Chapter 515 - 511: Mrs. Yates

"Zelda! Zelda!"

Before long, a series of calls suddenly echoed from outside the relatively quiet hospital room, crying out Zelda Warner’s name.

"Ma’am, this is a hospital. You can’t shout like that. If you’re looking for someone, you can ask at the nurses’ station which room the patient is in."

In the hallway, a young nurse on duty stepped forward to stop her.

The woman appeared to be in her sixties, wearing tasteful and elegant clothes, but her demeanor was crass and aggressive—a stark contrast to her attire.

"I’m looking for my daughter-in-law! Her name is Zelda Warner. She gave birth here last night. Go and ask for me."

As soon as the old woman spoke, her tone was imperious, and she even sized up the young nurse with a disdainful gaze.

The young nurse’s brow furrowed, and her previously polite attitude instantly turned cold. "I’m sorry, ma’am, but I have other things to do. The nurses’ station is up ahead, just past the right turn, diagonally across from the elevators. You can go ask yourself."

Hearing this, the old woman’s temper flared. But before she could erupt, the door to a room up ahead opened, and Cecilia Sterling walked out.

"Zelda Warner is in here..." Cecilia looked at the woman, who was about the same age as her own grandmother, but following her sister-in-law’s convention, she still called her, "Ma’am."

The old woman shot the young nurse a glare and muttered, "Watch out, or I’ll file a complaint against you."

Then, she turned to Cecilia, a broad smile on her face as she approached. "So Zelda is in there?"

Cecilia nodded and let the old woman into the room.

The young nurse glanced back, speechless. Seeing this, Cecilia mouthed the words "I’m sorry," and the nurse offered a small smile to show it was all right before leaving.

Inside the hospital room, Zelda Warner was lying on the bed. The moment the old woman appeared, she began to wail excitedly, "Oh, Zelda, you’ve suffered so much! Oh, you poor thing! It breaks my heart."

As she spoke, her eyes darted from side to side before she asked, "Where’s the baby?"

"She’s still in the observation room," Cecilia piped up from the side. "The doctor said she’s very healthy, so there’s no need to worry."

"A boy or a girl?" she asked.

Cecilia glanced at Zelda Warner, who answered herself, "It’s a girl. Jeb named her Phoebe."

"Oh, wonderful! That’s wonderful! Our Jeb has a son and a daughter now!" The old woman was overjoyed. She grabbed Zelda Warner’s hand, her expression deeply moved. "Zelda, you’ve really been through a lot. You moved and didn’t even tell me. If I’d known where you went, couldn’t I have been here to take care of you personally?"

"But don’t you worry. I’ll be by your side every day during your confinement month. I’ll take good care of you and make sure you recover perfectly, with no lingering issues. I’ve had four children myself, I’m experienced!"

Zelda Warner knew her mother-in-law’s personality well. The old woman was selfish by nature, but her son’s success had made her incredibly arrogant. Lacking any real culture, she could only flaunt her status by wearing gold and silver.

Jeb was a filial son and treated his mother very well. The family had been poor since his childhood, and the old woman’s character flaws were a product of her environment. Raising four children to adulthood would have been impossible if she were too soft.

So, even knowing all this, Zelda Warner loved him and everything about him, and she was very dutiful to her mother-in-law.

"Mom, you’re getting older. You don’t have to go through all this trouble. The hospital has professional caregivers," Zelda Warner gently coaxed.

Mrs. Yates’s eyes widened at her words. "Can some stranger be as dedicated as your own mother?"

"That’s not what I meant..."

"Oh, I know. You’re just hiding from Tony, aren’t you?" Mrs. Yates said, cutting right to the chase. "You suddenly moved out of the house because of Tony, right?"

"You knew?" Zelda Warner was a little surprised.

Mrs. Yates shot her a look. "How could I not know my own son? He’s been a troublemaker since he was a kid, nothing like Jeb. When he started trying to get your address out of me, I understood everything."

Zelda Warner nodded.

"Don’t you worry, I won’t tell him. You’re the great heroine of the Yates family. With Jeb not around right now, I have to protect you," the old woman said earnestly.

Cecilia Sterling stood to the side. This was the first time she had met her sworn brother’s mother, and she was completely different from what Cecilia had imagined. Her brother was such a reserved and steady person.

But Mrs. Yates, standing before her, was the complete opposite.

"And who are you, young lady?"

Mrs. Yates had suddenly remembered there was someone else in the room and turned to ask Cecilia.

Likewise, out of respect for her sworn brother, Cecilia instinctively felt a sense of reverence for Mrs. Yates. "Ma’am, my name is Cecilia Sterling."

"Oh, my dear girl, at your age, you should probably be calling me Grandma," Mrs. Yates said with a laugh.

"Mom," Zelda Warner spoke up to explain, "Cecilia is Jeb’s sworn sister. After Jeb’s incident, Cecilia has been the one taking care of me."

"Ah?" Mrs. Yates was startled, but her expression quickly changed. "Oh, my dear girl, you’re our Jeb’s sister? Well, thank you so much, then."

"You’re welcome, Ma’am. It was the least I could do."

"Oh, right, I brought some soup. A woman needs her nutrients after giving birth." Mrs. Yates picked up the lunch box at her side, then looked at Zelda Warner and asked, "It was a natural birth, right?"

Zelda Warner nodded.

"With a natural birth, you can eat right away." Mrs. Yates was clearly experienced. She even invited Cecilia to have some as well.

Then, she grabbed the thermos and went out to get hot water, minding her own business.

Only then did Zelda Warner sigh helplessly. "Alex must have gotten scared being home alone yesterday and told his grandma."

The soup was delicious. Cecilia took a sip before saying, "What’s wrong, sister-in-law? You didn’t want her to know? She seems very concerned about you."

Mrs. Yates’s reactions all seemed genuine, not like an act.

But Cecilia clearly didn’t know Mrs. Yates as well as Zelda Warner did. Zelda said helplessly, "The concern is real, but isn’t it also forced by the situation?"

"Forced by the situation?" Cecilia mulled over the words, and then it dawned on her. "You mean, because my brother is... away, she’s afraid you’ll..."

Zelda Warner nodded, her expression suddenly crestfallen. "But I would never leave Jeb. It’s just that other people don’t believe me."

"I believe you," Cecilia said, looking at her gently, understanding how Zelda Warner felt.

Zelda Warner smiled faintly. "Thank you."

"Now that she’s here, she won’t be leaving anytime soon. Cecilia, you should go home and rest. You’ve been up all night. Besides, she’s so loud and boisterous, you definitely won’t get any proper rest here."

Cecilia thought for a moment. With someone else here, she could at least feel a bit more at ease. "All right, then. I’ll come back this afternoon."

Leaving the room, Cecilia headed straight for the elevators. She casually took out her phone and scrolled through a group chat with her best friends. Estelle had sent a bunch of photos and had even thoughtfully Photoshopped her into them.

She smiled instinctively at the pictures, but the next second, she walked straight into someone else who was also staring down at their phone.