Chapter 111: This Move Seems Familiar

At the hospital, Samuel Ford listened to what she had to say and didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.

This was the Amanda Vance he knew.

She hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place, so why should she just take the abuse? Those people, since they dared to slander her so casually, had better be prepared to pay the price.

Words were never something to be thrown around lightly.

"Need any help?" he asked.

His attitude surprised Amanda a little. She had thought he would find her too vicious, but seeing the clarity and faint admiration in his eyes, she paused. A slow smile graced her lips. "No, thank you. I can handle it myself."

Samuel Ford didn’t press the issue. "Alright. If you need anything, call me anytime."

"Okay. In that case, thank you in advance, President Ford."

"You’re welcome."

After that, Samuel Ford said no more. Seeing that it was time for her shift to start, he made an excuse and left.

Shawn Ford’s words surfaced in his mind once again.

—*You like her, don’t you?*

’He’d never liked anyone before, so he didn’t know if this was ’like.’ But he certainly didn’t dislike her.’

Without dwelling on what this feeling was, Samuel Ford turned and walked away.

Amanda watched him leave, not bothering to wonder why he had come to the hospital but hadn’t visited Mr. Ford. She calmly averted her gaze and continued toward her consultation room.

The clinic was just as crowded today, with many patients coming in for follow-ups. She was as busy as yesterday, right up until the end of her shift.

When she picked up her son from kindergarten, she noticed he was especially quiet today. The occasional glances he sent her way were tinged with anxiety.

"What’s wrong?" Amanda asked, her fingers tapping lightly on the steering wheel as she drove steadily. She didn’t turn around. "Did something happen at school?"

Felix Ford shook his head. "No."

"Then did Mommy do something to make our Jean angry?"

"Of course not!" Felix Ford blurted out. ’How could I ever be mad at Mommy? I’ll never be mad at her, ever!’

Amanda chuckled softly. "Then why the long face?"

At this question, a hint of sadness crossed Felix’s little face. After a moment’s thought, he asked tentatively, "Mommy, once we find the thing, are we going to leave?"

"Yes."

Hearing her answer, Felix’s heart sank completely.

’So it’s true. Once Mommy finds the thing, she’s really going to leave. And she’s only taking Jean, not me.’

A lump formed in his throat, and his nose suddenly tingled.

Sensing his emotional shift, Amanda was a bit confused. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Is it because you don’t want to leave, Jean?"

He had made good friends here, something he never had when they were abroad.

Amanda had actually been considering this herself—where Jean would be happier.

Thinking about his behavior recently, Amanda said, "After we find the Jade Pendant, if you want to stay in the country, we can stay."

"Really?!" Felix’s head shot up, the sadness in his eyes instantly replaced by pure, unadulterated surprise.

’He’s that happy, huh.’

Amanda thought, ’I already know what he’ll choose.’

She nodded. She wasn’t lying to him; staying in the country wasn’t out of the question.

She could live anywhere. She didn’t feel a sense of belonging to any particular place, as long as she could be with him.

Since he wanted to stay, they would stay.

His current happiness was as immense as his earlier sadness.

Felix was so happy he could have jumped for joy. He leaned forward excitedly, chirping, "Mommy, let’s stay! I love the food here, the toys here, the people here—I love everything about this place!"

Just then, the light turned red and the car stopped. Amanda reached out, pressed her hand to his forehead, and gently pushed him back into his seat. "Sit properly."

"Oh." Felix obediently refastened his seatbelt and beamed at her, his little legs swinging leisurely. He was radiating pure joy from head to toe.

’He’s really that happy.’

Perhaps his joy was contagious, because Amanda’s mood lifted considerably as well.

The two returned home. Amanda made a simple two-course meal, and after they finished eating, she told him she was heading to her room.

Felix was clearly used to adults working overtime after coming home. It was just that when his dad worked late, he only felt resentment, whereas seeing his mom work late filled him with concern. "Mommy, make sure you get some rest, okay? Go to bed early."

"Mhm." Seeing how well-behaved her son was, Amanda’s heart felt warm and comforted. She ruffled his hair before going to her room.

Felix sat on the sofa watching cartoons by himself when he suddenly remembered what she had said in the car. ’Mommy said, "find the Jade Pendant." So, the thing she’s looking for is a jade pendant?’

He seemed to recall her mentioning it before. ’Yes, back at the Vance Family’s house, Mommy said it.’

He slapped his forehead in frustration and muttered, "My memory is so bad."

Back then, he only knew his mom was looking for something; he didn’t know she planned to leave after finding it.

’No, wait. Now she’s not planning to leave anymore.’

At that thought, he couldn’t help but break into another wide grin.

’It’s so great that Mommy is willing to stay.’

’I don’t dare to ask for a big family reunion anymore. As long as I can see Mommy all the time, that’s enough.’

’Then, I’ll have to talk it over with Jean and get him to agree to live with us. That would be even better.’

’As for Dad... he’s a grown-up. He can live on his own. We don’t need to worry about him.’

Having planned it all out, Felix Ford was already scheming about how to get "Jean" to agree to his plan.

In her room, Amanda was oblivious to her son’s thoughts. She opened her laptop and did a quick search online, but found nothing.

After a moment’s thought, she took out her phone and switched to another WhatsApp account.

This was the account she used back in school. She hadn’t added anyone personally, but it was still in a class group chat. When she left school, she had changed all her contact info but forgot to leave the group. By now, this account hadn’t been used in many years.

As a result, her classmates talked about her in the group without any reservations.

There were a lot of messages. It seemed to have been particularly active yesterday. Amanda slowly scrolled up, browsing the chat history.

When she reached the very top, she found a link to a forum post.

She clicked on it, but it was empty. The content had been deleted.

She raised an eyebrow, then opened the link on her computer. After a few keystrokes and five minutes, the content reappeared before her eyes.

She suddenly realized that what her classmates had said in the group chat was actually quite polite. The comments in the forum post were far more vile.

While restoring the post, she had also dug up the original account information. Now, everyone’s comments appeared with their real names.

There were her classmates from high school and college, some people who had only heard of her, and even strangers who, after learning her story, called her disgusting and jumped on the bandwagon to curse her out.

Amanda read through them one by one, her expression impassive. She glanced at the two most active commenters and wasn’t surprised.

But as her eyes fell on the very last one, she froze, her gaze fixed on the name.

No, it wasn’t that he hadn’t bothered to come up with a screen name; he had posted using his real name directly.

[Samuel Ford: A cease and desist has been sent.]

’He even sent a cease and desist?’

Amanda was surprised.

After his post, no one else said a word.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to; it was a new account, so many probably assumed the person posting under Samuel Ford’s name was an impostor.

The thread came to an abrupt end there. The more likely reason was that the post had been deleted at that exact moment, which was why no one could comment any further.

Recalling the process of restoring the post, Amanda stroked her chin. ’This style... why does it look so familiar?’