Chapter 477 Why Not Adopt Anymore
In the basement of a suburban villa, Zachary walked in and was hit by a strong medicinal smell mixed with the musty air that hadn't moved in years.
He could hear low voices coming from deeper inside.
Zachary moved steadily toward the back of the basement, and the voices got clearer the closer he got.
"Jackson, don't move; your wound's opening up."
"When I get out, I'm gonna cripple him. Damn it, he ambushed me."
"Jackson, for now, forget about getting out. Focus on healing first."
The guy didn't dare tell Jackson that all his properties had been seized, accused of drug trafficking from an anonymous tip, and now the cops were hunting for him everywhere.
Seeing Zachary come in, the guy quickly stood up and moved aside. "Mr. Ramsey."
Zachary nodded at him.
Jackson sat up in bed, leaning against the headboard, gritting his teeth, and covering his wound. "Mr. Ramsey, I underestimated that bastard this time. He actually ambushed me. Once I'm healed, I'm gonna teach him a good lesson," he said.
Even though Zachary had warned him before, he didn't take the frail Timothy seriously. After leaving the restaurant, Jackson went to his lover's place, thinking he wouldn't leave until the next day, so he didn't have anyone follow him.
Who would've thought he'd get ambushed in the underground parking lot, ending up with a hole in his stomach? Luckily, his thick layer of fat and quick reflexes saved him from any internal injuries.
Zachary looked down at Jackson.
Jackson's subordinate brought him a chair, but Zachary had no intention of sitting. "No need for a lesson," he said firmly. "Once you're healed, go to the police station and cooperate with the investigation."
Jackson looked confused. "Cooperate with the police investigation for what?"
Zachary turned to the guy beside Jackson, frowning. "You didn't tell him?"
The guy, feeling very nervous under his gaze, stammered, "Not yet. I was afraid Jackson couldn't handle the shock."
Actually, Jackson could handle the shock, but it was the subordinates who would suffer.
Zachary said, "Consider this a favor I owe you. I'll do my best to help you save those seized assets, but they must be clean."
Although Zachary didn't go into detail, Jackson understood and widened his eyes in disbelief. "Was it Timothy?"
Jackson had built up many connections in Dreamopolis over the years. How could Timothy, who was so young, manage to get his assets seized without anyone knowing?
Zachary wasn't sure. He had initially planned to use Jackson to gauge Timothy or whoever was behind him to assess their influence in Dreamopolis. However, it turned out to be far more complicated than Zachary had anticipated.
Jackson's eyes were fierce. "Once I deal with the current trouble, I'm gonna kill him. He dared to make a move on me; he must have a death wish."
At the Bailey Group, Winona walked into Evander's office and placed the paternity test Samuel had given her in front of Evander. "Mr. Anderson sent this. It's the paternity test for you and Nicholas."
"The results are out?" Evander excitedly reached out to take it, eagerly unwrapping the string but stopping at the last moment, his fingers touching the thin sheet of paper. "Have you seen it?"
His hands and voice trembled, both excited and scared. He had been through a lot in his life, but he had always stayed calm in the face of any setback. Now, he couldn't even bring himself to look at a single sheet of paper.He was scared the result would be the opposite of what he hoped for.
Seeing this, Winona said, "It's him."
Evander finally let out a big sigh of relief, a smile he couldn't hide forming on his lips. "That's good. As long as it's confirmed that he's Zachary, I can rest easy."
Only after hearing Winona's definite answer did Evander pull the paternity test report out of the manila envelope. Seeing the result, he let out another long breath, his face full of relaxed and relieved smiles. "It really is him. But why would he leave home to become Nicholas?" he asked.
Winona didn't know either. But she had something else to tell Evander. "There's someone by his side—his name is Timothy. They seem to have a good relationship. Do you remember him?"
"Timothy?" Evander's brows furrowed at the mention of the name. "Isn't he abroad? When did he come back?" he muttered to himself as he found a foreign number on his phone and dialed it.
On the other end, the call was answered, "Sir."
Evander asked, "Where's Timothy?"
The man on the other end replied, "He's sleeping. Do you want me to wake him?"
In the past, Evander would have said no, knowing it was the middle of the night overseas. But this time, he didn't hold back. A few minutes later, a sleepy voice came through the receiver. "Evander, it's so late. Do you need something?"
Evander responded, "It's nothing major. Just wanted to ask how you've been abroad all these years."
After sending Timothy abroad, Evander rarely contacted him. It was out of goodwill. Although Timothy's father had wronged the company, Evander believed that debts died with the person. Before their relationship soured, they had been rivals but also old friends who respected each other.
Evander believed that a child so young shouldn't have to suffer because of his father's actions.
Originally, he and Lydia had planned to adopt Timothy, but due to certain events, they changed their minds and sent him abroad instead.
After the routine greetings, Evander hung up. He then said to Winona, "He's still abroad. We might not be talking about the same person."
"I had Mr. Lewis investigate. The Timothy currently with..." Winona swallowed the name she almost said. Although it was just the two of them, they were in an office, a public place, so it was better to be cautious. She continued, "Nicholas is the same Timothy you almost adopted."
"Since you had already told the orphanage you would adopt him, why did you change your mind at the last minute?" she asked.
Timothy was relatively frail and not the outgoing type. He was probably bullied a lot in the orphanage, though it could also be a personality developed later.
It had been many years, but Evander still remembered the scene clearly.
At that time, he and Lydia went to pick Timothy up. They hadn't told Zachary about it beforehand, fearing he might resist, so they didn't bring him along.
When they arrived, Timothy wasn't there; he had gone out to play somewhere. The director offered to help them find him, but they declined. They didn't want to burden the director and preferred to observe Timothy's character on their own. The orphanage was a unique environment, and a child's character was largely determined by their innate traits.
Many children would behave well in front of potential adoptive parents, displaying kindness, good temper, and politeness. However, whether that behavior was genuine could only be assessed through their interactions with their peers.
It was this observation that made them change their minds.
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