Chapter 196

At the hospital, Elysia didn’t dare to barge into Elijah’s room. Instead, she stood outside the door, peering in secretively.

Watching the little guy in his hospital gown, sitting quietly by the window, gazing outside, she felt a mixture of relief and heartache.

She remembered Benjamin telling her once how Elijah loved to sit by the window, waiting for his mom.

He wanted to be the first to see her when she returned so he could dash out and leap into her arms.

Elysia could almost picture the scene in her mind…

A beautiful, gentle woman suddenly appears outside the window, looks up at Elijah, and smiles, waving at him. “Elijah, Mommy’s back!”

Overwhelmed with excitement, Elijah would rush out of the room, tumbling into his mommy’s embrace…

What a wonderful picture that would be. At that moment, Elijah would surely feel like the happiest child in the world!

Alas, why would a mother leave behind such an adorable son?

Did she even know her child was sick from missing her so much?

If she didn’t know, that was one thing, but if she did, that was quite heartless!

Noticing some movement, Tarquin turned his head and saw a little head quickly retract.

Then it peeked out again, sneaky as ever.

Realizing it was her, a flicker of emotion crossed Tarquin’s eyes. He rose and walked towards the door of the room.

Seeing him, Elysia said, “I heard from Dr. Benjamin that Elijah woke up calm, as if he’d forgotten everything that happened.”

“…Yeah.”

“That’s probably for the best. If he remembered, he might get agitated. I made him some chicken soup at home. Take it to him. He can’t eat much else right now.”

Hesitantly, Tarquin took the thermos, and after a moment, he managed to utter a ‘thank you‘.

Elysia was startled. He could say thank you?

Before she could react, Tarquin added, “Wait for me afterward. I need to talk to you.”

“Uh? Oh, sure.”

With the thermos in hand, Tarquin entered the room as Elysia continued her covert surveillance.

Opening the thermos, the aroma wafted out, and Tarquin’s stomach embarrassingly growled.

He hadn’t eaten all day, and the worry for Elijah had drained him. He was famished.

But clearly, Elysia hadn’t prepared anything for him. The small portion was just enough for Elijah alone.

He served a bowl of soup, stirring it until it cooled enough to eat, and set it before Elijah on the small 09:52 round table.

“Elijah, time for soup.”

Elijah glanced at it, sensing something, and turned his head towards where Elysia was hiding.

Elysia quickly ducked away, but in her haste, she bumped her head, wincing in pain and silently rubbing the sore spot.

Tarquin caught a glimpse of her little accident, his expression subtly changing, but he remained silent.

Elijah looked back at the soup and said, “This isn’t Daddy’s cooking.”

Tarquin was like, “This time, he couldn’t lie.”

Elijah had been awake, and he’d been by his side the whole time, with no chance to cook.

“Yeah, Daddy didn’t make it, but it tastes good. Try it.”

Elijah eyed the bowl of soup, hesitating.

Both Tarquin and Elysia held their breath.

Fortunately, Elijah’s hesitation was brief. He didn’t reject it outright and eventually picked up the spoon to take a taste.

After a moment, he said nothing, simply nodding and continuing to sip the soup.

Tarquin’s heart settled back into place.

Outside, Elysia also took several deep breaths. If Elijah had refused to eat her cooking, she would have lost another chance to get close to him.

After a while, Tarquin came out of the room, leaving Benjamin inside with Elijah.

“Let’s talk on the terrace,” he suggested.

“Huh? Can’t we talk here?”

Without responding, Tarquin turned and strode towards the terrace with long, purposeful steps.

Elysia eyed his tall, retreating figure with suspicion and followed him out.