Deceiving Her Ears: Ignoring Your Call-Chapter 113: Can Eat Sour Things

"Isaac? You called me so many times, what’s up?"

Natalie’s voice sounded calm and unbothered.

But Isaac, imagining how she must have been in so much pain yet still stubbornly pretending nothing was wrong, felt an ache in his heart like it was being twisted.

"Little Ear." He took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Where are you? I’ll come find you right now!"

Just then, Natalie heard the hospital announcement in his background and blurted out, "You’re at the hospital?"

Isaac gritted his teeth. "Yeah, I’m at the hospital. Where are you? I’ll..."

"I’m at the main entrance."

As soon as the call ended, Isaac hurried off toward the hospital’s main entrance.

She just had surgery; she should be resting in bed. How could she be wandering around?!

When he finally reached the entrance, he spotted Natalie right away.

Natalie was holding her test results. The moment she saw Isaac, she ran over and grabbed his shoulders tightly.

She looked puzzled by his reaction.

"Isaac? What’s wrong with you?"

Natalie wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Why are you in such a rush? You look awful. By the way, what are you doing at the hospital?"

"Little Ear..." Isaac couldn’t stop his voice from trembling as soon as he spoke. "Why aren’t you resting in bed?"

"It’s nothing serious, really. No need to worry," Natalie said.

"How can it not be serious, you..."

"It’s just a stomach issue."

Isaac froze.

He looked down at the test results in Natalie’s hand and took them from her. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Sure enough, the diagnosis was just as Natalie had said.

So it was just a false alarm.

The emotional roller coaster hit him so hard, he suddenly felt completely drained.

He let out a long sigh, his voice hoarse. "Then why did you come to the hospital by yourself? Why didn’t you ask me to come with you?"

"It’s just something minor. I can handle it. I thought you’d be busy." Natalie took the test results back and put them in her bag, tilting her head at him. "But you’re acting really strange. Shouldn’t you be telling me something?"

"I..." Isaac’s throat felt dry and scratchy. "I thought..."

"You didn’t think I was pregnant, did you?" Natalie asked.

Isaac looked at her.

For a long moment.

He grunted softly in response.

Natalie said, "We’ve been careful, and I’m on birth control."

She looked right at him. "You don’t have to worry about me getting pregnant."

"Little Ear!" Isaac frowned, his face turning even sourer.

He grabbed her hand, fixed his eyes on hers, and spoke seriously, word by word: "That’s not what I meant. It’s not that I don’t want us to have a baby. We’re married."

"It’s just that you’re still young." He tapped her nose. "You’re still a baby yourself. How can you have a baby?"

Natalie deadpanned, "Oh? So you can do those things with a baby?"

Isaac choked.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He cupped her face in both hands, squeezing her cheeks until they were all squished, and gritted his teeth: "What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Natalie pulled his hands away and said flatly, "Aren’t you the one who just said it?"

Isaac stared at her.

"Little Ear, do you want to have a baby right now?"

Natalie turned her head aside, and after a while said, "No."

Isaac wrapped his arm around her and led her out of the hospital. "Then let’s talk about babies later. For now, you’re my only baby, and I’m going to spoil you."

"Okay." Natalie gave him a look. "Got it."

——

After learning about Natalie’s stomach trouble, Isaac was determined to help her nurture it back to health.

The simplest and most direct way: nourishing soups.

The housekeeper at home was an expert in making soups.

Isaac wanted to learn, so he called the housekeeper to come teach him.

And coming along with the housekeeper was his mom, Vanessa Grant.

When Isaac opened the door to see his mom, he couldn’t help but laugh. "Why did you come too?"

Vanessa glared and huffed, "What? Is this some kind of forbidden palace? Am I not allowed?"

Isaac felt a headache coming on and immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Of course you can come! Come in, please."

He stepped aside to let his mom and the housekeeper in.

The housekeeper had brought all the soup ingredients, since she knew he wanted to learn.

She was even worried he didn’t have the right pot—so she brought a pot, too.

As she was putting things down, the housekeeper made a point to tell Isaac, "Madam told me to bring the pot."

Isaac put his hand to his forehead and laughed, then let the housekeeper get started.

He went to the living room to find his mom, who was busily looking around, curious.

"This place isn’t that big. Isn’t it cramped living here?"

It’s at least a two-hundred-square-meter place.

Isaac said, "It’s just me and Natalie, not cramped at all. Besides, it’s only temporary. I’m looking at other places—once I find a good one, we’ll move."

"Let me know which one you like," Vanessa said right away. "I’ll buy it for you!"

Isaac knew his mom was just freaked out by the rumors about him living off a woman—she was getting anxious by now.

He went over, put his arm around his mom, and gave her shoulders a gentle rub. "No need, Mom. I can afford it myself."

Vanessa instructed, "When you do buy, make sure to only put Nat’s name on the deed."

"Okay."

"The bigger, the better."

"Okay."

"Best if it’s a villa. If it’s a regular flat, at least 400 square meters."

"Okay, okay. I’ll take care of it."

Vanessa pursed her lips, her tone a little sour. "Now your heart and eyes are filled with Nat. You’ve hardly ever peeled fruit for me, but here you are fussing over making her soup."

Isaac explained, "She hasn’t been feeling well lately."

"Stomach trouble? Is it serious?"

Sure enough, Vanessa talked like she was jealous, but in reality, she still cared very much about Natalie.

"She’ll be home soon. You can ask her yourself," Isaac said with a smile.

Vanessa sat down on the couch, and that famous sadness—’son gets a wife, forgets his mom’—washed over her.

But before she could really wallow, just as Isaac had said, Natalie came home.

The last time she’d seen Natalie was at the Beckett Group.

She’d wanted to plead with her, for her brother Jason Grant’s sake, hoping The Grant Group and Beckett could keep working together.

But Natalie had refused.

Now, seeing each other again, the awkwardness hit instantly.

Vanessa grew restless, wanting to leave.

"Stay for dinner, Auntie," Natalie invited.

Vanessa instinctively glanced at her son. Seeing him give her a meaningful look, she cleared her throat and sat back down. "Well, alright then."

Isaac went to the kitchen to learn how to make soup from the housekeeper.

Natalie sat with Vanessa in the living room and kept her company.

Back when Natalie was Jason’s sister-in-law, she and Vanessa could talk about everything.

Now, Natalie was her daughter-in-law, which should have made them even closer.

But Vanessa only felt further away from Natalie.

The two of them spent most of their time staring at each other in silence.

Awkward people always find little things to do.

Vanessa would look here, then there.

She’d fidget with the throw pillows, then spot some mandarins on the coffee table and start peeling one.

She took a segment, but the moment she tasted it, her face twisted from how sour it was.

"So sour!"

Vanessa flung the rest of the mandarin back onto the table, then turned—just in time to see Natalie finish off the entire, super sour mandarin.

Vanessa looked surprised, and before she knew it, she blurted out, "When I was pregnant with Isaac, I craved sour things just like this."