Chapter 2

I turned to look at Margaret. The anger on her face hadn't yet faded.

But when she looked at Trevor, her expression softened noticeably.

Noah broke the silence with a loud wail. "Daddy... waah... Daddy hit me!"

Trevor hurried forward and scooped him into his arms.

Then he turned to me with a righteous expression. "Dylan, even though Paige and I aren't married yet, I still can't agree with you hitting a child!

"How is that good for his growth?

"You should reason with him instead of using violence."

Noah immediately wrapped his arms around Trevor's neck and sobbed against his shoulder.

But his thoughts were full of glee.

[My real daddy loves me best. He knows to speak up for me!]

[That other fool is miserable. His child was swapped away by my real mom and dumped in the countryside long ago.]

[Who knows if he's even alive now? Ha ha ha!]

My whole body shook violently.

It felt as if my heart had been gripped so hard I couldn't breathe.

How could Margaret do that?

That was my child. She'd thrown him into the countryside?

I whipped my head toward Trevor. "So what if I hit him?

"Is he your child? Why are you so eager to interfere?"

Trevor's face stiffened.

Paige's expression turned dark the moment she heard me. "Dylan! What are you saying?

"He's your future brother-in-law! How can you be so rude?"

"Brother-in-law?"

Trevor sneered. "Noah's only three and doesn't know better. You hit him. That's child abuse.

"If you keep acting this way, then Paige and I can forget about getting married.

"The Bell family can't afford in-laws who break the law."

Paige panicked when she heard that.

She grabbed my hand and lowered her voice to yell, "Dylan! You can't be so selfish!

"You're already married and have a child, so you don't care about me anymore?

"It took me so long to find a man like Trevor. Are you trying to ruin my life?"

I was so angry I nearly lost my balance. I spread out the physical report and said word by word, "Since you all like Noah so much, I'll give him to you."

Clara hurriedly explained, "Noah's blood type doesn't match either of ours!

"Scientifically speaking, he can't be our child!"

Paige quickly looked at the report, then said nervously, "How could that be? Could there be some misunderstanding?

"Noah looks so much like you. How could he not be your child?"

Yes.

The reason I'd been fooled for three years was because Noah looked like me.

How ridiculous.

It wasn't that he looked like me. He looked like Margaret.

I glanced toward Trevor. His expression was unnatural.

But at that moment, the most important thing was finding my real child.

"Trevor Bell isn't a good man. Stay away from him."

I shook off Paige's hand and strode out.

After thinking for a moment, Clara followed me. As she walked, she said to the people behind us, "Watch Noah for a few days. I'll go talk to him."

Paige was furious and wanted to chase us, but Margaret stopped her.

Margaret sneered, "Let him go!

"In a few days, I'll have the paternity test done. Then we'll see how he kneels and begs me to return Noah to him!"

After leaving the house, I went straight back to my hometown.

Back when Clara was pregnant, Margaret had indeed returned to our old village for a while, claiming she wasn't feeling well.

Coincidentally, right after Clara gave birth, she'd been very eager to come over and care for Clara during her postpartum recovery.

At the time, I'd thought I was fortunate to have such a sensible mother who helped the younger generation.

Looking back now, I blamed myself for never realizing she'd come to swap away my and Clara's child.

The village was small. Finding a three-year-old child wouldn't be difficult.

I knocked on doors one by one and asked around.

Soon, in the home of an old widower, I saw the child.

He was dark and thin, clearly malnourished, wearing patched clothes as he squatted in a corner.

But those eyes...

They looked exactly like Clara's.

My heart jolted violently.

It was him. It had to be him.

I rushed forward, picked him up, and turned to leave.

The old widower immediately blocked my way. "Who are you? You come in here and try to steal my child?"