Chapter 7: Saved a Little Angel

That innocent voice would never call me Mommy with a smile again.

"Aiden, you'll soon find out I wasn't born to depend on others. Before I married your father, I used to be a dream countless people could never reach."

I didn't argue with Aiden. I answered him silently in my heart, then quickened my pace and left Ethan and the others behind.

"Little one, what's wrong? Someone, please! This child fainted!"

Soon, I reached the elevator area.

I was about to press the button when I heard a scream filled with panic.

"A child?"

I turned toward the sound. Several yards away, a beautifully delicate little boy lay motionless on the floor, his face covered in red rashes.

Anaphylactic shock?

After a moment's thought, I guessed what had caused the boy to collapse.

Aiden was allergic to many things. I'd studied the symptoms children displayed after allergic reactions and the corresponding emergency measures.

I knew that unconscious little boy was now hanging by a thread. If no one performed emergency aid on him, he might never wake up again.

"Get back!"

A human life was at stake. At this point, I couldn't worry about whether rushing to save a stranger would cause trouble for me.

I sprinted to the little boy as fast as I could, felt his neck to confirm he'd stopped breathing, and immediately began performing CPR while shouting at the people standing nearby.

"Go get a doctor! Prepare epinephrine! If we delay any longer, this child won't make it!"

"Oh, okay, we'll find a doctor right now."

Under my direction, the onlookers scattered into immediate action.

Before long, a doctor arrived with epinephrine.

After the injection, the little boy's condition visibly improved.

I let out a long breath. Committing to seeing this through, I completed the hospital admission procedures for the boy and personally carried him into the hospital room.

"It's fortunate you administered aid so promptly. Otherwise this child really would have been in mortal danger today."

After settling the little boy, his attending doctor couldn't help but remark: "Nowadays, responsible people who also know emergency first aid are rare."

"Auntie, did you save me?"

Before the doctor finished speaking, and before I could respond, a weak but clear child's voice came from behind me.

Then, my fingers were grasped by a small, warm hand.

I froze and slowly looked down.

Only now did I realize the little boy in the hospital bed had woken up. He was looking at me with two black pearl-like eyes, staring fixedly as if gazing at an angel.

"Yes, you were unconscious when this auntie saved you, little one. Let this auntie help you contact your parents."

"Oh, right, when your parents arrive, remember to remind them to thank this auntie properly."

The doctor heard the little boy's voice too. He bent down, coaxed him gently, then turned and left the room.

In the blink of an eye, only the little boy and I remained in the room.

I looked at our clasped hands and sighed softly.

"Sweetie, do you know your mommy and daddy's phone numbers..."

I sat down beside the little boy's bed, wanting him to give me his parents' contact information. But before I could finish, a warm little body landed in my arms.

"Auntie, you actually know how to do CPR on someone who fainted. You're so amazing. I worship you!"

The little boy wrapped his two chubby arms around my neck, his cheek pressed intimately against my shoulder, his voice full of joy and admiration.

Knowing CPR... was amazing?

I instinctively hugged the little boy, momentarily lost in thought.

I remembered when Aiden found out I had this skill. He was completely disgusted.

"Mommy, why do you always waste Daddy's money learning useless things?"

"I don't expect you to help Daddy's career like Aunt Bianca does. At least don't hold Daddy back, okay?"

That's what Aiden said back then.

I thought I'd never forget the look in Aiden's eyes that day.

How could a child look at his own mother—the woman who carried him for ten months—with such revulsion?

"Auntie, if you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes."

At this moment, a hot little mouth pressed against my cheek.

"Huh? Sweetie, what did you just say to Auntie? I didn't hear clearly."

I snapped back to reality, quickly suppressing the painful and humiliating memories back into my heart. Then I lowered my head and smiled at the little boy sitting on my lap.

"I said, you're amazing. You're the most incredible person in the whole world. I want you to be my mommy, okay?"

The little boy looked up to meet my gaze, his eyes filled with hope so intense it seemed indissoluble.

Being stared at like that gave me the illusion that if I nodded and agreed to the little boy's request, he would be so happy.

But... I wasn't this little boy's mommy.

I tapped his forehead and unconsciously gave a helpless smile.

"Sweetie, thank you for liking Auntie so much, but you can't ask me to be your mommy. You have your own mommy. If she knew you wanted to call another woman mommy, she would be heartbroken."

"I don't have a mommy. She doesn't want me and Daddy anymore."

Speaking of his birth mother, the smile on the little boy's face vanished instantly.

He lowered his head, fidgeted with his little fingers nervously, and his voice already held a crying tone.

"Auntie, please don't reject me, okay? My daddy and I are both amazing. If you're willing to be my mommy, I'll have my daddy give you his company. I can also give you all my allowance money."

Give... give away a company?

Did he even know what he was saying?

"Don't talk nonsense. Be careful or your daddy will spank your bottom..."

The little boy amused me. I cupped his little face, preparing to tease him with a warning.

But before I could finish my sentence, a deep, magnetic voice came from the hospital room doorway.

"Leo, stop fooling around."