Chapter 605: Collaboration

Before Paige Walsh could speak, Kylie Walsh pointed at Lucy White and continued, "And her—Lucy White! Cousin, after you were so good to her, even making her your goddaughter, she actually snuck Miles out behind your back. Isn’t that just betraying us from the inside? What if those two sisters use their status as his mother and aunt to turn Miles against you..."

"That’s enough!" Paige Walsh raised a hand, cutting off Kylie Walsh’s incessant chatter. She rubbed her temples with a hint of exasperation.

Amid the gazes of the onlookers—some gloating, others nervous—Paige Walsh beckoned to Miles Simmons. "Miles, come here. Come to Grandma."

Miles Simmons had been nervously holding Lucy White’s hand the whole time. He was still young and didn’t understand why these aunties were arguing.

Now, hearing his grandma call for him, he hesitated for a moment before silently walking over.

Contrary to what Kylie Walsh expected, Miles Simmons and Paige Walsh weren’t actually very close as grandmother and grandson.

For years, Paige Walsh had been completely focused on her work. She hardly paid any mind to her own son, Zane Simmons, let alone her grandson, who was a generation removed. In her view, her children and grandchildren could fend for themselves; neither her son nor her grandson was as important as her career.

Looking at Miles Simmons standing before her, Paige Walsh wanted to reach out and hug him, but she didn’t know how. It had been a long time since she had held a child.

So, after a moment’s hesitation, she bent down, patted Miles Simmons’s head, and pointed toward Joanne White, asking softly, "Miles, that lady is your mommy... Do you want to be with your mommy?"

Miles Simmons tilted his head in thought, then nodded and replied, "I do!"

A child’s attachment to their mother is innate. The first time Miles Simmons saw Joanne White, he felt a sense of familiarity with the pretty lady. He had never known who his mother was, but if this pretty lady was his mom... that seemed pretty good!

Seeing Miles Simmons’s response, Paige Walsh understood.

She looked up at Joanne White and, meeting Joanne’s terrified and anxious gaze, said slowly, "From now on, you can see Miles twice a month. My assistant will communicate the specific details with you."

The moment Paige Walsh finished speaking, Joanne White’s eyes flew wide open, as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

’Paige Walsh is letting me see my child?!’

Lucy White reacted faster than Joanne White. Hearing what Paige Walsh said, she immediately walked over, took Paige’s arm, and said in a half-coaxing tone, "Godmother, thank you! I knew you were the best!"

Paige Walsh looked a bit exasperated at this and patted Lucy White’s shoulder, reminding her, "Don’t bring the child out on your own again. A place like this is crowded and full of prying eyes. Don’t leave the security guards’ line of sight, understand?"

Lucy White lowered her head, a little embarrassed, and replied softly, "I know I was wrong. I was just too eager today... I promise, it won’t happen again."

Watching this "happy, harmonious" scene, Kylie Walsh, who was standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded—

’Things haven’t gone at all the way I’d imagined!’

’Not only has Paige not thrown Lucy out, she’s even letting Joanne see Miles!’

’How could she do that?!’

Kylie Walsh grabbed Paige Walsh’s wrist and said anxiously, "Cousin! How can you let Miles see that woman! She has loose morals. She’ll be a bad influence on him!"

Joy Jennings, who was beside her, chimed in, "That’s right, Miss Walsh. A child’s values aren’t fully formed yet. They can be easily misled. You should reconsider..."

Hearing Kylie Walsh and Joy Jennings, Paige Walsh’s brows furrowed slightly.

Miles Simmons was surrounded by a nanny, a childcare specialist, an early education tutor, and a child psychologist... a team of about ten people in total. These people constantly monitored Miles’s physical and mental health. She didn’t think Joanne White had any ability to be a bad influence on him.

On the contrary, from the perspective of a child’s physical and mental well-being, having Joanne White, his biological mother, occasionally spend time with him would be beneficial for Miles’s development.

So Paige Walsh pulled her wrist from Kylie Walsh’s grasp and said coldly, "This is a family matter. We don’t need outsiders worrying about it."

Ignoring Kylie Walsh’s ugly expression, Paige Walsh leisurely adjusted her cuff while saying pointedly, "Kylie, at the end of the day, you’re an adult. You shouldn’t be making a scene in front of a child... I’ll let it go this time. But if there’s a next time, I’ll have to have a word with your older brother and tell him to keep you in line..."

The warning in Paige Walsh’s tone was crystal clear. Kylie Walsh’s face went pale, and she was left speechless with embarrassment. In the end, Joy Jennings pulled her away.

After the two of them left, Joanne White wiped the tears from her face, walked up to Paige Walsh, and gave her a deep bow. Her face was full of remorse as she said, "Thank you... thank you for not holding the past against me..."

"Alright, alright!" Paige Walsh cut Joanne White off with a wave of her hand. "Enough of that. Hurry up and take the child to the banquet hall."

After Joanne White and Lucy White left with Miles Simmons, Melody Summers and Sophie Thorne gave Paige Walsh a nod and prepared to return to the banquet hall. But they had only taken a few steps before Paige Walsh called out to them—

"Wait!" Paige Walsh took a few quick steps to block Sophie Thorne’s path. Her eyes were glued to the small fish tank in Sophie’s hands as she asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Is—is this..."

A moment ago, they were all standing in a corner where the light was too dim, so Paige Walsh hadn’t noticed what Sophie Thorne was holding.

But now—under the lights of the corridor, the indigo blue in the small fish tank was bright and vivid, like a burning blue firework, so dazzling it stole the eye.

Paige Walsh pointed a trembling finger at the small fish tank, her face a mask of disbelief. "Is this... Blue Scale Prawn fry?! ...Where did you buy them?!"

"Oh, this? It’s..." Sophie Thorne was about to explain that Melody Summers had bred them, but before she could get the words out, Melody gave her a sharp pinch on the small of her back.

Wincing, Sophie Thorne shot Melody Summers a confused look.

Melody Summers simply nodded at Paige Walsh and answered, "That’s right. Sophie Thorne bred them!"

Melody Summers then patted Sophie Thorne’s shoulder and said earnestly, "She knew I’d never seen one before, so she brought it over tonight specially to let me see it for myself!"

Hearing Melody Summers’s words, Sophie Thorne froze. ’How can she tell such a barefaced lie!’

Sophie Thorne was about to argue with Melody Summers when she saw Melody secretly signaling to her with her eyes from an angle Paige Walsh couldn’t see.

Sophie Thorne: "..."

Sophie Thorne had no idea what Melody Summers was up to, so she could only bite the bullet and say, "...Ah... um... yes... it was me..."

"That’s wonderful!" Paige Walsh was so caught up in the happy surprise of the Blue Scale Prawns’ successful breeding that she completely missed the undercurrents flowing between Melody Summers and Sophie Thorne.

She excitedly grabbed Sophie Thorne’s shoulders, her voice thrilled. "Sophie, our research institute is in desperate need of the extract from this prawn right now. Can you partner with us? We need your technical support!"