Chapter 137
William suddenly said, "Aiden doesn't have a birth mother. It's only natural that he misses having one."
"And Oscar and Nina don't have a father. They must long for a father's love as well, right?"
"That's true."
Emily didn't deny it. She nodded, a flash of guilt crossing her eyes.
William slowly sat up straight. "Last time when you saw me off, you asked me about Aiden's mother. Can I ask now about Oscar and Nina's father?"
Emily's eyes widened as she suddenly looked up, meeting William's expectant gaze.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm only curious."
William's comment seemed a bit unnecessary.
At that moment, Emily seemed to realize something, but she didn't stop him. Instead, she nodded.
William looked into Emily's eyes and asked the question he cared about most: "Are Oscar and Nina... James's children?"
When he had appeared in Emily's life, she had already been entangled with James.
Or rather, James had been deliberately clinging to her. He was like a bandage that wouldn't come off, endlessly annoying.
Back then, William could feel just how much Emily despised James.
But he had also gathered that Emily and James had a past, only that James later became infatuated with Sophia, which was why they broke up.
Apart from James, he hadn't heard Emily mention any other boyfriends.
Now Emily had two kids, and based on the timeline, the children could very well be James's.
William had always thought so, which was why he'd never asked about the children's biological father.
He disliked James. No particular reason -- he just really disliked him.
But now it seemed these two children probably weren't James's, so who was their biological father? Why had Emily never mentioned him?
When Emily heard William mention James, her brows furrowed deeply. "Don't bring him up to me. If I were pregnant with his child, I would have gotten rid of it long ago. How could I possibly have given birth to it?"
"He's a stain on my life. If I could, I really wish I had nothing to do with him at all. A person like him deserves to die alone."
Emily's voice was raised, showing just how much she hated James.
Hearing this, William felt slightly relieved.
For some reason, he felt a bit pleased, and his mood lifted.
"Then who is Oscar and Nina's father?"
Emily lowered her eyes slightly, as if she hadn't heard the question.
"It's okay. If you don't want to say, I won't ask."
William didn't pressure her. Everyone has things they don't want to talk about. He did, and Emily certainly did too.
"Actually, there's nothing I can't tell you."
Emily smiled awkwardly. "It's just that this experience was too absurd for me, so I've never mentioned it to anyone."
She sighed and told him about the one-night stand.
"I see."
William nodded knowingly, understanding at last.
But looking closely, his expression was clearly full of deeper meaning; he kept glancing at Emily, as if pondering something.
But Emily didn't notice. She looked out the window, her gaze distant.
"Even now, I don't know who that man was. I used to think about finding him, but now I've given up on that."
She shook her head. "There are so many people in this world, and the world is so big. Running into him was an accident to begin with -- how could there be a second time?"
"So I've already decided that no matter what, I'll raise Oscar and Nina."
"Although I can't make up for the missing father's love, I'll definitely do my best for them and make sure they're no different from other kids."
William's brow twitched slightly. "Haven't you thought about finding them a stepfather?"
Emily smiled bitterly. "I really haven't."
She spread her hands, looking quite helpless. "Forget everything else -- who would marry me with two kids?"
"In the future, no matter who I marry, we'll have our own children. Think about it -- how much pressure would that be?"
"I'm just an ordinary person making a few thousand dollars a month. Even if my future husband is better off than I am, he won't be that much better off. Otherwise, if the gap is too big, we won't be happy either."
"It would already be hard enough for the two of us to support one or two kids. Add Oscar and Nina, and that would just be too difficult."
"I can't put all that pressure on him, so I've never really thought about finding them a stepfather."
Everything Emily was saying now came from the heart.
These days, making money isn't easy, is it?
Ordinary people make just that much a month. After the mortgage, car payments, and utilities, what's left?
Supporting two children is one thing, but if there are more children in the future, the burden would be too heavy. Just thinking about it is suffocating.
Emily said all this, and William didn't interrupt. But the corners of his mouth, already slightly upturned, curved up a bit more.
For other people, this might be difficult, but for him, it wasn't a problem at all.
He wanted to say Emily had no ambition, but then he thought, wasn't Emily just an ordinary person?
Although the Johnson family was once glorious, she'd been kicked out by Brian. As a daughter of the Johnson Group, she really didn't have much value.
"Okay, I understand."
William nodded. "This seems to be a painful subject for you, so I won't ask any more."
He glanced toward the door. "I don't know where Oscar and Nina ran off to. Go find them. I haven't seen those two kids in days -- I miss them."
"Okay."
Emily nodded and got up to leave.
Oscar and Nina were playing at the end of the hallway. They were very well-behaved and hadn't run around.
When Oscar and Nina returned to the room, Emily had gone off to take care of other things.
Looking at Nina leaning close to him, William slowly moved closer to her.
"Nina, don't move."
William deliberately acted nervously, placing his hand on her soft hair. "There's something on your head. Let me get it off for you."
"Thank you."
Before Nina could finish speaking, she suddenly clutched her head and cried out in pain. "Why did you pull my hair?"
"I didn't mean to." William smiled apologetically. "Come here, let me rub it for you."
Nina didn't take this small incident to heart.
But that afternoon, after Amelia left with the two children and Emily went out to buy food, William pressed the call button by his bed and had a nurse bring over a wheelchair. She wheeled him into the elevator and took him downstairs.
He found a doctor in the genetics department and solemnly handed over the strand of hair he had pulled from Nina's head.