Chapter 23 She Hopes It’s Real
Aldo looked at him for a long time, and he came to the conclusion that Sebastian was reliable. He’s handsome; the most handsome man I’ve ever met. Uncle Sam is the most handsome man in Worrick, but Mr. Hart is even more handsome than he is. And he’s really elegant. Other than that, he has a sense of justice, but most importantly, he looks at me and Buddy with gentle eyes, just like Mom does. It’s like he can be happy just by looking at us two. Fine, I’ll trust him. “Sure.” He looked at Sebastian and nodded. “We can stay over at your place for the time being.”
Sebastian chortled. So he’s saying they’ll be my guests for now. If they’re happy, they’ll stay, but if they’re not, they’ll leave, huh?
“Okay.” He patted the boy’s head lovingly. “You call the shots, son.”
Aldo fidgeted and dodged him. “Don’t pat my head. You’ll make me short,” he mumbled.
Sebastian noticed his ears turning pink, and he smiled. What a softie. So adorable. He patted the boy’s head again despite his protests, and he smiled at Madeline. “Pack your things. We’re leaving right now. Need my help?”
“It’s alright.” She hesitated for a moment and bit her lip. “I have something to tell you. You can decide if you want to take me and the kids to your father after that.”
Sebastian nodded. “Tell me.”
She looked at the ground, and her eyelashes fluttered. “My mother… is an illegitimate child.” Illegitimate children were looked down upon in Dusktown, and even their children were seen as marks of humiliation.
That woman had abandoned her when she was a child, but still she had to suffer the consequences because of her.
Her uncle, Nigel Taylor, who was also Dan’s father, had two sisters. One, his true sister—Crystal Taylor. She was the noble and beloved princess of the Taylors. The other was her mother, the illegitimate child Nigel’s father sired with another woman—Cameron.
As the legitimate son, Nigel despised Cameron. Back when Madeline almost died, Dan pitied her and took her back in, much to Nigel’s fury. Nigel had yelled and screamed at his own son for that.
Dan refused to give in and went against the family despite Nigel’s objection. But Nigel couldn’t win against Dan, so he reluctantly took Madeline in. But as she was the child abandoned by an illegitimate daughter, she had been suffering under the Taylors.
Fortunately for her, Sam was a gentle person, and it was all thanks to him that she managed to grow up in peace. She didn’t know who Sebastian really was, but judging from his clothes and mannerism, she knew he must come from an aristocratic family as well.
Will someone like him accept my son, whose grandmother is an illegitimate child? Bloodline was important for aristocrats. Her son might be important, but Sebastian was young. If he wanted a son, he could marry a lady from a clean background and sire a few more children. It didn’t necessarily need to be her boys.
“You’re reading too much into it,” he said gently. “Your mother’s the illegitimate child, not you. She might be the product of the sin of lust, but you are not. You are legitimate. My father won’t look down on you just because of that. And besides…” He took a few papers out of the file and handed them to Madeline. “I suspect that you’re not Cameron’s true daughter.”
“What?” Madeline stared at him in shock.
“I have to apologize first.” Sebastian nodded at her. “My father sent his men to gather info on you and the kids so he can know you guys better.”
“And?” Madeline didn’t care about that. She had far more important matters to deal with first. “Why did you say she’s not my real mother?”
“Because she’s too cruel to you. She doesn’t treat you like her own daughter. Instead, you’re more like an enemy to her.” He pointed at the papers before Madeline. “And look at this. She’s an alcoholic. There were a few times—after she was drunk—that she bragged about how lucky her daughter has it, and how she’s born to be a princess. She even said she played the Taylors like a fiddle despite how smart they think they are.”
Sebastian looked at Madeline. “I don’t think you had an exactly princess-esque life in the Taylor household, not to mention they don’t acknowledge Cameron. After she divorced her first husband, she married a wealthy middle-aged man and cut contact with the Taylors. I don’t think she can play the Taylors like a fiddle, unless she did a switcheroo using you and the Taylors’ kid.”
He took a sheet of paper out from the stack and pointed it out to Madeline. “Look here. Crystal and Cameron’s daughter were born on the same day in the same month in the same year, and in the same hospital. I suspect that she did a switcheroo using her daughter and Crystal’s. That’s you, by the way. You are Crystal’s real daughter, while Crystal’s ‘daughter’—Angie Wendel—is Cameron’s real daughter.”
Madeline looked at the paper in shocked silence. I-I’m not Cameron’s daughter? I’m their most beloved princess’ daughter instead? I-Is this real? She really hoped it was.
She didn’t care about the Wendels’ wealth. She was just doing it for the boys. She didn’t want her boys to be discriminated against because their grandmother was an illegitimate daughter.
Sebastian said, “If you’re fine with it, I can send these papers to Michael. He’s a smart man. He’ll know what I’m talking about once he sees this, and once he does, he’ll come here to do a paternity test with you.”
Madeline’s hands were trembling. Michael was the head of the Wendel Family and the richest man of Wendel City. She had seen him before. He was a handsome, gentlemanly person. He had style, and he cared a lot about his wife and daughter. That strong but gentle person might actually be my father?
