Married the Sick Uncle – Just Waiting to Inherit His Fortune

But the moment he saw Anne Sutton, he instantly turned into a little puppy dog.

Hearing this, Mrs. Shields gave Ian a surprised look and asked, ”Why does Ian call Anne ’Mama’?”

The question caught Anne Sutton off guard.

She noticed her own mother was also looking at her with curiosity.

Seeing Anne Sutton’s silence, Stella Shields explained, ”Ian should be calling her ’Auntie’! He’s just too little and gets the titles mixed up. Right, sister-in-law?”

Stella Shields looked at Anne Sutton.

Anne Sutton glanced at Mrs. Shields and her own mother in the hospital room, then nodded. ”Yes.”

Ian piped up, ”No, it’s not! My daddy said that from now on, Anne is my mama!”

Ian was just a child, blurting out whatever came to mind.

But his words made Stella Shields’s expression darken.

She had brought Ian over today, and Mrs. Sutton, not knowing the situation, had assumed the child was hers.

However, what Ian had just said completely undermined her position.

”Your daddy said that?” Mrs. Sutton looked at Ian, confused. She had met Ian and Ethan Linden before and knew that Ian was Ethan’s son.

But Ethan Linden was just Nathan Fawcett’s younger brother.

Why would his child call Anne Sutton ’Mama’?

Anne Sutton lowered her head, glanced at Ian, and explained, ”Ian is the same age as the child I lost. So, Ethan Linden said I should treat him as my own, and that’s why he calls me ’Mama’.”

Hearing this, Mrs. Sutton breathed a sigh of relief. She said to Anne Sutton, ”It’s a kind gesture on his part, but you can’t just go along with it so casually. What if other people take it seriously? Wouldn’t that make you a laughingstock? Stella, his real mother, is standing right here!”

When Stella Shields heard Mrs. Sutton mention her, she smiled. ”Auntie, I don’t mind. Since Ethan said so, Ian can call her whatever he wants. We’re all family. I’m not that petty.”

”How can that be okay?” Mrs. Sutton said. ”He should use the proper titles! Otherwise, Ian will get confused as he grows up.”

Anne Sutton glanced at Ian, and then at Stella Shields...

’As much as I wish Ian were my child, Stella Shields is his real mother.’

Stella Shields glanced at the time and said, ”Oh, right, Ethan should be getting off work. I’m going to pick him up! Sister-in-law, why don’t we have dinner together tonight?”

’I already turned Ethan Linden down this morning,’ Anne Sutton thought. ’How could I possibly go now?’

She refused, ”No, you guys go ahead. I’ll stay here with my mom.”

Stella Shields nodded. ”Alright then! I’ll take Ian with me. Ian...”

”Can I stay here with Anne?” He glanced at Anne Sutton. For some reason, he just felt closer to her.

Stella Shields looked at Ian. Seeing how attached he was to Anne Sutton, she was even more determined not to leave him there. ”Silly boy! You’ll be bothering Anne. She’s busy! Don’t you want to see your daddy?”

With that, she picked Ian up and walked out the door.

Mrs. Shields followed them out.

Sharon Sutton walked over. ”Sis, Stella Shields is so beautiful! And she seems so gentle. I can’t believe you know her. I had no idea! You never told me.”

Seeing the look of adoration on her sister’s face, Anne Sutton explained, ”She’s a friend of Ethan Linden’s.”

”What do you mean, ’friend’?” Sharon Sutton said. ”I heard she’s Ian’s mother. She and Ethan Linden even have a child together! And you know, Ethan is pretty handsome. He and Stella Shields make a great couple. I’m so envious! It’s strange, though. Ethan Linden and Nathan Fawcett are supposed to be brothers, so why is Ethan so handsome while Nathan looked so scary?”

”What’s so bad about Nathan Fawcett?” Hearing her sister speak ill of him, Anne Sutton became a little defensive.

Sharon Sutton stared at Anne Sutton. ”He’s been gone for so long, why are you still defending him? Honestly, I don’t think he was anything special. He couldn’t even compare to Justin, let alone Charles Prescott! Of all the men you know, he was the worst.”

After all, Nathan Fawcett had been a terrifying man. Sharon Sutton had always thought it was a shame that Anne Sutton chose to be with him back then.

Moreover, because of Nathan Fawcett, Anne Sutton’s relationships with her family and Charles Prescott had become as strained as if they were enemies.

...

Anne Sutton said, ”Don’t try to make me angry.”

Just hearing the name Charles Prescott was enough to infuriate Anne Sutton.

Seeing that Anne Sutton was angry, Sharon Sutton said, ”Alright, I’ll stop! I’m going to get Mom some food.”

With that, she left the hospital room.

...

Anne Sutton sat down and glanced at her mother. ”How have you been feeling the last couple of days?”

”Not so good!” Mrs. Sutton said pessimistically. ”I feel terrible. I probably don’t have much time left.”

Anne Sutton said, ”I spoke with the doctor. He said you need to maintain a positive attitude and believe that you can get better. If you keep thinking about unhappy things every day, your illness won’t improve.”

’The surgery was over, but her state of mind afterward was also crucial for her recovery.’

Mrs. Sutton said, ”How can I get better? Look at you. I worry about you every day, and I worry about Sharon, too. Sharon graduated so long ago and still hasn’t found a decent job. She just stays home with me every day. You should help her figure something out.”

Hearing her mother’s words, Anne Sutton said, ”I’ll ask around for her.”

Mrs. Sutton said, ”Anne, are you sure you won’t consider Justin Shields? I think he’s a great guy.”

”I know he’s great,” Anne Sutton said. ”But I’m a widow, and Justin Shields has never even been married. Maybe his mother was just being polite. You didn’t actually take her seriously, did you? Even if he were willing to marry me, I don’t have the nerve to accept.”

She had already returned the bracelet Mrs. Shields had given her.

’Anne Sutton didn’t want to get entangled with him any further!’

’Right now, all she hoped for was that Ethan Linden could inherit the Fawcett Family enterprise quickly.’

’As for matters of the heart, she simply didn’t have the extra energy to think about them.’

Mrs. Sutton said, ”Don’t you like children? Get married and have another one. I know you’ve been in pain ever since you lost your child. I also had a miscarriage right after I married your father. I was devastated back then, so I understand how you feel. But then I had you, and I slowly came to terms with it. Anne, Mom is just worried that you’re always so down. Haven’t you noticed that you haven’t been smiling like you used to these past few years?”

”...”

’Of course Anne Sutton knew what her mother was thinking.’

’She was a good mother, so she wanted both her and Sharon to have good lives.’

’It was just that...’

Anne Sutton said, ”Mom, I know you want me to get married, but marriage really isn’t the only path for a woman. Being with an unsuitable man is worse than being on your own.”

”But Justin really is a great guy!”

”I’m really not good enough for the Shields Family!”

”Are you rejecting him because you’re still holding on to Nathan Fawcett? I know he wasn’t as bad as Sharon says, but he’s been gone for so many years! Honestly, if you hadn’t gotten together with him back then, you wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament. I really don’t think you two were a good match.”