She Was the Treasure All Along novel Chapter 874

"Mommy."

The toddler in the stroller pushed back the sunshade with her little hands, revealing a strikingly beautiful face. She reached her arms out, clearly frightened, demanding to be picked up.

Giselle immediately scooped the child into her arms and backed away several paces, patting her back soothingly while keeping a hyper-vigilant eye on Hank.

"She has nothing to do with you. Did you hear me?!"

The little girl rested her head on Giselle's shoulder. "Mommy, who is that?"

"Nobody, sweetheart. He just mistook us for someone else," Giselle murmured softly. "We'll be home soon."

Alfie, still planted firmly between them, spoke up. "Sir, if you keep harassing her, I'm calling the cops."

Hank ignored him completely. His dark eyes remained fixed on Giselle. The striking resemblance the child bore to him was undeniable.

"No child of mine will be left wandering the outside world," he stated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The underlying meaning was clear: he wanted her to come back.

But Giselle only laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "She was inside me for ten months. I nearly bled to death in the delivery room bringing her into this world, and I raised her every single day since. And now? You see her for five seconds and think you can just claim her?"

Hank's expression was carved from ice. He stared at the woman standing before him, realizing that the naive, easily intimidated girl he once knew was completely gone. Her eyes held zero affection or emotional wavering—only pure disgust and cold detachment.

She truly didn't love him anymore.

The realization felt like a physical blow. Hank's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her again, but he had sworn to himself that if he ever found her, he would take his time. He had to do it right. He owed her that much.

Forcing down the primal urge to simply throw her over his shoulder and lock her away, Hank raised a hand, signaling his encroaching bodyguards to back off.

Seeing the path clear, Giselle let out a quiet breath of relief, her heart still hammering against her ribs.

She quickly turned and hurried into the hospital. If Gigi hadn't been suffering from a persistent fever for two days, she never would have brought her to the same hospital where Loyce had just given birth. She wouldn't have run into Hank before she was emotionally prepared.

While Gigi was getting checked out and receiving fluids, Alfie glanced out the window, his brow furrowing. "Those men in suits are still standing down there, Giselle. Maybe we really should call the—"

"Don't get involved," Giselle cut him off sharply. She knew full well that, with the Lonsdale family's current power, Hank wasn't just a former underworld boss anymore. His reach was terrifyingly vast, and crushing an ordinary man would take no effort at all.

After a brief silence, she looked at Alfie. "Thank you for bringing us here, but please, drop the subject of that man. I'm telling you this for your own good."

Alfie was Giselle's neighbor. When he saw her rushing out with a sick baby that morning, he had insisted on driving them. They had been neighbors for nearly a year, and he had fallen deeply for the brilliant, resilient single mother.

"Is he her father?" Alfie asked quietly. "From what I heard out there, it sounds like he is."

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