Chapter 219 The Child's Biological Mother
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Quinley rushed to Elise's side and helped steady her.
"Lucas, call Dr. Brown. Now."
Zachary's voice was sharp with urgency, and Lucas quickly pulled out his phone to make the call.
"Quinny, let's get Mom back to her room."
Zachary carefully lifted Elise into his arms. Lucas quickly stepped in to help, and together they carried her to the bedroom.
Outside in the courtyard, Chief Smith was helping Susan into the car when Cheese suddenly ran out of the house.
"Mommy, where are you going?"
he called out tearfully.
Adela merely glanced at him, her expression cold and indifferent.
"Wherever I want."
With that, she slipped into the car.
Cheese didn't understand what was happening. At only five years old, the sudden changes were far beyond him. As Adela's car disappeared from Maple Estate, he stood alone in the courtyard, sobbing helplessly.
Dr. Brown arrived shortly afterward and went into the bedroom to examine Elise.
"Mrs. Jennings is fine," he said after checking her. "She fainted from emotional shock. Once she gets some rest, she should be alright."
"Cheese, come here."
Hearing the child crying outside, Quinley's heart ached. Perhaps it was because of the pregnancy she had grown especially tender-hearted lately.
Cheese looked up at Quinley, his face full of confusion. Quinley crouched down so she was level with him.
"Cheese, your mommy and I are sisters, so you can call me Auntie now. Will you stay with me?"
Cheese blinked through his tears, staring at Quinley as if she were a stranger.
"I want Mommy! I want Mommy! I want Mommy!"
He sobbed, bolting toward the gate.
"Mrs. Jennings, you should get some rest. I'll take him to play in the back for a while."
Lucas stepped over to Cheese and scooped him up gently.
"Hey, little guy, want to go play ball in the backyard with me?"
Cheese squirmed in Lucas’s arms, tears streaking his chubby cheeks.
Quinley returned to the bedroom, her mind in turmoil. Adela was finally facing justice—but what about this child?For some reason, looking at Cheese made her think of Susan as a little girl. Had she been just as helpless when she stayed in that orphanage?
Zachary stepped up and draped his arm around her shoulders. "What are you thinking about?"
Quinley looked up at him, a small, determined smile on her face. "Let's keep Cheese."
It was a sudden decision, made on impulse. Zachary watched Quinley carefully, reading the determination in her eyes. He understood her feelings, but he couldn’t quite agree with her method.
"We can’t be selfish, we have to send him back to his real parents."
"Who are his parents?"
Quinley asked.
, a small frown creasing his brow. "I don’t know yet, but we’ll find out soon."
Returning the child to his biological parents felt like the right thing to do. Quinley nodded without hesitation, and Zachary immediately set people in motion to find them.
Three days later, news finally arrived but no one had expected the child to be connected to someone so familiar.
"Are you sure the child's mother is Alicia?" someone asked, disbelief in their voice.
Quinley stared at the investigation report in disbelief. She never would have guessed that Alicia had given birth to a child five years ago and abandoned him immediately after.
"Yeah."
Zachary replied coldly.
Quinley’s breath caught. What a small world—it turned out that Alicia had given birth to Cheese, and five years later, the child had ended up in Rosewood City.
"Where is she now?"
Quinley asked.
"In detention."
Quinley hadn’t realized that Alicia had been taken into detention.
"Does she know about Cheese?" she asked.
Zachary shook his head. "Not yet. She probably thinks no one knows."
"So… what do we do now?" Quinley asked, her voice tinged with uncertainty.
Zachary’s gaze hardened. "We take the child to see her."
Zachary made the decisionswiftly, but Quinley hesitated. Alicia had been left utterly alone, humiliated and disgraced.Taking the child to see her letting Cheese realize his birth mother was someone like that how much would it hurt him?
"Have you thought about what this will do to the child?"
Quinley questioned.
"Quinny… you’ve felt what it’s like to be separated from family. You know how Cheese must be feeling right now. Alicia may be terrible, but she’s still his biologicalmother he deserves to know who she is."
Quinley's eyelids drooped as memories washed over her. She remembered the night she first learned the truth about her past how, at just ten yearsold, she had lain awake all night, restless and troubled beyond her years.
In the years that followed, she forced herself to bury her longing for her mother, pretending everything was normal in front of Colin and Marlee.The ache lingered for over a decade far deeper than the pain of facing the truth would have been.
"Alright, I'll go with you."
Quinley made her decision.
Thanks to Lucas pulling a few strings, Zachary was able to secure a visit to the detention center.
"Zach… you came to see me?" Alicia’s voice trembled slightly, a mix of surprise and suspicion.
When Alicia saw Zachary standing before her, a bright smile spread across her face. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time. She had put on someweight, and her face no longer held its former radiance but her eyes still sparkled with joy at seeing him.
Zachary satsilently across from her, his expression unreadable. Alicia was just bait to catch a bigger fish the trap had been set,but the fish still hadn’t taken the hook.
"Zach, I was wrong. I really was wrong. I promise I’ll never do those foolish things again. Please… can you let me out?"
After nearly a month behind bars, Alicia had felt the sting of losing her freedom. All that occupied her mind now was one thing: escaping this hellhole.
"I'm here to introduce you to someone."
Zacharydidn’t respond to her protest, his gaze fixed on the door. Quinley stepped forward, holding Cheese’s hand.
"What are you doing here? Who told you to come?" Alicia’s voice trembled with fury. "I don’t want you here get out!"
Quinley remained calm. She crouched down, gently wiping Cheese’s face before picking him up. "Cheese… this is your mother your biological mother." She stressed the word deliberately, letting it hang in the air.
Cheese didn't understand what was happening. He blinked up at Alicia with wide, watery eyes.
"Quinley… what is this? What mother? Where did you get this child? What are you trying to do?" Alicia’s voice trembled, each question sharper than the last.
Holding Cheese close, Quinley said, "Five years ago, you gave birth to a son in Europe… do you remember?"
"That’s a lie!" Alicia shot back, her face flushing with denial.
"Denying it won’t help. You had him taken away the moment he was born… but you probably never imagined he’d return to Rosewood City.And now… he’s standing right in front of you."
"You're lying! That can’t be true! That child… he’s dead! How… how could he still be alive?"
Panic twisted across Alicia’s face, her eyes wide and her lips trembling.
"You don’t have to believe me just take the paternity test with the child. Then the truth will be undeniable."
"I won’t do it absolutely not that test! Haven’t you ruined me enough already…? What more do you want from me?"
Fury overtook Alicia. She shot to her feet, her voice trembling as she roared at Quinley.
"Take that child away! I don’t want to see him… I don’t have a son! I never had a child!"
"Alicia… this is on you."
Zachary’s voice was icy as he spoke, and the weight of his words froze Alicia into silence.