Chapter 107: Don’t Tell Me You Like Her

As planned, Jean Vance and Felix Ford swapped identities again after school.

After returning to the Ford residence with Rocco, his phone suddenly chimed.

The sound made Jean Vance’s expression shift. He quickly checked his phone, and as he read the message, his young face darkened.

"Young Master, would you like some fruit?" Rocco had just brought over a fruit platter when he saw the boy abruptly stand and head upstairs, his displeasure clearly visible.

Rocco was confused. ’Wasn’t he perfectly fine a moment ago? Why did he suddenly get so angry?’

Seeing someone approach, he stopped her. "Miss Lynch, who upset the young master?"

Miss Lynch looked just as baffled. "I don’t know."

’I was just busy in the kitchen,’ she thought. ’Is he having another tantrum at Mr. Ford?’

Preoccupied with her thoughts, Miss Lynch paid Rocco no mind and returned to the kitchen, planning to go upstairs and check on the situation later.

Rocco mumbled and scratched his head, completely unable to figure out what went on in a child’s mind. He shook his head. ’Oh well,’ he thought, ’I’ll just wait for Mr. Ford to get back.’

Upstairs, Jean Vance opened his computer. With a few clicks of his small hands, he enlarged the message on the screen, his expression growing even fouler.

He had written a program that automatically detected any mention of his mother’s name.

His mother wasn’t a public figure, after all. Over the years, she had only been occasionally mentioned on the campus forums for his high school and Auden University.

This time, it was on the Auden University forum again, but the impact was much greater. The issue had even reached the medical association, with several members publicly denouncing her as morally corrupt and unfit to practice medicine.

The comments section was flooded with vitriol, and in just a short time, the thread had become the top trending topic.

The uproar started with a post from someone claiming to be a former classmate of Amanda Vance. The person said she’d gone to the hospital for an appointment and ran into Amanda. She claimed she had merely asked if Amanda was licensed to practice medicine and was attacked for it.

A medical chart and a photo were attached to the post. The picture showed a dislocated jaw and a knocked-out front tooth, held in a bloody hand. It looked severe.

Doctor-patient relationships were already strained, and the poster was clearly trying to fan the flames. The incident was quickly framed as an "unscrupulous doctor lashing out in a violent rage after a patient exposed her." Then, someone else dredged up Amanda’s past troubles.

People seized on this as if it were conclusive proof, ranting that someone like her must be a terrible person.

Jean Vance scrolled through the comments, his expression growing darker with each one, until his eyes were chips of ice.

’Is this what Mom went through back then?’

The rumors had never stopped, not for years. And since their return, they had become a recurring excuse to attack his mother. Jean’s face was dark as a thundercloud as his fingers slammed against the keyboard, his fury difficult to contain.

’Not a single person who insulted my mom is getting away with this.’

His fingers flew across the keyboard, and in moments, he had pulled up a string of IP addresses. Having done that, he was about to delete the posts when he suddenly froze.

’They’re gone?’

He checked again. They were definitely gone. Even new comments vanished without a trace the second they appeared.

’Did Mom do this?’

’No, that can’t be right. Mom never bothers with this stuff. So who was it?’

「The Hospital.」

Shawn Ford watched his brother, Samuel Ford, whose fingers were flying across the keyboard. He crept over for a peek, and when he saw what was on the screen, he froze.

’What is my brother doing?’

’He’s actually deleting the posts slandering Amanda Vance!’

’Wait, am I dumb, or has he lost his mind? He’s actually helping Amanda Vance—and doing it himself!’

For a moment, he was too shocked to speak.

He knew his older brother was a brilliant hacker, but he’d never imagined he would use his skills for something like this.

In the past, Samuel had rarely bothered with negative press, even when it concerned the Ford Group. Yet here he was, deleting posts about Amanda Vance.

If he remembered correctly, Amanda Vance herself hadn’t seemed to care when he mentioned it to her. So why was *he* in such a rush?

Shawn Ford’s brow furrowed. His gaze grew probing as he watched his brother. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Samuel hadn’t been quite right ever since meeting Amanda Vance. He seemed to be paying her an unusual amount of attention.

The thought resurfaced in his mind, and Shawn blurted out, "Bro, you don’t... you don’t have a thing for Amanda Vance, do you?"

The hands on the keyboard froze. Samuel Ford turned his head to look at him, his eyes flickering slightly. "What did you say?"

"N-nothing." Shawn’s scalp prickled under his brother’s stare. He shrank back, waving his hands frantically. "I was just talking nonsense," he said with an awkward laugh.

With that, he turned and bolted, slapping a hand over his mouth. ’What a big mouth,’ he chided himself. ’Why’d I have to go and say something so stupid?’

’How could that be possible?’

’Everyone in Aethelburg knows my brother isn’t interested in women.’

’I must’ve been possessed or something.’

’Samuel is probably just helping Amanda because she’s treating Dad’s illness.’

’Yeah, that has to be it.’

Shawn Ford nodded vigorously, having successfully convinced himself.

Back in the room, Samuel’s hands, which had been a blur of motion just moments ago, now lay still on his computer, unmoving for a long time.

’A thing for her?’

The moment the thought surfaced, his heart gave a small, irregular flutter.

Samuel’s brow twitched. He saw a new abusive comment about Amanda pop up on the screen, and with a frown, he swiftly deleted it.

He wrote a script that would automatically activate and delete any post that mentioned Amanda Vance.

Ten minutes later, looking at the clean interface, his tightly knitted brow finally relaxed.

’Do I have a thing for her?’

His fingers tapped lightly on the computer as Samuel thoughtfully stroked his chin.

「Amanda Vance’s Home.」

Felix Ford was lounging with his legs crossed, leaning comfortably in Amanda Vance’s arms as they watched TV together. His phone suddenly chimed, and he shot upright.

"What is it?"

"Mom, I’m going to take a call."

"Is it from Colt?"

"Yeah." Felix looked at her, surprised. "How did you know, Mom?"

"Just a guess. You two seem to get along well."

"Oh." Felix’s eyes darted about. He then asked, "So, Mom, what do you think of Colt?"

For some reason, she sensed his eyes were full of expectation as he asked. ’He must really care about this friend,’ Amanda thought, so she replied, "He seems very nice."

’He really does seem nice,’ she mused. ’Although I didn’t get a clear look at his face last time, his eyes were so clean and bright, full of innocence. He can’t be a bad kid.’

Hearing this, Felix broke into a wide grin. He couldn’t resist hearing it again, so he pressed, "Really?"

"Mm-hmm, really."

At that, Felix’s smile grew even wider. "Yeah! I think he’s great too! I’m gonna go take the call now, Mom!"

"Go on."

Watching him scamper off cheerfully, Amanda couldn’t help but smile again. ’Having a good friend makes such a difference,’ she thought. ’Jean seems so much more energetic now.’

Felix knew she thought he was Jean, but he was still thrilled. For the first time, he felt it was a good thing "Mom" didn’t know who he was. Otherwise, he never would have heard her praise him.

’She wasn’t praising "Felix Ford," so it must be what she really thinks.’

’Mom likes me, too.’

He was absolutely ecstatic. He flopped onto the bed and rolled around a bit. Remembering Jean, he finally took out his phone and made the call. "Hey, what’s up?"

Hearing the irrepressible cheerfulness in his voice, Jean paused for a second before brushing it aside. "Is Mom okay?" he asked.

"She’s great." Felix didn’t understand. Hearing the serious tone in Jean’s voice, he grew tense as well and sat up on the bed. "Did something happen?"

"Something did happen." Jean’s voice was ice-cold as he said through gritted teeth, "And it’s all thanks to your father!"

"Huh?"