"Think about all the trouble you've caused. Haven't I always protected you no matter what? I gave you many second chances and cleaned up your mess." Laurence remembered the past. All those problems Sarah had caused were not smart. Yet, every single time, he had stood by her side.Suddenly, Laurence grabbed her throat. His lips tugged into a cold sneer. "Do you really think I'm such a fool?"Pain shot through Sarah’s body from her throat. She had little strength to resist. She knew he would never believe a word she said ever again. She had used a lot of his good grace. Probably a little too much.Laurence was tired of her. His impression of her as an unattainable lover transformed into poisonous arrows that struck his heart. The pain in his chest was genuine. She disgusted him. He didn’t even want her answer.She was so selfish and cruel. Her hypocrisy was far beyond his imagination. Her true self appalled him more and more every minute. He wanted to throw away the feelings he once
Zoey clenched her fists. It was bound to happen. She stared into his eyes. Her eyes were composed, but her mind was all over the place. She maintained a calm expression. She no longer panicked when lying to Laurence. She replied, "Four." Technically, Teddy was turning six. He was born prematurely with health issues. He didn’t look older than four.However, there wasn’t much difference between a four-year-old and a five-year-old. Laurence probably couldn't tell if she was lying. Zoey had no idea if she managed to fool him. Laurence finally said, "He seems tall for a four-year-old." Her heart sank. She didn't add to his comment. Laurence looked at Zoey. He wasn’t interested in the event. His eyes never turned to the stage. She had been avoiding him ever since they ran into each other. She didn't want anything to do with him. His gaze lingered on her face for a while. Zoey hadn't changed much in the last five years. She had lost a bit of weight. Her constant frown lines su
Laurence stood behind them with a piercing gaze. Even with her back facing him, Zoey could feel his eyes on her. She shielded her child, though it was no use. He had seen him.Laurence stared at the child’s face.While in the car, she said that he wasn’t even four yet. However, he already looked four or five. He could be four. Or five.While Laurence looked at the child’s face, he felt a sense of familiarity. He hadn’t felt it before. The boy was much more mature than he thought. He was calm when he met strangers. Laurence held his gaze. He felt like he’d seen him before. The boy’s eyebrows looked a little like his. It wasn’t just in his head.Zoey led the boy upstairs. Laurence watched them silently.The boy said something in Zoey’s ear. Her eyebrows relaxed, and she smiled happily. She smiled at other people a lot. He was the only one she treated coldly.Laurence was no longer anxious. He stood downstairs for a moment and only went into his car when he noticed the lights on the
The assistant was nervous when he was called into the office.He quickly went over his work in his head. Had he done something wrong? Mr. Scott would not call him to his office otherwise. He asked, “Is there something you need from me, Mr. Scott?”“Yes.” Laurence looked at him and drummed his fingers on the table. After a while, he asked, “Do you remember the little boy you met in that hotel corridor?”The assistant was busy every day. He had multiple tasks waiting for him. He honestly couldn’t quite remember.He thought hard before he understood what Laurence meant. It was when Laurence played along with Eliza in front of her family. They’d met a little boy lost in the restaurant. The assistant wondered why Laurence would suddenly bring up the matter.“I do.”“Good.” Laurence got straight to the point. “Did he look like me?”The assistant was stunned. Then, he realized that he had reacted inappropriately and quickly asked, “Are you asking me if that child looked like you?”The
The child was clever. He grew even warier. “And in the future?”Laurence stared at the face that looked like his. He didn’t deceive him. “Maybe.”Teddy’s cold face tensed. A child with an expression like that was still adorable and non-intimidating. He asked, “Why do you want to take me away? You’ve never seen me. And I’ll never follow you.”Laurence was being interrogated by this tiny human before him. He no longer treated him like a clueless child. “But if I am your father, I’m biologically related to you. It doesn’t matter what you think. If we take this to court, I could win.”Teddy frowned. He hated the man even more now. Why was his father like this? He was so disagreeable. He was even more unlikable than his pictures online. Teddy hated his words very much.Teddy looked at him angrily and asked, “Do you like me?”Laurence didn’t quite know what to say. It was unrealistic that he would have strong feelings for this estranged child. But he didn’t think that he didn’t love hi
Teddy did not say anything to his mother. He didn’t want to. That man wanted to use him to get to her, but he wouldn’t let him.Teddy kissed his mother. “The other kids at school like me a lot.” He wasn’t lying. The other children indeed liked him. They surrounded him and used their snacks to bribe him. Teddy did not respond to their kindness. He did not like snacks and he did not like socializing. He thought they were noisy and stupid. If he played with them, he would become stupid, too. And he didn’t want that. That was why he nearly fell into that man’s trap today.Zoey massaged his temples. “You’re the most popular kid in the world. Did you share the bread I gave you this morning?”Teddy nodded. “Yes, I did.”“Did it taste good?”“It did.”Teddy did not bring up the man he’d met. He wouldn’t let bad guys win. Teddy wrapped his arms around his mother’s neck. She held him in her arms. “Mom, I want to go to a new kindergarten.”Zoey put him in the backseat and put his helmet
Not going to take him away from her?Zoey did not believe Laurence. She looked at him coldly. “I’m not afraid of that. The child has nothing to do with you.”Laurence had already predicted her answer. She was a little more aggressive than he’d expected. “You can lie to me, but you shouldn’t lie to yourself.”“Can you show me any evidence?” Zoey looked at him with a sarcastic smile. “Even if you’ve somehow conducted a paternity test, it wouldn’t change a thing. You’ve never raised him. Where were you when he was kidnapped?”Zoey had never spoken to him so much before. “You’re waiting for the results of the DNA test. You think I’m lying to you because I want to use you. You didn’t believe it before. You shouldn't force it now.”All the hatred Zoey had suppressed in her heart all these years came to the surface. She shouldn’t care about anything at all. Even if it was hatred, she shouldn’t hate him. He wasn’t worth an ounce of her emotions.Laurence took her hand. When she tried to
Zoey didn’t mean for her words to hurt Laurence. She was only explaining her situation to him. Even if she had returned to Northwell, she had nothing to do with him. She hadn’t come here for him. She wouldn’t foolishly fall in love with him. She couldn’t sum up her pain in three sentences. The past couldn’t be written off just like that.“You don’t like children anyway, Laurence. You’re disgusted by them. You don’t have to force yourself to see him. Your appearance will just scare him.”Zoey was speaking calmly. Her gaze was indifferent.Laurence pursed his lips. He didn’t hate this child, nor was the child frightened by him. But she might not believe him if he said that. Zoey seemed to have read his mind. She smirked. Laurence told her, “I can’t answer that.” Zoey was infuriated by his words. He didn’t seem willing to back down at all. Laurence looked at the anger in her eyes. He swallowed the bitterness in his chest. He was afraid she would hate him, but it was nothing c