CEO Ex-Husband, Don't Bother Me-Chapter 28: If Life Were Only Like the First Time We Met (Part 1)
"What did he say to you?"
Naomi Shaw looked curiously at the dejected Lara Nash. Lara snapped back at her irritably.
"He said he loves you!"
Naomi Shaw suddenly clamped her mouth shut. ’He loves me? I’m not that delusional. The word "love" is so wonderful, and yet so painful.’
Lara scolded her.
"You know that’s impossible, right? So can you please just snap out of it? You’re such a smart girl, so how can your emotional intelligence be zero!"
Naomi Shaw didn’t say anything, just pulled the blanket over her head. Lara sighed.
"Fine, just go to sleep. I won’t say any more about it from now on. I know what you’re like. You seem all sweet and gentle on the outside, but you’re stubborn as a mule. Once you’ve set your mind on something, you won’t turn back until you’re beaten and broken!"
When Julian Donovan reached the living room, Ronan Joyce happened to be there as well. They exchanged a smile by way of greeting. Julian Donovan glanced at the bespectacled Ronan Joyce, who had a gentle, refined, and clean-cut air about him. Then he thought about his own blood-soaked hands over the past few months and couldn’t help but feel a pang of bitterness. ’Once upon a time, I was a student with that same air of integrity.’
He lit a cigarette and walked to the glass window, watching the downpour outside. Ronan Joyce came over.
"Mr. Donovan, I heard you’re from Wincastle, in northern Syan?"
Julian Donovan took a deep drag of his cigarette and gave a faint reply. Ronan Joyce glanced at him and asked tentatively,
"Then... do you have any connection to the Donovan Hospital in Wincastle?"
"Why do you ask?"
Julian Donovan didn’t turn around, tossing the question back coolly. Ronan Joyce keenly sensed a flicker of emotion beneath his calm facade.
"Er... I saw that your surname is Donovan and that you practice medicine, so I was just curious."
Julian Donovan turned to look at Ronan Joyce, his expression serene.
"The only family I have is my mother!"
In his mind, all his relatives, apart from his mother... were dead.
Hearing this, Ronan Joyce didn’t press further. He had only asked out of curiosity, and now that Julian had denied it, he smiled and changed the subject. The two of them, being of similar age and both full of ambition, got along quite well and ended up chatting in the living room for the entire afternoon.
Julian Donovan waited until Naomi Shaw’s IV drip was finished and had removed the needle before he left. She was still asleep when he went. Her fever had subsided, so with a bit more rest, she should be fine.
In the end, Ian Shaw’s condition couldn’t be hidden from Naomi Shaw. One day, while she was accompanying him on a walk in the garden, he suddenly fainted from a sharp stomach pain. The fright made Naomi turn deathly pale.
When Julian Donovan rushed to the hospital, he found her standing alone in the corridor outside the emergency room, dazed and tear-streaked. He had to call her name several times before she snapped out of it. The moment she saw him, fresh tears streamed down her face, and she threw herself into his arms, crying like a child.
"Julian, my father... he..."
Julian Donovan’s expression stiffened. The hand that should have pushed her away ended up resting on her slender shoulder, gently holding her.
"Don’t let your imagination run wild. Your godfather’s stomach problems are an old issue. There won’t be any serious problems!"
Naomi Shaw was crying her heart out.
"Julian, I’m so scared. My father is the only family I have in this world!"
Holding the trembling girl in his arms, listening to her soft sobs, feeling her helplessness and panic, Julian Donovan felt his own cold, hard heart unexpectedly soften.
"Don’t be afraid. I know a leading gastroenterology expert in Syan. In a few days, I’ll take our godfather back to Syan to see him!" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
The moment the words left his mouth, Julian Donovan froze. ’How could I have offered to ask *that person* for help? I would rather die than beg *that person* for anything!’
Naomi Shaw, completely oblivious to his strange reaction, looked up from his embrace, her small, tear-streaked face full of surprise and joy.
"Really, Julian? That’s wonderful, that’s wonderful..."
She clutched his lapels excitedly, laughing and crying at the same time, as if his words alone could save Ian Shaw. She didn’t know that Ian Shaw’s illness was already in its terminal stage; surgery would only provide temporary relief, not a cure.
Julian Donovan looked down at her. Her nose was red from crying, her small face filled with hope. He had never felt like this before—to be relied on so completely by someone, to be her everything. The sliver of regret that had just sprouted in his heart finally dissipated.
’I must have made the decision to ask *that person* for help out of gratitude for Ian Shaw’s kindness to me,’ he thought. ’It’s not... because I can’t bear to see her so helpless.’
This was the scene that greeted Tyson when he arrived. His gaze darkened for a moment before returning to a calm composure. ’I’m getting married soon. What right do I have to care about this anymore?’
Tyson cleared his throat and walked over. Seeing him, Naomi Shaw shyly pulled away from Julian Donovan’s embrace. Tyson pretended not to notice her bashfulness and turned to ask Julian,
"How is our godfather?"
Julian Donovan pulled back the hand that had been around her and stuck it in his pocket.
"He’s still in emergency."
Tyson also knew the truth about Ian Shaw’s condition, so he glanced at Naomi Shaw and said nothing more.
When the doctor came out of the emergency room, Julian Donovan shot him a look. The doctor immediately understood. Just after Ian Shaw had been stabilized and opened his eyes, his first words had also been an instruction not to tell his daughter the truth. So, the doctor only said,
"Mr. Shaw just had a relapse of his stomach condition. He needs to rest well from now on!"
Naomi Shaw finally breathed a sigh of relief. The three of them followed Ian Shaw to the ward. Julian Donovan told Ian Shaw about the plan to go to Syan for surgery, and Ian Shaw didn’t object. Naomi Shaw, at his side, quickly interjected,
"I want to go with you! I need to be by Dad’s side to take care of him when he has his surgery!"
How could Ian Shaw agree to that? He tried to dissuade her.
"Naomi, you still have school. Besides, it’s not a major surgery. I’ll be fine with Julian accompanying me."
Naomi Shaw refused, her small face wrinkling as she pleaded, on the verge of tears.
"Dad, I can take time off from school. Please let me go take care of you, okay?"
If Naomi Shaw didn’t go, she would only be here torturing herself, unable to eat or sleep well.
Ian Shaw was helpless against her pleading and could only look to Julian Donovan. Julian looked at her pitiful expression, nodded, and said,
"If that’s the case, then come with us."
’As long as we don’t tell her about his condition, it’s fine. If she wants to come, let her come.’
That evening, after returning home, Julian Donovan made a phone call. Regarding Ian Shaw’s treatment, the person on the other end of the line made only one demand. Julian agreed with a cold smile.
The next day, Julian Donovan, Ian Shaw, and Naomi Shaw left for Syan. After arriving in Wincastle, someone picked them up and took them directly to Donovan Hospital. Julian went to the hospital director’s office. A figure in the shadows turned around—an old man with a vintage pipe clenched between his teeth and completely white hair at his temples. Seeing Julian, he glanced expressionlessly at a document on the desk.
"I’ve had it ready for you for a long time. Sign it!"
A cold sneer played on Julian Donovan’s lips. He stepped forward, took the pen, and signed his name with a flamboyant flourish. The document was titled: Declaration of Renunciation of Inheritance Rights to the Donovan Estate.
The old man stepped forward, satisfied, and took the document Julian Donovan had signed.
"From this moment on, the Donovan Family has nothing to do with you!"
"One day, everything here will belong to me!"
The old man was his so-called grandfather, Charles Donovan. Charles Donovan had never acknowledged his mother, who came from a common background. Back then, he had stopped at nothing to break up Julian’s parents, forcing his father to marry another woman. Naturally, he had never acknowledged Julian as his grandson either.
But whether Charles Donovan acknowledged it or not, the blood of the Donovan family still flowed through his veins. Now that he had renounced his inheritance, Charles Donovan could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
