Chapter 89 Mom's Hospital Stay
"I'll get the door."
Furrowing his brow, Bennett set his utensils down, hopped off his chair with a small thud, and quickly trotted to the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me!"
A youthful, tender voice came from the other side. "Bennett, it’s Lauren!"
"I went over to Auntie's place. She mentioned you didn't come home last night, so I decided to check here."
"And here you both are!"
"Open up!"
Lauren's voice instantly filled Bennett with excitement.
Without hesitation, he flung the door open and spread his arms wide. “Lauren!”
There she stood at the doorstep, Ryanaccompanying her, Lauren was dressed in a fancy outfit.
Eager for a hug, Bennett reached out, but Lauren, reeling in the aroma, didn’t embrace him.
“Smells good!”
She skirted around him and stepped briskly into the room. “Are you guys having breakfast?”
“Do you have any for me?”
“Nope.”
A bit peeved, Bennett returned to the dining table and plopped down into his chair to eat.
Looking pitiful, Lauren parked herself at the opposite end of the table, her elbows propped up, and her wide, dewy eyes fixed unblinkingly on the bounty in Bennett's bowl. “Must be tasty, huh?”
Bennett exchanged a helpless glance with Adeline.
Reluctantly, after a moment, the little guy went to the kitchen and grabbed a plate. He split his breakfast in half and slid it in front of Lauren. “Eat up.”
“And don't go saying Bennett’s being mean to you.”
Lauren giggled as she grabbed a fork. “Bennett, you’re the best!”
She then enthusiastically dug into her plate, scarfing down the food.
Bennett watched her gobble up the meal, his brows knitted together. "Didn’t that guy... what’s his face... prepare breakfast for you?”
“He did.”
Lauren pursed her lips. “But I didn’t like it.”
“Mommy’s gone, and I wanted Alice to make me breakfast.”
“But the staff at home said Alice wasn’t familiar with the kitchen and wouldn’t let her cook.”
“They kept telling me how delicious their breakfast was and insisted I try it.”
“After one bite, I thought it was awful and didn't eat any more.”
“Granddad said that Alice should take me out to eat something I’d enjoy.”
“I racked my brain and couldn’t think of anything special I wanted.”
Lauren shoveled another spoonful of food into her mouth. “I thought about skipping breakfast all together, using the time to look for you guys.”
She pouted and huffed, “Little did I know I’d catch you two here having all this good stuff.”
Bennett chuckled helplessly, "This is just some basic fare, certainly nothing compared to what you've got at home."
The ingredients for this morning's breakfast were just randomly picked up last night when he and Adeline went shopping at the mall.
Lauren shrugged nonchalantly, "Yeah."
"But, I think the stuff they make isn't as tasty as yours!"
After saying that, the little one carefully observed Adeline's reaction, "No one can beat Mommy's cooking!"
Adeline smiled faintly, without a word.
The breakfast Bennett had prepared was plentiful.
Glancing at her son and daughter's plates, the woman shook her head in gentle exasperation and served them each a little more.
"Mommy, you're the best!"
Lauren offered Adeline a polite smile, "Way better than Daddy!"
"Daddy not only skips breakfast with me but he's nowhere to be found."
"The staff said he drank too much last night, hurt his stomach, then accidentally hit his wound, and now he's in X Hospital."
"I'm not sure if it's true or not."
Lauren pouted, "Mommy, it's been a long time since Daddy rescued you from that fire, hasn't it? His wound should have healed by now."
"It can't be that easy to injure himself again and end up hospitalized, right?"
While she spoke, Lauren sneakily watched Adeline's expression, "I think the staff made it up as an excuse for Daddy not eating breakfast with me."
Adeline put her empty plate on the table, "Maybe."
After that, she stretched lazily and went back to the couch to check her phone.
It seemed Jasper's hospitalization hadn't really affected her.
Lauren furrowed her brow and bit her lip silently.
She didn't come here because there was no food at home.
She thought that if Daddy was in the hospital, Mommy would surely be worried; after all, she always was whenever he was hospitalized before.
But now, it seemed...
"Eat up."
Bennett glanced at his sister, "Let the adults worry about their own stuff."
Lauren bit her lip, feeling a bit downcast as she bowed her head to continue eating her breakfast.
After breakfast, Lauren didn't stay too long.
Even though Jasper was in the hospital, Ethan Foster was waiting at home for her to return from breakfast.
She couldn't afford to waste too much time outside.
" It's easy to get caught up in someone's appearance and forget what's really important," Bennett muttered to himself, watching Lauren leave, his mouth curving into a quiet grimace.
Adeline chuckled, "Don't blame her."
"Jasper was pretty decent to her."
"I don't think so."
Bennett tidied up the dishes and carried them to the kitchen.
Amidst the clatter of running water, Bennett scrubbed the plates and muttered coldly, "If Jasper really cared about Lauren, he'd have taken care of that Molly situation."
"Not shipped her off to study in Australia."
Adeline's hand paused slightly as she held her phone.
It seemed she wasn't the only one who had caught that news in the mall last night.
Thinking of Molly and Jasper...
An inexplicable irritation welled up inside her.
At that moment, Adeline's phone started ringing.
She frowned at the caller ID – it was Violet.
"Adeline, guess who I saw at the hospital?"
Violet's voice had a mysterious lilt over the phone.
Adeline arched an eyebrow, settling into a more comfortable position on the couch, "Run into a celebrity, did you?"
"Not quite."
Violet sighed on the other end, "I saw your mother!"
"This morning, Ethan Sterling got word that his manager got fired yesterday for dragging Christopher into trouble, who then got beaten up by some guys Christopher knew."
"Ethan took me to visit the department manager, and that's when I ran into your mom!"
Adeline was puzzled, "Are you sure it was my mother?"
She didn't remember ever showing Violet a photo of her mom.
"Of course!"
Violet rolled her eyes through the phone, "Molly's a TV star, you know. She's been on those reality shows where celebs take their families out. She brought your mom with her. I couldn't possibly get it wrong!"
Then her voice grew heavier, "I just saw her being rushed into the emergency room on a stretcher from an ambulance."
"Are you... not coming?"
Violet's words sent a jolt through Adeline's heart.
She pursed her lips, "Send me the address. I'm on my way."
After hanging up, Adeline received the address from Violet.
X Hospital.
The same one Jasper was at.
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