Female Novel
Chapter 261
Artemis felt a sharp pain spread slowly from his abdomen.
After the initial shock, he chuckled softly and gradually relaxed his tense body, allowing the boy in hisarms to bite his stomach hard. His eyes brimmed with affection as he stretched a hand to strokeZayron's head.
It was the look that only a father would have while gazing at his child.
“You sure are a clever little one, deliberately choosing to bite the spot where there are no bones. Haveyou lost your baby teeth? If you haven't, then you'd better be careful. Don't bite too hard. I'm worriedyou'll hurt your gums.”
Zayron slowly let go, then sprawled on Artemis' stomach gloomily and began to cry.
A tender expression crossed Artemis' face, and he stroked Zayron's head even more gently. “Aren't yougoing to bite me anymore? If you haven't vented enough, you can choose another spot and continuebiting. I'm not afraid of pain as long as it makes you happy.”
“Are you really my dad?” Zayron asked.
He did not feel any strong emotions toward Simon. How should I put this? I don't feel the father-sonbond where blood is thicker than water when I'm with him. If the results from the paternity test hadn'treined in my imagination, I would never have believed he was my father. However, reality told me therewas no way that flashy guy was my biological father.
Artemis gently pushed Zayron away and crouched to his eye level. Then he patted the latter's cheek
with his large palm.
“You look a lot like me, so I thought at first that you'd inherited Simon's genes. However, the facts showthat only a biological father-son pair would share similar features. You don't have to doubt ourrelationship because I instructed someone to run a paternity test. You're my son. I'm sorry for all thesuffering your mother and the three of you endured all these years. I promise I'll never let any one ofyou suffer in the slightest again.”
Zayron pursed his lips. After hastily wiping away his tears, he turned toward the bed and glanced atMaxton. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “You let him inherit the Luther family's assets, so what willyou leave for me? If I said I wanted to become the Luther family's heir, would you name me as yoursuccessor?”
“You little rascal,” Artemis chided teasingly. Then, he leaned close to the boy's ear and said, “Don'tworry. Apart from being the head of Luther Group, I hold many other positions. So, there's more thanenough for your inheritance.”
A glint flashed across Zayron's eyes as he blinked at Artemis. “I heard the head of the world's mostpowerful force, Tarragon, is a Chanaean. You—”
Artemis smiled without saying anything. Reaching out and gently ruffling his son's hair, he said with agrin, “You're still young, so you should live a carefree life. When you're older, I'll show you the thingsyou can deal with.”
Zayron stared at him silently.
Artemis stood up slowly and led Zayron over to the bed. “Your mommy doesn't know the truth yet. I'llfind a suitable opportunity to come clean with her. Neither of you is to let it slip.”
Meanwhile, Justin was lying on his front on a bed in the Revelle residence's infirmary while Veroniqueapplied ointment to the backs of his legs.
“Although you didn't injure your tendons this time, you fractured your bone. Try to walk as little aspossible for a month. Otherwise, you'll start experiencing sharp pains that'll get excruciating duringcolder weather and when it rains.”
Justin murmured an acknowledgment. “I'll take note of that. The tests on my closest relatives are beingdone secretly. I'll let you know once we find a suitable bone marrow.”
Veronique rose to her feet. Gazing at his broad back, she asked, “And what if there are no matcheswith Zephyr's bone marrow among your closest relatives? What should we do then?”
As soon as she uttered that question, a deathly silence descended over the room.
Justin finally turned his head toward her after several minutes. Enunciating every word slowly andclearly, he replied, “In that case, we'll have to fall back on our last resort. We'll conceive a child with thesame parents as Zephyr, then use the newborn's cord blood to save him.”
Veronique pressed her red lips together tightly.
Thinking that she felt embarrassed, he hurriedly added, “Don't get me wrong. What I mean is to createa test-tube baby through in vitro fertilization. You don't have to worry. I won't touch you.”
She suddenly lifted her gaze and gazed at him a little sadly.
Do you loathe me that much, Justin? Is touching me even more disgusting than touching the ladies at anightclub for you?
“We don't need to use a newborn's cord blood. That'll take too long, and I'm worried Zephyr won't beable to make it till then. I've got a better plan. It's just that I'm not sure whether you'd be on board withit.”
Justin looked at her somewhat doubtfully. “Oh? What's the plan? Let's hear it.”
“Your fiancée's bone marrow is an exact match for Zephyr's. Don't ask me how I know that. I'm sureshe can save him. Do you think you can get married as soon as possible, then use your status as herhusband to discuss and see whether she'd be willing to donate her bone marrow to Zephyr?”
Get married as soon as possible? My status as her husband?
Subconsciously, his brows drew together sharply after he heard those words. “You want me to marryScarlett? Things have gotten to this point, and you still want me to marry her?”
Veronique nodded and said, “I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I really shouldn't have given birth to Zephyr. Buthe has been born. Do you want me to strangle him to death?”
“I...”
That's not what I meant! Can't she look on the bright side? When have I ever blamed her for havingZephyr? The only person I've blamed over the past few days is myself. I detest myself for being such a
cruel dumb*ss and ruining her life.
“You don't have to say anything more, Justin. Things may have gotten to this point, but there's still away to turn the situation around. I won't break up your marriage with Scarlett. All I ask is for you tomarry her as soon as possible, then persuade her to save my son. Please.”
With that, she turned to face him and bowed deeply.
“You...”
Justin wanted to lecture her, but he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.
Scarlette's bone marrow is an exact match with Zephyr's? Very well. I'll think of a way to persuade herto donate her bone marrow and save Zephyr. As for the marriage, I'm afraid I'll have to personally makea trip to Jadeborough to ask for Sloan's forgiveness and beg him to call off the arranged marriagebetween our families. Veronique gave birth to my son, so I can't be indifferent anymore, let alone let herand Zephyr wander around in a foreign country.
Over in the CEO's office at Saunders Group, several of the company's higher-ups were sitting aroundthe curved desk. All of them looked concerned. novelbin
“Ms. Saunders, all the big enterprises partnering with us have terminated their contracts. They'd ratherbear three times the compensation amount than have anything to do with us. If we continue ignoringwhat's happening, it'll significantly impact our stock prices.”
“That's correct. Our market value will plunge on a large scale if we don't take any measures. When ourdebt exceeds our profit, all the company can do is declare bankruptcy.”
As Victoria stared at the stacks of data sheets in front of her, she could not help giving a bitter smileinwardly.
Oh, Lionel. Must you really push me to the edge like this? You've just sent my brother to prison, andnow you're immediately making your move on our business partners. You're not leaving me a way out ifyou do this.
“All right. I understand the state of affairs. Give me two days. I'll think of a plan to stabilize thesituation.”
Meanwhile, in the CEO's office at Luther Group, someone said to Artemis, “I've received reliableinformation saying specialists from the Cyber Security Department are secretly investigating to identifythe hacker who infiltrated the research center. I'm afraid Ms. Jefferson's identity is about to getexposed.”