Marry My Billionaire Second Husband - Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Late At Night
While all this was happening, Amelia could only shake her head. She just wanted to go home and spend time with her husband, only to walk straight into another hot mess. Now, the mood was thoroughly destroyed.

“Is it nosy of me if…” Amelia trailed off, immediately causing Matteo to chuckle indulgently.

He stroked Amelia’s nose, smiling at her with a shake of his head.

“It’s getting late,” he said. “The hospital might not even arrange for an abortion with such a last-minute notice. They may have the money for it, but so does every patient that walks through the doors of Elysium Heights Hospital.”

“Poor Benji,” Amelia said, pursing her lips. “He must have his hands full with Emmeline going in and out of the front doors so often these days.”

Matteo exhaled loudly, his eyebrows darting up his forehead as he shook his head. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the car keys, the headlights flashing once Matteo unlocked its doors.

“Better him than us,” he said half-jokingly.

Unfortunately for Benji Wales, Amelia agreed. She wasn’t close enough with him to help carry the burden of that misfortune despite the pity she felt for him.

Stepping into the car, Amelia strapped her seatbelt in as Matteo drove out of the Hawthorne family’s property.

***

Aiden was beat.

He loathed the moment his heart softened just enough with guilt to make him step out of the warm comforts of his room. The trip to the hospital― no, the trips weren’t worth it one bit.

First he was coerced to have his blood drawn, then he witnessed Emmeline and Annalise getting thrown out of the Hawthorne family home, then he had to return to the hospital with those two crazy women in his backseat.

Even if it was fairly entertaining to see Emmeline and Annalise have their asses handed over to them, this still was a night he wished he could’ve taken back― just like another specific night he could think of.

Aiden sighed loudly, exhaling as he reached his hand to rub the sore spot at the back of his neck. Finally, after all the screaming and kicking, he had thrown Emmeline back into one of the hospital beds with the doctors swearing on their lives they would arrange for an abortion for her within the next three days.

In the meantime, she would be kept there for observation― as per Annalise’s wishes. In her words, Emmeline was not in the right state of mind to make sound decisions. Keeping her at the hospital was for her daughter’s safety.

Aiden was more than happy to comply. He didn’t give a rat’s ass where Emmeline stayed for the night. As long as she was far away from him, she could be sleeping in a cardboard box underneath the bridge of a swamp for all he cared.

“Where have you been?!”

Aiden’s eyes widened as his arms dropped to his sides, shocked. He hadn’t expected anyone to be awake at this godforsaken hour, and to see his mother standing right by the fireplace immediately jolted him to full attention.

“Mom…” he muttered in genuine surprise. “You’re not asleep?”

“I asked you a question, Aiden Montgomery,” Catherine barked. She closed the distance between them quickly, stopping right in front of him. “Where have you been? Why aren’t you in bed?”

Then, her eyes squinted tightly together.

“You didn’t return to Matteo’s apartment, did you―”

“No, no, of course not!” Aiden immediately denied. “In case you don’t know, which I am sure you do and is thrilled about, my dearest brother and sister-in-law now hate my guts. So no, I won’t be anywhere near their apartment.”

Well, Aiden technically did see them tonight, but that wasn’t something his mother needed to know about.

“Then where were you?” Catherine Laine pressed. “You should be in bed by now. You have work tomorrow.”

“What am I? Twelve?” Aiden asked, rolling his eyes. Walking past his mother, he headed straight for the stairs. “I know my limits, Mother.”

When he walked by, however, Catherine’s eyebrows immediately furrowed.

“What’s that smell on you―” She stopped herself short when she recognized the familiar perfume Annalise always used. “Aiden, were you just with Annalise Hawthorne?”

Aiden wrinkled his nose, mildly annoyed.

“I thought you were awfully insistent about bringing Emmeline back home,” Aiden said. “In that case, what’s wrong with visiting them?”

“You went to the hospital?!” Catherine all but screeched, causing Aiden to take a step back in surprise. When she realized she had burst out too dramatically, Catherine took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. Then, she asked, “What did Annalise want you there for?”

“Emmeline wants an abortion,” Aiden said. He watched as his mother’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise.

“She does?”

“Her mother isn’t so keen about that,” Aiden continued slowly, his eyes still glued on his mother’s rapidly changing expressions. “She was insistent I do a paternity test.”

“A paternity test―!” Catherine took a deep breath, whirling around just the slightest before biting down on her bottom lip. She gulped.

For the first time in his life, Aiden watched as his mother lost her composure. For all the things she had done before, she had never lost her cool. Yet, right now, she couldn’t even control her own expressions.

“You did it?” she finally asked.

“Annalise refused to let me leave until I did,” Aiden said.

Catherine immediately shut her eyes and inhaled deeply.

However, before Aiden could ask why she was so curious about this, the doorbell surprisingly rang. Both mother and son turned their attention to the door. At this hour, all the staff were already asleep or had returned home after the end of the work shift. There was no one tending the door.

“Alright,” Catherine finally said, swallowing. “Go get some sleep then. You’ve had a long night.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow and cast a curious glance at the door.

“Are you expecting someone?” he asked.

Catherine didn’t reply. Instead, she gestured to the steps. “Head upstairs, Aiden. Wash up and rest.”

With his curiosity piqued, Aiden nodded his head and climbed the stairs. Throughout his journey up to the upper levels, his mother kept her eyes planted firmly in his direction to make sure he had gone up.

Aiden hit in a corner and waited for a few seconds. Then, he chanced a peep down the well of the stairs to see who it was his mother was expecting at the door.

His timing was perfect― she had finally lowered her guard and went to the door. He squinted his eyes, and when he saw the figure standing there, they widened into the size of saucers.

What was Benjamin Hawthorne doing here so late at night?