Chapter 31
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The slap mark on his face was too obvious . Nathan felt embarrassed and begged his mother for a long time , finally taking two days of “ sick leave “.
Walking home with some meds , he spotted two plain – clothed folks peeking through the door .
He hurried over , asking , “ Whatcha doin ‘ ? ”
Startled , the two jumped in fright ..
Dominic had done his homework – he’d checked out the Saxon family and recognized Nathan right away , flashing a flattering smile . “ Hi , we’re Aria’s foster parents . We came all the way to see our daughter . ”
Dominic knew how much the Saxon family valued Silvia , so he used Aria
as a cover .
The money transaction could only be done privately and must never be known by the Saxon family .
Alice chimed in at this time , “ We’ll just take a look at her and leave . We won’t disturb her . ”
Nathan had just found out about Aria’s old name . Too plain , he thought , frowning slightly . “ Her full name was Madelyn ? ”
His sister’s name , Silvia , was carefully chosen by his parents , meaning pure and noble , beautiful and poised .
Before Madelyn came to the Saxon family , his parents had pondered long and hard , naming her Madelyn , meaning gentle beauty , full of vitality .
As he came to think of it now , no one seemed to have ever mentioned her
old name .
Nathan gave them a thorough once – over , suspicion rising . “ Aria’s already married . Why come here instead of the Cole family ? And it’s been two
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years – why now ? ”
For an average family , 2 million would be more than enough to live comfortably .
But judging from their clothes , Nathan couldn’t help but suspect they were here for money .
Dominic knew rich folks were tricky , so he had a story ready . “ Madelyn … she blocked us . We didn’t even know she got married . How’s the guy she married treatin ‘ her ? ”
As he said that , tears welled up in his weary eyes .
Seeing this , Alice quickly dabbed at the non – existent tears from her eyes .
As he saw no hint of the two acting , their sincerity evident on their faces , Nathan’s doubts were largely dispelled , replaced by a strong sense of dissatisfaction towards Aria .
‘ No blood relation , but these folks raised her for twenty years . Blocking them ? That’s cold – hearted ,’ he said inwardly .
“ Aria moved out ages ago . Go find her there ! ” Nathan straight – up gave them the address .
Dominic and Alice’s faces stiffened a bit .
Dominic chuckled awkwardly , “ Young man , you look a bit like my Madelyn . Are you her younger brother ? ”
Nathan raised an eyebrow , almost wanting to find a mirror on the spot to check if he resembled Aria .
“ Yeah . ” He nodded . “ Anything else ? ”
Dominic glanced at Alice , who looked conflicted . “ Um … can we see Silvia ? ” she asked hesitantly .
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Nathan’s face instantly darkened , his voice icy . “ What ? 600 thousand not enough ? You want more from my sister ? ”
Everyone knew about Silvia going to the countryside to find her birth parents . Seeing her upset , no one mentioned it , but they looked into it privately and found out the whole story .
Dominic’s heart skipped a beat . He waved his hands in panic . “ Not for money . We just want to see her . If it’s inconvenient , that’s fine . As for the money Silvia gave … ”
Tears rolled down his wrinkled face , and his voice choked . “ I was thinking of saving it for her wedding . We never raised her . There’s so little we can do … Sorry , we’ll leave now . ”
Seeing a middle – aged man cry in front of him for the first time , Nathan suddenly felt guilty . Just as he was about to comfort Dominic , the man suddenly straightened up and hurried away with his wife .
He sighed , scratched his hair , and swiped his face to unlock the door .
Only after turning the corner completely did Dominic let go of Alice’s hand and walk on his own .
Alice looked anxious and caught up with Dominic in small steps. “ Dominic , are we not asking Silvia for money anymore ? What about our son ? ”
Dominic’s face was grim , his voice suppressed with anger . “ Stupid woman , didn’t you hear Nathan say we already got money from Silvia ? If we offend him , we won’t get a chance to see her ! We have to avoid the Saxon family when looking for Silvia . ”
Alice sniffled and didn’t say more .
Early the next morning , Silvia was discharged from the hospital .
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Except for Logan , who was at work , the whole family came out to pick her
Seeing the wound on his granddaughter’s forehead , Joseph looked
heartbroken . “ You were discharged so soon . What did the doctor say ? Will it leave a scar ? ”
“ Grandpa , the doctor said it won’t leave a scar . I was dead bored in the hospital for so long .” Silvia’s voice was soft and nasal , her pale lips and sickly appearance adding to the overall impression of frailty .
Even so , Silvia still smiled brightly , trying to cheer everyone up .
Everyone present couldn’t help but feel sorry for her .
Seeing Nathan still standing there , Silvia asked , puzzled , “ Nathan , I’m home already . You should go to class now ! ”
Nathan tugged at his mask and mumbled, “ I took two days off , gonna go back to school the day after tomorrow . ”
Caleb asked , “ Now that we’re home . Why are you still wearing a mask ? ”
Last night , Nathan had been on nursing duty , saying he didn’t like the smell of the hospital and had kept the mask on .
But now that they were home , he still hadn’t taken it off .
Nathan instinctively covered his face , his eyes darting around before meeting his mother’s warning glare .
He looked away instantly . “ I’m a bit allergic . ”
Silvia was shocked , reaching out to pull off his mask . “ What’s going on ? Let me see . Why didn’t you get checked at the hospital ? ”
Nathan stepped back . Afraid of hurting Silvia’s injury , he didn’t dare to move much . “ It’s just a little bit , Silvia , you-
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The mask was pulled off , revealing half a face with five finger marks .
Everyone was stunned except for Zoe .
Joseph’s eyes narrowed . “ What happened ! Who hit you ? ”
That slap from Aria had been brutal . Even after Nathan had iced it for a long time and applied medicine , the finger marks were still obvious .
Silvia and Nathan had always been close . Now that he was hit , tears welled up in her eyes . “ Nathan , why didn’t you say anything ? ”
Seeing her about to cry , Nathan quickly waved his hands . “ No one hit me . It was just a misunderstanding .”
Luke chimed in , “ What misunderstanding requires such heavy-
handedness ?
“ Didn’t you go find Aria with your mom yesterday ? Did she hit you ? ”
The room fell into dead silence instantly .
Joseph got so angry that his head hurt , banging his cane loudly on the ground . “ What gives her the right to hit a Saxon ? ”