Her Marriage: The Night is Still Young-Chapter 213: How Did You Find Me?

The conversation lasted until noon.

A few people left the tea room.

Nathaniel Gallagher took off his earpiece and laughed with a wild and evil grin, "Julian Grant, let’s see how long you can remain smug."

"Enjoy your final moments in the spotlight..."

"Beep beep beep!"

The phone rang again.

He glanced at the phone; it was Eleanor calling.

Nathaniel Gallagher calmed his emotions and answered the phone gently, "Hello, Eleanor."

On the other end of the line, Eleanor’s voice was filled with guilt and disappointment, "Nathaniel, has Henry been better these past few days?"

"...Uh, Henry is fine, you don’t need to worry."

"I miss Henry, can you bring Henry to the hospital to see me?"

"...Um... okay, I’ll bring Henry over this afternoon."

"Okay."

He ended the call.

Nathaniel Gallagher held his phone in a daze for half a minute, feeling restless.

Previously.

Eleanor had locked Henry Gallagher in the small dark room as punishment again.

This led to Henry Gallagher strongly resisting and hating her, not to mention getting close to her; even hearing her name scared him into trembling.

"Sigh..." Nathaniel Gallagher rubbed his brow, feeling as if his heart was being burned by oil.

In his life, he had never done anything he regretted.

The only thing he regretted.

Was deceiving Josephine Thompson into giving birth to Henny.

If he had known today would be such an embarrassing situation.

He should have seriously considered having a child with Josephine Thompson.

As for Eleanor, he could also have seriously considered having a child with her.

But now...

Josephine Thompson doesn’t recognize Henny.

Eleanor also has a lingering resentment and prejudice against Henny.

The child is even more pitiful.

He’s unclear about who exactly his mommy is.

So, he deeply regretted it, often losing sleep over it.

...

The car headed towards the old mansion of The Gallagher Family.

Nathaniel Gallagher dialed his assistant’s phone number again, his tone laced with a subtle restlessness: "Still no news from Josephine’s side?"

The voice on the other end, with a hint of panic: "President Gallagher, we checked all possible contacts of Miss Thompson, including her former classmates abroad, but no clues."

"Her bank cards and phone card have not shown any usage records recently, as if she has ’completely disappeared’."

Nathaniel Gallagher furrowed his brow deeper, the traffic outside the window blurring into emptiness in his eyes.

"Keep checking." Nathaniel Gallagher’s voice turned icy.

"No matter where she is, make sure to confirm her whereabouts and safety, report back to me promptly."

"Yes, President Gallagher."

He hung up the phone.

Nathaniel Gallagher leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes.

His mind occasionally flashed through blissful memories of his past interactions with Josephine Thompson.

He could refrain from looking for her temporarily.

But he must know where she is? And what she’s doing? He especially needs to know how far she’s progressed with Julian Grant?

The thought of her possibly getting intimate with Julian Grant.

Made him feel intolerable, wishing he could immediately take Julian Grant out.

...

Half an hour later.

The Gallagher Family’s old mansion.

The car drove into the estate.

The butler awaited at the door.

As he got out of the car, the butler reported quietly, "Sir, the young master didn’t eat much breakfast again this morning, he’s hiding in his room and refusing to come out. If this continues, he might need to see a psychologist."

Nathaniel Gallagher nodded, softening his steps as he walked toward the second floor.

When he pushed open the door to Henry Gallagher’s room.

The child was holding an old doll, shrinking dully on the window seat.

Seeing him come in, a hint of fear flashed in his eyes, quickly lowering his head.

"Daddy."

"Henny, what are you doing?" Nathaniel Gallagher sat next to him, softening his voice.

Henry Gallagher was no longer the arrogant and unruly kid, now downcast and despondent, "I’m playing with toys."

Hearing this, Nathaniel Gallagher glanced at the old doll in his arms, feeling a pang of heartache, "There are so many new toys you don’t play with, why are you always holding this ragged doll?"

"It’s so broken, let’s throw it away!"

As he said this, he instinctively reached to throw the doll away.

Henry Gallagher tightly clutched the doll, "No, this is a gift from mommy, mommy made it with her own hands."

Nathaniel was momentarily stunned, then smiled, "Mommy at the hospital misses you; would you like to see her this afternoon?"

Henry Gallagher’s body instantly stiffened, his fingers tightly clutching the doll’s clothes, softly protesting, "I don’t want to go... that mommy at the hospital isn’t my mommy, she’ll lock me in the small dark room."

"Daddy, I know I was too naughty before, but I really don’t want a new mommy anymore. Can you bring back my old mommy? I miss her, boohoo..."

The child’s voice was choked with sobs, like a needle pricking Nathaniel Gallagher’s heart.

He recalled Eleanor’s meltdown that day.

She, seeing Henry Gallagher’s face, suddenly got teary-eyed and screamed "This is not my child," then locked the crying Henny in the storeroom.

Until now, the mere mention of "Eleanor Churchill" makes Henny tremble all over.

Henry Gallagher sobbed breathlessly, "Daddy, will my old mommy never come back? Has she really abandoned me?"

Without comparison, there is no harm!

He used to always clamor for daddy to give him a new mommy.

But once he really got a new mommy.

He realized how good his old mommy was.

Nathaniel Gallagher’s heart twisted in pain, patiently soothing his son, "Henny, the doctor mommy is your real mommy..."

Hearing this, Henry Gallagher cried even louder, "No, she’s not. I don’t want that mommy, I don’t want... boohoo!"

Nathaniel Gallagher embraced the gasping child in his arms, gently smoothing his breath with the palm on his back.

Adam’s throat moved for a while before he squeezed out a soft sentence: "It’s Daddy’s fault for not explaining it clearly, Henny, don’t be upset..."

The words were left unfinished.

Suddenly, from downstairs came Mrs. Gallagher’s footsteps, accompanied by suppressed anger: "Nathaniel! What are you dawdling upstairs with the child? I’ve just returned from the hospital, and Eleanor’s attitude—are you really planning to let Henny endure more grievances?"

When Mrs. Gallagher pushed the door open and came in.

She saw Henry Gallagher’s red eyes and his little hand clutching an old doll, and her anger immediately surged: "Look at this child, scared out of his wits! And Eleanor, I went to see her this morning, mentioned Henny hasn’t eaten. She just said, ’A child won’t starve not eating for a few meals’, does she even speak human language?"

Upon hearing the name "Eleanor," Henry Gallagher instinctively shrank closer into Nathaniel Gallagher’s embrace, burying his little head deeper.

Mrs. Gallagher, seeing the child’s reaction, felt her eyes sting with pain and her tone was even sharper when she turned to Nathaniel: "I advised you back then, Josephine cared so much for Henny, yet you insisted on entangling with Eleanor!"

"And now, she can’t even tolerate Henny. This marriage of yours is truly making him suffer!"

"Mom!" Nathaniel Gallagher interrupted with a frown, afraid his mother’s words would further upset the child, "Eleanor’s not been well lately, she’s a bit emotional..."

"And being emotional can justify locking a child in a dark room?" Mrs. Gallagher raised her voice, pointing at Henry Gallagher’s arm, "Last time she locked him in, the bruises on Henny’s arm from then haven’t even faded! If she truly sees Henny as her son, how could she be so ruthless?"

Hearing about the dark room, Henry couldn’t help but start sobbing again, his little hand clutching Nathaniel Gallagher’s collar tightly: "Daddy, I’m scared..."

Nathaniel Gallagher patted the child’s back, feeling a mixture of bitterness and sourness in his heart.

Eleanor’s approach to education was indeed inappropriate.

Yet the scene of her shielding him from danger lingered in front of his eyes.

Back then, when a bullet grazed past his heart, Eleanor leaped forward to shield him, resulting in her current health issues.

This act of grace, he couldn’t forget.

"Mom, I’ll take Henny to the hospital this afternoon and have a good talk with Eleanor."

Nathaniel Gallagher’s voice grew deeper, filled with unwavering determination, "She is Henny’s mommy, she must accept him. If she continues like this, I..."

His sentence was left unfinished.

Henry Gallagher suddenly lifted his tearful eyes and looked at him: "Daddy, if she locks me up again, can you take me to find my old mommy? I miss the cookies she used to make..."

Nathaniel Gallagher’s heart felt like it was being seized tightly, he patted the child’s head, forcing a smile: "Alright, Daddy promises you, let’s go check on her first, okay?"

Mrs. Gallagher watched the father and son.

Sighing, her tone softened slightly: "Don’t make things too hard on yourself, but Henny can’t suffer grievances anymore. If Eleanor truly can’t tolerate it, this life... you need to think it through."

Nathaniel Gallagher said nothing, simply picked up Henry Gallagher, grabbing the coat from the sofa: "Henny, let’s go buy Mommy a bouquet of sunflowers, she used to love them."

The child lay on his shoulder, replied softly, still clutching that old doll tightly.

That was from Josephine Thompson, who had sewn it for him herself, and now, it became his only sense of security.

"Mom, next month I will send you and Henny to Arctica to live."

Mrs. Gallagher: "You mentioned sending us to Arctica before, but halfway through you didn’t let us go, what exactly do you mean?"

Nathaniel Gallagher: "This time it’s for real, all the procedures are already done, you will reside in Arctica from now on."

Mrs. Gallagher sighed repeatedly, "Sigh, I’m truly at a loss with you."

...

In the blink of an eye.

Another week had passed.

Riverbend.

In the remote hills.

An expert team had discovered another cluster of ancient tombs.

Josephine Thompson had been with this research team for several days.

She was engrossed in her studies every day.

Today.

Josephine Thompson crouched at the edge of an excavation pit, holding a small brush, carefully cleaning a recently unearthed pottery shard.

The mountain breeze, carrying the scent of earth, blew by, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead.

Yet she was oblivious, her gaze remained fixed on the blurred patterns on the pottery.

"Expert Thompson, it’s lunchtime."

"Okay, thank you."

Josephine Thompson had just taken the meal box passed by Professor Linton when she heard the sound of a car engine approaching the mountain path.

This place was so secluded that besides the research team’s vehicles, outsiders were rare.

She looked up.

She saw a black SUV parked not far away.

The car door opened, and Julian Grant, dressed in casual attire, walked briskly towards her.

"Josephine." Julian’s voice carried a faint urgency, his gaze full of concern when it landed on her, "I’ve been looking for you for a long time."

Josephine Thompson paused with the meal box in her hand, a flash of surprise in her eyes, but she quickly regained composure: "Why are you here?" 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"I looked up your whereabouts, knowing you joined the research team." Julian Grant walked up to her, his eyes sweeping over her mud-stained pants and the calluses on her hands, frowning, "The conditions here are so harsh, why didn’t you tell me?"

Josephine Thompson lowered her head, took a bite of food, her tone indifferent: "I came here to work, not for a holiday."

She did not want to be entangled with people and matters from Audenburg anymore, especially the complications between Nathaniel Gallagher and Julian Grant.

But Julian Grant wasn’t planning to leave, he looked at her, softening his voice: "Josephine, I know you want to avoid Nathaniel Gallagher, but you don’t need to avoid me too."

"He’s been busy dealing with various inspections in Audenburg lately, temporarily not having the energy to seek you out. But you being here alone, I’m worried."

Mentioning Nathaniel Gallagher.

Josephine Thompson’s actions stiffened for a moment, then she looked up at Julian Grant, her eyes carrying a faint sense of distance: "Julian, the matters between Nathaniel Gallagher and I, as well as my current life, have nothing to do with you. Please go back and don’t disrupt the work of the research team."

"How can it have nothing to do with me? Your matters are my matters, I won’t let you face danger alone. Wherever you are, I will be there. Please don’t avoid me anymore, and please don’t disappear without a word."

"You know, you’re the only one in my heart, I can’t bear your departure. If you have even the slightest feeling for me, please don’t be so cruel to me."

Julian Grant stepped forward and held her tightly, "Josephine, you clearly know my feelings for you..."

"Julian, there can never be a future between us!" Josephine Thompson interrupted him, her voice raised a bit, attracting the attention of several research team members nearby.

She took a deep breath, repressing her emotions, "Right now, I just want to focus on my research, I don’t want to discuss these matters. If you continue this way, I’ll have no choice but to ask the team leader to make you leave."

Julian Grant looked at her resolute eyes, felt a wave of disappointment in his heart, yet still refused to give up: "Alright, I won’t pressure you. But I’ve booked a hotel in the town down the mountain, if you need anything at any time, give me a call."

He took out a piece of paper from his pocket with a phone number on it, handing it to her, "This is my personal number, it’s on 24/7."

Josephine Thompson didn’t take it, simply shook her head: "President Grant, there’s really no need. I’m doing well here, you should go back."

At this moment, Professor Linton came over, glanced at Julian Grant, then at Josephine Thompson, smiling to ease the tension: "Is this a friend of Expert Thompson? We’re indeed quite remote here, but everyone here does research and is used to the hardships. If you’re not too picky, why not join us for a meal?"

Julian Grant glanced at Josephine Thompson, seeing she didn’t object, he nodded.

During the meal.

Julian Grant didn’t bring up Nathaniel Gallagher again, only occasionally asked a few questions about the research team’s work.

Josephine Thompson responded briefly.

After the meal.

"Julian, this isn’t a place for you to stay, it’s better you head back soon."

Julian Grant stood up, looked at her earnestly, "I just said, wherever you are, I will be there."

"I’ll stay and continue to be your assistant."

Josephine Thompson felt a pang in her chest, looking at him with helplessness and heaviness, "Julian Grant, I beg you not to be like this. There can never be any outcome between us, don’t keep entangling, I could never possibly love you..."

Before she finished speaking.

Julian Grant abruptly pulled her into an embrace, lowering his head to kiss her lips.

Josephine Thompson’s breathing was disrupted, she hurriedly tried to push him away, "Mmm, let go."