Chapter 158 Fit as a Fiddle
At the Denver Central Hospital
Lauren perched on a bench, swinging her little legs and nibbling on a lollipop.
Her big, round eyes fixed on the boy inside the glass partition, struggling as Jasper held him down for the doctor to draw blood.
"Uncle Ryan," she inquired, "is Daddy in a bad mood today?"
It was Saturday, and she and her brother were finally free from daycare, planning to relish a day of lazing around.
But their father barged into their nursery bright and early, hauling them off to the hospital for a checkup.
Especially Big Brother.
He seemed to have so many more tests than her.
Ryan didn't know how to explain it to Lauren; he just silently wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Well, maybe Mr. Foster thought it was time for a checkup."
Even Ryan had no clue about Jasper's antics.
He had just gotten to the Foster Group that morning when he spotted Stella talking to some men right at the entrance.
Ryan thought Stella was checking on the employees.
After all, the boss wasn't home last night and hadn't stayed late at work either.
So, in a frenzy, he called Jasper, telling him that Stella was at the office looking for him and asking if he should pick him up.
But when he did, Jasper wasn't in a hurry to return to the office; he wanted to be taken home instead.
From there, they ended up at the hospital, embarking on this lengthy health examination.
"But why does Bennett have more tests than me?"
Lauren munched on her lollipop, glancing at the almost quarreling father and son through the glass, "He hates checkups; I don't mind them as much.
"Why would Daddy make it so tough on him?"
Ryan wiped his brow again. "Well..."
He didn't have an answer either.
Jasper had Bennett undergo every major illness test there was: leukemia, osteosarcoma, even cancer.
Bennett was always so full of life; why would the CEO think he was suffering from something so grave?
"I refuse to be tested anymore!"
In the sample room, Bennett lost his temper when the doctor mentioned another test to be done.
"What the hell are you trying to do, Jasper?
"I'm perfectly healthy!
"Why are you making me go through all these tests?"
He had never had so many tests.
Was this man out of his mind?
It was a perfectly fine weekend; he could have slept in all morning!
But instead, he got dragged here, getting tested nonstop for two whole hours, and it still wasn't over.
Jasper shot him a cold glance. "Healthy?"
"Of course!"
With a resigned roll of his eyes, Bennett retorted, "I've hardly ever caught a cold my whole life!"
Jasper just laughed.
He took out his phone and pulled up a photo of a little boy in striped pajamas, propped up in a hospital bed.
"Explain this then."
Bennett took the phone and glanced at it.
Seeing the person in the photo, he finally understood why Jasper was acting crazy.
It was a picture of Blake.
He and Blake were identical twins.
Jasper had mistaken Blake for him.
The little guy took a deep breath. "It's me. What's up?"
Jasper snorted, "Weren't you the kid who rarely got colds growing up?"
"Exactly, which means when I do catch a cold, it hits hard. I end up in the hospital."
He grimaced, "Why keep pictures of me sick? I look terrible."
With that, the little rascal went ahead and deleted the photo.
Even though he was the spitting image of Blake, upon closer inspection, there were subtle differences.
Jasper was a man of detail; he worried that those nuances might give something away.
After deleting the photo, he handed the phone back to Jasper, "What other tests do we have? Let's get them all done.
"After all the tests, you guys are not allowed to disturb us today."
Jasper furrowed his brows, "Why the sudden cooperation?"
From the moment he had brought them to the hospital, Bennett had been resistant, which was why Jasper had stayed close by.
Had this kid suddenly turned docile just from seeing the photo?
Bennett rolled his eyes, "At first, I thought maybe you hoped we were sick, waiting for us to drop dead sooner.
"But after seeing the photo, I realized you were genuinely concerned about me. So I'll grudgingly play along."
Having said his piece, Bennett didn't pay any more attention to Jasper; instead, he rolled up his sleeve for the nurse to draw blood.
Watching him finally settle down, Jasper let out a sigh of relief and stepped outside.
In the corridor, Lauren was already on her third lollipop of the day.
Upon seeing him, the little girl pursed her lips and remained silent.
Letting out a deep sigh, Jasper took a seat beside Lauren.
"I heard you had an upset stomach last night."
Lauren pouted and gave him an accusing look, "Try downing several bottles of milk in an hour. Your stomach would hurt, too."
Jasper exhaled, "How many did you drink?"
"Three bottles. My brother managed five."
The little girl sulked, leaning back in her chair, "Ms. Collins said we had to finish ten bottles of milk if we didn't want to be locked in the closet.
"She also taunted us, saying all we ever did was tattle and complain about the lack of snacks and drinks.
"So she told us to drink our fill."
Remembering the woman's fierce expression from yesterday, Lauren's face was clouded with discontent, "We tried really hard but couldn't finish ten bottles.
"If Alice hadn't sneakily helped us drink two and a half, we really would've ended up in that closet!"
Hearing his daughter's words filled Jasper with a mix of sadness and anger.
He took a deep breath, "Do you have any proof of this?"
"No."
Lauren pursed her lips again, "My brother used to have several voice recorders."
"But yesterday, when she was scolding us, she must have had someone rummage through our rooms, taking all our voice recorders and electronic devices."
The kid sighed, "It's like we've been force-fed a bitter pill with no chance to even complain about it!"
Jasper knitted his brows in thought.
When Stella had denied the kids snacks that day, insisting they wait for dinner with her, he could still rationalize it as her wanting to instill the discipline of an esteemed family.
Although what she did was excessive, it could be chalked up to her deep love for the children.
But yesterday, she took away the electronics and forced the kids to drink milk and eat snacks.
Clearly, it was a vendetta.
All because he'd criticized her, she was now taking it out on her children, making them drink ten bottles of milk while they were still growing.
Indeed, he badly needed some time to have a good talk with Stella.
With that thought, he turned to look at Ryan behind him, "You said Stella was at the office when you called this morning?"
"Yeah."
Ryan went silent for a moment, "I've just received an anonymous video.
"Do you want to see it?"
Jasper's brow furrowed as he took the smartphone from him.
In the video, Stella was kneeling on the ground, looking earnestly at Adeline.
"Miss Wilson, can you forgive me?
"I won't meddle in your work with Jasper anymore.
"No matter how late Jasper stays out, I won't make a fuss or hurt you again."
…
Jasper's expression shifted from calm to seething rage.
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