The Triplets My Ex Never Knew About

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: "Mommy, Daddy’s Here to See You!

But Austin Lockwood’s expression darkened for only a moment before he regained his usual refined demeanor. "You must be joking, Miss Yara Lockwood. The daughter I was referring to is, of course, Noelle. Estelle passed away."

Estelle Lockwood nodded. "Oh, in that case, President Lockwood treats Noelle Lockwood quite well. After all, you never went around warning people off for Estelle Lockwood’s sake back in the day."

Austin Lockwood sighed. "Miss Lockwood, you don’t know the whole story. Having Noelle marry Nathaniel was actually all Estelle’s idea."

Estelle Lockwood sneered. ’Her idea? I’m already dead, and the Lockwood family is still determined to exploit me to the very end.’

"Estelle Lockwood’s idea? So you’re saying President Lockwood actually cared about her."

Austin Lockwood chuckled lightly and nodded. "Of course."

Estelle Lockwood’s tone was laden with meaning. "But from what I’ve heard, wasn’t Estelle Lockwood your biological daughter? If you cared so much, why is Noelle Lockwood the only recognized young lady of the Lockwood family now?"

The nurses outside the door also looked over, their curiosity piqued. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

Austin Lockwood showed not a hint of embarrassment at having his story questioned. He remained as refined and courteous as ever.

"Estelle was indeed our biological daughter. But after she returned from the countryside, she was insecure and timid by nature. She didn’t want her identity made public, so we could only respect her wishes."

The look in Estelle Lockwood’s eyes turned colder and colder.

She knew Rose Lowell looked down on her, so when Rose wanted her dead, she hadn’t felt much of a stir in her heart.

But Austin Lockwood had always presented the image of a loving father, and she had once genuinely loved and respected him as such.

Only later did she realize they were just playing good cop, bad cop, finding all sorts of ways to suppress her. Their hearts had room only for Noelle Lockwood; they even orchestrated their own biological daughter’s death.

Austin Lockwood put on a sanctimonious front. "Miss Lockwood, I must ask you to appreciate the difficult position I’m in as a father and stay away from my daughter’s husband."

"Otherwise, with so many people in the hospital today, it wouldn’t look very good for you if everyone were to find out that Miss Lockwood is seducing a married man, would it?"

Estelle Lockwood sneered. "Are you threatening me?"

"How could you call it a threat? I’m merely reminding Miss Lockwood to have some self-respect and stop pestering..."

"Mommy, Daddy’s here to see you!" Suddenly, Mia’s sweet voice called out, cutting Austin Lockwood off.

’Daddy?’

Everyone froze.

’President Lockwood just called Yara the mistress, but now her daughter shows up with a ’Daddy’? What’s going on?’

Estelle Lockwood instinctively looked up, an eyebrow arching when she saw who had arrived.

Jasper Kingston held a child with each hand, a helpless smile on his face.

Mia ran over. "Mommy, who is this man? What was he saying to you? Was he bullying you?"

Before Austin Lockwood could react, Mia started to sniffle. "SOB... Daddy, I told you to come sooner! Look, Mommy’s being bullied!"

Jasper Kingston smiled and shook his head at Estelle Lockwood, putting a finger to his lips in a ’shh’ gesture. Then he stepped forward and asked gently, "Yara, has your fever gone down? Are you still feeling sick?"

Estelle Lockwood blinked, immediately understanding.

’My two little treasures saw Austin Lockwood giving me a hard time, trying to pin the label of ’the mistress’ on me.’

’So they dragged Jasper Kingston into this little play to embarrass him.’

Estelle Lockwood’s cheeks were pale, making her look incredibly fragile. "I wasn’t feeling too bad a moment ago. But then President Lockwood barged in out of nowhere and accused me of stealing his daughter’s husband, and now I’m starting to feel sick again."

Jasper Kingston frowned at her words. "President Lockwood, I must ask you to leave."

Austin Lockwood’s brow furrowed, unable to make sense of the situation. His face darkened as he spoke in a cold voice, "Miss Lockwood, I was just warning you to stay away from Nathaniel..."

"WAAAH! You’re horrible! We have a daddy, so why are you slandering our mommy! Does being old and unreasonable mean you can just throw your weight around and slander people however you want?" Mia’s eyes welled with tears.

Zachery nodded in agreement. "Our daddy is handsome, dashing, and debonair. How could Mommy possibly be interested in anyone else? Sir, if you’re going to make false accusations, could you at least come up with a better reason?"

The onlookers also picked up on the key information from the children’s words.

"So she already has children. What is President Lockwood on about? He sounded so righteous just now, I really thought Yara was a mistress..."

"Nathaniel Sloan hasn’t shown any interest in Noelle Lockwood for years. President Lockwood must be getting desperate."

"But being desperate is no excuse to slander people, especially when Miss Yara Lockwood is sick. This is just causing a scene."

"Have you seen the news? Noelle Lockwood was caught publicly abusing Young Mr. Sloan, and now President Lockwood is here threatening the doctor. Damn, the whole Lockwood family is rotten to the core."

Soon, hospital staff arrived. "President Lockwood, if you don’t leave now, we will call the police."

"This is a hospital, not a place for you to act high and mighty!"

It was the first time Austin Lockwood had ever been yelled at to his face like this. His expression shifted rapidly before he shot a venomous glare at Estelle Lockwood.

’Fine. He would remember this woman.’

After Austin Lockwood departed in disgrace, the crowd of onlookers also dispersed.

Jasper Kingston then turned and apologized in a gentle voice. "Miss Lockwood, that was all rather sudden. I hope I didn’t overstep."

Just then, Zachery’s phone went BEEP BEEP. It was a message from Christian.

His eyes lit up. ’Scumbag Dad is on his way?!’

’Perfect. I’m going to teach Scumbag Dad a lesson and show him what it really means to beg for forgiveness!’

Zachery cleared his throat. "Ahem, Mommy, you can’t blame Uncle Kingston. I begged him to help. Uncle Kingston is so gentle and kind, you can tell he’s a good person. I really wish I had a daddy like him."

Mia: "..." ’You little idiot, your acting is terrible!’

Zachery put on his most innocent voice. "Uncle Kingston, I like you so much. Can you be my godfather?"

Jasper Kingston had come to visit Estelle Lockwood today, but he hadn’t expected to be ambushed by her two children and roped into posing as their ’daddy’ the moment he got to her floor.

And their mother turned out to be none other than Estelle Lockwood...

Jasper Kingston smiled warmly. "I don’t mind at all, of course, but that’s up to your mommy."

Zachery immediately piped up, "You’re the best, Uncle Kingston! You’re just like a real father. The grass on our biological father’s grave is already taller than Mia, so I’ll just call you Daddy from now on!"

Nathaniel Sloan reached the outside of the hospital room just in time to hear that very sentence.

The exact same words. Zachery Lockwood had said the very same thing to him just a few days ago, right down to the tone.

Heh.

’Does this little bastard go around calling everyone ’Daddy’?’

Mia sensed the sudden quiet in the air, feeling that something was off, but Zachery was already continuing.

"Uncle Kingston, you’re the reliable one. Sigh, if only Mommy had met you sooner. With you in the picture, who would even give that womanizing, philandering scumbag Uncle Sloan a second glance—"

Before he could finish, the door to the room was pushed open.

Zachery’s words came to an abrupt halt, as if a hand had clamped around his throat.

Nathaniel Sloan’s already foul mood darkened even further.

His gaze swept over Estelle Lockwood’s porcelain-white face, and then, a smile curled his lips.

"Looks like I’ve come at a bad time."