The Husband I Loved for Eight Years Never Loved Me-Chapter 162: Daddy, Give Money

Chapter 162: Daddy’s Paying

Tristan Sterling walked straight to the hospital bed. He looked down at the woman lying there and asked, "Where does it hurt?"

Rachel Royce averted her gaze, avoiding his eyes. She hadn’t wanted to acknowledge him, but when she saw Melissa’s big, watery eyes, she finally answered, "It’s nothing."

Tristan Sterling’s eyes darkened as he glanced at her, but he didn’t press the issue. He looked at Melissa and said, "Melissa, it’s time to go home."

Melissa puffed out her cheeks, not wanting to leave.

Tristan said, "We can come see Aunt Evelynn again tomorrow."

Rachel chimed in, trying to persuade her. "Melissa, you should go home for now."

Melissa, remembering what Aunt Evelynn had just said, asked, "Then can I bring Aunt Evelynn breakfast tomorrow? Please?"

Rachel couldn’t refuse the little girl’s kind offer, so she could only agree. "Okay."

Melissa said goodbye to Florence Preston.

Tristan carried Melissa out of the hospital room and handed her schoolbag to the nanny. The handsome, tall man holding the beautiful, adorable child in his arms drew quite a few stares as they walked down the hall.

Florence Preston stayed and kept Rachel company in the room for a while longer.

It wasn’t like Rachel needed any special care.

After a little while, Florence left.

「The next morning.」

Melissa arrived at the hospital bright and early.

Rachel had just finished washing up in the bathroom when she saw the man walk in, carrying a thermal container.

"Aunt Evelynn, good morning!"

Melissa was wearing a pale yellow dress today, looking like a cheerful little canary. Her joy was so infectious that Rachel momentarily forgot about a certain someone’s presence.

Tristan Sterling walked to the coffee table and set down the thermal container.

Melissa pulled Rachel by the hand to sit down. "Aunt Evelynn, hurry and eat your breakfast."

Rachel sat on the sofa, looked at Melissa, and asked gently, "Have you eaten, Melissa?"

"Daddy and I already ate."

Without looking at the man beside her, Rachel opened the container. It was filled with light dishes: pan-fried dumplings, a spinach and egg wrap, and pastries made from yam.

There was also a serving of brown sugar and ejiao egg custard, which caught Rachel’s eye.

Melissa pointed to the egg custard and said, "Daddy had someone make this especially for Aunt Evelynn this morning."

Rachel just smiled at Melissa and said nothing.

Melissa watched over Rachel as she ate, and Rachel fed her a spoonful of the egg custard.

Tristan Sterling leaned back on a nearby stool, his attention fixed on the tablet in his hands.

Rachel finished her breakfast.

She packed up the thermal container, planning to wash it in the bathroom so Tristan could take it with him.

Tristan glanced at her but didn’t say anything.

When Rachel came out after washing the container, she put it in a bag and said to Melissa, "All right, Melissa, it’s time for you to go to school."

Melissa said, "Daddy got me the day off. I’m going to stay with Aunt Evelynn until she’s discharged, and then I’ll go to school."

Rachel froze for a moment, then looked at Tristan.

Tristan looked back at her and asked, "When are you being discharged?"

Just then, the door to the room opened.

A nurse walked in pushing a medical cart. Rachel still had one more IV drip to get this morning.

As the nurse inserted the IV needle for Rachel, Melissa watched from the side, her little face etched with worry. She looked utterly endearing. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The nurse couldn’t help but say, "Your daughter is so adorable. I’ve never seen such a beautiful child."

Hearing the nurse’s words, Rachel just smiled.

Melissa tilted her little head up to look at the nurse.

The nurse smiled at her. "There now, your mommy will be all right soon."

Melissa nodded emphatically, beaming. "Thank you, Miss Nurse."

"You’re welcome."

The nurse couldn’t resist patting Melissa’s little cheek.

"So cute."

The nurse pushed the medical cart out of the room.

Melissa rested her small hands on the edge of the bed and, with a wide grin, suddenly called out to Rachel, "Mommy!"

Upon hearing that, Rachel’s pupils contracted violently. Her heart felt as if it had been struck by something heavy, and a pent-up longing flooded through her nerves like a bursting dam.

The man on the stool watched the scene unfold, his handsome face calm.

「After a long moment.」

Rachel finally collected her thoughts. "Melissa, why did you call me that?"

Melissa replied, "Because the nurse said Aunt Evelynn is my mommy!"

"Does it hurt, Mommy? Melissa will blow on it to make it better."

Melissa had switched to calling Rachel "Mommy" and seemed to think nothing was wrong with it.

For a moment, Rachel didn’t know how to correct her.

But in the end, fighting back her own pain, she gently corrected Melissa.

Melissa’s face suddenly fell. "Oh, okay..."

Rachel felt a pang in her heart, as if it had been pricked by a needle.

When she lifted her gaze, she accidentally met a pair of dark eyes. Rachel’s breath caught. She felt as if she had done something unforgivable. The man only glanced at her for a second before lowering his eyes and looking away.

The IV drip finally finished.

The nurse came back and removed Rachel’s indwelling needle.

The doctor instructed her to rest well for the next couple of days. "I’ve prescribed you a few courses of Chinese medicine to help regulate your system."

"The most important thing is to get proper rest. Don’t be under too much stress and take care of your body. Otherwise, no amount of medicine will help."

Rachel replied, "I know. Thank you, Doctor."

She’d had these pains before, but never as severe as the last two times, which had required IV drips at the hospital to manage.

It was worse each time.

’This time, I feel like it was purely Tristan Sterling’s fault for making me so angry.’

Melissa chimed in, "Thank you, Miss Doctor."

The doctor couldn’t help but pat Melissa’s little cheek as well.

"Go pay the bill and pick up the medicine."

With those instructions, the doctor left the room.

As Rachel was about to get her phone to scan the QR code on the bill,

Melissa took the bill from Rachel’s hand, walked over to her father, and held it out to him. "Daddy, pay for it."

"Melissa," Rachel called out. "Give the bill back to Auntie."

Tristan took the bill from Melissa, scanned the code, and paid it. He then looked at Rachel. "Let’s go."

Melissa went up and took Rachel’s hand, muttering, "Is Aunt Evelynn angry?"

Rachel said, "No, but next time, you need to ask Auntie first, okay?"

Melissa replied, "Got it."

The three of them left the hospital room.

They walked out of the inpatient department.

Tristan’s driver approached them. Tristan handed him the receipt and instructed, "Go get the medicine."

The driver took the receipt and headed toward the outpatient building.

Tristan glanced back at Rachel and said, "Get in the car."

It was time to take Melissa to preschool.

Once they were in the car,

Rachel received a call from Thomas Sterling. "Rachel, Miss Preston said you’re in the hospital?"

"Yeah, it’s nothing serious. You guys are back? Where’s my brother?"

Thomas said, "He’s at the company. I just got back myself."

"We’ll talk when I get back."

"Should I come pick you up?"

"That won’t be necessary for now."

Miles Sheldon was already in the parking lot. After they dropped Melissa off at preschool, she would get a ride home from him.

She would just have to work from home today.

After the driver returned with the medicine, he drove away from the hospital and headed to the school.

When they arrived at the school gate, a teacher was waiting there to greet Melissa.

"Bye, Daddy! Bye, Aunt Evelynn!"

After Melissa went into the school,

Rachel, with no intention of saying goodbye to the man beside her, turned and walked toward Miles Sheldon’s car.