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Chapter 16
It seemed like this dinner get-together was nearing its end. Hubert wiped the edge of his lips, joining Cora in watching this buffoonery on the sidelines.
Paul was livid. He roared, “You people are useless! Couldn’t you hold a single madwoman back?
Louise pointed at Axel, trembling all over. “You’re a liar! You said that you’ll be responsible for the baby I’m carrying. In the end, you’re here, begging another woman to get back with her. You’re revolting!”
The bodyguards exchanged looks with one another as they shrugged helplessly. Louise had claimed that she was carrying the Jaeger family’s future heir, so how could they hold her back?
Caught in a daze, Axel looked at Cora instinctively. She did not appear to be mad. Not only that, she still had that obscure grin on her face.
The sight of that caused Axel to panic. He glared at Louise and chided, “Are you mad, Louise? What baby are you talking about? Are you trying to destroy me right before Cora so that you can take her place? You are such a scheming woman!”
Louise dropped to the floor, wailing even louder than before. “I’m a scheming woman? You pretended to be poor, faked your marriage, and played Cora like a fool in the first place.
“Now that you’ve found out that she’s the Schmidt family’s daughter, you’re pouring your heart out to her and kicking me aside, too afraid to acknowledge your own child. Do you even have a heart, Axel?”
The consecutive accusations thrown at him made his head hurt.
He gulped. All color had drained from his face as he struggled to explain, “Please believe me, Cora. I really didn’t know that she was pregnant… Whenever she and I did it, we used
protection. She must have played some tricks.
“I’ve never considered marrying her. To me, you are the only one who’d be my wife!”
Asher closed his eyes momentarily. “Axe, just keep your mouth shut, will you?”
Meanwhile, Paul took a quick look at Hubert, whose face was turning darker by the second. All of a sudden, he pointed at Axel and yelled, “That’s enough. Be quiet! I do not have a son who’s as much of a humiliation as you are. Get out of here this instant!”
In the chaos, Cora realized something amiss. She knitted her brows together. “Where’s Nolan?
Everyone froze. Cora was right. Where was Nolan?
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In the past, they always saw him clinging to Louise, including the time when she caused that commotion at the summit meeting. Why was she here on her own today?
The yelling ceased abruptly when Cora’s question rang out.
Diffidence flashed across Louise’s eyes. “I came here in a rush. Nolan… Nolan is fast asleep at
home.”
“He’s home alone?” Cora questioned, her voice as frigid as ice.
Half an hour later, all that could be heard in a quiet corridor in the best private hospital in Axeholt City was the low hum of the equipment. Cold, white light illuminated the space, and the atmosphere was heavy.
Cora stood outside the observation room window with her back straightened. Her hands were clenched into fists by her side, and her expression was frosty.
On the other side of the glass, Nolan was sound asleep. Traces of tears could still be seen at the corners of his eyes.
Sniffling could be heard from Louise, who was in a corner, trying to suppress her sobs.
“You’re such a nuisance. The audacity of you to be crying at a time like this.” Ella stuck her fingers in her ears briefly in disgust. “How could you lock a five-year-old child in a closet? Louise Leighton, do you even have a heart?
“Just be glad that you aren’t in Molina right now. Otherwise, you’d be imprisoned for a few years.”
When they rushed to open the closet earlier, they found Nolan curled up in a corner inside with tears all over his face, too afraid to even cry loudly.
He kept mumbling again and again, “I won’t act out again…”
All the muscles in Cora’s body tensed up. She was like a volcano about to erupt.
The doctor emerged from the room with a report. “The child was in shock, but he has now fallen asleep after a sedative was administered to him. These are his preliminary health examination results.”
Aaron, with a grim expression on his face, took the report from the doctor. “Moderate anemia, malnutrition…”
He paused and directed his cold gaze toward Louise. “Also, according to his behavior earlier, he showed clear signs of claustrophobia.”
Everyone seemed increasingly upset with every word that Aaron spoke.
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Hubert shut the lighter in his hand with an ear-piercing click. A heavy and intimidating air emanated from him as he questioned, “Is this how you people at the Jaeger family have been caring for my grandson?”
Paul and Margaret looked utterly displeased. Paul, in particular, glared viciously at Louise, wishing that he could tear her to pieces right here.
Hubert rose to his feet just then. “Let’s just put a halt to the partnership between our families.
