Chapter 53 The Forgotten Son
44
+10 Free Coins
Claudia’s mind snapped back to the ambulance she had seen earlier–and the weeping woman at its side. She recognized her now. Ruby, the woman who had long looked after Moore family’s second son.
“Sam, wait here for Aunt Jade. Explain things when she comes out. I’m going to Emergency.”
Her words flew fast, urgent. Sam, sharp–eyed and already aware from the phone call, nodded immediately.
Claudia ran down the corridor, her heart pounding. The patient was her brother- in–law–Alan’s younger brother, Harry Moore.
She didn’t know details yet, but Ruby’s sobbing, the word “surgery,” the way she had sounded broken with fear–it was serious. Very serious.
And Claudia, though technically still the Moores‘ eldest daughter–in–law, was about to leave that family. The responsibility, if anything went wrong, would not fall on her shoulders–or so she prayed.
She called Alan as she ran, blurting the situation, the hospital name, begging him
to come.
The voice on the other end was like ice.
“Harry’s in surgery? What’s that got to do with me? If he dies, then call me. Maybe I’ll send a coffin.”
The line went dead.
Claudia stopped in her tracks, stunned.
She knew Alan’s relationship with his brother was strained–but this? To dismiss his life so coldly?
1/3
19:42 Mon, Sep 8
Chapter 53 The Forgotten Son
44
+10 Free Coins
With shaking hands she tried the old house. The butler answered. Claudia asked for Chase, the patriarch, but the old man hesitated long before speaking.
“Ma’am, please. Just sign for the surgery. Don’t worry, if anything happens, no blame will fall on you. But the master and madam… they cannot bear to hear Harry’s name. We can only ask this of you.”
The call ended, leaving her chilled to the bone.
So that was it. His parents too–washing their hands of their own son.
Claudia could not let Harry die.
She burst into Emergency, barely sparing a glance for Ruby, who was weeping so hard she seemed about to collapse. The doctors explained: acute appendicitis, already ruptured. Sepsis had set in. Infection shock. Delay meant death.
There was no time to hesitate. Claudia scrawled her name on the consent form, hand damp with cold sweat.
The gurney rolled into the operating room. Claudia stood shaking, drenched as though she’d been dragged through a storm. Ruby sank to the floor, still gripping her hand, babbling gratitude.
“Ma’am, thank God you came! If not, what would I have done? I’m just the
housekeeper–if something happened to Mr. Harry, how could I live? How can the Moores be like this? To treat their own son this way? Leaving him alone, no one to call, no one to care–until he nearly dies!”
She cried louder, half for Harry, half for herself.
Claudia steadied her, speaking softly, though her own head throbbed with the noise. “Tell me everything. How did it come to this?”
Ruby sniffled, words tumbling brokenly.
Everyone in the family knew–Harry Moore was the unwanted child. From birth,
2/3
19:42 Mon, Sep 8
Chapter 53 The Forgotten Son
44
+10 Free Coins
he was cast out. Sent away from the estate, left to grow up in another house with only servants for company.
But Harry hated people crowding him. As soon as he was old enough, he dismissed nearly all of them, leaving only a schedule of cleaning once a week.
Yesterday had been Ruby’s turn, but something came up. She postponed.
Today, she arrived to find him collapsed on the floor, cold with sweat, white as chalk. She had panicked, called the ambulance, followed helplessly, but she could not sign. She wasn’t family.
Claudia was the only name she knew to call. The only one who had ever shown Harry kindness. Claudia had checked on him before, left her number for the staff
—“in case something happens.”
–
Now it had. And she had saved his life.
Ruby clutched her sleeve, sobbing harder. “If not for you, ma’am, he’d be dead. I couldn’t bear it. Such a life in my hands–what luck do I have for that?”
Claudia listened, her mind spinning.
She had heard whispers before—that Nancy, her mother–in–law, had grown gravely ill after her second pregnancy. Postpartum depression. Frailty that lingered. That Harry’s face had been a reminder, and so he had been sent away.
But to abandon him like this…
It chilled her through.
