Chapter 81 Emily Actually Knew
Emily came over to find him, rubbing her eyes and clutching her pink fox plushie.
She was still wearing her onesie pajamas, her hair messy from sleep, making her look even softer and more adorable, tugging at his heartstrings.
She walked straight to William, who was sitting on the sofa, and climbed into his arms using both hands and feet.
The nanny who brought Emily over explained, "Mr. Smith, Ms. Johnson got an emergency call in the middle of the night and went out. When Emily woke up and couldn't find her mom, she came looking for you."
Emily also spoke up with red-rimmed eyes, "Looking for Mommy."
Waking up without seeing Sophia, Emily felt insecure and immediately thought of William in the guest room.
Following Sophia's instructions, the nanny had been standing guard at the master bedroom door, worried that Emily would wake up looking for an adult.
William's handsome eyes were bloodshot from not sleeping all night.
He looked down at the child in his arms, tightly gripping his shirt, and the softest part of his heart was silently touched.
William gently patted the child's back, his tone gentler than ever before.
Without looking up, he said flatly to the nanny, "Go make some formula."
Emily was very well-behaved in his arms, her sleepy eyes red and puffy, pouting pitifully, "Want to find Mommy."
Sophia wouldn't suddenly leave the child and go out, so most likely something had happened at the lab again.
"Emily, be good. Your mommy went to work. She'll come back when she's done."
"I'll stay with you, okay?"
Just then, the nanny had finished preparing the formula, but it was Allan who brought it into the guest room. He handed it over and immediately stepped back outside the door.
William noticed the sense of propriety and boundaries maintained by the Johnson family's staff.
After all, the child was still young. Worried that Emily might cry if she couldn't see her mom, the nanny and butler Allan waited outside the guest room door.
Someone was also stationed outside the master bedroom, ready to take care of James and Michael when they woke up.
Emily was so well-behaved. Hearing William's words, she rubbed her eyes and nodded, "Emily will wait for Mommy at home."
William smiled slightly, "Good girl."
Emily, who hadn't gotten enough sleep, didn't even finish her bottle before gradually falling asleep to William's low, soothing voice.
William carefully took the bottle from her hands and carried her to the bed.
He sat at the head of the bed, one hand continuing to gently pat Emily's arm, his voice low and charming. Soon Emily was fast asleep.
Perhaps because of their blood connection... or perhaps because of his worries, the answer no longer mattered...
Or perhaps it was simply because he hadn't closed his eyes all night...
Gradually, William fell asleep while still sitting at the head of the bed.
In his dream, that family portrait of five suddenly became reality.
He came home from work, and Emily held James and Michael's hands to greet him, calling him "Daddy" over and over. When he looked up, he met Sophia's eyes as she watered the flowers inside, everything the warmest family scene in his mind.
In reality, William, with his eyes closed, unconsciously smiled.
Meanwhile, at the temporary lab in Empire City, Sophia was busy working with the Seraphim lab team, studying a newly emerged virus from abroad, her gaze focused.
When she came out of the lab, dawn was already breaking.
Worried about the children at home, she immediately headed back after finishing the final tasks.
As soon as she entered, she met a pair of dark, unclear eyes. Sophia's eyes flickered slightly, suddenly remembering that the paternity test results should be out by now, right?
When she left home in the car, she seemed to have seen Peace Group's vehicle hurrying into the neighborhood.
William spoke first, "You're back."
William sat on the sofa in his loungewear. Hearing the sound at the door, he turned his head. Combined with what he said to Sophia, it gave off the feeling of a husband waiting at home for his busy wife to return.
Sophia looked away and responded coolly out of politeness.
After changing her shoes, she was about to go find Emily, James, and Michael, but was stopped by William, who stood up.
"Sophia, I want to hear it from you."
He suppressed his inner emotions, his voice lowered several degrees, "Emily... is she my daughter?"
Sophia looked at William strangely. Hadn't the paternity test results come back yet?
Regarding William's question, her thoughts went round and round, finally leaving him with just one cold statement.
Sophia: "No."
She turned and left without hesitation. Only after entering the playroom did that gaze following closely behind disappear.
After spending quite a while with the three children, Sophia thought about the flash of disappointment on William's face earlier, her thoughts gradually wandering.
Noticing the change in her mother's mood, Emily immediately gave her a big hug.
Looking at Emily's fluffy little head, she couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
Emily pressed her soft, rosy cheek against Sophia's face, her voice still soft, but the content of her words made Sophia's heart skip a beat.
"Mommy, Emily doesn't want Daddy, only wants Mommy."
"...Emily?"
If surprise had a physical form, Sophia's hair would probably all be standing on end right now!
She never expected that Emily, just over a year old, would be so perceptive and sensitive. Sophia glanced at James and Michael assembling toy cars not far away, then carried Emily to the window.
She looked at the well-behaved Emily in her arms with complicated feelings, suppressing her voice, "Emily knows about Daddy?"
Emily nodded, "William is Daddy."
If there had been a glimmer of hope before, now Sophia's heart was filled with endless guilt, like a tsunami wildly overturning all her thoughts.
Sophia's eyes saw only Emily's clear, transparent, and bright eyes. Emily leaned over and left a big kiss on her cheek.
She opened her little candy bag and took out a black-wrapped candy to give to her.
"Mommy, Emily has been good about taking medicine."
Sophia glanced at her watch. It was indeed time for Emily to take her medicine.
She unwrapped the black candy wrapper and fed the medicine inside to Emily, her eyes full of tenderness and love, "Emily is so good."
These were medicines she had specially prepared for Emily.
Emily didn't like drinking the powdered medicine mixed with water, so Sophia found ways to turn the powder into something the child could accept, also improving the taste. At least now she didn't resist taking medicine.
Emily held the pill disguised as candy in her mouth, showing no resistance to taking medicine. She even took out a pink candy, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into Sophia's mouth.
She even comforted Sophia in return, her voice childish, "Mommy, eating candy makes it not bitter anymore."
It was precisely because of her obedience that Sophia felt she owed Emily even more.
She held the child tighter and said with determination, "Emily, if you want to acknowledge Daddy, Mommy can..."
Emily shook her head in her arms, "Emily will always love Mommy."
She tugged on Sophia's clothes playfully and continued, "James and Michael are good, William is good, but Mommy is the best."
Although she really liked James and Michael, and now really liked William too, if she had to choose between them and Sophia, she would always choose Sophia unconditionally and firmly.
Realizing that Emily knew everything all along, Sophia looked at her with even more loving eyes.
This was her daughter who had been so quiet during those ten months of pregnancy...
William, sitting in the living room, watched the mother and daughter by the playroom window from a moderate distance.
Sophia was looking down, speaking gently to Emily.
Emily said something that made Sophia's eyes turn red.
From his angle, Sophia had unusually given Emily two candies today—one wrapped in unfamiliar black paper, one in the familiar pink candy wrapper.
Thinking of the candy Emily had stuffed into his pocket before, William thought again of the envelope he ultimately couldn't resist opening.
Just a few thin pages. He had flipped directly to the last page of the document.