He slowly turned around to look at George. He frowned and said, “Is this any of your business?” “You are a hacker?” George pursed his lips and said, “And it looks like you are the leading figure in the hacking field. So, that opponent I met before, that was you?” Alden shoved his laptop into the crack in the balcony cabinet and stood up. He said, “Yes, that was me. Why didn’t you accept my challenge?” George paused for a second before he said, “I have little interest in hacking, and you should stop contacting other hackers, it’s not safe.” There was a faint sneer on Alden’s face. If he really had no interest in hacking, he would not have registered an account on the dark web. Besides, George’s hacking abilities were clearly exemplary. “I don’t know what you are trying to do by forming a hacker team, but I’m just offering you some friendly warning about this business. It’s best to stay out of it,” George went on and said. He remembered every word Daddy had said to him. There
Ever since she had kids, Adina had never once set foot in the amusement park. Alden did not like to play with such rides, and Melody was afraid of strangers. Therefore, this was the first time she was taking the children to a place like this. She had been carrying Melody in her arms with a protective posture. However, when they reached the amusement park, the little girl struggled to get down and walk on her own. “Mel, let’s blow bubbles together.” Harold was blowing bubbles, and Melody was chasing after bubbles. They had the most innocent smiles on their faces. Adina also smiled from the bottom of her heart. The doctor who used to treat Melody was right. Only love would bring an autistic child out of his or her own bubble. “Georgie, Al, why are you still standing there? Go and have some fun now!” Adina was holding four full-access tickets. They could play with whatever rides they wanted. It was just that there were a lot of people. There was a line for every ride. Ge
Before his anger could even grow, it all disappeared when he heard Melody call him “Daddy”. He picked up the little girl who ran toward him, and after spinning her around, he asked softly, “Did you miss Daddy?”“Yes!”The little girl nodded vigorously. On the other side, Harold was still looking for a place to hide in the car. George pursed his lips and said, “You had the nerve to run away from home, but you’re not brave enough to face the consequences?”Harold buried his head under the cushion and said with a muffled voice, “Hmph. I am a scaredy-cat. What’re you going to do about it? Fight me?”Adina was not sure whether to cry or laugh as she looked at them. “You think your Daddy can’t find you if you hide under the cushion? Come out, darling.”“No! I don’t want to come out!” Harold hugged the cushion and said stubbornly, “I want to stay here today. I want to spend the night at your house!”“Stay here, then. I’ll go back with Daddy,” George said after pursing his lips for
Duke rarely entered a kitchen, or he had never actually stepped foot in one.But lately, he had gone into the kitchen practically every day. He would wash vegetables or peel potatoes, and he was starting to get the hang of things. The kitchen was located right next to the living room in Adina’s modest mansion. They could hear the noise coming from the living room despite the two of them being busy in the kitchen.Basically, Harold was making all the noise as he chased Melody around the living room while laughing and playing.“You’re so naughty, Mel. How dare you tickle me!”Harold rolled his sleeves up and started chasing after Mel. Dimples appeared on the little girl’s face as she ran away while smiling, but Harold caught her and pushed her onto the couch. “Let’s see if you’re still going to tickle me again!”“I’m sorry, Hal,” Melody pleaded while laughing since she was unable to escape.Alden hurried over to them and said, “Let go of Mel, Harold. She’ll get out of breath fr
When he looked at himself in the mirror, Alden saw that his shirt collar was practically torn, his hair looked like a bird’s nest, and his mouth twitched. George’s mouth twitched too. He did not even know who had made the red scratch mark on his face. The collar of his shirt was stained black, and he looked very disheveled.Only Harold remained absorbed in the fun of playing. “Alden, you lost today, haha! Hurry, call me big brother!”Alden rolled his eyes at him and said, “Take a look at Mel, then we’ll talk.”Melody stood forlornly in front of the mirror and looked helplessly in the mirror at herself. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes.The little girl’s hair was long, but it was all over the place and looked like a bird’s nest now. Her chiffon dress had been torn in some places, and there were even a few dirty shoe prints on her pink dress. “Uh, I’m sorry, Mel.” Harold was very guilty. “I won’t do that again.”Alden came over and helped tidy up his sister’s clothe
As darkness took over the sky, Adina was finally finished cleaning up the messy living room. She took a glance at Duke who was reading a book on the couch, and rubbed her nose in confusion. ‘It’s almost ten in the evening. Why is this man still here?’‘Does he want me to order him to leave?’The four kids seemed to be gaining even more energy, and Adina had no idea when they would all be going to bed.After giving it some thought, Adina made the decision to put the kids to bed first and deal with Duke after.“Alright, Georgie, Hal, Al, and Mel, time to put the toys away. We’re going to go upstairs and take a bath,” she said with a smile while standing at the side of the play mat. Harold said, “Five more minutes, Mommy,” without raising his head and while still holding the Transformer toy in his arms.Adina was getting a little tired. That was already the third time they had asked for five more minutes.Even Mel had copied her brother and said, “Five more minutes.”The li
Adina thought he was sleep talking. She crouched down and said, “Hal, come here. Let’s get you to bed.”“No, I want milk. I’m hungry. I want milk…” the kid cried while hugging Adina’s neck. “I brought the milk powder, and it’s in the suitcase. Mommy, I want to drink some milk.”Well, it did not seem like he was sleep talking. Adina walked over to the suitcase, and sure enough, there was a tub of milk powder inside. Harold was already four and a half years old. It was not quite right for a child that big to drink milk at night.“Mommy, Hal has to drink milk at night,” George said drowsily, having woken up from the crying. “The bottle is in the suitcase too.”“Okay, I got it. You can go to sleep now.”Adina patted George on the head and carried the crying Harold to prepare his milk. She prepared a big bottle of milk, but Harold finished the whole thing in less than five minutes. She finally understood the meaning of Duke’s words. She could not, in fact, sleep soundly while
Adina pulled out her phone, and after taking a look at the caller ID, she answered the call. “Good day, Ms. Daugherty. I’m an account representative from Elitos Corporation. I’d like to let you know that your bid document has cleared our company’s initial evaluation. Please make plans to attend the meeting at Elitos Corporation at ten o’clock this morning.”Adina glanced at the time and agreed. The fact that Elitos Corporation had called her at this exact time meant that there must be good news regarding the bid.She had to win this project. She had to go. But what about these four kids?Just as she was thinking of a plan to arrange the four kids, a knock came from downstairs. Mel, who was sitting quietly on the bed, suddenly jumped out and ran downstairs to open the door. Adina immediately guessed who the visitor was. She walked into her room to wash up and dressed in official attire before heading downstairs. Duke had already taken a seat on the couch. He looked up t