Chapter 53
How could she do such a thing? Emily got even angrier.
This was outrageous! If she had a problem, come at me! How could she hit someone?
Emily leaned against the cold hospital wall, feeling chilled to the bone.
So it was her fault that Rodolfo got hurt. Because of the complicated relationship between her and James, because of Sophia's jealousy and hatred toward her, innocent Rodolfo became the victim.
Emily waited there for a long time. She had already left the hospital and originally wanted to catch a cab at the entrance, but now she just stood there blankly. There weren't many people around, and no cars either.
It wasn't until the cold wind made Emily shiver that she finally snapped out of it.
Emily put her hand on her purse, took a deep breath, and made a decision.
When she returned to the hospital room, Lily had gone out to take a call, and Rodolfo's wife hadn't arrived yet.
Emily pushed open the door and walked in. Rodolfo was sleeping, the bruises on his face looking especially harsh under the dim light.
Emily paused for a moment, then pulled out a bank card from her bag.
This was her savings from all these years of work. She tiptoed over to Rodolfo and respectfully placed the card on the nightstand, securing it with the edge of the blanket.
Then she left the room, caught a cab away from the hospital, and sent Rodolfo a long message: [I'm sorry. This is all my fault that you got hurt. There's not much money on this card, but it should be enough for your medical bills and recovery.]
[I'm truly sorry, but I have to resign. I probably won't be able to visit you anymore. Please take good care of yourself. When I'm able to in the future, I will definitely repay your kindness.]
Emily edited the message, checked it over to make sure it was right, and hit send.
At that moment, tears blurred her vision, but Emily didn't wipe them away. Instead, she opened the car window and let the tears fall down her face.
How could it not hurt? Rodolfo was the person who treated her best, making her feel the warmth of family and the care of loved ones. Emily was truly grateful.
She had thought that someday she would take good care of Rodolfo, but now what she had to do was erase him from her life.
From now on, no matter how much gratitude and respect she had for Rodolfo, she could never see him again. It was better if they weren't close.
Emily didn't know if what she was doing was right, but this was the only way she could think of to protect Rodolfo.
When Emily got home, it was already past ten at night. She pushed open the living room door and froze.
"Mommy, you're finally back!"
All three children were still awake, sitting on the sofa waiting for Emily to come home.
"Why haven't you gone to bed yet?"
Emily was so surprised and quickly bent down to hug each child.
"It's so late, why aren't you sleeping? Aren't you worried you won't be able to get up tomorrow?"
"Mommy, we were waiting for you," Nina said with a smile, looking at Emily.
Orla walked over, laughing. "I tried to get them to sleep, but they insisted on waiting for you to come back. Emily, you're so lucky to have these kids!"
Emily smiled shyly.
These children were indeed very thoughtful. With them around, Emily's world had a rare bit of light and warmth.
But Orla suddenly frowned. "Who's this extra kid? He looks so much like Oscar. You left in such a hurry earlier, and when I saw these two kids looking like mirror images, it really gave me a shock."
She was talking about Aiden.
Aiden was also looking at Emily. As soon as their eyes met, he quickly looked away.
The atmosphere froze for a moment. Emily came to her senses first and smiled gently. "Yes, they're all my children. It's just that Aiden wasn't raised by me since he was little. He only came back recently."
"I see. These two babies look like they were cut from the same mold, equally handsome."
Emily didn't continue the topic.
After seeing Orla off, Emily brought back some food she'd bought on the way home.
None of the children asked where she'd been or what had happened.
They knew that if Emily could tell them, she would.
Since Emily wasn't saying anything, it meant they didn't need to know.
This simple dinner helped dispel some of the gloom in Emily's heart.
But when she thought about her future plans, Emily's mood grew heavy again.
After dinner, Emily washed the dishes and gave the kids their baths.
After Aiden went back to his room, Emily suddenly called out to Oscar. "Oscar, come to my room. I need to ask you something."
Oscar agreed and followed Emily into the room.
After closing the door, Emily sat in a chair and stared at Oscar for a while. "Oscar, where have you been all this time?"
Oscar was startled. "Mommy, don't you know?"
"I don't know." Emily simply shook her head.
Emily pulled Oscar into her arms. "You only said you were staying somewhere safe, but you didn't say where. I wanted to see you but couldn't."
"Now you're back, but you won't say anything about what happened before. Do you think I'm not worried about you? Tell me, where have you been all this time?"
Oscar tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Mommy, I went to a really beautiful house. There were lots of people there, and the house was gorgeous and huge. The room I stayed in was even bigger than our whole place here."
He gestured as he spoke, and Emily raised her eyebrows in surprise.
A house that big? How much would that be worth!
From what Oscar was saying, this must be where rich people lived.
In this city where every inch of land was precious, housing prices were sky-high.
To have such a large house—that couldn't be measured in money alone.
Emily was afraid she'd misunderstood and quickly confirmed again. "Oscar, you're not lying to me, are you?"
"Mommy, why would I lie to you?"
Oscar coolly pouted. "In that beautiful house, there was an old gentleman who was very nice to me and asked me to call him Grandpa."
"But besides Grandpa, the other people didn't seem to like me that much. They always said vague things I couldn't understand. From the way they acted, those mean words were clearly aimed at me."
"What!" Emily's brow furrowed. "They said bad things about you? How do you know?"
"I guessed, but I know I'm right." Oscar answered with certainty.
Emily was confused.
A beautiful big house, and an old man who was nice to him, but other people who didn't like Oscar.
Oscar and Aiden had secretly switched places, so the people there shouldn't know, right? Why wouldn't they like Oscar?