I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 122: Ivy White’s Child

The child jumped, and the things in his hand CLATTERED to the ground.

Coins and wads of cash rolled across the floor.

He was still clutching a handful of cash, stuffing it into his pocket.

Lily Callahan put her baby down, stood up, and seized his hand. "Whose kid are you? What are you doing stealing money in here?"

"Dad? Dad? Mom?" Lily Callahan called out.

No one answered.

Everyone had gone up to the roof to eat. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

No one had expected someone to take advantage of the empty house to break in and steal.

Lily Callahan was strong, while the boy didn’t look very old. He was small and scrawny.

Once he was caught, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes. He struggled with all his might, but he couldn’t break free from Lily Callahan’s grip.

"Ma’am, ma’am, I know I was wrong! I won’t do it again! I... I was just so hungry. My dad and mom are both gone, and I have a little brother and sister at home to feed. I really had no choice."

"Please, let me go this one time. I really, truly won’t do it again."

Seeing there was no escape, the boy’s eyes turned red as he pleaded for mercy in a choked voice.

But Lily Callahan didn’t let go. "Whose kid are you?"

She couldn’t recall any relatives of theirs who had passed away, leaving several uncared-for children behind.

The little boy’s eyes darted around, but he couldn’t come up with a coherent story.

Lily Callahan could tell he was lying at a glance.

Her expression turned cold. "So, you’re a liar too. It looks like you’ve done this sort of sneaky stuff before. You must have seen that everyone was out today and the house was empty, so you decided to come steal."

"I’m taking you to the police station."

With that, Lily Callahan started dragging him toward the door.

The boy completely panicked. "I’m not! I didn’t! I really didn’t do it on purpose! I just really need the money! Please, ma’am, I’m begging you! I’ll give the money back. Just don’t take me to the police station. I can’t get arrested."

Lily Callahan ignored him and kept dragging him outside.

Just as they reached the door, they ran into Grace Winslow coming in with a dish of food.

She was taken aback when she saw Lily Callahan holding a child, and she asked instinctively, "Lily, whose kid is this? You’re still in postpartum confinement; you can’t be out in a draft."

"Whose kid? He came here to steal from us! I caught him ransacking your room. He even tried to lie, telling me his parents were dead and that he had to feed his little brothers and sisters, begging me to let him go."

"Not a single word out of his mouth is true."

"I’m going to take him to the police station. People like him need to be locked up and taught a proper lesson."

Lily Callahan cursed, her face a mask of annoyance, and told Grace Winslow everything from start to finish.

Grace Winslow couldn’t believe someone would be so brazen. ’Breaking and entering?’

That was a serious crime these days.

She stared at the boy for a long moment, feeling he looked vaguely familiar.

After a moment’s thought, she asked him, "What are your parents’ names?"

"My father’s name is Jason Dunn, and my mother’s is Ivy White."

"Ma’am, I’m really not a bad person. I really do have a younger brother and sister to take care of."

"My father died in the line of duty. My mother... my mother abandoned us. I had no other choice but to come here to look for her. But I couldn’t find her after I arrived."

The boy lowered his head, tears beginning to drip from his eyes.

Lily Callahan frowned. Those two names sounded vaguely familiar to her.

Grace Winslow felt a wave of disbelief.

’Jason Dunn and Ivy White’s child?’

’They have a child this old?’

’Wasn’t the baby Ivy White is carrying their first child?’

Her mind was a mess. She handed the dish she was holding to Lily Callahan and said, "Lily, you go get something to eat first. I’ll talk to him."

"He won’t run off, will he?" Lily Callahan asked, still uneasy as she glanced at the boy.

He was painfully thin, looking no older than seven or eight. He was dark and scrawny, though his features were rather well-formed.

Grace Winslow shook her head. "Don’t worry. Leave him to me."

Only then did Lily Callahan release her grip.

Frank Dunn’s first instinct was to run, but he hesitated. He stopped and looked at Grace Winslow, a flicker of hope in his dark eyes.

"Sit down. I have some questions for you." Grace Winslow pointed to a nearby sofa.

Frank Dunn hesitated for a moment before obediently going over to sit down.

He was fidgety, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet.

Spring had just arrived, but the temperature was only seven or eight degrees, still quite cold.

Yet he was wearing only thin clothes. His shoes were worn through, with his blackened toes poking out, a clear sign he had walked a very long way to get here.

Grace Winslow sat down. After a moment’s thought, she began, "You said your father is Jason Dunn? And your mother is Ivy White?"

"Yes. My mom..."

"My mom, she..."

Frank Dunn seemed to find the words difficult to say.

"What did your mother do?" Grace Winslow already had a vague suspicion.

Frank Dunn lowered his head and said nothing, his toes digging into the floorboards.

"When your mother came here, she was pregnant, about seven or eight months along. She claimed your grandparents on your father’s side had thrown her out. She also said they’d taken your father’s death benefits and were planning to sell her." Grace Winslow’s voice was flat. That was the story Ivy White had told them.

She had believed her at the time.

Now, though... ’she suspected there wasn’t a single truthful word that came out of Ivy White’s mouth.’

Frank Dunn gave a bitter twist of his lips. "Is that what she said?"

"Back then, she saw that my grandparents’ family had money, so she climbed into my dad’s bed. After she got pregnant with me, my dad had no choice but to marry her."

"Less than two years later, my dad joined the army. He rarely came home."

"She... she was involved with a few men from the village."

"Later, my brother and sister were born. Then, after my dad hadn’t been home for three years, she got pregnant with the baby she’s carrying now."

"My grandparents were originally going to have her drowned in a pig cage."

"But then the news of my dad’s death in the line of duty arrived. The shock was too much for my grandparents, and they... weren’t mentally well after that."

"She took that opportunity to steal all the family’s money and run away."

"Dad’s gone, and our grandparents passed away before the New Year. Our aunts and uncles are trying to take our house and land. Us kids had nowhere else to go, so we decided to come find her."

"I’m sorry, ma’am. I shouldn’t have stolen anything. But I was desperate. My brother and sister are sick, and I... I need money. I heard people saying your family was rich and that you were having a celebration today, so I..."

Tears started to stream down Frank Dunn’s face again as he spoke.

Grace was silent for a long time before she finally said slowly, "If you can’t protect your brother and sister, then you should go to an orphanage. There’s one in Prospera Town. Otherwise, go home."

Frank Dunn said nothing.

Grace Winslow watched him for a long moment, then finally sighed. "Wait here a minute."

’At the end of the day, they’re the children of a martyr. We can’t let anything happen to them.’

Grace Winslow stood up and asked Lily Callahan to watch Frank Dunn and give him something to eat. She then went upstairs to find Gregory Winslow.

A few moments later, Gregory Winslow, Oscar Osborne, and Francis Aldridge came downstairs.

After staring at Frank Dunn for a long moment, Francis Aldridge finally spoke. "I’ll handle this. I’ll take him home with me for now."