My Child and I Married a Billionaire

Chapter 177: Chapter 177: A Desperate Situation

"Name?"

"Cecelia Archer."

"Age?"

"Twenty-three."

"Home address?"

Cecelia’s mouth was dry, her eyelids were heavy, and her whole body felt weak. She suddenly wanted to burst into tears, to scream in frustration.

"You’ve asked me the same things over and over, at least a hundred times! Haven’t you memorized it yet? How much longer are you going to keep asking?"

"I told you, it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! Why won’t you believe me? I didn’t push her! I wasn’t even near her! I don’t know how things suddenly turned out this way! You can ask me a hundred times, a thousand times, and my answer will still be the same. Can you please just stop asking?"

"I’m so tired. I miss my daughter. I want to talk to Damien Vaughn. Can you please..."

CLICK!

Before she could finish her outburst, the door behind her suddenly opened.

Several staff members entered, surrounding a woman dressed head-to-toe in black, a white flower pinned to her sleeve. Her expression was cold and detached.

Even on the verge of a breakdown, her vision blurred with exhaustion, Cecelia recognized her in an instant.

’Gwen Morgan! What is she doing here?’

Regardless, seeing a familiar face at a time like this felt like a lifeline. Cecelia scrambled to her feet, trying to reach for her.

"Miss Morgan! Miss Morgan, what are you doing here? Have they cleared things up? Damien sent you to get me, right?"

"My daughter is in the hospital, fighting for her life! I can’t be locked up in here indefinitely! Please, tell them. Explain that it wasn’t me, it really wasn’t! Just get me out of here!"

Gwen Morgan ignored her. A staff member offered her a seat, and she sat down, her face a blank mask. Her cold eyes fixed on Cecelia for a long moment before she finally spoke.

"It’s true Damien sent me. But not to get you out."

"You killed his mother. The facts are clear, the evidence conclusive. You’ve made him the laughingstock of Veridia. How could he possibly let you out? The law wouldn’t permit it. He sent me here to do one thing."

Gwen Morgan slid a piece of paper across the table.

"Damien wanted me to tell you he’s very disappointed. For the sake of your past, he advises you to confess, cooperate, and put this matter to rest. If you do, he won’t make things difficult for your daughter. But if you stubbornly refuse..."

After more than four hours of emergency treatment and a night of rest, the grandfather was finally moved out of the intensive care unit.

He was taken to a VIP ward, where the doctor briefed the family.

"The patient is elderly and previously showed signs of cerebral infarction. Although we revived him this time, you must be extremely careful. He cannot be agitated or fatigued. Otherwise, he’s at risk of a second stroke, which could lead to paralysis, hemiplegia, or even death..."

"I’ll have a nurse bring over the dietary restrictions in a moment. Please be vigilant. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be going."

The moment the doctor left, the hospital room erupted into chaos.

The family cursed Cecelia Archer and grumbled about Damien Vaughn until Ryan, after trying Damien Vaughn’s number for the umpteenth time, finally heard a familiar voice.

"Everyone, be quiet! The call to President Vaughn went through!"

Uncle Lee had taken Mrs. Vaughn’s request to heart. She had asked him to delay Damien for two days, and he had done just that.

Using the excuse of wanting to go sea fishing to clear his head, he had dragged Damien out on a boat for a day and a night. Damien had just gotten back to his hotel.

He hadn’t even realized his phone had died. The moment he plugged it in, a call came through from Ryan.

A little over three hours later, a travel-worn Damien Vaughn appeared in the hospital room.

The doctor had just finished examining the grandfather. He had regained consciousness, but his speech was still somewhat slurred.

When he opened his eyes and saw his beloved grandson, tears instantly streamed down the grandfather’s face.

Damien’s brow was furrowed as he gripped the old man’s hand tightly.

"Grandfather, don’t get agitated. I’m back."

"All of you... leave us. I have something to say to Damien."

His second and third uncles and their wives, seeing that he wanted to speak with Damien Vaughn alone the moment he awoke, were disgruntled but left the room resentfully.

Damien sat down by the hospital bed, his somber expression a clear indicator of his mood.

Even so, the grandfather struggled to sit up and, with a trembling hand, slapped him across the face.

"You wretched creature! Why did you lie to me? Why did you bring home a bastard to deceive me?"

"And now, your mother has lost her life because of that bastard child. Are you satisfied?"

Damien had heard the gist of what happened from Ryan over the phone. He knew his grandfather was shocked and furious to learn Candy wasn’t his biological great-granddaughter, but he never imagined he would be this enraged.

’He’s calling Candy a bastard, too?’

He had always doted on Candy so much. Damien had thought his grandfather loved the child for who she was, not for her lineage. But it turned out that he was just like his mother, unable to overcome his deep-seated obsession with bloodlines.

He was admittedly in the wrong here. He had deceived his grandfather. Damien wasn’t one to make excuses, and he had no intention of doing so now.

"I’m sorry, Grandfather, but this isn’t the time. As for my mother... Please, try to calm down. Can I go check on things over there first?"

It was the first time in his life that his grandfather had ever struck him.

But Damien felt no shock, no pain.

His mind was entirely consumed with Cecelia, Candy, and his late mother. He was desperate to find out exactly what had happened.

He refused to believe Cecelia was capable of such a monstrous act. He had to find her and get the truth from her himself!

He started to leave, but his grandfather grabbed him, mustering all his strength.

"Stop! I... I’m not finished. What’s... your hurry?"

"Your mother is gone. That is an undeniable fact. You’re in such a rush to leave... are you going to help Cecelia Archer?"

"She killed your mother. Don’t tell me you’re still going to forgive her? To marry her?"

The questions stopped Damien cold.

When he’d heard about the family tragedy over the phone, he had been overcome with anxiety and a heavy heart.

But his mind had been entirely focused on uncovering the truth and arranging his mother’s funeral; he hadn’t once considered his future with Cecelia.

In the back of his mind, Cecelia was already his wife. He had never imagined being apart from her.

"Grandfather..."

"No! Damien, I failed your mother. She came back this time for you—to keep you from making a foolish mistake, from being a stepfather to a bastard child and making the Vaughn Family a laughingstock. She tried so hard. And not only did I fail to understand her, I pressured her. I blamed her. Now she’s gone, filled with resentment, and I am wracked with guilt!"

"If I’d known her intentions were so noble, if I’d known you were deceiving me... I... That wretched Cecelia Archer, does she have no conscience? From the moment she walked through our door, I doted on her and Candy even more than I doted on you. And this is how she repays me?"

"I was foolish, I was blind. But now, your mother’s death has been a bloody wake-up call! I will not allow you to continue down this mistaken path! You must draw a line with Cecelia Archer, immediately. If you dare to defend her, you make an enemy of me, and I will never let this go!"

’If Cecelia had truly done something so vile and ungrateful, he wouldn’t object to his grandfather’s words.’

’But they haven’t even investigated what really happened. Isn’t he worried about falsely accusing her?’