Chapter 550

Adela Ludwig studied her, growing more and more pleased with what she saw. Her mind wandered to the eligible bachelors in the Ludwig family—Boyd, for instance—and even a few unmarried men from her own side of the family. The thought of playing matchmaker bubbled up almost instantly.

“Dr. Quinn, are you married? Or do you have a boyfriend?” Adela asked warmly.

Celeste was caught off guard for just a moment, then smiled politely. “Oh, Mrs. Ludwig, between work and my studies, I barely have time for myself. I’m single, nothing like Jamison—he’s got a bright future and a beautiful family. Honestly, he seems to have it all.”

Adela’s smile faltered for a second, and she sighed. “No one’s life is perfect, dear. Every family has its own troubles.”

Celeste’s brows knit together. She probed gently, “You’re talking about… Jamison’s wife’s illness, aren’t you? Well, her condition is really quite complicated. Even our head physician has seen her a few times, but so far, no one’s had any luck. If we can’t get it under control, then—”

She didn’t even finish before Adela’s face flashed with shock and confusion.

“Jamison’s wife is sick? Since when?”

Now it was Celeste’s turn to be surprised. She looked at Adela, genuinely puzzled. “You didn’t know? Miss Windsor has a severe case of adenomyosis. It’s a very painful condition, and it often leads to infertility or recurrent miscarriage. There was one time she fainted from the pain right in our department—that time, I was the one who treated her. People call it the ‘undying cancer.’ Jamison has been doing everything he can to help her, but honestly, I doubt it’s made much difference.”

Celeste found it hard to believe that Adela knew nothing about Ivy’s illness.

So when the old lady said, “every family has its own troubles,” was she hinting at something else?

Could it be that Jamison and Ivy’s marriage wasn’t as blissful as everyone thought? After all, if Ivy couldn’t have children, that would be a huge strain on any marriage.

Plenty of loving couples had gone their separate ways over infertility.

Adela was thunderstruck.

Her own sigh a moment ago was because she’d been thinking of her son’s supposed infertility—something she had worried about in secret, never daring to speak of, let alone mention to her son’s female colleague. She never imagined she’d hear the real reason—“infertility”—from someone else’s mouth!

So perhaps it wasn’t her son’s low sperm count after all; maybe Ivy’s inability to conceive was the truth!

That boy… he must’ve lied about having a problem himself, just to protect his wife.

The more Adela thought about it, the angrier she became. At the last family dinner, she’d asked the two of them about their treatments. Ivy had answered so sincerely—she said she’d tried everything, from natural remedies to modern medicine, and was working hard to get better.

Turns out it had all been a lie, delivered in public without batting an eye!

“Hmph! Like mother, like daughter, I should’ve known she wasn’t an exception,” Adela muttered under her breath, her disappointment with Ivy swelling rapidly.

Celeste didn’t catch what she said and asked with concern, “Mrs. Ludwig, is something wrong?”

Adela looked at her, her earlier warmth gone. “Thank you for telling me this, Dr. Quinn.”

Celeste realized she might have just crossed a line, and hurried to add, “Mrs. Ludwig, if you didn’t already know, please just pretend you still don’t. If Jamison finds out it came from me, I could lose my job.”

Adela exhaled deeply. “Don’t worry, I won’t say a word.”

There was a knock at the door. The head nurse entered, pushing a cart with equipment for Adela’s routine checkup.

Celeste straightened, handing over the stack of medical reports and giving the nurse a series of detailed reminders.

“Mrs. Ludwig, I’ll leave you to your exam. If you need anything, just let me know,” she said gently, bidding Adela goodbye with a kindly smile.

“Thank you, dear.”

Celeste nodded, smiling, and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind her, a satisfied grin crept across her face.

Chapter 550

What a stroke of luck!

She’d only come by to introduce herself and get on Adela Ludwig’s radar, hoping for a chance to interact more in the future.

She never expected to stumble upon Miss Windsor’s secret so easily.

Judging by Adela’s reaction, she was furious. In families like these, bloodlines were everything. If Ivy really couldn’t have children, her place as Mrs. Jamison Ludwig might not be so secure after all.