Chapter 242: Confessing to His Mother
The housekeeper looked at Anne Sutton and sighed. "It would be so much better if you and Mr. Fawcett could be together. The young master wouldn’t have to live like this—when he’s with his mother he can’t see his father, and when he’s with his father he can’t see his mother. If Mr. Fawcett gets married someday, you’ll have even fewer chances to meet."
"..." Anne Sutton said, "He’s definitely going to get married. His mother can’t wait for him to tie the knot!"
At this, Anne Sutton’s mood soured. "I’m going to get some rest."
With that, she went straight into her bedroom.
On the way home today, Ian didn’t cry. Nathan Fawcett sat beside him and asked, "Your mother and Uncle Shields didn’t... do anything, did they?"
"No," Ian said. "I was watching them closely. But you said you were going to bring Mom home. When are you going to do it?"
"Don’t be impatient." Nathan Fawcett looked at Ian and said, "Soon!"
"When is ’soon’?"
"You’ll know when the time comes."
The father and son returned to the Linden residence to find Anna Linden sitting on the sofa. She had just gotten off the phone with all her friends. While none of them had explicitly said they were unwilling to marry their daughters to Nathan because of his health issues, they all came up with their own excuses.
In any case, after everything had been so agreeable before, now suddenly not a single one of their daughters was available!
Seeing Nathan Fawcett come in with Ian, Anna Linden said angrily, "You, get over here."
Nathan Fawcett glanced at her, then at Ian. He set Ian down and said, "Why don’t you go upstairs first."
Ian looked at Anna Linden. "Grandma, did my dad do something wrong?"
He instinctively wanted to protect his father.
Nathan Fawcett ruffled his hair. "Be good."
Chloe Chase had someone take Ian upstairs.
Anna Linden looked at Nathan Fawcett and demanded, "Why can’t you perform? Did you spread this rumor yourself? If you can’t perform, then how did Ian get here?"
Nathan Fawcett looked at his mother’s aggressive demeanor. He had never discussed this with her.
Anna Linden said, "Nathan Fawcett, don’t think that by using this trick, I’ll stop forcing you to go on blind dates. Or that you think you can get back together with Anne Sutton!"
"What if I told you that there really is something wrong with my body?" Nathan Fawcett looked at his mother, deciding now was the time to say what he had never said before.
Anna Linden demanded, "Why not? What’s not working? If you can’t, how did Ian happen? Explain yourself clearly! Do you take your mother for a fool?"
Nathan Fawcett said, "The reason I’ve been single all these years is because I can’t get close to other women. Anne Sutton is the only exception. Otherwise, why would I have been with her?"
"..." Chloe Chase looked at Nathan Fawcett. "Is what you’re saying true?"
"Of course it’s true. It’s been this way since I was a kid!" A maid who had just brought over some tea walked by. Nathan Fawcett grabbed her. She looked at him, startled. "Sir."
As soon as Nathan Fawcett got close to her, he started sneezing violently and even began gasping for breath.
Anna Linden sat by, watching with wide eyes as Nathan Fawcett had this allergic reaction. She had thought he was just making it up, but she never expected...
’Such a severe reaction, really?’
Seeing Nathan Fawcett’s state, the butler hurried over, gave him some medicine, and said, "Sir."
After Nathan Fawcett had taken the medicine, the butler turned to Anna Linden and clarified on Nathan’s behalf, "Sir has had this condition since he was a child. He has an allergic reaction to contact with the opposite sex. In severe cases, he can even pass out. That’s why he chose to be with Anne Sutton in the first place! It’s not that he’s been deliberately disobeying you these past few years by not getting together with Ms. Shields; it’s because he genuinely can’t. If you really force him to be with another woman, you’re essentially forcing him to his death!"
"..." Chloe Chase said, "I’ve heard of conditions like this before, but I never thought I’d see a real case."
The butler continued, "As it stands, Anne Sutton is the only one he can be near without a reaction. That’s the reason the young master wants to be with her. He knows that woman is no good, but... he has no other choice right now!"
Hearing this, Anna Linden was clearly frightened by Nathan Fawcett’s condition.
She looked at Nathan Fawcett. Seeing that his symptoms had eased after taking the medicine but still looked quite severe, she didn’t say anything more and had the butler help him upstairs to rest.
After Nathan Fawcett went upstairs, Chloe Chase looked at Anna Linden and asked, "What now? Even if we make the young master go on blind dates with other girls, it’s impossible for him."
Anna Linden said, "Then why don’t you tell me what we should do."
"From what I can tell, the young master doesn’t plan on getting back with Anne Sutton. I actually think he’s quite obedient. But, with him in this state, we can’t just ignore it, can we? He’s still young! We can’t let him be a bachelor for the rest of his life. Why not... just let him be with Anne Sutton?"
Previously, Chloe Chase had also been strongly against it.
She had originally thought, ’Anyone but Anne Sutton would be fine.’
’But now it seems that, given Nathan Fawcett’s condition, only Anne Sutton will do!’
Anna Linden was Nathan Fawcett’s mother, after all. And having been around him these past few years, she couldn’t truly ignore his well-being.
Anna Linden said, "That’s absurd! Everyone out there already thinks Anne Sutton is Nathan Fawcett’s wife. If we let her get together with Ethan Linden..."
"But we all know what the real situation is, don’t we?" Chloe Chase said. "There’s nothing to be done about it!"
"Let me think about it." Anna Linden sighed.
’She had never expected things to turn out like this.’
’Remembering all the things she had said to Anne Sutton’s face, she felt like she was being forced to eat her words. Was she really going to have to ask Anne Sutton to get together with Nathan?’
’A woman like her? Is she even worthy of marrying into the Linden family?’
Nathan Fawcett was resting in his room. He had put himself through this ordeal today just to prove a point to his mother. Even though he had taken medicine, he still felt a bit unwell.
Chloe Chase came in. "Young Master."
Nathan Fawcett looked at her. "Mrs. Chase."
"Your mother asked me to tell you to go to the hospital tomorrow for a check-up."
"What, does she think I’m lying to her?" Nathan Fawcett scoffed, knowing his mother was always suspicious of him.
Chloe Chase said, "No, your mother just wants to see if there’s any way to cure you. If you can be cured, it would be good for you, right? As his mother, she does care about you."
Nathan Fawcett said, "I understand. I’ll be there on time tomorrow."
Chloe Chase said, "Then please get some good rest."
With that, she left.
...
The next day, after finishing a meeting at the company, Nathan Fawcett went to the hospital for a check-up as his mother had instructed.
The results proved that he was, in fact, allergic to women.
The doctor in charge of his diagnosis was a friend of Anna Linden’s for many years, as well as an old classmate of hers.
After reviewing Nathan Fawcett’s case, the doctor could only shake her head helplessly and recommend that Nathan Fawcett get together with Anne Sutton.