Lin Ting recognized Jiang Yu’s voice the moment he spoke.
It carried blame and a deep-seated disgust toward her.
Ignoring how much he despised her, she pulled out her IV needle, got out of bed, and hurried out anxiously.
Over the phone, she asked with concern:
“Mr. Jiang, is Youzi with you?”
“What happened to Youzi? Where are you? I’ll come right away.”
The nurse saw her weak and about to collapse.
Noticing the trail of blood from her IV hand all the way to the door, the nurse tried to stop her:
“Hey, where are you going? You can’t leave yet—you’re bleeding.”
Lin Ting couldn’t care less about that.
Xiao Youzi must be in trouble—why else would the school have called so many times?
And she had fainted at the market, of all times.
Now, with a fever clouding her mind, walking felt like stepping on cotton.
On Youzi’s school forms, she had listed Jiang Yu as the father.
She feared that one day she might suddenly be gone—
perhaps dying on the way to pick up Youzi, or at home, leaving no one to bring Youzi back.
And she had firmly believed that Jiang Yu would acknowledge Youzi.
That’s why she had left his number with the school.
The teacher must have called him after failing to reach her.
Walking hurriedly, she asked anxiously, “Mr. Jiang, how is Youzi? Can I speak to her?”
“Lin Ting, how dare you ask me?”
“You’re the child’s mother. How could you not know what’s wrong with her?”
“Someone as irresponsible as you doesn’t deserve to have a child.”
Jiang Yu’s voice on the phone was filled with blame and deep disgust.
Anyone else could call her irresponsible.
But not Jiang Yu.
She rushed to Youzi’s hospital room as fast as she could, her heart aching as she touched Youzi’s burning forehead.
“Youzi, I’m sorry. Mommy didn’t take good care of you.”
Jiang Yu, standing nearby, snorted coldly. “You have time for your scheming and deceitful plots, but no time to care for your child? Lin Ting, what makes you think you’re qualified to be a mother?”
Heartbroken, Lin Ting couldn’t bear to see Jiang Yu anymore.
Nor did she want to hear his cold, heartless, even cruel voice.
But she wiped her tears and stood up from the bedside.
Turning to face Jiang Yu, she raised her hand and explained:
“I’m sick too. I was getting an IV in this very hospital.”
“There are already cancer cells in my lungs. Even a small cold can cause a lung infection…”
Her breathing was severely labored.
After just a few words, she had to stop and gasp for air.
Jiang Yu saw the IV puncture mark on her hand and the bloodstains on her knuckles, but he sneered dismissively:
“Lin Ting, not bad acting. The props are well done too.”
“Did you smear that blood on your hand ahead of time?”
“Next time, maybe you should keep a blood capsule in your mouth to make it look more convincing in front of me?”
Just because of a few words from Dr. Zhao Meng, Jiang Yu could distrust her so completely.
Lin Ting couldn’t understand how she had ever fallen for such a cold and heartless man.
She must have been blind.
After catching her breath with great effort, she managed to speak weakly:
“Do I have to die for you to believe me?”
Jiang Yu looked at her coldly. “Lin Ting, save the acting for the stage. Don’t play sick in front of me—I’m not that stupid!”
Thinking back to her conversation with Dr. Zhao Meng in the restaurant yesterday, Jiang Yu felt nothing but disgust.
Her ability to act so convincingly made the hatred in his chest surge like raging waves.
His gaze toward Lin Ting grew even more filled with resentment.
He sneered coldly, “Lin Ting, how much did you pay your makeup artist? They did such a realistic job—must have cost a fortune!”
When he looked at Youzi, Jiang Yu’s heart ached.
Such a young child, yet Lin Ting had allowed her to be covered in scars.
“Lin Ting, take a good look at how you’ve been raising this child.”
“The child is burning up with such a high fever.”
“And her hands—covered in cuts and burns. How did that happen?”
“You have time to scheme and plot to steal the research secrets of Lin Jiang Pharmaceutical Group, but no time to take care of your own child?”
“If you can’t take care of her properly, why did you even give birth to her in the first place?”
“Once you brought her into this world, you should have taken good care of her.”
At this point, Lin Ting didn’t want to explain another word to Jiang Yu.
But she was afraid that she might suddenly die one day.
She was afraid that no one would take care of Youzi.
Enduring all the pain, she calmly stated:
“Mr. Jiang, the truth is, I’m not acting. Everything I said is true.”
“Youzi getting sick and injured is my fault for not taking better care of her. But I truly had no other choice.”
“Since you refuse to acknowledge her, I can only try to find her an adoptive family.”
“Before she goes to an adoptive family, I had no choice but to force her to learn how to do chores, cook, and sleep independently without needing to be comforted.”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. If I die before finding Youzi an adoptive family, I beg you, for the child’s sake, to take another paternity test with her.”
If there were any other way, she wouldn’t have to beg Jiang Yu over and over like this.
Even though she least wanted to see this man.
This was all she could say.
Dragging her battered body, she sat back in the chair. As she gently touched Xiao Youzi’s face again, Jiang Yu’s cold, scornful voice came from behind her:
“Lin Ting, to get the research secrets of Lin Jiang Pharmaceutical from me, you’ll stop at nothing.”
“Someone like you—even if you really do have cancer, once the specific anti-cancer drug is developed in the lab, I won’t let you have it.”
Every word was filled with hatred.
But even after venting his anger, Jiang Yu felt no satisfaction.
At that moment, Xiao Youzi on the hospital bed seemed to wake up. She called out “Mommy” twice and slowly opened her eyes.
She really saw her mother.
“Mommy, where am I?”
Lin Ting touched Youzi’s forehead—thankfully, the fever had subsided. “We’re at the hospital. I’m sorry, Mommy didn’t take good care of you.”
“Mommy, it’s okay. Mommy, can you hug me?” Xiao Youzi really wanted her mother to hold her.
Last night, she had been waiting for her mother’s embrace.
But she never got it.
It made her so sad.
Beneath her long lashes were Xiao Youzi’s deeply longing eyes. “Mommy, hug me.”
Her small hands stretched out, waiting for her mother’s embrace.
Lin Ting quickly put on her mask and leaned down to hug Xiao Youzi tightly.
At that moment, her heart was bleeding.
In her arms, Xiao Youzi said in a hoarse voice, “Mommy, I really want some water.”
Jiang Yu hurriedly poured a cup of hot water and handed it over.
Only then did Xiao Youzi notice there was another person in the hospital room.
But it was that awful father.
Youzi wasn’t happy at all.
Her little face fell, and she gave Jiang Yu a resentful look.
Finally, Xiao Youzi said politely yet distantly, “Thank you, but I want to drink the water my mom poured.”
Jiang Yu’s hand holding the cup stiffly withdrew.
A shadow passed over his face.
Somehow, he felt an unusual sensation in his heart—very uncomfortable and somewhat painful.
He had always been well-liked by children. Did Xiao Youzi not like him? Why didn’t she like him?