Chapter 90: Discovering the Appraisal Report

"My voice doesn’t sound very good, so I borrowed Seven’s," Felix Ford explained, hugging the device he called Seven. His voice, filtered through it, transformed into Seven’s own.

’He was afraid his mom would recognize his voice.’

’Even though Jean Vance had told him she wasn’t his mother, he felt such warmth and affection just looking at her that he couldn’t help but think of her as his mom.’

’He was also afraid she wouldn’t like him if she found out he had once pretended to be Jean Vance to deceive her, so he didn’t dare reveal his real voice.’

Amanda Vance, unaware of any of this, could almost picture the little boy on the other end of the line. She couldn’t help but laugh. "Why would you say that? I’m sure your voice is lovely, too."

’Mom praised me!’

Felix Ford grinned, but ultimately, he didn’t dare reveal himself. "My throat’s been feeling a little scratchy the last couple of days," he said. "How about I use my real voice to talk to you once it’s better, Miss Vance?"

"Okay." Amanda Vance switched the phone to her other hand and pulled Jean Vance, who was beside her, into an embrace. She felt a chill from his body and gave him a questioning glance before pulling the blanket up higher, tucking him in carefully. "What’s wrong with your throat?" she continued. "Make sure to drink plenty of water. You could also ask your family to make you some stewed pear."

"Okay. It’s nothing serious," Felix Ford added, not wanting her to worry.

"That’s good," Amanda Vance said with a smile. "Have you been eating properly?"

"I have!" He said the two words so loudly that even Jean Vance heard them perfectly. The sheer joy in his voice came through, completely unhindered by the voice filter.

Jean Vance bit his lip and lowered his head, afraid his mother would see his strange expression. His brow was knitted tightly. ’When did Mom meet Felix Ford?’ he wondered.

Suddenly, he remembered something, and his eyes widened slightly. ’Was it just now?’

’Was he the one Mom went out to see earlier?’

’No wonder that voice sounded so familiar. Thinking back on it now, it was clearly that man’s voice!’

Now, Jean Vance was utterly panicked. Only by clenching his fists could he barely restrain his surging emotions.

’So, Mom has met Felix Ford. Does she know everything?’

Jean Vance had never felt so panicked in his life.

His mind was in turmoil, and he failed to hide it well. Amanda Vance quickly noticed something was wrong.

At first, she thought he was just cold, but when she realized he was trembling violently, she knew something was wrong.

Frowning, Amanda Vance held him tighter. She exchanged a few more words with Felix Ford, urging him to go to sleep before hanging up. Looking down at Jean Vance, she asked, "What’s wrong?"

’Why is he acting like this? Is he scared?’

Amanda Vance’s brow furrowed deeper. The boy had been acting strangely ever since they came back. She couldn’t quite figure out what was on his mind.

"Mom." Jean Vance suddenly grasped her hand. He kept his head lowered, so he couldn’t see her expression, and she, in turn, couldn’t see his. She could only feel the small body in her arms trembling violently. "Mom."

He called out again, and Amanda Vance responded, gently stroking his back in a silent attempt to soothe him.

Perhaps her soothing gestures were having an effect, as Jean Vance’s trembling subsided. Still, the look in his downcast eyes remained complicated.

"Mom," Jean Vance said, still holding her hand as he looked up at her. "Do you miss my little brother?"

Amanda Vance froze. After a long pause, she asked in a hoarse voice, "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"

"I just... wanted to ask."

Amanda Vance said nothing, her arms around him tightening slightly. She lowered her gaze to look at him, but her eyes were distant, as if she were looking through him to see another person.

Jean knew who she was looking at.

His twin brother.

The one who was also Felix Ford, though she didn’t know that yet.

"I do."

After a long while, Amanda Vance finally spoke. She reached out and hugged Jean Vance, as if the contact made her feel a bit more grounded.

Jean Vance’s eyes widened slightly, a shadow passing over them, but he remained silent, listening quietly as she spoke.

’It’s not a big deal, really,’ he thought. ’It’s only natural for a mother to miss her child.’

Amanda Vance had been pregnant with twins. With her own medical knowledge, she knew that carrying twins meant a larger belly and a difficult natural delivery. Her health wasn’t great at the time either, so her doctor had also advised a Caesarean section.

She had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of her two precious babies, her own flesh and blood. But when she woke up, the doctor told her that one of the babies had suffered from malnutrition in the womb and had died at birth.

She refused to believe it. ’When I checked my own pulse earlier, everything was fine.’

But the doctor showed her a baby—a tiny bundle that should have been a new life, but its eyes were shut tight. It wasn’t breathing, lying there perfectly still.

Amanda Vance was on the verge of a breakdown during that period. She only managed to pull through for the sake of her surviving son.

She bought a burial plot for the baby and visited him every so often.

"...It’s my fault. I didn’t take good care of him." Amanda Vance covered her face, her voice thick with self-reproach. "If only I had been more careful then, he would still be here today."

"Mom!" Jean Vance hugged her, his eyes filled with remorse. ’I was wrong. I should have told Mom that my brother is still alive. She’s been grieving all these years because of this. If she knew he was alive, she would be so happy.’

’I was too selfish. I wanted Mom all to myself, and I’m the one who made her sad.’

"Mom, actually, he’s still..." *alive*.

Before he could finish his sentence, Amanda Vance’s phone rang again. It was Cecilia Reed, calling to discuss a new product.

Wiping her face, Amanda Vance stroked Jean’s head. "Let’s not dwell on it. You should go to bed early tonight, Jean. Don’t stay up late. Children need plenty of sleep to grow tall."

"Okay." Jean swallowed the rest of his words. ’Forget it,’ he thought. ’I’ll tell her after she’s finished with her work.’

「The Ford Residence」

After Felix Ford hung up, he rolled around gleefully on his bed. But he still felt unsatisfied. ’If only I could have talked to Mom a little longer.’

He loved talking to his mom.

Savoring the memory of their conversation, Felix Ford slowly made his way to the study. He had planned to return the phone to Samuel Ford, but he wasn’t there.

He peeked in and saw the computer was still on, figuring Samuel would be back soon. Felix decided to sit in the chair and wait.

He waited for a while, but Samuel didn’t return. Growing bored, Felix started spinning in the chair for fun. He accidentally knocked over a folder, sending papers scattering across the floor.

He froze for a second before hopping off the chair and crouching down to pick up the papers.

’Dad has so many papers,’ he grumbled to himself.

His hands were small, and when he tried to gather the papers into a single pile, they ended up misaligned. His attempts to straighten them only made the mess worse, so he had to pick them up one by one to stack them neatly.

There were so many papers that his feet started to go numb from crouching. Just as he was getting impatient, a particular sheet of paper caught his eye. He didn’t think much of it at first, but then he remembered something. He whipped his head back, snatched the paper off the floor, and stared at the words on it, his eyes growing wider and wider.

’Isn’t this the thing Jean showed me the other day?’

’What was it called again?’

’A Paternity Test Report?’

He counted the words at the very top. There were three. ’Yep, this must be it.’

He pouted. ’This is the thing that made me lose my mom.’ Felix Ford huffed angrily and kept reading. He pointed to the last line and sounded out the words, "Based on the data above, there is no familial relat..."

’Huh? Why is a word missing?’

’Jean read it to me once, and I had my teacher read it to me again. I heard it twice, so I remember it perfectly. There’s no way I’m mistaken.’

He blinked hard and placed his finger on the paper. For every word he sounded out, he moved his finger to the right. It was still missing a word.

He scanned the document closely. Of all the words, he only recognized a few: "above," "two," and "not."

’Wait, this one doesn’t have the word "not"!’

The realization hit him, and Felix Ford’s eyes widened in shock.

"What are you doing?" a voice suddenly asked from behind him.