The Billionaire's Maid Bride novel Chapter 735

"No, sir, you’ve got it all wrong about Mrs. Boswell," Ava said, trying to ease Hughes’s misconceptions about Mina. "The doctors aren’t optimistic. They say she might not make it through the month."

Hughes's brow creased slightly. "Was this Mina's doing?"

Ava shook her head quickly. "Of course not. Mrs. Boswell isn’t like that. You know Frances has always been in poor health. This sudden hospital stay is just a relapse of her old condition."

Hughes offered a wry smile. "Is that so?"

Knowing the rift between Mina and Hughes was deeply entrenched, Ava didn't push further. She simply said, "Mrs. Boswell has been missing you terribly. She'd be thrilled to know you’ve come. Let me go tell her right now."

"Don’t bother, I’m not here for her," Hughes said, turning to leave the stairwell.

Ava followed closely. "Master Hughes, you should stay out of this mess. It’s more complicated than you think, and Mrs. Boswell doesn’t want you getting involved. You’re her only son. Once she takes over the company, everything the Boswell family has will be yours. You need to see the bigger picture. Don’t hold a grudge against your mother."

The faint smile on Hughes's lips was tinged with irony and sarcasm. He stopped at the entrance to the ICU.

And there was Mina, coming out. A flicker of surprise and joy passed through her eyes as she saw Hughes, whose expression remained unreadable. He glanced past Mina to Wilton, standing behind her, and through the slightly ajar door to Frances, lying frail as a sheet of paper on the hospital bed, her shallow breathing the only sign of life.

Wilton stepped out of the ICU, standing by the door, locking eyes with Hughes. He knew that Hughes was Mina’s illegitimate child from outside the family.

When Mina’s pregnancy had come to light, revealing the child wasn’t a Boswell, Markus was furious. But somehow, Mina had calmed the waters with Markus, and the scandal seemed to have just faded away.