Chapter 267: Heart Deficiency

Lily wanted to say she was fine, but her arms were honestly too sore to argue. She let David take Noah from her.

David moved with the ease of someone who'd done this a thousand times — one hand cradling the back of Noah's head, the other supporting his waist, settling the boy smoothly against his chest.

Noah scrunched his nose in his sleep, instinctively nuzzling into David, his little fist closing around David's collar. He mumbled something half-formed: "Lily... Chase..."

Lily's heart gave a sudden lurch.

David glanced down at the boy in his arms, then looked back up at Lily.

In the dim light, his expression was different — softer. The usual sharpness had left his eyes, replaced by something that could almost be called warmth.

"Don't go home tonight." The words were out of Lily's mouth before she could stop them. The second she heard herself, she realized how that sounded and rushed to add, "I mean — Noah's already asleep, and it's so late out..."

David looked at her. The corner of his mouth moved, just slightly. It wasn't quite a smile, but Lily somehow felt like it was.

"Okay," he said. Simple, clean, like he'd been waiting for her to ask.

Then Olivia's voice came from the doorway.

The door swung open and she walked in on her heels, a bag in one hand, wearing a hoodie with her hair down — clearly rushed out the door without a second to spare.

She flicked the lights on before she'd even fully stepped inside. What she saw stopped her in the doorway: David standing by the bed holding Noah, Lily propped up against the headboard, the three of them lit by the soft glow of the room, looking unmistakably like a family portrait.

Olivia's grin spread all the way to her ears.

"What did I tell you?" She dropped the bag on the nightstand and crossed her arms, tilting her head as she looked between them, eyes gleaming. "Now that's what I call a family of three. Look at this — would you just look at this? So wholesome, so cozy, so absolutely—"

"Olivia." Lily's voice came out with a clear warning edge.

Olivia wasn't remotely scared. She took a couple steps forward and circled around David, looking him up and down with zero shame.

David stood there holding the sleeping Noah, expression unbothered, not even sparing Olivia a glance. He simply shifted slightly so Noah's face turned toward him, shielding the boy from her very enthusiastic staring.

"Is this your little one? Don't you dare try to steal our Chase!" Olivia raised an eyebrow, then turned to Lily with a crescent-moon smile. "So — are you two about to have your big romantic reunion? Did I show up at the wrong time? Should I step out and give you some space?"

"Stop making things up." Lily's face had gone red — all the way from her ears down to her neck. She glared at Olivia, voice sharp, but with cheeks that flushed, the effect was completely lost. "We're not like that."

"Not like that?" Olivia's eyes went wide with theatrical disbelief. She pointed at David, then at Lily. "It's the middle of the night, he's standing in your hospital room holding your kid, and you just asked him to stay — and you're telling me you're not like that? Lily, do I look like I was born yesterday?"

Lily opened her mouth. Then closed it.

She had nothing. Every word she'd said, every move she'd made — from where Olivia was standing, it all spelled out exactly one thing, loud and clear.

She glanced instinctively at David, hoping he'd say something to bail her out.

He did speak.

His voice was quiet and unhurried, but every word landed clean, like snow settling on a still lake: "If you had told Lily who she was sooner, we wouldn't have wasted this much time."

The smile froze on Olivia's face. Her eyes started drifting — from David to Lily, up to the ceiling, then down to her own shoes.

Her mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. She looked exactly like a fish out of water.

"I, uh..." She let out a hollow laugh. "David, I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. Ha... haha..."

"Yes you do." His tone was completely flat — not accusatory, just matter-of-fact. Which somehow made it worse.

He looked down at Noah. The boy was deep asleep, still clutching his collar, mumbling something under his breath.

"Besides... we were scared you'd take him." Olivia's voice dropped. She looked at David, and for the first time, decided she could trust him — at least a little. "The Jones family has power and money, and back then, you all couldn't stand Lily."

The words came out so quietly they nearly disappeared under the hum of the air conditioning. But Lily heard them. So did David.

Lily's fingers curled slightly.

She knew exactly what "back then" meant.

In the early days when Chase had come into her life, she'd been scared. On edge. Always bracing for the day someone might show up out of nowhere and take him away — as quietly and suddenly as David had disappeared on her once before.

She'd never told anyone about that fear. But Olivia knew.

Olivia always knew.

David was quiet for a moment.

His arms tightened almost imperceptibly around Noah. The boy stirred, then went still again, his small fist not loosening its grip on David's collar one bit.

If this were Chase — would Chase let himself be held like this?

"No." The word fell heavy, like a stone dropped into water, sending ripples out in every direction. He didn't say "we won't take the child." He didn't say "the Jones family doesn't hate Lily." He just said "no" — but both Olivia and Lily understood everything packed into that single word.

No taking. No hating. No fear. None of that would happen.

Olivia stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, the corner of her mouth curved up. Not teasing this time, not nervous — just the quiet relief of someone who'd finally let go of a worry they'd been carrying for a long time.

She turned to Lily and mouthed two silent words: "He's alright."

Lily didn't get to respond. A sharp, stinging pain shot through her wrist, and she hissed through her teeth. She'd probably strained it holding Noah just now — the cuts weren't deep, but the sleeve had caught against them, and now they burned.

Olivia caught the way Lily's brow pinched and her expression shifted immediately. "What's wrong? Is it your wound?"

"I'm fine." Lily instinctively tucked her hand under the covers.

"You're not fine!" Olivia's voice jumped up a notch before she caught herself. She glanced at Noah in David's arms and lowered her voice. "Don't move. I'm getting the nurse. Those cuts need to be looked at again."