Chapter 228: Strangely Rigorous
Upon hearing this, Arabella Donovan’s lips couldn’t help but twitch a few times. She figured Raphael Foster and the two Foster elders must have watched more than their fair share of melodramatic soap operas about babies switched at birth. They knew that if you didn’t get multiple DNA tests done, there was always a chance someone might tamper with the results.
Caspian Rhodes and Arabella: "..." Uh, that actually seemed to be the case.
As it turned out, provided there were no opportunists intentionally playing tricks, what was fake could never be made real, no matter how much one tried. By the same token, what was real could not easily be turned into a fake.
As soon as the DNA test results came back, Raphael Foster brought Samuel Fulton and his adoptive father to the Foster family home.
For a family that had been completely unaware of each other’s existence, this unexpected reunion after more than twenty years was undoubtedly a novel experience for everyone involved.
After the initial excitement and joy of the family reunion subsided, it was time for a reckoning.
"According to our investigation, at the time, Mr. Foster’s mother had a C-section at the maternity and children’s hospital in Alvane, safely delivering two baby boys. However, the attending physician who performed her surgery was being blackmailed. An enemy of Master Foster had leverage over him because of a crime committed by one of the doctor’s relatives."
"After the two babies were born, the doctor lied and claimed one of them had a congenital weakness. He said the mother’s premature labor was caused by a shock and an impact that had harmed the already frail child. As a result, he claimed the baby wasn’t breathing the moment he was born and couldn’t be revived."
"Furthermore, the other medical staff in the operating room had all been either threatened or bribed for similar reasons. The Foster Family, therefore, didn’t immediately realize something was wrong. In their state of emotional distress, the enemy found an opportunity to have the newborn Foster son transferred out of the hospital."
Beatrice Donovan paused here before continuing. "The reason they only said one baby was lost, instead of getting rid of both as the enemy demanded, was because the medical staff involved had a guilty conscience. They were afraid that if the Foster Family lost both children at once, they would become irrational in their grief and launch a thorough investigation."
"The Fosters’ enemy was already hiding in the shadows. If things were exposed, he could just wash his hands of it and walk away, but they couldn’t. That’s why they left themselves a way out."
Arabella Donovan’s expression was complex. ’These people are surprisingly meticulous in their work!’
Hearing her thought, Beatrice Donovan’s eyelid twitched. If this group hadn’t been so meticulous, the matter wouldn’t have remained hidden for so many years, only to be stumbled upon by chance by the very person before her.
After getting permission from the parties involved, Beatrice Donovan selectively shared some details that the two of them were allowed to know.
"We’ve already followed this lead and found all the doctors and nurses who attended the delivery for Mr. Foster’s mother. According to them, Master Foster’s enemy at the time had originally intended for them to kill both children, so that the Foster Family would experience the pain of losing their loved ones."
"But at the end of the day, they were ordinary people who hadn’t completely lost their consciences. Complying with the enemy’s wishes and cooperating with his plan was out of selfish motives, and leaving one child alive was for self-preservation. But they didn’t dare to actually take a life themselves. So, how to deal with the child they had spared became a pressing problem they needed to solve."
"So how did they deal with the child in the end?"
"The nurse in charge of dealing with the baby left him next to a trash can near the hospital, hoping someone would find him and take him home."
Over twenty years ago, surveillance cameras weren’t as widespread as they are now. The nurse was also afraid that carrying a baby far away by herself would make her too conspicuous. Being discovered by a bystander was a small matter, but if that enemy found out, not only would the child not survive, but she herself would be in terrible trouble.
Therefore, after carrying the baby just two streets away, she abandoned him.
Whether he lived or died was left to fate. At least he wouldn’t die directly at her hands, which made her conscience feel a little better.
But while her conscience may have been eased, for a child who had only been in this world for a few hours, it was a disastrous start to life.
"My dad—my adoptive father, that is. He said that around three or four in the morning, he happened to pass by the entrance to that street and faintly heard the weak cries of a baby. At first, he thought he was imagining things, but he cautiously went to take a look anyway. That’s when he saw me, placed next to a trash can. The swaddling clothes I was wrapped in were soaked, my lips were purple from the cold, and my cries were very faint."
Samuel Foster gave a bitter smile as he said this. "If no one had found me an hour or two later, I probably would have frozen to death right there."
This was the main reason why, even after learning that the man he had called "Dad" for over twenty years was not his biological father, he still considered him his only family. It was why he insisted on working various jobs to earn money for his father’s medical treatments, just so he could live well and stay with him for a few more years.
Although his biological parents had given birth to him, giving him life, his adoptive father had also given him a new life and had gone through untold hardships to raise him for so many years. This was a debt of gratitude he would have to remember and repay for the rest of his life.
The Foster Family clearly understood this as well. They didn’t just abandon their benefactor after reclaiming Samuel.
When they brought Samuel Foster back, they also brought his adoptive father to Brynn, arranging the best medical team for him. They even wanted him to move into the Foster estate with Samuel.
But Samuel Foster considered his dad’s personality and knew he would likely feel uncomfortable living in the Foster estate. So, with Raphael Foster’s help, he bought the house next door and connected the yards between the two properties. This way, they had their own private space while also merging the two households into one—a solution that was both fitting and convenient.
"After my dad found me, he was afraid I was a child someone had accidentally lost, so he immediately took me to the nearby police station to file a report. Because I had been exposed to the cold right after birth, I got very sick. By the time my condition stabilized and he went back to the police station to ask, he found that no one had filed a report about a missing child. So, my dad assumed I had been intentionally abandoned by my family."
One could imagine that since the Foster Family didn’t even know Samuel Foster existed back then, how could they possibly have filed a police report?
It was a bizarre twist of fate; neither party was at fault. If anyone was to blame, it was that deranged enemy.
"The day my dad found me, his wife and unborn daughter had just died in an accident. He lost them both."
The turn in conversation was so abrupt that it caught both Arabella Donovan and Caspian Rhodes by surprise.
"Losing his wife and child in a single day, my dad said he felt like dying. But then he ran into me right after leaving the hospital. Once he confirmed I was an abandoned baby, he took my appearance as a sign from his departed wife and daughter that they wanted him to keep living. He transferred his love for them onto me and raised me all by himself. And that’s how I became the person I am today."
Arabella Donovan and the others sighed with emotion upon hearing this. The story was full of twists and turns, and the villain was certainly detestable.
And yet, through a strange twist of fate, two people who should have lost their lives and two equally ill-fated families crossed paths because of this tragedy. They unexpectedly found redemption and became a new family. Perhaps it could be seen as a sliver of kindness from heaven for these long-suffering people.