Chapter 306
<Chapter>Chapter 306</Chapter>
"Mom, does this mean you won't ever go back to the Winston family because Emily is Owen and Keith's mom?" Todd asked, lifting his dark eyes seriously.
Haley pressed her lips together. "Facing Emily's sons doesn't bring me peace. Staying away from them is better for everyone."
"They're Mr. Ivan's sons, too," Todd pressed on. "Mr. Ivan must still be someone special to you, right?"
After taking a deep breath, Haley responded flatly, "There's nothing special about it. He's just a business partner."
Todd's phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.
He wiped his hands and checked the screen. An email with the subject line "Paternity Test Report" had come through.
His eyes narrowed as he opened the email, his gaze falling on the last line of text.
Even though the results were as expected, he found them hard to believe.
He turned off his phone's display and looked up. "Angie has called Mr. Ivan 'Daddy' a few times. Have you ever thought about being with Mr. Ivan, to let her rightfully call him Daddy?"
Haley looked at him in disbelief. "Todd, why would you think that?"
She might have a slight fondness for Ivan but not enough to consider finding a father for her children.
"Todd, I've never thought about finding a stepfather for you and Angela, not once," Haley emphasized. "Angela is too young. She has yet to be exposed to the world, and she needs help understanding what 'Daddy' really means. I'll correct her, little by little."
Todd gripped his phone tighter. "But what if our real father comes looking for us?"
Haley's heart skipped a beat.
She had kept Jeremy's matter under wraps so well; after the news broke out, the issue was resolved in just a few hours—Todd shouldn't have known.
Yet, the way Todd asked implied he might have caught wind of something.
With decisiveness in her tone, she said, "It doesn't matter if he comes looking. I have no intention of being with your biological father unless... unless you and Angela really want a father..."
Her resistance would be futile if her children wanted to know their birth father.
Todd pursed his lips. "What if Ivan was our biological father?"
Haley exhaled in relief.
Todd's words were proof enough that the child was unaware of Jeremy's existence.
She walked over and gently touched her son's soft hair, speaking softly, "He can't be your father, and even if he were, there could never be anything between us."
Todd's eyes held a depth of ink-dark thoughts. He wondered if he should tell his mother the truth.
However, he didn't know what would change if he did. It would just give her one more thing to worry about.
That night, Haley had trouble sleeping yet again.
After work the next day, she skipped her usual visit to the Winstons, taking the kids straight home to cook dinner. Once the meal was ready, she went online and ordered a delivery guy to take the insulated food container over to the Winston residence.
She had made a promise to prepare dinner for Owen, and backing out wasn't her style.
When the delivery guy arrived at the Winstons, Owen was sitting on the swing in the yard, the light in his eyes slowly fading with the passing time.
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