Chapter 222: You’re Not Going to Blow Things Up, Are You?
...
Anne Sutton ignored what Stella Shields was saying, not wanting to waste her breath on her.
She used to dislike Stella Shields because she knew Stella was after Nathan Fawcett.
However, at this very moment, she couldn’t care less about any of that.
All she cared about was Ian—and the fact that they had all deceived her!
...
When they got to the living room, Stella Shields called out to Anna Linden, who was on the sofa, "Mrs. Linden, Anne Sutton is here!"
Anna Linden sat on the sofa, legs crossed, and looked at Anne Sutton. "Have a seat," she said.
Anne Sutton’s expression was grim as she sat down.
Anna Linden asked, "You came all this way. Don’t tell me you think you still have a chance with Ethan Linden?"
Anne Sutton looked at Anna Linden and said, "Dr. Linden, you’re overthinking things. I only came here today for Ian."
"..." Hearing this, Anna Linden’s lips twitched into a sneer. She seemed to find Anne Sutton’s words utterly absurd. "Do you have any idea what you’re saying?"
"Of course, I do," Anne Sutton replied. "Ian is my child. I gave birth to him. Your son took advantage of my ignorance and stole my child. Don’t you think you all owe me an explanation?"
"What kind of explanation do you want?" Anna Linden said. "Ethan Linden is abroad right now; he hasn’t returned yet. Anne Sutton, I was planning to find you myself. Since you’re here, this is the perfect time to make things clear."
"Whatever you want to say, I’m all ears!" Anne Sutton was not afraid of her.
Anna Linden stared at her. "If Ethan hadn’t brought Ian back then, with a mother as irresponsible as you, Ian would already be dead. What have you ever done for the child all these years? And now you have the nerve to demand an explanation from us?"
"..." Anne Sutton’s hands clenched tightly. "You’re the ones who took him in secret. I didn’t know anything."
"Weren’t you the one who wanted an abortion to be with Charles Prescott?" Anna Linden retorted. "Ethan has a good temper. He didn’t hold you responsible and even gave you the entire Fawcett family fortune. If I were you, I’d stay put in Westhaven and not come here to be an eyesore. What, you can’t possibly think that just because you had his child, you can marry Ethan Linden now? Are you even worthy? You’re just a woman who sold her body to have a child for someone else for money! You’re pathetic!"
"..." Anne Sutton said, "Getting the abortion back then wasn’t my choice. All these years, I never knew the child was still alive. I’ve been grieving over it this whole time! If I had known sooner..."
"If you had known sooner, what would you have done?" Anna Linden challenged. "Nathan Fawcett is dead. It was me—I was the one who exhausted every means to save him! What are you trying to do now? You just can’t stand to see him living a good life, can you? And now you’re threatening me! Fine! Go on, tell everyone! Expose his identity and get him kicked out of the Linden Family! I don’t care anyway. I’ve disliked him ever since he was in Westhaven, doing all those things for you! He doesn’t respect me as his mother either. I regret ever healing him. It would have been better if I’d just let him die."
Anna Linden’s words were incredibly cold. Anne Sutton looked at her, remembering when Nathan Fawcett had taken her to Stella Shields’s house. He had taught Stella’s mother a lesson, which had angered Anna Linden...
That was precisely why. Knowing Nathan Fawcett’s position in the Linden Family was precarious, she had only said she was looking for Ethan Linden, not Nathan Fawcett—she was afraid of exposing his identity.
Seeing Anne Sutton fall silent, Anna Linden knew that she still had her reservations.
She wasn’t truly willing to escalate things to a point of no return, despite her threats.
Anna Linden continued, "I admit, hiding this from you all these years wasn’t right. But we had no choice! When Ian was first brought back, he spent months in the hospital. It was Ethan who stayed by his side the entire time and raised him to be the boy he is today. You know nothing about any of this! And now you have the gall to come and demand the child back? Why don’t you tell me, wasn’t it your father who arranged the abortion? He’s your own father. Would he have done that if it wasn’t what you wanted?"
"I..." Anne Sutton was at a loss for words.
She looked at Anna Linden and said, "My father and I don’t have a good relationship. What he does doesn’t represent my position."
"You don’t have a good relationship with your father?" Anna Linden laughed. "If I remember correctly, you married Nathan Fawcett to save your father’s company, didn’t you? As far as I know, your family has always been close, and your father doted on you especially. Now you’re telling me the decision to abort the child had nothing to do with you. Am I supposed to believe that?"
"I..."
"You clearly don’t love the child, yet you use him as an excuse." Anna Linden didn’t give her a chance to explain. "Since we’re already on this topic, let me make myself perfectly clear. If you think that just because Ian is your child, you can use him to marry Ethan Linden, that’s impossible. I will never agree to it! You were given everything from the Fawcett family. I heard that was part of the agreement you signed with Nathan Fawcett. I have no interest in anything that belonged to that man—I’d find it tainted even if it were offered to me, so it’s perfect for you. But if you want anything else, I’d say you’re deluding yourself."
Looking at Anna Linden’s ice-cold demeanor, Anne Sutton recalled how she used to be a fan of hers, how she’d especially admired her. ’How laughable,’ she thought.
’She’s such a cold and heartless woman!’
Anne Sutton said, "I have no intention of marrying Ethan Linden. I know I mean nothing to him. But Ian is my son."
"So what if he’s your son?" Anna Linden countered. "Do you think you can just take him away? Is that even possible? Why don’t you wait for Ethan Linden to come back and ask if he agrees? If he says yes, I’ll have nothing more to say. But Ian is his life. He would never give the child to you."
In truth, Anna Linden didn’t care that much about Ian. If Anne Sutton really wanted him, letting her have him was fine. Ethan Linden could always marry someone else and have more children.
Anne Sutton said, "Whether he gives him up is his decision, but whether I try to get him back is mine. You’re a mother, too. You have your own child. You know how important a child is. Now that I know Ian is alive, there’s no way I can just ignore him and do nothing!"
No one knew just how much this child meant to her.
She would have even given up everything from the Fawcett family, just for the chance to let her child be born.
Anna Linden said, "Do whatever you want. If you have the guts, go ahead and sue. If you don’t care what happens to Ethan Linden, then neither do I. Go on, make a scene if you want!"
After she finished speaking, she said to Stella Shields, "Show her out."
Hearing this, Stella Shields nodded and said to Anne, "Let’s go."
Anne Sutton saw Stella staring at her, glanced at Anna Linden’s frigid expression, and stood up.
Under Stella Shields’s ’escort,’ Anne Sutton walked out the door.
On the way out, Stella Shields looked at Anne Sutton and asked, "You’re not really going to blow this up, are you?"
Anne Sutton said nothing.