
Philip sighed. He knew it.
He really didn't know how to remind her: that Alexander beside you is a big bad wolf with ulterior motives toward you!
But Arabella's thoughts wandered elsewhere. If Alexander wasn't gay... if he wasn't gay, what a popular man he'd be with women.
Alexander was handsome and capable at work. Though not wealthy, he had a car and house and lived comfortably. Most importantly, he was kind—such a good person, and his family was good too.
If she hadn't encountered that situation with Anthony, she might have been moved by such a man.
After sighing for a moment, they arrived at the orphanage. As soon as the car stopped, Ella rushed over with red eyes. "Arabella, I'm so sorry!"
Arabella's heart sank as she quickly asked, "What happened?"
Ella wiped her tears. "Just now, Molly was taken away. That person came with proper paperwork—I checked, and it was legal and legitimate. Arabella, Molly was taken away."
Both Arabella and Philip's faces changed dramatically.
On the way here, the atmosphere in the car had been cheerful. They'd imagined how to raise Molly, which country to arrange for her to study abroad in, and Philip had even said they'd take her shopping for new clothes first...
But now Molly had been taken away?
After taking several deep breaths to calm herself, Arabella asked Ella, "Do you know who took Molly?"
Ella frowned. "It was a woman. Before leaving, she asked me to give you a message. She said her name is Cassidy Sanders."
The fire in Arabella's heart immediately flared up. Wasn't Cassidy about to get married? What benefit was there in stealing Molly from her? Could she really bring an adopted child into the Watson family?
Randomly interfering with adoption matters—did she know that her casual action affected Molly's entire life's destiny?
"Ms. Ramsey," Arabella bit her lip and asked, "Did Molly leave willingly?"
Ella quickly shook her head. "No, though Molly didn't say anything, it was obvious she wasn't willing. This child is just too understanding—so understanding it breaks your heart."
Arabella's heart ached too. Molly must have been waiting joyfully for her to come, only to be taken away by the scheming Cassidy. Who knew how Cassidy would make things difficult for Molly just to spite her.
She turned to Philip. "Let's go back. I need to find Cassidy!"
Philip hesitated. "Have you forgotten? Today is Anthony and Cassidy's wedding day."
Arabella had indeed forgotten. Hearing this, she paused before saying coldly, "She still can't just steal my child for no reason!"
Seeing she was mentally prepared, Philip felt relieved. "Let's go then. Time's of the essence—I know where they're holding the wedding. I'll take you there."
Before leaving, Ella remembered something and called out to them, "Oh right, when Molly left, she took Becky with her. She said she wanted to bring her good friend to see the world outside the mountains and would send her back tonight. If you see Becky, tell her to come back early—she's never traveled far, and I'm afraid something might happen."
Arabella agreed, and Philip started the car.
The return journey wasn't as relaxed as the trip there. Both Arabella and Philip were silent, their moods gloomy.
Philip broke the silence, asking, "When you find her, what do you plan to do? Since Cassidy could take Molly away, her paperwork must be legitimate. We're already a step behind—even if we find her, we can't just snatch Molly back."
But Arabella was very certain. "She'll return Molly to me."
Today was the day she married into the Watson family. As long as she made a scene about this in front of the Watson family, forget Anthony—even Jennifer wouldn't allow Cassidy to adopt a child right after entering the Watson family.
She knew the Watson family too well—they only wanted biological grandchildren to carry on the family line.
Cassidy already had a baby in her belly. How could Jennifer possibly allow adopting a child and making the Watson family a laughingstock among wealthy families?
She bet Cassidy definitely adopted Molly without asking the Watson family's opinion.
This Cassidy was vicious-hearted and too arrogant.