Chapter 314 So Poor That Only Money Is Left
Stuart flipped through his old photo album, and it hit him—Andrew was right.
He might not have been as polished as Jeffery when he was a kid, but the mouth, the chin, and even the nose were dead ringers.
How had he missed such obvious similarities?
Andrew's voice broke through his reverie, "Hey, if you don't bring Josephine back, I won't rest in peace!"
Stuart sighed, "Come on, Grandpa, it's the Starlight Festival. Let's not get all serious now. I'll do my best, okay?"
"And you better clean up all those past messes! Screw up again, and I won't acknowledge you as my grandson!"
"I know, Grandpa. I was just so dumb before. Josephine's the only one I've ever loved, always has been."
"How could you be so clueless!" Andrew snapped. "When I was courting your grandma, it was a breeze."
Stuart raised an eyebrow. "No way, Grandpa. Grandma told me you stood outside her building for nights to win her over."
"Do you know or do I know?" Andrew glared. "Your grandma and I never fought our whole lives! And you, you even got divorced!"
"I know I messed up, Grandpa. But can we skip the scolding during the Starlight Festival?"
Andrew snorted, a sign he was letting it go.
Stuart looked back at the album, and the more he stared, the more he saw Jeffery in himself.
Andrew broke the silence, "There's something else."
Stuart looked up. "What is it?"
Andrew sighed, "It's your dad. He might come back tomorrow."
Stuart felt indifferent about Elbert. The guy rarely showed up for the Starlight Festival anyway.
Andrew added, "No matter what, he's still your dad."
"What about my mom? Is she coming back?"
Andrew shook his head. "I don't know."
Stuart's face remained blank. "Got it."
"Don't blame your mom. She and your dad were in love back then. Who knew he'd do something so stupid?" Andrew looked at him. "That's why I was so mad when you divorced Josephine. Mad at you, mad at myself. I raised you all these years, and you ended up like your disappointing dad!"
"Grandpa," Stuart felt a bit hurt. "I'm not like him at all! I just didn't realize I loved Josephine soon enough. I got divorced, but I didn't cheat or have a child out of wedlock!"
"And you're proud of getting divorced?"
Stuart fell silent, knowing their situations were incomparable—Elbert's mistake was unforgivable.
Stuart knew Carol looked down on him because of Elbert. He didn't blame her; it was all Elbert's fault.
The reason he showed mercy to William back then was because, in some ways, William was innocent.
Years had passed, and Stuart no longer craved fatherly love or warmth.
Whatever Elbert wanted to do, Stuart didn't care. All he could think about now was Josephine.
Oh, and Jeffery too.
Even without a paternity test, Stuart was almost sure Jeffery was his son.
If not, why would Josephine go through so much trouble to make Jeffery wear colored contacts?
Just thinking about Josephine giving birth to his child made Stuart's heart swell with indescribable emotion and love.
He understood why Josephine kept it a secret. Putting himself in her position, enduring the agony and anguish of their marriage, he might not have been capable of having a child for the other person either. Nonetheless, Josephine had blessed him with Jeffery.
Maybe when Jeffery was born, Josephine wasn't thinking about him or reintroducing Jeffery to the Haustia Family. Still, Stuart's heart was full of gratitude.
Especially since Andrew had been hoping for this for so many years, and now his wish had finally come true. Stuart was pleased too.
Honestly, if Stuart wanted his own child, it would be easy. Plenty of women would be willing. But he didn't want that. He only wanted Josephine to have his child.
In the end, fate was on his side. His wish had come true.
But the one he should thank the most wasn't fate, it was Josephine.
After closing the photo album, Stuart started organizing his assets to see which ones would make good gifts for Jeffery.Oh, and he also needed to get an engagement gift, a wedding gift... You know what? Forget it. He'd just transfer everything to Josephine's name.
That way, he'd be broke and have to rely on Josephine for the rest of his life.
Josephine was super responsible. If he couldn't live without her, she definitely wouldn't have the heart to leave him.
'Yes! That's the plan!' Stuart thought, feeling pretty pleased with himself for being rich in everything except money.
If he gave all his money to Josephine, he'd be truly poor. Then Josephine would have to take care of him forever.
'A lifetime. What a beautiful word,' Stuart mused.
Moved by the beautiful picture he imagined, Stuart immediately contacted his lawyer to sort out the details.
Poor lawyer had to work overtime during the Starlight Festival because of Stuart.
Even though the lawyer wasn't short on cash, he was still green with envy looking at Stuart's assets.
After understanding the procedures and processes, Stuart felt clear-headed. He gave the lawyer a bonus for the overtime and then carefully sent a message to Josephine. But she didn't reply.
Stuart stared at his phone, even taking it into the bathroom while he showered.
Exiting the bathroom, Stuart held his phone and went downstairs, knocking on Andrew's door. "Grandpa, can you send me a message?" he asked.
Andrew, almost asleep, asked, "What's the problem?"
Stuart replied, "I need to check if my phone signal is working."
Despite his growing annoyance towards Stuart, especially with thoughts of Jeffery, Andrew relented and sent a random message to Stuart.
As Stuart's phone beeped, signaling it could receive messages, he wondered why Josephine hadn't replied yet. Disheartened, he sent a few more messages upstairs but received no reply. Afraid of being too pushy, he stopped sending messages or making a daring phone call.
Just as Stuart's disappointment was peaking, his phone suddenly lit up.
He grabbed it eagerly, but his excitement quickly deflated when he saw the contact. It wasn't Josephine.
In frustration, he tossed the phone aside.
A few seconds later, he picked it up again, thinking, 'What if Josephine replied?'
Fixating his gaze on the phone, or more accurately, on the chat interface with Josephine, he didn't even dare to blink, fearing he might miss her response.
As Stuart stared at the phone, it suddenly rang with an incoming call from an unknown number. Without hesitation, Stuart hung up immediately. A few seconds later, the same number called again.
Stuart answered and asked directly, "Who is this?"
"Stuart?" The voice on the other end was gentle. "It's Angela."
Stuart was stunned.
Angela, not catching his words, asked again, "Stuart, are you there? Are you even listening?"
Leaning against the headboard, Stuart replied, "Yeah, I'm here. I heard you made it back?"
"Yeah, I just got home not long ago. I thought you might come to pick me up."
"Sorry, things are a bit busy at home," Stuart said. "I suggested sending a driver, but Vincent said it wasn't necessary."
"A driver." Angela's smile almost faltered. "My family has drivers too. Stuart, we haven't seen each other in so long."
"It has been a long time," Stuart said. "How about this, Jair is abroad. When he gets back, I'll treat you both to dinner."
Angela was puzzled. "Why wait for him? Besides, I might be gone by the time he returns."
"Oh, that's really unfortunate," Stuart said. "In that case, I'll treat you to dinner next time you're back in the country."
Angela was silent. She was so angry she almost crushed her phone!
She forced herself to smile and said, "Stuart, you're really funny. We haven't seen each other in so many years, do you really not want to see me?"
"There's not much to do even if we meet," Stuart said. "I've been really busy lately. It's the Starlight Festival, you must be busy too. I won't disturb you. Do you have anything else? If not, get some rest. Goodbye."
Listening to the call disconnect, Angela felt a surge of anger and frustration. She almost threw her phone in a fit of rage.
'How could this be?' she thought. 'How had Stuart changed so much?' Determined, she resolved to find a way to see Stuart no matter what.
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