"What did you say? She's dead?!" Tam's eyes opened wide in shock as he heard something his ears weren't willing to believe. His lips began to tremble.
"You don't even know about it. She's dead! She died while giving birth to Ethan. So tell me, Tam! Where the hell were you when she was crying out your name painfully in the hospital?" Erica bellowed. Tears welled up in her eyes as a painful memory came back and hit her along with the anger.
"But, that's impossible!"
"And yet it happened! So if you still have even an ounce of conscience left, go visit her tomb. I don't even know where she was buried. You can go to the Su family and ask them yourself; they were the ones who took care of her funeral." Not long after Ethan was born, Erica had left with the baby.
She was too young to manage a funeral. Unaware of what to do, she had merely sent people to inform the Su family.
"There must be some misunderstanding. She can't be dead!" Tam was still in denial.
"There is no misunderstanding. She is dead! You can go to the Su family's house and ask. Whatever you do, don't bother me anymore. I don't want to see you ever again, you hear me? Never!" Erica hated Tam so much, but he had still been pestering her with questions. Finally her patience had run out after a short while.
Tam still wanted to ask something, but the disgust in her eyes made him shut his mouth at last. He hesitantly kissed Ethan's soft little hand and then walked away dejectedly.
In retrospect, the man had looked rather calm and composed the whole time he had been talking to her, save for a little moment of excitement upon seeing Ethan for the first time.
It wasn't so impossible when one thought about it for a young girl to fall in love with him. He was rich and handsome, gentle and considerate, and seemed wise. But he was still a married man. It was morally wrong for Erica's friend, or anyone for that matter, to have an affair with this man.
The door was partially soundproof, which meant that although Matthew could hear someone speaking outside the inner chamber, he couldn't make out exactly what they were talking about.
However, he didn't come out of the inner chamber until the conversation outside had subsided completely.
As expected, the man had left. Only Erica was standing there, with the baby in her arms, as if lost in some thought.
Matthew strode towards her and took the baby from her. "Let's go," he said.
"Okay!" The duo left together.
Outside, Tam was still sitting in his car and waiting for Erica to come out. But when he saw Matthew, who was now holding the baby, get into the car with Erica, he finally left.
At the moment, he drew home-wards. He didn't know if he could confront the Su family. At home, his wife, Yanny Gao, was mopping the floor. "Honey, you're back! You must be very tired. It looks like you had a really busy day," she greeted him as enthusiastically as a wife waiting all day long. "Come on! I made some desserts for you. Go wash your hands."
Just as Yanny Gao was about to enter the kitchen, her husband grabbed her hand.
Tam tried to adjust his emotions and as usual, began talking with a faint smile on his lips. "I need to tell you something!"
"Sure? What is it?" She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at her husband in confusion. This had never happened before.
"When I was on a business trip in A Country two days ago, I went to the welfare house for some charity-related work. There, I saw a little boy who had just been brought in. He's very cute and seems to be completely healthy. We wanted to have a boy in the past, but since you can't get pregnant, how about we adopt him?"
'Adopt a boy?' Yanny Gao was shocked. Her mind went blank for a moment. "But we already have Julianna... I think it's alright to have just a daughter. We're happy so far, right?" Although she couldn't give birth to a baby anymore, they already had a daughter who was grown up now.
She had desired to have a boy as well in the past, but she had given up on the idea after finding out she couldn't. She had never thought of adopting one though.
Tam let go of her hand, patted her on the shoulder and said, "Okay then. It doesn't matter. We won't adopt him if you don't agree."
He gave up so soon all the doubts in Yanny Gao's heart disappeared. She smiled, "Actually, I never thought of adopting a child before today. I wasn't prepared when you mentioned this all of a sudden."
"Yeah but. It doesn't matter. It's just that my mother is so annoying; she insisted on us having a boy. I thought that if we adopted one, at least they won't nag you about it. But let's don't talk about it anymore if you don't want to." Tam nonchalantly took off his coat, handed it to his wife and went into the kitchen.
As she was taking his coat, it suddenly occurred to Yanny Gao that her parents-in-law's desire for a grandson had taken some pretty weird shapes in the past. Once, her mother-in-law had even found a young girl to be their housemaid. On the surface, she had been a simple hired helper for the house. But in fact, her mother-in-law had just wanted to set the girl up with Tam, so that she could give her the grandson she wanted.
Luckily, the young girl had been driven away by Tam at last, but ever since then, Yanny Gao's relation with her mother-in-law had become strained at best and non-existent at worst.
Remembering those efforts, Yanny Gao hung Tam's coat on the hanger and went back to the kitchen. "Hey honey, that boy... Just how cute is he?"
With his back still to her, Tam breathed a sigh of relief. Then he pretended to answer indifferently after a moment, "I hugged him before leaving; he was that cute! He's slightly chubby, and just has a single tooth at the moment. He looks adorable."
After a moment's consideration, Yanny Gao suggested, "How about... Well, since you like him so much, I'm sure I'll like him too. And since I don't have a job anymore now, why don't we go ahead and adopt him? I'm sure I'll be able to take care of him."
Tam turned around. "The child was very popular, and I saw him two days ago. I wonder if he has been adopted already. But if you are okay with it, then I have no problem as well. I will send for someone to contact the welfare house."
"Alright. Let's do that tomorrow!" Yanny Gao was eager to see the boy too since her husband liked him so much. Who wouldn't want a cute baby?
"Okay."
Hiding the excitement in his eyes, Tam held her in his arms and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.
In the Pearl Villa District
Matthew had wanted to have a baby cot bought for Ethan, but Erica had stopped him. When asked why, she said that Ethan was only going to stay there for a couple of days so there was no need to buy one. Ethan could just sleep with them.
At midnight, Matthew came back to the bedroom from his study and saw Erica and the baby lying on the bed in a crooked manner.
He came towards the side of the bed and saw that the baby had woken up. Ethan was lying on the bed, looking around with his eyes wide open. The thin quilt on his body had been kicked far away.
When he saw Matthew, he began to kick his legs excitedly and smiled at him.
Matthew cast a glance at Erica, who was sound asleep, and thought, 'If the baby had run away, I daresay she wouldn't even feel it.'
He helplessly lifted Ethan up and put him in the middle of the bed. Then he lay down beside him and covered him with the quilt. That way, the baby boy was sandwiched between the two and could not run away.
As Matthew lay down, Ethan turned over and started babbling at him.
Matthew was experienced in taking care of kids since he had witnessed the birth and growth of Gwyn, Godwin and Godfrey. He was quite familiar with kids and knew how to engage them.
He put his big hand in front of Ethan, on which there was a bite mark.
The boy reached out a dainty little hand to grab Matthew's big hand, but only managed to grab the man's ring finger.
After playing with him silently for a while, the little boy finally began to get tired and drowsy and soon nodded off into a deep slumber.
Matthew turned the boy over and covered him properly once again to make sure the boy was comfortable.
The next day, Erica received a phone call from Tam early in the morning. "Erica, thank you for taking so good care of my son. I thought about it last night for the whole time and have decided to take Ethan to my home and take care of him by myself. I know it's unfair to you, but I hope you understand my feelings as a father."