Shattered Illusions: Love, Lies, and Redemption

Lizetta felt her eyes brimmed with warmth as she pulled Joseph into a hug.

"It doesn't hurt, sweetheart. You get shots every day and don't flinch. A little poke for Lizetta won't hurt, right?"

"But if it weren't for me."

"It's not about you. I wanted to help save you too. When I first found out I was pregnant with Joy, I asked the doctor about it. They said that marrow matching is very strict, usually requiring a blood match, and amniotic fluid can't provide an accurate match. Otherwise, I would have had the amniotic fluid tested for compatibility a long time ago, and we wouldn't have needed your mom to push me into it."

"But if it's not possible to match, why did my mom still do that?" Joseph was utterly surprised.

Lizetta playfully tugged on Joseph's ear, "Your mom had other reasons, stuff you're too young to understand!"

Lizetta's resistance to having amniotic fluid drawn wasn't about refusing to help Joseph but about respect.

It was a completely different issue.

Moreover, Hanna's insistence on the procedure was mostly due to her suspicion that Joy wasn't actually Remington's child.

Joseph, clearly not able to grasp this, had his little face crinkled up.

Lizetta chuckled, smoothing out his face with a mock stern look.

"Just listen to me and don't worry about it. You need to get back to the hospital and focus on getting better! And if you dare sneak out again, I might just ignore you, got it?!" "Okay."

Joseph nodded, then, touching Lizetta's belly, he exclaimed in surprise, "Lizetta, your waist has gotten so much bigger!"

Lizetta was lost for words.

"That's not my waist getting bigger; it's my belly."

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"Of course not!" Content is property of NôvelDrama.Org.

Just then, Hanna's shouting, along with the sound of footsteps, echoed from below the tree.

Lizetta led Joseph out of 'Willow Cottage,' and upon seeing Joseph, Hanna shed tears, and begged him to come down quickly. Joseph stepped back, pursing his lips, "Apologize to Lizetta, or I won't go down, and I won't go back to the hospital either."

Hanna's face stiffened.

With bodyguards and medical staff behind her, she was reluctant to apologize to Lizetta in front of everyone.

Hesitating, Joseph turned to head back into 'Willow Cottage.'

In a panic, Hanna finally looked at Lizetta and quickly said, "I'm sorry."

Somewhat surprised by Hanna's apology, Lizetta pulled Joseph along.

"Alright, let's go down and follow the doctor back to the hospital. You've caused quite the stir there."

Joseph pouted, but he listened to Lizetta and stepped forward, extending his hand.

Remington lifted the boy down, and Joseph, resting on Remington's shoulder, bit his lip and said, "Bro, I'm sorry."

Without saying much, Remington just gave the boy a gentle pat on the head and personally wrapped Joseph in a blanket handed over by a bodyguard before placing the boy on the stretcher. Hanna rushed to embrace Joseph, and instructed the medical staff to check on him.

After the hustle and bustle, Hanna took Joseph back to the hospital, and Lizetta was then carried down from the tree by Remington, back to the old mansion.

After hearing about the incident, Fiona was a bit shocked by it.

After escorting Fiona back to her room, she took Lizetta's hand and said, "Lizetta, I just found out what happened while I was away these past few days. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Lizetta felt a warm surge in her heart. In the Dashiell family, aside from Remington, she had much affection and reluctance to leave.

Fiona and Joseph were her closest people recently.

"Grandma, why does Hanna treat Remi and Joseph so differently?"

Sometimes, she even wondered if there was something mysterious about Remington's birth, perhaps he wasn't Hanna's biological child.