Chapter 554 - 546: A Moment of Kindness, Endless Trouble

She was his sister, after all. No matter how angry he got, Nicholas Ainsworth would never say anything too harsh. "Then go out for a walk. Clear your head. Don’t just sleep at home all the time."

Sharon Ainsworth turned on her side to look at him. "Tell me, we’re both women, so why are our fates so different? Brother, what does that Nora Ainsworth have that I don’t? If it weren’t for her mother, the title of the Grant Family’s Young Madam would be mine right now. Brother... It would be mine! I’ve never been able to get over this. After my engagement was broken off, all the men I’ve dated were either married or total players. Not a single one of them was reliable. I don’t get it. Why is my luck so bad?"

"Fate is in your own hands. You should think about people who have it worse than you..."

"Jean Grant?" Sharon Ainsworth sneered. "If you’re talking about her, I’ll admit it. At least I’ve never even been married. She ended two marriages and joined the Buddhist path. She’s certainly got guts."

A flicker of emotion crossed Nicholas Ainsworth’s eyes. Hearing Jean Grant’s name again, he felt more than a little uncomfortable. At the very least, he couldn’t forgive her for burning her bridges with him at the end.

Seeing his silence, Sharon Ainsworth spoke again. "Brother, about that Quincy... just ignore him."

"Ignore him? I don’t think that’s an option. A guy like him is an incessant troublemaker. Sharon, I’m going to arrange a marriage for you. If you get married, he won’t come looking for trouble anymore. If you don’t, there’s no telling what kind of mess he’ll stir up in the future. Your other option is to go live abroad."

Sharon Ainsworth’s eyes were hazy, and her voice became much weaker. "I don’t want to get married right now. And I don’t want to go live abroad either."

"Sharon, Quincy is not some ordinary person. If he were, I would’ve had someone beat him half to death long ago," Nicholas Ainsworth reiterated. "This isn’t a trivial matter."

"Then... find someone, Brother. I’ll get married."

"There’s a director at our company. I’ll have him come to the house tomorrow for you to meet. If you approve of him, get married as soon as possible."

"Okay. You handle it, Brother."

Nicholas Ainsworth stood up. "I’m heading out. You should get some sleep."

The light was turned off again, and the door closed immediately after. The room was plunged into darkness.

Sharon Ainsworth let out a long sigh and closed her eyes.

That evening, Lillian Bancroft and Dorothy Ellsworth had a video call.

Lillian Bancroft looked at Dorothy on the screen, his feelings easy to imagine. He wished so badly that he could go over and hug her. Dorothy was a child he had watched grow up since birth; he had long since come to see her as his own daughter.

"Godfather, are you not happy to see me?"

Lillian Bancroft reached out to touch her little face on the screen. He curved his lips into a smile. "No, Godfather is very happy to see you."

"Then why aren’t you smiling? Godfather, you look so handsome when you smile. Even more handsome than my mommy."

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Is that so? I heard from your mommy that you started at a new kindergarten. Dorothy, do you enjoy school?"

"I do! I get to play with Dylan and Elmer, so it’s lots of fun."

Lillian Bancroft hesitated for a moment before asking, "If Godfather asked you to come over here, would you come?"

"Are Daddy and Mommy going?"

Lillian Bancroft shook his head.

"Then will you be with me, Godfather?"

"I won’t."

"Then... I won’t go, not even if I die..."

The light in Lillian Bancroft’s eyes dimmed. He said, "Godfather shouldn’t make things difficult for you. You’re still little. I understand the principle of not imposing on others what you yourself do not desire. Just have more video calls with Godfather when you have time."

"Okay, Godfather. I have to go to sleep now. I have school tomorrow."

"Alright." Lillian Bancroft reluctantly ended the video call.

Dorothy stared at the computer screen, then turned to her parents. "Daddy, Mommy, I think Godfather is very unhappy."

Ethan Ellsworth grunted in acknowledgment. "Whether he’s happy or not is his business. Dorothy, Mommy and I want you to live a happy life. We don’t want you to be crushed by heavy pressure. That’s not what we want. You did the right thing by saying that."

Dorothy carefully climbed down from the stool, crawled onto the bed, and said in a muffled voice, "Daddy, Mommy, can I ask you for one thing?"

"Go ahead, Dorothy."

"Can you guys work a little harder and give me a little sister or a little brother? It’s been so long!"

At the mention of this, Chloe Marshall was immediately mortified.

"Dorothy, why are you so eager to have a little brother or sister?"

Dorothy Ellsworth closed her eyes. "Because if I have a little brother or sister, Godfather won’t be lonely anymore. I can go live with Godfather often and keep him company. I don’t want Godfather to be unhappy."

Chloe Marshall looked at Ethan Ellsworth. She knew that since Dorothy was little, she had treated Lillian Bancroft like her biological father. Even though that wasn’t the case, a deep emotional bond still existed between them.

Ethan Ellsworth bent down and leaned close to Dorothy’s ear. "Daddy will work hard. I promise, three months at the most, okay?"

Dorothy opened her eyes and held out her pinky. "Then you have to make a pinky promise with Dorothy."

Ethan Ellsworth held out his hand, hooked his pinky around her little one, and gave it a shake. The two of them looked at each other and smiled.

Back in their room, the two of them went to shower with a tacit understanding.

Coming out of the bathroom, Chloe Marshall looked at him with a seductive gaze. "Boss Ellsworth."

"Idiot." He hadn’t called her that in a long time; the word felt a little unfamiliar.

Chloe Marshall smiled, took a step forward, and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her head against his chest. "Boss Ellsworth."

He picked her up, and the two of them tumbled onto the bed together.

What followed was an explosion of passionate affection... stirring the still waters of spring...

Four whole hours.

The two of them were on the verge of collapse.

All the better to get pregnant...

Lying there, the two held hands, their heads resting closely together.

Ethan Ellsworth spoke. "Thinking back to how things were, it really feels incredible."

"Through all the storms, for us to have made it this far truly wasn’t easy. But I’m so grateful to heaven for letting me live to see you again, for letting me give birth to Dorothy for you, and for letting us lie here together, talking about the past."

"If I had known from the beginning that I would fall in love with you, I would have cherished you properly..."

"Too bad your eyes were only for Jean..." As she said this, Chloe Marshall thought, ’His past self was so foolish.’

"That’s all in the past..."

"Do you remember? That one time at ’Tempting Lips,’ you were drunk and you forced a kiss on me. That was the first time you ever kissed me, and you mistook me for Jean. We spent that night at ’Tempting Lips.’ You slept on that sofa, and I slept on this one. I even draped my jacket over you. You woke me up and called me an idiot..."

"I mistook you for Jean and forced a kiss on you?"

"Yeah. I remember I was totally dazed by your kiss."

He wrapped his arm around her waist. "I’m sorry. I made you suffer so much in the past."

"Grievances that can be spoken of aren’t really grievances. Besides, in the end, I’m the one who’s with you, who married you, and who had your child."

He kissed her on the forehead. "Silly girl."

"Silly fool."

「A few days later, it was Friday.」

The weekend was about to start.

May Jennings took a bag of pastries out of her schoolbag. There were more than a dozen of them.

She offered some to Dorothy, but Dorothy refused. Since Dorothy refused, the two Grant treasures were even less likely to eat them.

So, May Jennings took out eight or nine and gave them to the classmates around her. Everyone began to eat with relish, exclaiming how fragrant, sweet, and delicious they were.

That’s just how kids are; the food and toys someone else has always seem better.

Seeing how much everyone around her was enjoying the pastries, Dorothy Ellsworth wanted to try one too.

But she just watched without saying anything.

"Dorothy, do you want one? I still have four left." As she spoke, she took one out for herself and took a bite, leaving crumbs around her mouth.

"Okay, I’ll have one."

May Jennings took one out and handed it to her, saying, "These are best if you swallow them in one bite, because they’re small enough."

Dorothy Ellsworth took it. She saw that so many of her classmates had eaten them without any problem. A child’s heart is simple, and a three-year-old has very little self-control.

May Jennings then took out two more and handed them to Dylan and Elmer Grant. "Dylan, Elmer, you have some too. They’re really good. Try one. If you like them, I’ll bring more for you tomorrow."

Dylan Grant frowned. Dorothy Ellsworth swallowed the pastry in one gulp and nodded. "Dylan, Elmer, it’s actually really yummy. You should try it."

Elmer Grant took one but just stared at the pastry, lost in thought.

At Dorothy’s urging, Dylan Grant also took it in his hand and put it in his mouth.

The moment he put it in his mouth, he suddenly felt something moving around inside. Startled, Dylan Grant had just opened his mouth when the thing shot straight down his throat and into his stomach.

"What’s in this pastry!"

Elmer Grant, who had been about to put his own pastry in his mouth, turned pale with shock and looked at Dylan. "Brother, what’s wrong?"

"I ate it, and I felt something moving go into my stomach."

Elmer Grant immediately broke the pastry in half. A black Gu insect appeared right before their eyes.

The two Grant treasures were utterly shocked. They knew what this was; Dylan had recently looked up information about it to show Elmer.

Elmer Grant pulled out the phone hanging around his neck and dialed Nora Ainsworth’s number. "Mommy, come quick! Something’s happened to Brother."

Those few words made Nora Ainsworth’s heart leap into her throat. She couldn’t imagine what could have happened in such a safe environment.

She and Chloe Marshall rushed to the intermediate class’s classroom in an instant.

"Sweetheart, what’s wrong?" Nora Ainsworth walked over to Dylan’s side.

"Mommy, the pastry she gave me had a Gu insect hidden inside. Quick... call Daddy..." Before he could finish, Dylan fainted.

Dorothy Ellsworth was terrified and immediately burst into tears.

She cried out Dylan’s name over and over.

Meanwhile, Elmer Grant walked step by step toward May Jennings until he was right in front of her. "You bad girl!"

He grabbed May Jennings by her two pigtails and threw her to the ground.

Thrown to the floor, May Jennings started wailing. "I just made you eat a bug! What about how you all killed my uncle!"

Nora Ainsworth grabbed her and pulled her up. A coldness erupted in her eyes, a chill so intense it stunned May Jennings into silence.

"What is your relationship with Saphira Sutton?"

"She... she’s my aunt."

"I knew it..." Nora Ainsworth was filled with regret. ’A moment of misplaced kindness leads to endless trouble!’