The Billionaire’s Secret Quartet

The head of the orphanage wore a troubled smile, twisting his head to glance at the little boy sitting on the single bed, then looking over to the child nestled in Joshua's arms.

After a moment of consideration, he began, "Both of these kids, they're on the autism spectrum. They've been left here since they were very young, without much love and care, which has affected them psychologically."

"What did you say? He's autistic?" Joshua's expression turned serious, his gaze briefly landing on the little boy trembling in his embrace.

Struck with disbelief and shaken by the news, Joshua asked, "How old was he when he was left at the orphanage?"

"He was found in the woods right in front of the orphanage. When we found him, he was just a little over a month old," the headmaster explained truthfully.

A little over a month old?

Those words hit Joshua like a freight train, his grip around the child involuntarily tightening.

He couldn't believe Susan could be so heartless, to abandon her child when he was just a month old!

He thought, at the very least, she would wait until the child was a year old before leaving him at the orphanage!

But no, she couldn't wait to get rid of him as soon as he was born!

Meaning, the child was over two years old now, and Susan had only looked after him for a little over a month!

What kind of a heartless woman could abandon her own child?

"Did Susan, the child's mother, ever come to see him? Did the orphanage ever allow her to take him back?" Joshua asked further.

"You mean, the woman who was just taken away by the police, is the child's biological mother?" The headmaster seemed even more surprised than Joshua.

"You didn't know?" Joshua pressed.

The headmaster replied, "Every time she came to see the child, she did it under the guise of wanting to adopt. She spent time with the child, saying she wanted to build some

el.

connection, but she never mentioned she was the child's

mother. We never thought to question it. We assumed she just wanted to adopt him."

Adjusting his glasses, the headmaster continued, "We truly had no idea that the woman, who claimed to want to adopt, was actually the child's biological mother."

It seemed the woman wanted neither to take on the responsibility of raising her child nor to completely let go. She just wanted to see him now and then.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

The more Joshua learned, the worse his impression of Susan became.

"When did she start coming to see the child?" he inquired.

"Only a few months ago, and she's only been here a few times. Otherwise, we wouldn't have thought she was just interested in adoption, without considering she might be the child's biological mother the headmaster explained.

A mother with even a shred of maternal instinct, forced by circumstances to leave her child in the bushes near an orphanage, would surely make her presence known in her child's life from time to

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time, under any pretext.

But it took Susan more than two years to show up, and she barely visited, which led the headmaster to believe she was indeed interested in adoption, not a family reunion.

Joshua understood then, Susan was only using the child to manipulate him, to threaten him for her own gain, which is why she returned to the orphanage.

She never really cared for the child!

"Alright, I understand," Joshua said, his demeanor as authoritative as it was in his business, addressing the headmaster, "I'll be taking the child with me today. Please start the paperwork as soon as you can."

"Mr. Whitman, are you planning to adopt the child?" the headmaster asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

As the head of the orphanage, his greatest wish was for each child to find a warm and loving home.

"I am his biological father. My child was taken from me, and I've only just found him," Joshua stated.