Chapter 555 Self-righteous Good Intentions Only Add More Harm
Nora's body stiffened for a moment, and the next second, her tears flowed even more fiercely.
She didn't take Magnus's words seriously, thinking he was just saying that to comfort her and make her feel better.
He was clearly her Magnus; she wouldn't mistake this face. How could he not be Magnus?
Seeing that she didn't believe his words, Barrett pouted, but didn't say anything further.
But after parting with Nora, he ran to the study to find Isaac.
Isaac hadn't gone to work at the company, but there were still company matters to handle, so he was working in Edmund's study.
"Daddy, I want to discuss something with you."
After closing the study door, Barrett walked up to Isaac with his short legs and spoke seriously in his childish voice.
Isaac stopped his work, stood up and walked over to Barrett, picking him up, and walking towards the sofa in the resting area.
Issac said, "What is it? Whatever you want to do, I'll try my best to fulfill it."
By this time, he had already reached the sofa and sat down. Barrett sat on his lap, looking at him seriously with his big, blinking eyes, and said, "Daddy, you must have known for a long time that I'm not Magnus, right?"
"I'm indeed not Magnus. My name is Barrett. Uncle Mortimer raised me. Uncle Mortimer wanted me to return to Mommy, so he took Magnus away and let me take Magnus's place to stay by Mommy's side."
"The real Magnus is at Daddy's house, right? Although I haven't seen him with my own eyes, Soren said she saw me in your room. She must have been confused and mistook someone who looks exactly like me for me."
The first time he heard Soren mention it, he didn't take it seriously, thinking Soren was just being silly. But later, he noticed Isaac often hiding from them to make video calls and frequently leaving them at night. He slowly figured it out. The person at Isaac's house must be the Magnus he thought had died long ago.
Isaac's face showed no surprise, which made Barrett even more certain that Magnus was still alive and right by Isaac's side.
Barrett suddenly felt very happy, his eyes shining as he looked at Isaac and continued, "Daddy, before I die, switch me and Magnus back. Let the real Magnus come back and tell Mommy that Mr. Hawkins was wrong and Magnus isn't sick. That way, Mommy won't see me die and won't be sad, and Soren won't cry either."
"I just told Mommy that I'm not Magnus, but she didn't believe me and thought I was joking. If you switch me and Magnus back, Mommy won't notice."
Barrett thought, 'Fortunately, Mommy didn't believe me. Otherwise, there would be no way to quietly switch Magnus back.'
At first, he didn't think of this, so he thought of telling Nora the truth. But after telling her, he suddenly remembered that Soren had said she saw someone who looked exactly like him at Isaac's house. But he hadn't been to Isaac's house that day. He finally realized and hurried to find Isaac, hoping to switch the healthy Magnus back to Nora's side and find a place to quietly wait for his own death.
In this way, not only Nora and Soren, but his great-grandfather wouldn't be sad either.
Seeing Barrett's joyful expression, Isaac felt a stabbing pain in his heart.
Barrett was so seriously ill, but he was still thinking of others, so considerate that it made Isaac's heart ache.
Isaac hugged Barrett tightly, his voice choked, "So your name is Barrett."
"All these years, you've suffered. It's all my fault for not knowing about you sooner, for not bringing you back to protect you."
Barrett's small body stiffened, his voice trembling, "Daddy, I took Magnus's identity, took his life, and did so many bad things. Don't you blame me? Do you still acknowledge me as your child?"
The reason he always listened to Mortimer, doing whatever Mortimer told him to do, was because he was afraid that Isaac and Nora would find out he wasn't the real Magnus, blame him for taking Magnus's identity, think he was a dishonest bad child, and thus hate and abandon him.
But now that he had voluntarily told the truth, why wasn't Daddy angry?
Isaac said seriously, "It's not your fault. You're just a three-year-old child. Even if you wanted to take someone else's identity, how could you succeed without someone manipulating things behind the scenes?"
"You're just a pawn in someone else's game. The one at fault is the person who arranged all this."
"Even if no one had made you do it, and it was all your doing, I wouldn't blame you. It's because I didn't fulfill my responsibility as a father and didn't educate you properly."
Barrett's eyes welled up with tears, and he cried in Isaac's arms, "Daddy."
'Daddy was so good, I don't want to die anymore.'
'But I've done bad things. Even if Mortimer made me do it, I'm willing at first and took Magnus's identity with a vengeful heart. So, I deserve to be punished.'
Isaac and Barrett hugged and cried for a long time before calming down.
Barrett choked and said, "Daddy, let's do as I said and switch me and Magnus back. I've been having nosebleeds every day recently. I don't want to see Mommy and Soren cry anymore. If we switch Magnus back, they'll be happy."
Isaac patted his head, "Don't think like that. You need to stay with us. Even if your illness can't be cured, we'll be with you for your remaining time."
"We've already missed three years of your life. We can't let you be alone anymore."
Barrett was shocked. He didn't expect Daddy not to plan to switch him and Magnus back.
"But I'll make Mommy sad. And if we don't switch back, what about Magnus? Is he supposed to stay hidden forever?" Barrett frowned, unable to understand what his daddy was thinking.
Isaac said, "You're our child. No matter what happens, we should be with you. And Mommy should know about you. We can't let you die alone. You're Barrett, not Magnus. From now on, live with your own identity. Your existence doesn't prevent Magnus from coming back."
He had figured it out. Hiding things under the guise of doing it for someone's good only caused more misunderstandings and hurt.
He decided to let Nora know about Barrett and Magnus.
Even if Magnus's injuries weren't healed yet, and Nora would be sad for both Barrett and Magnus.
But hiding it wasn't fair to Nora, Barrett, or Magnus.
Barrett couldn't live with his own identity, and even if he died, it would be under someone else's name. That was unfair to him.
Magnus was already pitiful with his injuries, and he couldn't have his mother's company. That was unfair to him too.
As for Nora, if she wasn't told now, she would only be more heartbroken and blame herself for neglecting Barrett and not being with Magnus when he was most injured when she found out the truth later.
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