Chapter 700


    Her certainty threw Jeffrey for a loop.


    “Looks like she really is mine.”


    “I don’t need you to believe me, just go get a paternity test,” Paige said, her eyes slightly downcast.


    “Since you’re worried I’m scamming you, just get the test. I was angry back then not because I had


    something to hide, but because it’s so unfair to our daughter.”


    “You should’ve told me when you were pregnant.”


    Waiting until after the baby was born, who can handle that?


    “If I had told you, would you have stuck around?”


    “But you’re hurting her now. By having her born into a world where she can''t grow up in aplete


    family, it’s irresponsible to her, and to you.”


    And it put him in a bind.


    If he had never met the child, maybe things would be different.


    But once he saw her, indifference was no longer an option.


    Jeffrey had always liked Abigail and Langston. And he wanted his own child. Now suddenly he had


    a daughter over a year old. What was he supposed to do?


    “But I love you, Jeffrey. If you hadn’t told me you were a bachelor for life, and you didn’t want kids,


    maybe I would have spoken up. But I was afraid you’d force me to get an abortion.


    Just spend one day with your daughter, okay? That way, if she doesn’t make it, and she passes


    away, then you and I cany this to rest. I won’t bother you anymore, I’m tired too.”


    Jeffrey clenched his jaw, finally grunting an affirmative.


    The messy bond between him and Paige could be debated and scrutinized, but in the end, the child


    was innocent.


    “Let’s go.” Paige reached out to the wall for support, her walkbored.


    “Where to?”


    N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.


    “Paternity test,” she answered. “I checked. If we pay extra for a rush, we can get the results in three


    hours.”


    “Let’s just do it, so I can prove my innocence.”


    This wasn’t just about the bloodline of the child anymore, it was about proving her sincerity and the


    years of waiting.


    Jeffrey watched her struggle, then strode over and took her arm, “No need.”


    Paige looked up at him.


    “No need for the test. Let’s go back to the child.”


    As for Karen, he needed to think carefully about what to do next.


    …


    Langston’sputer was a no-go.


    So Everett had a new one delivered.


    Kids being kids. Langston lit up with a new toy, “Thanks, Dad, I’ll go show off my newptop to my


    mentor.”


    “You might not be able to reach him for a while.”


    Because while Everett could rece Langston’sputer, the one from Byte 7 was another story.


    “Huh?”


    “If you want to learn something, just tell me, I’ll teach you.”


    Langston raised an eyebrow, skeptical, “You’re better than my mentor?”


    Everett, resigned, “You can give it a shot.”


    “Then why couldn’t you fix the oldptop? If my mentor were here—”


    “Why do you think he’s unreachable now?”


    Langston was confused, but he sensed an underlying message in his father’s words.


    Everett stayed with them until it got dark and Abigail and Langston were exhausted. Only then did


    he leave.


    But Everett didn’t head straight back to the hospital room; instead, he took a walk outside.


    It wasn’t that Everett didn’t want to see Dorothy, it was just that he was afraid to face her.


    In the span of one evening, all the ns for a bright future had copsed, and that was something


    no one could easily ept.