Chapter 429 I’m Lawfully Your Mother
After checking up with all of the patients in the hospital during the entire noon, Courtney was invited to sit in to watch the operation of two pediatrics surgeries before she could even have lunch.
Although these surgeries weren’t really related to child psychology, it would be really helpful for her career in the pediatrics field in the future if she could have the comprehensive ability for these cases. With enough understanding of these cases, it could also help her with her research in child psychology as well.
At night, Courtney could smell the scent of cookies upon entering her house after coming back from work.
“Are you baking again?”
She leaned toward the kitchen to take a glance. As expected, the two children were busy running around the kitchen.
When Angie heard Courtney’s voice, she turned around. “You’re finally back. I thought that you’ll stay at the hospital and not care about us anymore.”
“Who else can take care of you guys besides me?” Courtney gave her a look. “I bet Elijah can’t keep you guys in check anymore.”
Right then, Angie looked taken aback. It seemed like she came to a realization before she quietly went behind the kitchen door.
“What? Are you afraid to admit what you’ve done?” Courtney changed into her house slippers before entering the house. “Are you planning to let me tell you about it, or are you going to come clean yourself?”
While there was no movement in the kitchen, Tina turned around before chiming in, “Mommy, I made some cranberry nougats, and you can bring some to the hospital for the patients.”
“Let’s talk about that tomorrow. I might have to send Angie to the airport later.”
“Airport?” Angie immediately emerged from the kitchen with an anxious look on her face. “I’m not going back to America.”
“How can I help you when you didn’t even inform Elijah before making such a huge decision by coming here? What if you’re unhappy here and run away from this place too? What should I tell him if that happens?”
“He won’t try to get me back by asking you.”
Angie frowned before continuing, “It’s been almost half a month since my summer vacation, but he hadn’t even given me a call. If something really happened to me, I would have been dead by now.”
“Don’t say that.” Courtney gave her a look. “Elijah would be pissed if he heard that from you. Since when does he not provide you with the best that he could throughout these years?”
Noticing that Courtney was pissed, Angie appeared to be quite nervous before she came out from the kitchen in a hesitant manner.
“Please don’t be mad. It’s really not my intention to not notify Elijah before taking off. It’s just… It’s just that Lilian is pregnant.”
Courtney’s expression went blank when she heard what Angie said.
Elijah and Lilian had been married for five years, but they hadn’t had any children until now. Based on what Courtney knew, Elijah was the one who didn’t want any children, and the two of them had a lot of arguments before that.
“Come over and tell me about it.” Feeling conflicted, Courtney walked over to the couch and sat. “Tell me everything that happened.”
Angie looked slightly annoyed as she took a deep breath before she lowered her head and kept quiet as she tried to construct her thoughts into sentences.
“My summer vacation started half a month ago, but Elijah had a business trip to Madrid when I got home, so Lilian and the maids were the only ones left at home. You know how I don’t get along with Lilian, so I listened to what you said and tried not to get into a fight with her by staying in my room during those few days.”
Courtney kept quiet.
“However, Lilian prepared an entire table of dishes a few days later and asked me to go downstairs to eat with her so that she could talk to me. Then, she told me that she’s pregnant.”
“Did she ask you to move out?”
“Kind of? She told me that she found a place for me to stay that is nearer to my school, and she wants me to move there after that.”
Courtney’s frown deepened.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t argue with her.” There was a conflicted look on Angie’s face. “This is Elijah’s firstborn, and I don’t want to cause any trouble, so I moved out that night.”
Noticing how Angie was speaking rhetorically, Courtney couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Despite having a strong personality, Angie lacked love ever since she was a child, so she was emotionally damaged. She had been under Elijah’s care most of the time when she studied in France during these few years, so Elijah was definitely an important person in her life.
Even though Angie couldn’t get along with Lilian, Courtney believed that Angie wouldn’t try to initiate a fight with Lilian because of Elijah.
“What did Elijah say about this?”
“I didn’t tell him about it.” Angie shrugged. “I know that Lilian was trying to say that I’m being an eyesore for staying at their place. Don’t they all say that we can’t let pregnant women be in a bad mood? If I tell Elijah about this, he will surely oppose this. The two of them would fight because of me again, and I feel like it’s unnecessary. It’s just me moving out anyway.”
Right then, Courtney observed Angie’s expression for a while before she started pondering. “Did you come over to my place because you’re afraid that Elijah might ask you why you didn’t go home for summer vacation?”
Upon hearing that, Angie coughed a little. “Something like that.”
“You little brat.”
Courtney suddenly felt pissed before she whacked Angie’s head. “Why didn’t you tell me about this right away? I’d understand that you’re afraid to tell Elijah about this, but why are you afraid to tell me as well?”
Angie shielded her head in pain.
“I’m just worried that you might get worried and fly to America immediately. I know that you’ve been busy here.”
Right then, Courtney felt angry and guilty as she glared at Angie.
“That’s enough. Stop trying to flatter yourself. I’ll take over from here, so you don’t have to worry anymore. Why do you keep trying to make decisions on your own when you’re still so young? How can a minor stay on her own outside? Besides, do you really think that you can hide from Elijah?”
As soon as Elijah’s name was mentioned, Angie’s expression became conflicted again.
“What are you planning to do, Court?”
At this moment, Courtney held Angie’s hand before saying, “Since you can’t stand her, and Elijah won’t divorce her, you should stay with me instead. After all, Elijah and I adopted you together back then, and I’m lawfully your mother, so don’t be afraid.”
Lilian was taking drastic measures to deal with the situation. There were many conflicts between Lilian and Elijah besides conceiving a child. Angie, Courtney, and even Tina always became causes of their fights after they got married.
Back then, Lilian had witnessed how Elijah took care of Courtney and her kid meticulously and had looked forward to receiving the same care from him. However, she had forgotten that it was hard to change a person’s behavior once they were used to it.
Lilian had been tolerating Elijah for about seven years during her job as his secretary, and it was almost impossible for the dynamics between them to change after their marriage. Once she wasn’t able to get what she had been longing for for a long time, she started holding grudges against everything and everyone around Elijah, and the person closest to him was Angie.
Courtney had met Lilian in the past, and she could sense from Lilian’s overly agitated words that Lilian stubbornly thought that Angie and Tina were the reason why Elijah didn’t want children anymore. Since Tina was staying with Courtney, Angie was the only trigger left.
Despite being able to guess Lilian’s thoughts, Courtney didn’t expect Lilian to be capable of kicking a minor out of her house.
