Chapter 588: Epilogue (15)
Chapter 588 -577: Epilogue (15)
Mr. Lynch’s expression changed drastically when he heard that. “Ten million?”
Mrs. Lynch gave a dry laugh. “My luck was just terrible that day…”
Mr. Lynch declared, “From this day forward, your mother will no longer hold the purse strings. Just give her some spending money when she needs it, to keep her from squandering it.”
“Husband, what do you mean by that?” Mrs. Lynch grew anxious. “We have money, but you won’t let me spend it? Are you just going to let it sit there and rot?”
Mr. Lynch continued eating his breakfast. “Yes. I’d rather let it rot than let you spend it.”
Mrs. Lynch shot her son a fierce glare, then stood up in a huff and went back to her room, leaving her breakfast untouched.
Holly Wood had no say in the matter. She had no authority when it came to the family’s finances.
Mr. Lynch said, “Leon, don’t you dare give her any large sums of money without my permission.”
“Roger that,” Leon Lynch said.
“Good.”
* * *
Early in the morning, Ethan Ellsworth, Chloe Marshall, and Mrs. Ellsworth took a private jet back to Fravia.
Stepping onto the soil of their homeland, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Once they were home, Chloe Marshall went to lie down and rest. Mrs. Ellsworth immediately started simmering a restorative broth, making two pots—one for Chloe and one for Zoe Ellsworth.
When it was ready, Mrs. Ellsworth told Ethan to ladle some out for Chloe, while she herself carried a lunchbox to the hospital room.
When Zoe Ellsworth saw her personal Empress Dowager arrive, her mouth began to water. “Mom, I was afraid I wouldn’t get to have any of your chicken soup today.”
Mrs. Ellsworth placed the lunchbox on the table and looked at her. “How are you feeling? Does your body still hurt?”
“Of course it hurts. The doctor came by earlier and told me to get out of bed and walk around, even if it’s just a few steps.”
Mrs. Ellsworth agreed. “That’s right, you have to listen to the doctor. Drink your soup. I also made some fried eggs today. Eat a few, they’re good for you.”
“Mom, how’s my sister-in-law?”
“We went to see a witch, and she’s fine now.” She glossed over the details, not mentioning a word about what had come out of Chloe Marshall’s belly.
“That’s good. And the baby…”
“The baby is gone.”
“Well, it’s gone then. It’s not a big deal. My brother and sister-in-law are still young, anyway.”
Mrs. Ellsworth shook her head. “We’re not letting your sister-in-law have any more children. Having Dorothy is enough for our family.”
Hearing this, Mrs. Hawthorne said, “Zoe’s Mom, Chloe is so young. It would be great for her to have another one. Besides, Dorothy is a girl, so they could have a son next.”
“Our Ellsworth said it himself, he doesn’t want Chloe to have another child. My heart aches for Chloe, too. Even though Dorothy is a girl, we all adore her.”
“Ellsworth is young. You should talk to Chloe more about it; she’ll understand.”
“Chloe actually said she’d be open to having another one in the future, boy or girl. But both Ellsworth and I feel we don’t want to see her suffer again.”
Mrs. Ellsworth fed Zoe some soup. After she finished, Mrs. Ellsworth said to Mrs. Hawthorne, “Come on, let’s help Zoe sit up and take a little walk.”
Mrs. Hawthorne placed the baby she was holding onto the bed. Then, with each of them taking one arm, they helped Zoe Ellsworth sit up.
“Agh, sweet mother of mine, it hurts like hell.”
Mrs. Ellsworth chuckled lightly. “Your ‘sweet mother’ is right here. So you know what pain is now? It hurt just as much when I gave birth to you. You never know a mother’s hardship until you raise a child of your own. Zoe, you’re a mother yourself now. What are your thoughts on the word ‘mother’?”
Zoe clutched her abdomen. “I have one. Now that I’m a mom, I suddenly have the urge to go back to being a baby myself.”
“No matter how great a mother is, that’s something even I can’t do anything about,” Mrs. Ellsworth replied helplessly.
Mrs. Hawthorne laughed. “Even if you could, you can’t do that. Herman would have a breakdown.”
Zoe Ellsworth managed a few steps before the pain forced her to quickly lie back down.
“Mom, can you take the blanket off? It’s a little hot.”
“It’s already October, and you’re hot?”
“Mom, I’m covered in sweat.”
Mrs. Ellsworth tucked her in properly. “That’s ‘deficiency sweat.’ You just gave birth, and by C-section no less. It’s a huge drain on your vitality. You can’t catch a chill. No amount of money can cure postpartum ailments.”
“What are postpartum ailments?”
Mrs. Ellsworth sat on the edge of the bed and explained, “Postpartum ailments happen because when a woman gives birth, her muscles, bones, and pores are all wide open. Her body is weak and vulnerable, and if you’re not careful, wind and cold can invade your system. Then, during the month-long recovery period, as your body closes back up, it traps that wind and cold inside, which becomes very difficult to cure. In the countryside, there are all sorts of rules. For example, you can only wash your hair once every two weeks, but you can’t scratch your scalp, and you must dry it immediately with a hairdryer. No air conditioning, no touching cold water, and definitely no overexerting yourself. That’s why when you come home from the hospital, you should let your mother-in-law take care of the baby for a month.”
“Can I still brush my teeth and wash my face?”
“Of course you can, but you have to use warm water. You must be diligent about it. Otherwise, when you’re in your fifties or sixties, your legs will ache whenever it’s damp and rainy, and you’ll have back pain at a young age. A woman has to learn to take care of herself. It’s only for a month. It’ll be over before you know it.”
Mrs. Hawthorne chimed in, “Your mom’s right. A lot of young couples nowadays don’t take the confinement month seriously. They take showers or baths during that time, which can easily lead to gynecological infections. You have to be careful about all this. And especially, you absolutely cannot eat cold food, and no sex.”
“What about after this month? Still no relations between husband and wife?”
“It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, let alone a C-section! You have such a large incision. No sex for a hundred days.”
Zoe Ellsworth pouted. “I don’t really mind…”
The implication was that it was all up to Herman Hawthorne.
Mrs. Hawthorne let out a laugh. “With his old lady here, he wouldn’t dare. I’ll have a word with him.”
Zoe Ellsworth nodded. “Okay.”
* * *
Nora Ainsworth returned to the Ellsworth Family home with her two little treasures and Dorothy.
She was there to visit Chloe Marshall.
She let the children play downstairs while she went upstairs and into the room alone. Chloe Marshall called out, “Nora.”
Nora Ainsworth sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand. “Chloe, how did things go with you and Young Master Ellsworth in Zelkova?”
Chloe Marshall lifted the covers. “The baby is gone.”
Nora Ainsworth looked and saw that her lower abdomen was indeed much flatter.
“The baby… you couldn’t keep it?”
“The witch said I couldn’t. She delivered it right then and there. It wasn’t a baby at all…”
“Then… what was it?” Nora Ainsworth asked cautiously.
“It was a bloody ball of flesh. I only took a quick glance; I didn’t dare look again.”
Nora Ainsworth was frightened. “It was that bizarre?”
Chloe Marshall nodded. “After experiencing it firsthand, I’ve realized that some things just can’t be viewed through a scientific lens or handled with scientific methods. It just won’t work, and it can lead to disaster. The witch said that if I had tried to abort the baby in a hospital, I would have died too.”
“As long as you’re all right now, that’s what matters. It seems like it’s best to stay away from Zelkova.”
“Nora, are you pregnant too?” She had only just noticed the slight curve of Nora Ainsworth’s belly. It wasn’t very big, so it was hard to tell without looking closely.
Nora Ainsworth nodded. “Yes, for two months now.”
Chloe Marshall replied, “That’s wonderful.”
“I’m hoping for a girl. A daughter is a mother’s little comfort.”
“Boss Ellsworth won’t let me have any more children. He’s told me more than once that having Dorothy is enough for him. My mother-in-law said so too, but I still feel like one child is a little too few.”