Chapter 195

Emily Johnson looked up to meet her mother-in-law's anxious gaze. To her surprise, Mary Stone had personally brought Henry's father over.

"I was wrong," the man admitted, his voice thick with regret. "I shouldn't have forgotten about your grandmother."

Henry froze. Grandmother? He'd never met her.

"Henry, you look just like her. It's called atavism," his father explained.

The boy clenched the hem of his shirt. His stepmother always claimed he wasn't a true Wood, insisting he bore no resemblance to his father.

"Am I really yours?" Henry's voice trembled.

His father pulled him into a tight embrace. "Of course you are! You're my own flesh and blood!"

Emily's heart skipped a beat. Her earlier suspicions had been correct.

"Take your children home and care for them properly," Mary sighed, eyeing the thin frames of the siblings. "Look how skinny they are, and their clothes are practically rags."

Henry's father nodded eagerly. "Thank you for looking after them, Miss Johnson. I'll take them home now."

"Auntie, we're leaving," Henry said politely, knowing they couldn't keep troubling her.

"Go ahead." Emily ruffled his hair. "If anyone gives you trouble, come find me anytime."

She shot a meaningful glance at Henry's father as she spoke.

After the family departed, Mary pulled Emily aside. "I know you mean well, but that stepmother is trouble. She only married into that family because she was too plain to find a husband otherwise."

Emily's eyes widened. No wonder the woman had such a spiteful face.

"She's demanding compensation from you too! As if!" Mary spat. "That sort isn't worth your concern."

"I understand, Mother." Emily nodded obediently.

Only then did Mary leave with peace of mind.

Silence settled over the house. The two younger children peeked at their mother nervously, hardly daring to breathe. Was she angry?

Meanwhile, Henry's father had barely crossed the threshold with his son when Lily Wilson's icy glare met them.

"What a convincing act!" she shrilled. "Too weak to stand earlier, but now you can walk?"

Ignoring her, the man carried Henry to the inner room. He returned with a fresh quilt.

"What do think you're doing?" Lily blocked his path. "Giving our good quilt to that bastard?"