Chapter 1444 Looking For Proof
Chapter 1444 Looking For Proof
Ethan understood what Estelle meant just by the look in her eyes. He clenched his teeth, uncertain whether she knew what he wanted or not. He certainly didn't need her to be just grateful to him.
Thinking of this, he had an idea. "Haven't you always wanted to repay me? Why don't you marry me?" Without waiting for a response, he lowered his head and kissed her.
Estelle, not expecting this at all, wanted to push him away, but remained frozen.
He had expected her to refuse, so before she could even push him off her, he pulled away.
"You promised that you would," he said with a mischievous smile. He was much taller than she was, and with the way they were standing there, he could easily touch her face as he gazed upon her.
She glared at him, deeply offended by his brazenness.
But looking at her angry face improved Ethan's mood.
"Well, you should head back. I should leave as well. Sleep early. Good night!" Ethan flashed her a smile and surprised her with another kiss.
He then ran away in a hurry.
Estelle stood there, seething. Her blood boiled with anger, but there was nothing she could do.
When she opened the door to the ward, she found her father already fast asleep. Moving as quietly as possible, she washed her face, gargled, and went to bed. However, to her dismay, she found it impossible to fall asleep.
The following morning, Ethan came again, bringing Estelle breakfast. He asked the attending doctors to examine her father as well.
This greatly pleased Philo.
When the doctors finished conducting a general check-up of Philo, their eyes were wide with shock. They had thought that the man would never regain consciousness, but here he was, wide awake, and so soon at that! It was a medical miracle.
"Doctor, how is my father?" Estelle asked as she cautiously looked at the doctors.
"There's no reason to worry. He's fine. Mr. Wang is in stable condition. But he has been in bed for a long time, so he is still a little weak. It will take some time for him to fully recover, but he is doing well so far. He's a little malnourished at the moment, but he'll be fine after a good amount of rest," said the head doctor.
"It would be good if you can convince Mr. Wang to get out of bed and do some simple exercises from time to time. This will speed up his recovery," added a different doctor.
The other doctors in the room nodded their agreement.
"Okay, we understand. Thank you, Doctor," Ethan said, stepping forward and nodding his head.
"You're welcome, Mr. Gu," the doctors said, almost in unison. They were flattered by his gesture of respect.
After they had gone out, Ethan looked at Estelle's father and said softly, "Sir, I want to ask you something."
"Go ahead," Philo replied, looking straight into Ethan's eyes. He had had a good night's sleep and was in high spirits.
"Where did you find Estelle? And at that time, did she have eye-catching items with her, say, a hair clip and a bracelet?" Ethan asked nervously, his eyes fixed on Philo's.NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.
Estelle did not understand why Ethan was asking her father about this. She had already found out that she was not Philo and Sybil's biological daughter. This was just the reason why Sybil had never treated her well.
However, she didn't know what all this had to do with Ethan.
Philo was taken aback. He hadn't expected that Ethan would be asking such a question. He looked warily at the young man.
When Ethan saw that he had somehow distressed Philo, he smiled at him and explained, "Don't worry, sir. I'm just curious.
You see, when I was a child, I was abducted and sold by human traffickers. At the time, there was a little girl with me. Later, I was rescued, but that little girl was nowhere to be found. I've been looking for her all these years. I'm asking you this now, because that little girl slightly resembles Estelle." By the time he finished speaking, Ethan had a more serious look on his face.
"When I found Estelle, she was all alone, and she was wearing tattered and dirty clothes. She was standing at the side of the road all by herself." Philo began to recall.
Estelle was astonished to know that after so many years, her father still remembered how he had found her. She listened to him with keen interest.
"That day, she was wearing a transparent jade bracelet with an image of Maitreya engraved in it. Oh, and now that I think about it, there was a bow knot hair clip on her head. It was black in color." As soon as Philo finished speaking, Ethan asked anxiously, "Where are those items now?"
"I kept them under the old osmanthus tree in my backyard. They are hidden in the place where Estelle used to play on the swing." Philo could not believe it. What an amazing coincidence it would be if his daughter and Ethan had indeed shared this incredible experience in their youth.
Moreover, it seemed that the two had been on excellent terms. Otherwise, Ethan would not have spent all this time and energy searching for this girl.
Philo felt a pang of regret as he thought back to the time when he had decided to take the little girl in.
In the beginning, he had thought that he could help Estelle find her parents. However, after a long wait, there had been no news about her real mother and father. He had seen how much the little girl yearned for love, and he had warmed up to her.
He hadn't had the heart to tell her the cruel truth. He had thought that since he had been lucky enough to meet her, it meant that it was destiny and that he had to adopt her.
Moreover, he had foolishly believed in Sybil's capacity to provide the child with love and a warm cozy home, as she had been a housewife.
He had not expected his wife to treat the child the way that she had.
In fact, Sybil had treated the child very well whenever he was around, but she had abused her in secret the whole time.
If it hadn't been for recent events, he would never have discovered what kind of person Sybil really was. When Philo thought about all those years that Estelle had lived under his roof with Sybil, he felt even more sorry for her.
The realization that he had married a cruel woman angered him.
For so many years, Sybil had only been pretending. He had thought that things were going well, not knowing that Sybil had ruined everything since a long time ago.
"Okay. Thank you, sir," Ethan said. He grinned in excitement, clearly happy about what he had just heard.
Based on Philo's story, Ethan now felt fairly certain that Estelle was the very girl that he had been looking for all this time. There was only one thing left to do to confirm whether his suspicions were right or not. He had to go to Philo's backyard and take a look at what was buried there.
Ethan held Estelle's hand. Turning to her father, he said, "Sir, we'll have to do a little bit of digging around your backyard. We'll be back as soon as we can."
Estelle was in a daze as Ethan grabbed her. She remained that way until they got into the car.
"What's on your mind?" Ethan asked, seeing that Estelle was staring blankly into space. He could not help but chuckle. This brought her back to reality. "Ah, you've finally snapped out of it!
Sit tight. We're going on a short trip," Ethan declared as he beamed with delight. Together, they drove to the Wang Clan's house.
Sybil had long moved out and sold this house.
Ethan and Estelle reached the gate. As Estelle looked at the familiar scene beyond it, her eyes immediately watered and turned red.
She had so many memories in this place. In the past, she hadn't expected that one day, things would change completely. This place that had been so familiar before was now a strange place for her.