The Officer's Runaway Wife and Secret Son novel Chapter 437

“Mom, the pork rib soup is bubbling,” Felix reminded her in a small voice.

Clara snapped back to the present, turned down the heat, and covered the pot.

“Stop staring. Your uncle and aunt are coming over soon,” Clara said, stroking Felix’s head. “Help me put Daddy’s slippers back in the cabinet. He has to stay at the hospital with Great-Grandpa tonight and won’t be back.”

Felix’s sparkling eyes dimmed a little.

The little boy stood still for a moment before obediently walking over, bending down to pick up the slippers, and putting them away in the shoe cabinet.

“Daddy said he’d be home for dinner. Mommy said so too. You lied to me.”

He sounded hurt.

Clara saw her son’s disappointment and crouched down beside him. “Daddy didn’t lie to you. It’s just that things at the hospital are very important. Great-Grandpa needs him very much right now, so we have to let him stay a little longer where he’s needed more, right?”

Felix pressed his lips together. “But Great-Grandpa is sick, and he’s sick too. The hospital isn’t comfortable. If he doesn’t come back, who will make sure he takes his medicine?”

Clara was taken aback, not realizing Felix’s disappointment wasn’t about the missed dinner.

She suddenly understood the depth of Felix’s growing attachment to the idea of a “father.”

He hadn’t asked back in Heron Bay because he was a thoughtful, sensitive, and perceptive child. He knew he didn’t have a father, so he simply didn’t bring it up.

But now, the person who had only existed in his imagination was real. Felix had truly let him into his heart and was genuinely concerned about him.

She reassured him, “Daddy’s a grown-up. He promised you something, and he’ll definitely do it. He’ll take care of himself and take his medicine for Felix’s sake.”

Felix nodded with a worried look on his face.

About ten minutes later, the doorbell rang.

Outside, Emily was complaining about the untimely snow as she shook it off her umbrella, while Daniel stood behind her holding a container of washed fruit.

As soon as they entered, Emily shed her coat and pushed Daniel toward the kitchen. “Mr. Reed, you’re on duty today. Clara has prepared your specialty. Go on, show off your knife skills.”

Daniel glanced at the round onions on the cutting board, then at his own hands.

He gritted his teeth, said nothing, and turned to wash his hands at the sink.

Clara couldn’t help but smile as she watched the great lawyer tie on her apron and approach the onions with a knife, his face a mask of grim determination.

Emily made no move to help her husband, instead pulling Clara and Felix to the sofa and starting on the cherries she’d brought.

“How are things at the hospital? Isn’t Rhys sick? Can he handle it?”

Clara replied, “He just called. They’re about to take him off the ventilator. He has to stay there tonight.”

Felix, hugging Orange, looked up with innocent eyes. “What’s ‘take him off the ventilator’? Is Great-Grandpa getting better?”

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