The hidden billionaire heiress (Lyra Melvin)

On the other end of the phone, the woman's voice was tinged with anxiety. "Lyra, has something happened in Suham? A kidnapping case? Is Alistair in the hospital?" Lyra was taken aback. "How did you know?"

Even she had only just received news from Malcolm after landing an hour ago, and yet Mavis seemed to already be aware.

Mavis sighed. "I've been worried about him for these past two years, so I've been bribing journalists over in Crana for information. That's how I found out. But I don't know any specifics. All she told me was that the NIB and the Callahan family have suppressed any media coverage on this matter. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Of course." Lyra knew that as Alistair's biological mother, Mavis had a right to know.

"I hope you won't get too upset," Lyra began calmly before explaining everything that had happened without showing any bias towards her son.

"Mavis, I'm sorry it's my fault along with Malcolm's for spoiling Spencer too much, which led him to do such crazy things."

After hearing everything that had transpired, Mavis remained composed and said, "It can't all be blamed on Spencer. He was also once an innocent victim himself. The root cause of this whole mess is that man. He caused harm to your family in the past and now he must face his consequences."

That man... for these past few years, Mavis hadn't even wanted to utter his full name.

"Alistair is likely suffering from psychological trauma now. His condition has been poor all day today," Lyra continued.

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment before Mavis made up her mind, "Lyra, I want to go back to Crana."

"Are you sure about this? What if you accidentally run into him again? And what about our trade business overseas? Are we going to give up on it?"

"No," came Mavis' immediate response. "I'm not planning on staying there permanently."

Alistair couldn't leave because he still wasn't mentally stable enough yet so Paloma and Rebecca stayed by his side constantly. Anthony visited five times throughout one day but never went further than standing outside and smoking in silence before leaving again shortly after.

The mastermind behind kidnapping still hadn't been caught yet, so Anthony needed frequent trips down NIB while also dealing with piles upon piles of work waiting for him at Callahan Group during these last few days.

Feeling restless and agitated, Anthony could only smoke to calm himself down.

...

It wasn't until that evening that Alistair became more lucid, able to distinguish between dream and reality, and even sat up to eat his dinner.

He held the spoon in his hand, stuffing food into his mouth one bite at a time. He didn't let Paloma or Rebecca feed him; he ate obediently on his own. However, despite his previously lively and outgoing nature, he now seemed emotionally low-spirited with drooping eyelashes while eating absentmindedly without any focus or direction.

Paloma and Rebecca dared not disturb him nor ask what was wrong for fear of triggering another emotional outburst from him. They sat quietly beside him with cautious movements.

After about fifteen minutes of eating only half a bowl of rice, it was clear that both enthusiasm and appetite were lacking as Alistair said weakly, "Grandma, I can't eat anymore."

Paloma lovingly rubbed his head saying, "If you can't eat anymore, then don't force yourself. When you're hungry again, we'll make sure there's something for you to eat. We'll get your desk cleaned up. Why don't you get some sleep?"

Alistair nodded in agreement.

While Paloma and Rebecca were busy cleaning up after dinner, Alistair tilted his head slightly towards the door, glancing outside with hopeful eyes and trying to catch sight of someone. But soon the light in those eyes faded away as he felt suffocated by emotions, causing himself to bury under the covers and continuing sleeping instead.

The next day, Lyra took Molly who had no school on Sunday, to visit Alistair at the hospital.

Alistair's condition improved significantly when he saw Molly, and he finally agreed to talk with her for a bit.

To avoid disturbing their conversation, Lyra sent Paloma along with Rebecca away, leaving them alone together in the ward.

Alistair asked, "Momo, what would you do if Uncle Malcolm doesn't want you as a daughter one day?"

Molly listened intently but couldn't quite grasp what Alistair meant by this question,

"How is that possible? Although I love getting into trouble which makes my dad angry sometimes, I know how much he loves me. He would never sever our father-daughter relationship." Since Molly wasn't aware of all details regarding kidnapping case, Alistair did not know how best express himself without being too obvious, so he moved onto another topic instead.

Molly had long black hair tied up high into a ponytail. She looked stunning standing near window where sunlight shone on her fair skin, making her look like an angel.

A few moments spent quietly together made Alistair feel healed. But, Molly kept looking at her watch throughout their conversation.

After chatting with him for only half an hour, Molly got up and said, "Milk tofu, my mom called me to go see my brother for a while. If you're tired, just lie down and rest. I'll come back to find you soon."

He felt a bit reluctant and said, "You must come back, promise me."

Molly smiled brightly and nodded before leaving the room.

As soon as she left, even the air seemed to become cold and empty.

Alistair felt uneasy being alone; his mind was filled with images of Anthony and Spencer. Spencer was still weak; he hadn't been discharged yet. Was daddy still over there keeping him company? Comforting him?

Since waking up yesterday morning until now, he hadn't seen his father at all...

No wait... did he come by once?

Or maybe he was dreaming because it didn't feel real at all.

Was his father really going to abandon him?

Waaah... lost in thought, Alistair lay on the bed crying into his pillow for a while.

After just a few minutes had passed since Molly left the room, the door slowly opened again with light footsteps walking in. A person reached his bedside and sat down.

He blinked his eyes then focused them on what appeared before him: it was a young woman wearing white nurse's clothing along with a medical mask covering her face.

Without taking notice of who she really was, Alistair quickly buried his face into the pillow, saying in muffled tones, "Miss nurse, do I need an injection? I don't have fever."

The woman put down her medical tray, then gently sat beside Alistair, asking through her mask, "No injection needed but can you sit up so that I can check your blood pressure and heart rate?" Hearing that no injections were necessary made Alistair more cooperative as he slowly turned over onto one side, then leaned against the headboard sitting upright.

The woman noticed that even around his eyes were red-rimmed from crying earlier, which made her heart ache with pity; unable to resist, she reached out touching his cheek gently.

A puzzled expression crossed Alistair's face as this action surprised him greatly.

Although he had visited hospitals several times before for health check-ups, other nurses would praise how cute he looked but never dared touch or hold onto him due to the Callahan family status. This nurse not only touched but also pinched his cheeks!

Lowering her head quickly after realizing what she did wrong, she opened up a device used for measuring blood pressure.

Alistair watched intently thinking aloud, "Your hair color is so pretty unlike any other nurses."

It wasn't like Molly's either...

This nurse had very beautiful golden hair.

The woman was taken aback, and her lowered gaze lifted slightly to meet Alistair's. Her exquisitely blue eyes and golden hair gradually merged with the image of the woman on his father's marriage certificate. He opened his mouth in disbelief, rubbing his eyes repeatedly as he confirmed what he saw. "Are you... mommy?!"