Chapter 404: Grandpa’s Interrogation Room
Inside the study, a solemn atmosphere fell over the three of them like a heavy curtain. Albert Ramsy sat stiffly in his chair, rubbing the deep lines etched into his wrinkled forehead. "So you tell me you knew this for over two months?" His voice was filled with both disbelief and disappointment. "And you didn’t tell us?"
Micah stood a few steps away, ashamed. His head dropped low, his expression hidden beneath his messy hair.
"Don’t be harsh on him," Zhou Ruyan interjected firmly. "He is a child. What did you expect him to do? Come running excitedly to announce that he was not one of us?"
Her tone was sharp, protective, almost like a mother bear standing in front of her cub.
"I mean.. I didn’t mean it like that." Albert said, frustrated with himself.
He took a deep breath and stood up. Once his steady steps, the kind that commanded respect in any room, had turned shaky. Even so, he walked across the room until he stood right in front of Micah.
"Micah," he called out gently.
Micah’s eyes had turned red from unshed tears. He couldn’t bear to meet Albert’s eyes.
"Tell me... why were you delaying it?" Albert asked, tone heavy with hurt.
Micah pulled the hem of his pullover down, stretching it out of shape. His lips trembled before he forced words out. "I was scared he would hate me... I was scared others would use him against the Ramsy family... I wasn’t going to hide it forever! I was just..." his voice trailed off. Micah knew they were all excuses. His tears fell down. "I was scared of losing you, my family..." he muttered brokenly.
Albert Ramsy reached out suddenly, both hands clasping Micah’s shoulders. "You fool!" he snapped. "Who could sever the bond of nearly twenty years just like that? Yes. There will be changes. Yes, you will hear all sorts of remarks. But at the end of the day, you will be our grandson. No one can take that away."
Micah finally dared to lift his eyes, blurred with tears. His hollow dark heart turned full and warm at those words. "I know..." he whispered.
Albert released a long breath, patting his shoulder once before stepping back. "Good! So... let’s note down what the hell you were doing in the past months."
Micah shivered visibly. Right. His grandfather would never let him off that easily.
Micah sat behind the desk while Albert sat opposite him, expression stern.
"So did you perform DNA tests?" Albert began, narrowing his eyes.
Micah nodded quickly. He pulled out his phone and showed the email the lab sent him before.
Albert snatched the phone, his sharp gaze flicking over the results, frowning. "So that’s why you helped him and his mother? That’s why you got that stab wound?"
Micah’s throat bobbed as he nodded.
Albert’s voice softened. "That makes much more sense now. What else?"
Micah chewed on his lips, thinking he couldn’t tell about those four scum male leads, could he? Except that, it remained one thing. "I got to know the Du Pont Patriarch by accident. He helped me to get access to their new drug for the immune disease for my...." he trailed off. He couldn’t bring himself to say biological mother.
Albert tilted his head, watching him. He didn’t press. He simply wrote something down on the notepad in front of him. "Okay. What about that doctor?"
"Oh, Silas Durant? Once I saw him in their neighbourhood. I tried to arrange another place for them to stay, but Darcy refused. I’m afraid...that doctor is persistent," Micah said, omitting the part when he ended up in his apartment at that doctor’s mercy.
Albert Ramsy scribbled it down, then leaned back, tapping his pen against the desk.
After going through everything Micah revealed, he studied the boy carefully. "When do you want to tell him?"
Micah’s body stiffened. "I can’t do it, Grandpa," he whispered.
"What about the others? You mum and dad?"
Micah lifted his head just enough to look at him with pleading eyes. "I have to ask you to do it." His voice trembled. "Please."
"Fine. Let me handle it."
"Can I...not be here when that happens?" Micah muttered, his whisper barely audible.
"What do you mean?" Albert’s eyes narrowed.
Micah pressed his palms flat on his knees. "I don’t want to... I can’t bear to see their eyes...would they look at me with pity? Or would they think ’Now it makes sense’? Me being different from them..."
The words had barely left his mouth when Albert Ramsy slammed his palm against the desk with a sharp crack.
Micah flinched.
"Enough," Albert barked. "You are treating them like shallow strangers hungry for glory. They are your family. They will be heartbroken for you! Not think, ’oh, now it makes sense.’ You are their son. That will never change. Not even when Darcy arrives as the top scorer! Don’t belittle their love like this."
Micah pursed his lips.
Albert exhaled roughly, then leaned back in his chair. "I’ll try to tell them this week. With your bruise and injury... You’ll go stay with your grandma in our south villa. Even if the news gets leaked, you shouldn’t be here with that look on your face."
"What about Darcy?" Micah asked.
"I’ll talk to his mother first," Albert Ramsy said, "Let her tell him. And then he can decide what he wants to do. Either way, we will add his name to our family tree, give him his share, and treat him well. It will be up to him what path he chooses. But his life will not be the same. I’m sure the news will leak out eventually."
Micah’s eyes dimmed, but he nodded. Slowly, he pushed back his chair and stood. His figure looked smaller than ever, hunched and lonely as he walked toward the door. "I’ll... go pack up," he murmured.
Albert watched his grandson’s retreating back, the sight tugging painfully at his chest. A sigh escaped him, long and weary.
Zhou Ruyan, who had remained quiet for most of the exchange, patted his shoulder. "Why didn’t you tell him," she whispered softly, "that his name will never be removed from our will?"
Albert’s eyes closed for a moment. His voice came out hoarse. "He is drowning in guilt. If I say nothing will change, that he’ll keep his wealth and right to inherit, he would only object, or feel more guilty, and do something stupid again. His state of mind is not right. Like you said. It’s better for him to be away for now. Let him believe everything has returned to Darcy."
Zhou Ruyan’s eyes softened with sorrow. "These two... are so pitiful. One thinks nothing is his... The other is too prideful to accept it."
"Have you tried to give him something?"
"Yes. Just small gifts. Like Micah said. He refused me, too," she said.
Albert’s expression twisted to a grimace. "Then, we will have a hard time bringing him back."
"I believe so," she murmured.