Chapter 551: Chapter 551: Have Him Take His Own Grandson Back

The night was as black as ink.

Mrs. Bell sat at the dining table, glanced at the wall clock, and frowned. "I wonder where Susan went... and if she’s eaten."

"She’s a grown woman. You don’t need to worry about her," Mr. Bell said dismissively. He placed a piece of beef in Harvey’s bowl with a gentle smile. "Harvey, eat up. Have some more meat."

Thinking of her daughter still out there all alone, Mrs. Bell instantly lost her appetite.

She put down her chopsticks, untied her apron, and stood up. "I’m going out to look for Susan," she said. "You watch Harvey. Just leave the dishes, I’ll clean them when I get back."

"Look for her? What for?" Mr. Bell sounded annoyed. "Besides, do you even know where to find her? And don’t forget, you have to take Harvey for a walk downstairs after dinner."

Mrs. Bell’s thoughts were a tangled mess. She shot her husband an irritated glare. "Old Man Zane, have you forgotten that Susan is your daughter? Your own flesh and blood!"

Mr. Bell’s expression darkened. "I haven’t forgotten!"

"Good. As long as you haven’t forgotten." Mrs. Bell turned, walked to the door, changed her shoes, and left.

She took the elevator down to the ground floor. She had only taken a few steps when she spotted a familiar figure sitting by a nearby flowerbed.

Mrs. Bell drew closer. Sure enough, it was her daughter.

Susan was sitting there, holding Mandy, and the sight caused an inexplicable pang in Mrs. Bell’s heart.

She suddenly recalled her daughter’s childhood. Every day after school, she would find a place to sit quietly, waiting for her mother to finish work and take her home.

Once, she had gotten so absorbed in a conversation with a colleague after work that she was halfway home before remembering her daughter was still at school.

When she’d rushed back, she’d found Susan sitting obediently by a flowerbed, waiting for her, just like this.

"Susan." Her voice trembled slightly. "Wh-what are you doing sitting out here?"

Susan turned to look at her, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Mom," she called out softly.

She glanced behind her mother. Not seeing Harvey, she felt a flicker of surprise.

’Where’d that kid go?’

"Susan, if you were back, why didn’t you come upstairs?" Mrs. Bell asked, looking at her with a helpless expression. "I was just getting ready to go look for you."

Susan dropped her gaze to Mandy in her arms and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "And what would I go up there for? To watch you all being one big, happy family?"

"Susan..." Mrs. Bell sat down next to her. "Please don’t say that."

Susan’s eyelashes fluttered, and her voice choked with emotion. "But it’s true, isn’t it?"

Mrs. Bell had no rebuttal.

’Because she and Old Man Zane had, in fact, been thinking exactly that.’

"I bought you some mung bean cakes." Susan handed her the bag, then stood up, still holding Mandy, and walked toward the apartment building’s lobby.

Mrs. Bell looked at the brand on the bag of mung bean cakes. It was from her favorite old shop.

When Susan opened the door, she saw her father, his face alight with adoration, coaxing Harvey to eat.

"She’s back!" Harvey announced in his little-kid voice, pointing right at her.

A flicker of sarcasm crossed Susan’s eyes as she strode toward her room.

"Where have you been?" Mr. Bell demanded, his brow furrowed. "It’s dinnertime, you’re not home, you don’t answer your phone... You’re a grown woman, yet your mother still has to go out looking for you."

Susan stopped in her tracks. She bit her lip hard and let out a scornful laugh. "So that’s it? Because I’m ’a grown woman’ and you’re sick of looking at me, you had to bring a kid into the house who you have to spoon-feed, just to make me sick?"

"Susan Zane, is that any way to speak to your elders?" Mr. Bell exploded.

Susan lowered her head and smiled. She glanced at Harvey, then back at her father. "Aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you behind your back? You’re so desperate for a son, you’ve gone mad."

Without waiting for a response, she walked straight into her room.

Rage churned in his chest. Mr. Bell was so furious he wanted to smash his bowl, but with a glance at Harvey, he forced himself to bottle it up.

"Want more meat," Harvey chirped in his little-kid voice.

Mr. Bell’s anger instantly subsided. He picked up a small piece of meat and fed it to Harvey.

Some time later, Mrs. Bell returned.

When Mr. Bell saw her, he snorted. "See? I told you not to go looking for her. She came back on her own."

Downstairs, Mrs. Bell had finished the mung bean cakes Susan bought for her.

As she ate, she had been reminiscing about the old days.

After a long time thinking, she suddenly realized she had been wrong.

If she hadn’t gone downstairs just now, she might have lost her chance to "pick up" Susan for the rest of her life.

"Are you full?" Mrs. Bell asked, walking to the dining table and looking at her husband, her expression calm.

"How could I be full already?" Mr. Bell’s tone was laced with annoyance. "I still have to feed Harvey."

"Then eat," Mrs. Bell said with a nod, casually adding, "When you’re done, call your second brother."

At this, Mr. Bell asked suspiciously, "What for?"

Mrs. Bell replied, "To pick Harvey up and take him home."

"What did you just say?" Mr. Bell could hardly believe his ears. "Say that again."

Mrs. Bell replied calmly, "I said, when you’re finished eating, call your brother and tell him to come pick up his own grandson."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Mr. Bell’s brow furrowed deeply. "Didn’t I talk to you this morning? I said Harvey is staying."

Mrs. Bell’s hands, hanging at her sides, clenched into tight fists. She took a deep breath. "I don’t agree."

"You don’t agree?" Mr. Bell slammed his chopsticks on the table. "We had an agreement! Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because I was blind before!" Mrs. Bell’s voice was firm. "But now my eyes are open. I have a daughter. I have Susan. Why should I help your nephew raise his son?"

"You..." Mr. Bell’s face turned livid. He shot to his feet, his right hand raised high.

Susan, who had been peeking at her parents’ argument through a crack in the door, saw her father raise his hand to strike her mother. She immediately threw the door open and yelled, "You lay a hand on my mom, I dare you!"

Mr. Bell’s hand froze mid-air before he pulled it back. "I’ll ask you one more time," he said, infuriated. "Are you serious about this?"

Mrs. Bell stared at the man before her, her heart growing cold. "You were actually going to hit me?" she said through gritted teeth. "For him?"

"You’re ruining my plan!" Mr. Bell raged.

"It’s a good thing you’re a doctor," Mrs. Bell laughed, though her eyes glistened with tears. "Otherwise, after all these years without a son, wouldn’t you have blamed it all on me? Blamed me for not being able to give you one?"

"Mom." Susan stepped forward and gently wrapped her arms around her mother’s trembling body. "It’s not your fault," she choked out. "It’s mine. I’m the disappointment. Why wasn’t I born a son? Why did I have to be a girl?"

Mr. Bell’s temples throbbed. He suppressed the rage that threatened to boil over. "What’s so bad about Harvey staying here?" he growled. "Are you two really so petty that you can’t even make room in your hearts for one little kid?"

Hearing this, Susan was so angry she had to laugh.

She shot back coldly, "Dad, if this child were from my uncle’s side of the family, would you still be so insistent on keeping him here?"

"That’s not a valid hypothetical!" Mr. Bell’s voice dropped, becoming dangerously low. He enunciated each word with chilling clarity, "The Zane Family would never raise another family’s child."

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