Chapter 727
Hayden turned to Donald. “So, you two kept quiet because you were afraid Irene would try to take Mike away?”
“What do you mean, Dad?” Irene couldn’t hold back any longer. “Why is it suddenly all my fault? It’s like I’m the bad guy here. This is ridiculous! Why is everyone ganging up on me?”
Jennifer let out a cold laugh. “Why don’t you just admit it? Wasn’t that exactly what you wanted?”
Irene shot back, “Who do you think you are to even speak here?”
Jennifer sneered, “I’m Teresa’s sister and Mike’s aunt. Why shouldn’t I have a say?”
“Jennifer, that’s enough,” Donald said, pulling Jennifer back by the arm.
“Let her talk!” Irene snapped, completely losing her temper. “I don’t believe for a second that Teresa had that baby without some kind of agenda.”
“Enough,” Jonathan barked in a low voice, cutting through the argument.
Irene went silent again.
Jonathan raised a hand. “I want this to end here. Grandpa, you don’t need to worry about it anymore. I’ve already handled things privately with Donald.”
“Alright, I won’t meddle anymore,” Hayden said. “But now that both you and Teresa have a kid, you two should just get remarried already.”
“They can’t get remarried,” Irene and Jennifer blurted out at almost the exact same time.
As for Teresa herself, she didn’t react at all.
Hayden couldn’t really call Jennifer out for butting in, so he just shot a glare at Irene. “I wasn’t talking to you. I was asking Teresa.”
“Teresa,” he said, “don’t you want Mike to have a real family? For the kid’s sake, just get back together with Jonathan. If that brat ever treats you badly, I’ll give him a hundred lashes myself.”
Jonathan, for once, didn’t say anything back. He just looked up and fixed his gaze on Teresa, who was sitting right across from him.
Teresa stayed calm, even though Irene’s earlier accusation about her having some hidden agenda had really pissed her off. She stood up. “Grandpa, since everyone’s here today, let me set the record straight.
“Mike was conceived while Jonathan and I were in the middle of our divorce. By the time I realized I was pregnant, he had already left Nareigh, and it was already too late to end the pregnancy.
“I didn’t tell him because we were both moving on with our lives, and I didn’t see the point. I was always planning to raise the baby myself.
“I never wanted anything from him. Now that it’s all out in the open, Jonathan and I have already talked it over. We’ve decided to raise Mike together.”
As soon as Teresa finished speaking, everyone at the table—except for Jonathan—had a visible change in their expression.
Hayden turned to Jonathan. “Is that so? You and Teresa have talked it through? So you’re not getting remarried, just going to co-parent as single parents?”
Jonathan picked up his glass of red wine and drained it in one go. “I respect her decision.”
“Hold on a second,” Irene cut in, her tone full of suspicion. “If you two are going to co-parent Mike, what happens if one of you gets remarried? Who gets custody then?” At that moment, all Irene could think about was Michael.
She knew Jonathan was a tough nut, and it hadn’t been easy for him to have a child. She definitely didn’t want him ending up alone.
She wanted Jonathan to find someone new and get remarried, but at the same time, she also wanted Michael to stay with Jonathan and remain part of the Lynn family.
Teresa let out a cold laugh. “If one of us remarries, the child will naturally go to the other.”
Jonathan asked, his eyes locked on Teresa, “And what if we both get remarried?”
Teresa kept her face blank. “Do whatever you want. I’m never getting remarried.”
Jonathan’s lips curled into a faint smile. “Well, isn’t that a coincidence? I’m not planning on getting remarried either.”
Hayden rolled his eyes, half laughing, half exasperated. “You two, seriously—what’s with all this stubbornness? Just hurry up and get remarried already!”