HE LOST HIS DAUGHTER ONCE, NOW HE’S A RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE

MOMMY LYRA!

“Yes, that is very true.” The nurse nodded, writing on the chart. “You know so much about the child and his medicine. You must be his mother. You have taken good care of him.”

Lyra stopped for a moment as she looked like she was about to say something before Jake placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“Thank you very much, nurse. Thank you for taking care of our child. We really appreciate it.”

The nurse smiled.

“Of course. You three look like a happy family. I wish most families were like you.”

Lyra did not move away from Jake’s arm. She did not tell the nurse that she was not his wife, either.

She just stood there and let Jake hold her while looking at the papers with a gentle smile on his face.

Brandon stood a few feet away and felt a chill run through him.

Standing there, Brandon suddenly felt like the outsider in his own marriage.

He was a third wheel, standing in the hallway, watching Lyra live her life with the person and people she cared about.

Suddenly, a little boy who was seven years old ran out.

He was wearing a purple jacket, and his face was a bit pale, but he was moving fast and seemed happy.

“Mommy Lyra!” the boy exclaimed happily.

He did not even look at Jake.

He ran to Lyra and put his arms around her legs, putting his face on her dress.

“My tummy feels better and I want to go home. Can you tell me a story in the car, the one about the robots in space, please?”

Lyra’s face changed in a way that Brandon had not seen in a very long time.

Brandon had never seen her look at Maggie that gently.

She put the papers down on a chair, got down on the cold floor while putting her arms around the little boy.

She hugged him tightly, touching his hair with her fingers.

“Oh, Leo, you naughty boy,” Lyra said to him in a soft voice, but anyone could tell she was not really upset with him. Her voice was warm and sweet. “You should not run in the hospital hallways, moreover you're still recovering, so need to save your energy.”

“What about my story?”

“If you promise to take your medicine along with nutritious food and fruits, I will tell you two stories in the car. Deal?”

“Deal,” Leo chuckled, then kissed her cheek.

Brandon stood there with his fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

Just down the hall, her own daughter was lying weak and unconscious in a hospital bed, yet Lyra did not even seem to care. Instead, she stood here comforting someone else’s child, coaxing him softly and holding him with a tenderness she rarely showed Maggie.

Not once did Lyra ask why Brandon was at the hospital. She had concluded he was here to spy on her.

“Funny,” Brandon said coldly. “He looks healthy enough to run around the hallway asking for bedtime stories, yet this is the emergency you were called for?”

Lyra stood up immediately, anger flashing across her face, as she slowly pushed Leo behind Jake’s legs.

“Are you not done yet, Brandon? Are you seriously causing trouble again? I’m so tired of the way you’re acting. Look at yourself, making fun of a child just to be mean, throwing a tantrum.”

“I am not throwing a tantrum.”

“Yes, you are!” Lyra snapped, jabbing a finger against his chest. “In your twisted mind, you still think you can use our daughter to control my personal life. You thought if you caused a big enough scene, I would leave Leo and run back home with you. That’s why you followed me here, isn’t it?”

Her voice rose with frustration.

“And stop using Maggie to manipulate me! She was perfectly fine when I left for the hospital. She was smiling, wearing her little pink dress, and excited to go to school. She had so much energy. So what exactly are you trying to prove here, Brandon?”

“Our daughter is lying on a hospital bed fighting for her life.”

“Not this again…”

“Now that you’ve finished with Jake’s problems, how about you focus on your own problems?”

“Which is what? You?”

“No,” Brandon smiled faintly. “I’m the least of your problems. Right now, our daughter is coughing up blood and in the emergency ward, while you stand here worrying about someone else’s child.”

Lyra scoffed immediately, shaking her head in disbelief. “Do you really expect me to believe this again?”

“If I’m lying, Lyra, then how about we prove it right now?”

“What are you saying?”

“Our daughter is in the next room, Lyra,” Brandon said quietly. “If you think I’m lying, then come with me. Open that door and see the truth for yourself. Maggie is lying in that hospital bed right now, hooked up to machines with blood still on her clothes. If you still think I’m lying after seeing her, then I’ll never say another word about it again.”