Chapter 5

"Sure. There's no rush. I need to focus on job hunting anyway. I have an interview this morning," Sophia said to Christa, keeping her voice down.

"Okay. Good luck with your interview. I need to get back to work, too," Christa said.

"Got it. Bye!"

When the elevator arrived on the first floor, Sophia gave yet another polite nod to Royce. As her eyes flitted over Marcus, she felt herself shuddering again, so she quickly retracted her gaze and walked off.

The doors closed, and the elevator continued its descent.

Glancing at Marcus, Royce piped up, "That's the mother of the little boy who got lost yesterday."

"Is that any of my business?" Marcus asked.

A chill ran down Royce's spine. He hastily said, "N-Nope. Not at all."

When Marcus' car arrived at the fire station, Lucas' former superior was already waiting for him. The two shook hands before the superior led Marcus to the dorm building.

"This was Lucas' room, Mr. Carter. All of his belongings have been organized and put together carefully. They're all here."

Even someone as strong as Marcus couldn't help but feel a tremble in his heart when he saw Lucas' personal items.

"Can I stay here alone for a while?" he asked.

"Of course."

Lucas' superior knew what Marcus was going through, so he quickly left with the rest of his subordinates. Royce quietly stepped out as well.

Marcus sat on the edge of the bed, taking in the tidy room. As he gently touched the neatly folded bedding, his eyes misted over again.

There was a square box on the table. Marcus picked it up and took a look inside. He found some scattered items, including certificates of recognition and bravery awards. His heart grew increasingly heavy as he went through each one.

But toward the end, a different document caught his eye. He frowned when he saw the words "Sperm Donor Eligibility Notice".

When did Lucas ever donate his sperm?

Startled and puzzled, Marcus took a closer look at the document, only to discover that Lucas had donated his sperm to a sperm bank four years ago.

Why would Lucas do that?

Marcus felt even more bewildered now, but that wasn't the main focus right now. He abruptly recalled what Royce had said yesterday.

"Mrs. Carter Senior would definitely have a speedy recovery if she found out she had a grandson."

Having thought of this, Marcus shot to his feet, gathered all of Lucas' things, and swiftly left the fire station. Once he got inside his car, he called up a good friend of his, Jason Moore.

"What's up, Marcus?"

"Are you at the hospital right now? I'll drop by to see you in a bit."

Jason was a well-known fertility specialist in Riverney. He was an expert in dealing with various forms of infertility, earning him a reputation for being like the stork who brought babies to families.

"Why? Are you trying to have a baby?" Jason blurted out.

"I'm not in the mood to crack jokes with you."

Knowing that Marcus wouldn't be in a good mood during this time, Jason became more serious as he asked, "So why do you want to see me then? Mrs. Carter Senior's condition is mostly psychological. She'll only feel better if you, her son, spend more time with her to help her through her grief."

"It has nothing to do with my mother. I'll tell you about it when I get there."

Half an hour later, Marcus arrived at the hospital where Jason worked.

When the two met up, Jason noticed that Marcus had lost quite a bit of weight recently. Out of concern, he reminded Marcus to take good care of himself.

After acknowledging that, Marcus handed over the Sperm Donor Eligibility Notice he found in Lucas' belongings, saying, "Take a look at this."

Initially shocked by the document, Jason soon figured out what had happened.

"The birth rate nationwide has slid in recent years, so the government has been actively encouraging healthy young men to donate their sperm to sperm banks. I'm guessing Lucas must've done it because of that."

"Yeah. I just found out about that."

"So… why have you come to me?" Jason asked in puzzlement.

Frowning, Marcus hesitated for a moment before saying, "My mother's too caught up in her grief, and her health gets worse with each passing day. No matter how much time we spend with her or how hard we try to comfort her, nothing seems to work. If Lucas had a child…"

"What are you thinking? Sperm donors and recipients are both bound to a double-blind policy, keeping both parties anonymous," Jason exclaimed.

"Regardless of whether the sperm is still in storage or has been used, the regulations forbid any form of investigation into the recipient's identity, let alone allow for any form of contact."

"I know that, but I want you to look into it anyway," Marcus declared. "If Lucas did have a child, even just a photo of the child might be enough to lift my mother's spirits."

"Marcus, I know how your family is feeling, but—"

Marcus was in no mood to waste any more of his breath. He got to his feet and asked, "Can you help me or not? If you can't, I'll find some other way to look into it."

It wouldn't be hard for an esteemed lawyer like Marcus to unearth this information. Jason also knew that Marcus wouldn't change his mind once he'd decided. All he could do was sigh. "Fine. I'll look into it for you."

Just when Marcus turned to leave, Jason thought of something. "By the way, do you remember the sperm donation I made you take part in during my internship?"

Marcus' expression stiffened. Eyes narrowing, he said, "Didn't I tell you to destroy the collected sperm?"

Jason mumbled, "Yeah, you did, and it was destroyed… My point is, if you want to lift your mother's spirits and give her something to live for, you should hurry up and have a child of your own. Why go through all that hassle of tracing Lucas' sperm donation instead?"

"A child from me and a child from Lucas are two separate things."

"I guess you're right."

After Marcus left, Jason murmured thoughtfully to himself, "You know, your child might be old enough to attend preschool by now."

…

Sophia's job hunt proved to be extremely successful. After all, her talents couldn't be denied.

Among all the candidates at the interview, she fixed a highly complex programming bug way quicker than the others, earning praise from the panel of interviewers.

She was also a pretty woman, which was a rarity in this particular line of work. Therefore, she was offered a job on the spot and told to start work on Monday.

Sophia was in a great mood as she headed back to the hospital.

She wanted to call her parents to share the good news, but as soon as she picked up her phone, her smile stiffened.

What was the point of telling them?

She could already hear what they would say. "Why are you looking for a job at a time like this? You should be spending your time appeasing your husband, so that he changes his mind and comes back to you!"

Giving up that idea, she texted Christa the good news instead.

After half an hour, she'd almost arrived at the hospital when she received a voice message from Christa.

"That's wonderful! I knew you could do it!"

The genuine joy in Christa's exuberant voice made Sophia smile.

A little while later, her phone started ringing. Joshua was calling her through his smartwatch.

She quickly took the call, saying, "I'm almost at the hospital, Joshie. I'm just getting you some lunch at the hospital cafeteria right now. I'll be right up!"

"Mommy, there's a lady here, and she bought me a lot of things…" Joshua reported doubtfully.

"A lady?" Sophia repeated, sounding quite confused.

"Yeah. She introduced herself as Ms. Hough."

Hough? Roxanne Hough?

Sophia's expression hardened at once. Without waiting to get her food from the cafeteria, she dashed up the hospital building.

Inside the hospital room, Helen was accompanying Joshua. Her face was scrunched up in displeasure as she eyed the young woman in the room, who was all dolled up and drenched in some kind of perfume that prickled the nose.

"I made this cake myself, Josh. Give it a taste. I promise it's really good!" Roxanne said before trying to feed Joshua a slice of the cake with her manicured hand.

"No thanks. Mommy says I shouldn't eat food from strangers," Joshua declined as he moved his head away.

"I'm not a stranger. I was your mommy and daddy's classmate," Roxanne said.

She was determined to feed the cake to him, but as soon as she got near him, her pungent perfume irritated Joshua's nose so much that it itched. He opened his mouth and sneezed so strongly that his mucus got onto the cake.

Helen couldn't take it anymore. She stepped forward and urged, "Since he doesn't want the cake, you shouldn't force him to eat it. It's time for him to have his lunch anyway."

Roxanne whipped her head around and snapped, "This is none of your business! A nanny like you should know her place and keep her mouth shut!"

She turned back to Joshua to make him eat the cake, but the door flew open, and Sophia came storming in.

After hearing the sounds and seeing who it was, Roxanne immediately put on a smile. "Oh! You're here, Soph. I heard that Josh is sick, so I came by to—"

Sophia didn't let her finish before grabbing the piece of cake from Roxanne. Then, with her other hand planted firmly behind Roxanne's head, she shoved the cake into Roxanne's mouth.

Roxanne didn't see this coming. Instinctively, she tried to spit out the cake. Joshua's mucus had gotten onto it just now!