Chapter 238: Do You Like Dad or Mom?
Anne Sutton surveyed the villa. It was quite nice, and the garden was large.
She looked at Justin Shields and said, "This house is really nice."
"There’s one more. We’ll go see it next, and you can make your decision after you’ve seen them both."
Anne nodded.
Anne was eager to move out, so after viewing the properties, she made her choice.
She chose one that was relatively close to her workplace.
The house was around five or six hundred square meters.
It was more than enough space for her and Ian.
...
By the time she made her decision, the day was nearly over.
To thank Justin Shields, Anne treated him to dinner at a restaurant.
Ian was there too.
Justin Shields looked at Ian, then turned to Anne. "How did you and Ethan Linden settle things with Ian?"
Anne glanced at the little one beside her and said, "He allows me to see Ian once a week."
"That’s pretty good!" Justin said.
"It’s not," Ian piped up. "I want to be with my mommy all the time! My daddy said he’s going to marry my mommy in the future. When they’re married, I can be with her all the time."
Anne: "..."
She glanced at Ian and asked, "When did your daddy say that?"
’Nathan Fawcett would never say something like that.’
’She knew his personality.’
’Ian must have made it up himself.’
’Even though Ian wants me to get back together with Nathan Fawcett, I know better than anyone that we’re just not meant to be.’
’I just have to see the way Anna Linden looks at me—like she wants to eat me alive—to know that for sure.’
Sitting to one side, Justin Shields watched Ian’s serious expression and smiled. He turned to the boy. "Ian, if I married your mommy someday, would you be happy?"
Ian looked up at Justin Shields. "No, I wouldn’t."
Justin Shields shot Anne an embarrassed glance. "Well, what am I going to do? Looks like I’ll never get a chance to woo you now!"
Anne looked at Justin. "Don’t joke around. If I married you, your family would raise hell. You know exactly what my relationship with your mother and sister is like."
Justin said, "If I wanted to marry you, I wouldn’t care what they think."
Anne took a sip of water from her glass. "What, are you after the Fawcett family fortune too?"
Justin: "..."
Anne said, "I know. You, Charles Prescott... now that everyone sees I’m the chairman of the Fawcett Group, you all want to use me to get your hands on the family’s assets. But... I plan on returning everything to Ethan Linden!"
"Why?" Justin asked. "Didn’t Ethan Linden give all of this to you?"
"He gave me all the Fawcett assets because of Ian," Anne explained. "Accepting them would mean cutting ties with my son, and I refuse to do that."
’If I ever have a complete falling out with Nathan Fawcett over Ian, then none of it will be mine anymore.’
’But compared to all that wealth, I’d much rather have my child.’
’So even though I’m technically the chairman of the Fawcett Group right now, I feel like none of it really belongs to me. I don’t feel any sense of ownership at all.’
’Even the money for this house is from my own savings, from all my years working as a doctor.’
’I don’t dare spend Nathan Fawcett’s money. I’m afraid it’ll just get messy down the line.’
Justin Shields looked at Anne. "If you’re planning to fight for custody of Ian, your thinking is sound. It’s just... I think Ian is doing pretty well with Ethan Linden. How many people dream of being born into that kind of privilege, you know?"
"..."
Anne fell silent.
’She remembered how her own family’s situation had forced her to be at the mercy of others since she was a child.’
’She’d been engaged to Charles Prescott before she was even an adult.’
’And later, she had to endure Charles Prescott’s constant mistreatment.’
’If she had been born into better circumstances, she truly wouldn’t have had to face any of that.’
’But...’
Looking at Ian’s small face now, Anne knew she couldn’t bring herself to give him up, no matter who said it was for his own good.
She said to Justin Shields, "Thank you for the advice. I’ll think about it seriously."
Ian sat to the side, eating the kid’s meal Anne had ordered for him.
Justin asked, "When are you planning to move?"
"Probably on my next day off," Anne said. "I’ll have someone clean it first."
Justin said, "Alright. Then let’s go pick up the car after dinner."
Anne said, "Okay."
Just then, Ian’s smartwatch phone rang.
He answered the call. "Daddy."
Anne glanced at him, pausing her meal.
Ian said, "I’m having dinner with my mommy and Uncle Shields."
Anne felt a pang of unease when she heard that.
’She knew children just said things without thinking... but she really didn’t want Nathan Fawcett knowing her business right now.’
’She didn’t want him finding out she was eating with Justin Shields, just to have him call her a loose woman again!’
Ian said, "We’ll be back soon! Have you eaten? Do you want to come see me later?"
Anne continued eating, watching as Ian chattered away with his dad before finally hanging up.
Anne looked at him and asked, "Is your daddy coming over later?"
"He’s not coming," Ian said. "He said he’s busy."
’He’s probably with some other woman again.’
’The moment she thought of Faye Yorke, Anne felt a familiar pang of unease.’
’She had been trying so hard to put it out of her mind, constantly telling herself that he was free to be with whomever he wanted.’
’Since they were an impossible pair, whatever he did was none of her business.’
’But it still bothered her deeply, like a persistent knot in her stomach.’
’Perhaps it was because he was the only man she’d been close to lately. Maybe if she started a new life of her own, she could finally let him go completely.’
After dinner, Anne and Ian went with Justin Shields to pick up her new car.
With a car, her commute to and from work would be more convenient.
Justin Shields had some business to take care of, so he didn’t drive them home.
On the way, Ian asked Anne, "Mommy, are you really going to marry Uncle Shields?"
Anne asked, "Do you like Uncle Shields?"
Ian shook his head. "I don’t like his sister."
After being bullied by Stella Shields, Ian now had a very bad impression of her.
Anne looked at her little boy and said, "If you don’t like her, then Mommy will keep her distance from him."
"That’s great!" Ian exclaimed. "Mommy, please don’t get together with him. If you do, I’ll be a kid without a mommy."
Anne looked at Ian and said, "If you could choose, would you want to be with Mommy or with Daddy?"
"..." Hearing Anne’s words, Ian stared at her as she drove and didn’t say a word.
He didn’t make a choice.
When Nathan Fawcett was around, he would say he loved his mommy more, but in reality, he loved his daddy very much too.
After all...
Nathan Fawcett was the one who had raised him. It was impossible for them not to be close.
Anne said, "I’m sorry, I’ll stop. Mommy shouldn’t have said that. I made you upset."