The Officer's Runaway Wife & Secret Son novel Chapter 383

Felix trotted over to the bedside on his short legs.

As Rhys watched the little boy approach, his heart hammered against his ribs, threatening to break free. He had no idea what to say.

While he hesitated, Felix had already gripped the edge of the bed with both hands, standing on his tiptoes. His large, dark, luminous eyes scanned Rhys’s face.

“You look much better,” Felix said.

Rhys was taken aback. He nodded. “Yes, much better.”

Felix’s brow furrowed, mirroring the man in front of him. He stared at the piece of medical tape on the back of Rhys’s hand. “I heard Ms. Mia scolding you for not being a good patient.”

Rhys was speechless, pinned to the spot by the accusation.

At the station, he was always the one doing the lecturing. Now, he was being told off by a little boy who barely stood three feet tall.

“It’s not that I’m not a good patient, it’s just…” Rhys struggled to explain.

“Sigh.”

Felix let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

Rhys had noticed it before—the boy had a habit of sighing. The expression was identical to the one Clara made when she was feeling helpless.

Whenever Clara was disappointed in him or at her wit’s end, she would look just like that.

He couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Although her rational mind told her this was all inevitable, seeing those two similar faces together, feeling the pull of their shared blood, made Clara’s nose tingle.

“Felix,” she prompted.

Felix turned to look at her.

“Say it.”

He turned his head back to Rhys.

Rhys sensed what was coming and was filled with a mixture of shock and terror.

Was it okay? Did he really deserve to hear that name?

Felix tilted his head, looking at the man’s reddening eyes.

Mommy had cried so hard while holding him at the hotel. Daddy Simon had secretly told him that if he didn’t say it now, he might never get another chance.

Felix sniffled, reached out a small hand, and wrapped it around two of Rhys’s fingers.

Guilt, regret, self-loathing, sorrow—a torrent of emotions tore through him.

Clara turned to look out the window. Snowflakes were landing on the sill, quickly beginning to pile up.

She blinked hard, forcing back the moisture in her eyes.

Now that the word “Dad” had been spoken, the heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart for four years seemed to have loosened slightly.

At least Felix would no longer have to ask why he didn’t have a father, or have to lie to himself that his dad had turned into a star.

After a long moment, Rhys composed himself and asked cautiously, “Felix, when did you know I was your dad?”

Felix thought for a moment, then answered honestly, “I don’t remember. I just knew when I saw you.”

Rhys smiled bitterly.

“I’m sorry.”

He looked at the child and apologized solemnly. “Dad is sorry. I’m sorry to you, and I’m sorry to Mommy.”

Felix clasped his hands behind his back and said something astonishing. “If saying sorry was enough, we wouldn’t need police officers, would we? Oh, wait. You are a police officer.”