Chapter 157 Seen as Siblings
"Ambrose, whose child is this?" Cody walked forward excitedly, his eyes fixed on Yara.
Yara wasn't shy at all. She stared back at Cody and said matter-of-factly, "I'm my mommy's child."
Yara's sweet, childlike voice instantly made Cody even more affectionate. He bent down to Yara's eye level and said gently and kindly, "That's right, you're your mommy's child."
At that moment, Cody guessed it, this child was Scarlett's daughter.
As Cody stared at Yara, an inexplicable sadness appeared in his eyes. Yara blinked her big eyes, looking straight into his deep gaze.
Children were magical creatures—happiness, sadness, dislike, affection—these emotions could be sensed at a glance.
Yara's little mouth moved, and she asked in her sweet childlike voice, "Are you sad?"
Tears instantly welled up in Cody's eyes. He raised his hand to touch her head, his throat tight as he said, "I'm not sad. I'm happy to see you."
Yara tilted her head in confusion. "Do you know me?"
"I can know you now. Your name is..."
"Great-grandpa, she's the Yara I told you about." Hayden seamlessly jumped in.
Cody nodded. She really was Scarlett's daughter, but why did this child look so much like...?
Ambrose looked down and saw Cody's reaction, thoughtful.
"Mr. Cody Boleyn, who is this little girl?" Indigo walked forward, sizing up Yara.
"This is the child of Ambrose's friend."
Cody brushed it off lightly. Indigo looked at Yara with darkened eyes. Yara was also looking back, and when their eyes met, she shrank her neck and tugged at Ambrose.
"Ambrose, let's go!"
Ambrose looked down and saw Yara with her head lowered. Thinking she was scared of the scene, he bent down and picked her up.
"We're going back."
Yara wrapped her arms around Ambrose's neck, her chin resting on his shoulder, her clear eyes looking at everyone. She immediately spotted Octavia in the back, staring at her.
Seeing this scene, Octavia's face turned pale. Her hands at her sides clenched into tight fists. Ambrose was actually treating Scarlett's daughter better than his own son. Did he really like Scarlett that much?
Scarlett, a woman who had been married and even had a child—he actually liked Scarlett?
She had given birth to his child, yet he acted as if she didn't exist. Why was he humiliating her like this?
The more Octavia thought about it, the more she hated it, until she couldn't help but step forward to catch up.
"Ambrose!"
Ambrose, holding Yara, stopped and saw Octavia in front of him. He narrowed his eyes, said nothing, but called out, "Chase."
Chase quickly walked forward and saw Ambrose hand Yara over, along with the instruction, "Take them to the car first."
Chase held Yara and took Hayden's hand as they left. Ambrose said with a slightly cold tone, "Didn't you hear clearly just now?"
"I heard very clearly, and I don't plan to fight with you, but just now, you were holding someone else's child while letting my son walk alone. I can't accept that." Octavia's face was pale, her voice trembling.
Ambrose gave a light snort. "Don't make a big deal out of nothing. You've never cared about the child. What right do you have to criticize here?"
Octavia's eyes were bloodshot. "If I hadn't been treating my health all these years, how could I not care for the child? Now that I'm better, I can take care of him. Give him to me!"
"Are you daydreaming!" Ambrose threw out the words, too lazy to argue with Octavia, and walked away.
Octavia looked at Ambrose's back, her hands clenched into tight fists.
"You're not even married yet, and you're already showing favoritism. I can't watch the child suffer like this. I'll do everything in my power to get him back."
Ambrose didn't stop walking, his tone icy as he threw out, "Then try it."
Octavia's eyes were venomous.
The Mitchell family couple and Cody at the scene remained calm-faced, each with different thoughts, but no one said anything more.
Only Briar stood there with her mouth wide open in shock. It wasn't until everyone had left that she finally realized, Octavia was Hayden's mother?
Octavia was Scarlett's enemy, and Scarlett had been taking care of her enemy's child all this time?
What kind of crazy plot was this!
Did Scarlett know about this?
Briar immediately called Scarlett.
After the Mitchell family father and daughters got in the car and left the Four Seasons Hotel, Indigo asked in a cold tone.
"Who is that child?"
Octavia turned her head back from looking out the car window. "Dad, she's Scarlett's daughter, and also Owen's granddaughter."
Indigo's expression changed abruptly. "So Ambrose is now with Scarlett from the Mellon family?"
"He said he has a fiancée. This fiancée should be Scarlett, otherwise he wouldn't have brought that little girl with him." Octavia no longer had her usual pitiful appearance, her face full of hatred.
"Ambrose has chosen a woman from the Mellon family but still won't marry you. Is he planning to assist the Mellon family?" Indigo's dark eyes flashed with fury.
"Dad, the gentle approach won't work anymore," Octavia said.
"Then we'll change tactics. The Boleyn Group may be strong, but they still need to cooperate with the policies of the leadership above. Since he's so ungrateful, there's no need to show mercy."
Phaedra, sitting beside them, listened to the father and daughter's conversation, thought for a moment, and asked a question, "That little girl looks a bit like Hayden. Could that little girl also be Ambrose's child?"
After Phaedra's words fell, Octavia's face stiffened. Her hands on her thighs gripped her pants tightly, but she still said.
"Of course, she's not Ambrose's child. She's from Scarlett's ex-husband."
Indigo, beside her, also looked at Octavia and said flatly, "No matter whose child it is, since he chose the Mellon family, that means he wants to oppose me."
"Dad, Ambrose might have been blinded by Scarlett. Cody can't possibly not see the serious implications here. You should remind Cody." Octavia said.
"How could Cody not know? And he seemed quite fond of that child just now. It looks like we won't be able to win over the Boleyn family."
"I heard from Ulysses that the Boleyn family is also competing for the Serene Bay Peninsula project. Dad, you should suggest letting the Boleyn family cooperate with the Mitchell family to win the Serene Bay Peninsula project. If Ambrose refuses, then we won't try to win over the Boleyn family anymore." Octavia said.
Indigo lowered his eyes and thought for a moment. "Then let's give Ambrose one more chance. If it doesn't work, we'll just have to take the child back."
After Cody returned to the Boleyn Manor, he went straight to his study. From a drawer in the study, he took out a box, opened it, and pulled out a photo album. Opening the album, his gaze stopped on a black and white photograph.
In the photo, a little girl about four or five years old stood beside a garden, smiling brilliantly at the camera.
Yara's face floated into Cody's mind.
Too similar.