The Scorned Heiress's Hidden Empire (by Jade Quinn) novel Chapter 461

Chapter 461

The dozen or so photos were gl as crisp as pictures takea with a professional camera. They were clear, but they looked as if they had been taken on a phone and printed afterward.

Each one had been covered with a thin layer of landnation, probably to keep Richie from tearing them up and putting the pieces

in his mouth.

Children his age loved putting everything in their mouths.

Whoever had put the photos there had been very thoughtful.

They were all candid shots of her, taken from different angles. One showed her holding General while eating watermelon. Another showed her trimming branches in the garden at Blackwood Manor. There was one of her sitting at the dining table eating breakfast, and another of her sitting cross-legged on the couch with her hair in a messy bun, revising an article on her laptop.

There were so many photos.

She could no longer remember when they had been taken, or how anyone had managed to take them.

Then her gaze landed on one particular photo, and her fingers slowly tightened against the edge of the bed.

She vaguely remembered that night. It had been during a family dinner at the Xander estate. After dinner, Mrs. Xander Sr. had insisted that she and Chris stay overnight in the room prepared for them as a couple.

She remembered that night so clearly because, before Chris came back to the room, she had taken a shower and lain down on the couch, planning to make do there for the night. She had spent the entire day on an outdoor interview, so she had fallea asleep almost immediately.

But when she woke up the next morning, she was in the bed.

She still remembered sitting up and questioning Chris, who had been leaning against the headboard and scrolling through his phone. Back then, Chris had insisted that she had climbed into bed on her own in the middle of the night.

She remembered it clearly. When she woke up, he had been holding his phone.

In the photo, her hair fell smoothly over her shoulders. She looked healthy, her cheeks softly flushed. There was a faint, unreadable emotion in her eyes, making her look bright, delicate, and full of life.

No one else could have taken that photo.

Besides her, Chris had been the only person in the room.

Which meant he had taken it.

She instinctively looked toward Chris.

As if by coincidence, Chris was looking at her too. For a moment, it almost felt as if he had been watching her every move all along.

Their eyes met.

A faint flicker passed through the man’s deep, still eyes. Then, without changing expression, he lowered his head and adjusted the shirt covering Richie’s little stomach.

Winter understood.

So these photos had all been taken by him in secret.

She only lost herself for a moment before looking away. She didn’t realize that her fingers were still tightly clenched.

Suon, they loosened.

Richie was too weak. His tever had only just gone down, and he was sleeping deeply now.

Winter sat quietly beside his bed and watched him.

She had missed more than a year of his life. No matter how long she looked at him, it would never be crouch.

If she could, she wanted to stay in the isolation room forever and keep him company.

He was still so small, yet he had already suffered through so much illness and pata.

Chris had put so many photos of her beside his bed. Did he talk to Richie about her?

Did Richie know his mother existed?

Did he know how much she loved him?

But time passed quickly.

* Bonus

The doctor hesitated, then was about to remind Chris and Winter that it was time to leave. Before he could speak, Chris looked up at him.

The doctor stopped at once. He immediately understood what Chris meant and quietly stepped back.

But the movement still caught Winter’s attention.

Tears welled in her eyes again. Instinctively, she leaned closer to Richie. But the child had finally fallen asleep, and she was afraid of waking him, so she forced herself not to pick him up.

“Can’t I stay with him a little longer?” she asked the doctor, panic in her voice.

She had finally gotten her baby back. She only wanted to stay with him.

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