Shortly after that, inside a private room on the second floor of the Elysian House, Odell was seated next to Tara while Sylvia and her two colleagues sat with them at the table. Perhaps due to Odell’s intimidating aura, both of Sylvia’s colleagues kept their heads low and did not dare to utter a word or make any sort of movement.From the moment he sat down, he had been staring fixedly at Sylvia without any attempts to conceal his gaze. Sylvia shifted uncomfortably as he watched her like his prey in this manner. She felt she had to say something. “Master Carter, it’s quite inappropriate for you to keep staring at me like this with your wife sitting right by your side.” Odell chuckled softly. “After three years, it doesn’t seem like you’ve changed all that much apart from the attitude you’ve developed.” Sylvia returned his snark response, “Well, I’ll have to thank the sixty slaps you gave me for that.” Odell’s lips twitched as his face darkened. It was as if he could not
The mother, son, and daughter trio hugged for some time before breaking up. Sylvia sat on the floor with them and listened to Isabel narrate her meeting with Liam in kindergarten. After she finished telling her story, she turned up to her mother with her chubby face and seemed like she was expecting praise. Sylvia smiled and lowered herself to plant a kiss on her daughter’s cheeks. “Good work, Isabel.” Isabel chuckled. Liam suddenly turned to Sylvia as well with his cheeks that resembled two freshly baked buns. He always wore a quiet, discrete look on his face. His large eyes were like pearls as he stared at his mother expectantly. Sylvia immediately kissed him on the cheeks as well. “Liam, good work too.” Liam pursed his lips and smiled shyly. Sylvia proceeded to ask him, “Liam, could you tell us about your life at home?" She wanted to know about his life in the past three years. If it turned out that Tara mistreated Liam, she would do everything in her power to
In the black car that was speeding down the road, Liam sat in his child seat and was staring straight ahead. He said, “No need to pick me up tomorrow. I'm going to have dinner there. I'll go home with Uncle Ben and Uncle Jacob after dinner.” Uncle Ben and Uncle Jacob were the bodyguards responsible for safeguarding him. He was telling this to Odell, who was sitting next to him. Odell frowned, looking a little displeased by this. The child had always spoken with a commanding tone, and it seemed like he would never accept any form of questioning once he had announced something. One would wonder where he learned such manners from. Truly, he was Odell’s flesh and blood. Odell scowled and stated sternly, "Don't play till too late, and remember to come home early." It seemed like Liam did not hear what he said. His eyes continued staring ahead of him while his mind was still filled with thoughts about the time he spent with his mother and sister. 'My mommy is so gentle and
At Sylvia’s residence, after sending Liam off, she brought Isabel inside and spent the better half of the day coaxing her. No matter what she did, the kid continued pouting and was in a dismal mood. Sylvia was running out of ideas. It was right then that Isabel’s phone rang. Liam was calling. She immediately picked up the call. Sylvia could not tell what was said on the other end of the phone, but a wide smile quickly surfaced on the kid’s face and she immediately beamed with joy. She was chanting repeatedly, “Okay, okay, let’s meet tomorrow!” Sylvia was clueless.Shortly after, Isabel hung up the phone and jumped into Sylvia's arms while exclaiming enthusiastically, "Mommy, Brother will pick me up tomorrow, and we will play at his house! He told me that there is no need to worry because he won’t let them find out that I’m your dear daughter and that I’m his sister.” Sylvia was shocked by this piece of information. She never expected Liam to take such an approach. Pe
Odell shot her a look. “Weren’t you going to the gallery today?” Tara answered, “The exhibition has ended. Besides, I haven’t seen Liam for some time, so I figured I might as well come to see him on such a rare occasion where you’re taking him out.” She turned to Liam and then noticed Isabel who was next to him. She was slightly startled. Why does this fat kid look so much like Liam? “Odell, who’s the little girl?" she turned to ask Odell while smiling. "She’s Liam’s friend." This surprised Tara again. How was it that this loner brat managed to make friends? She studied Isabel again. Isabel frowned and responded to her gaze with indifference. This must be the awful lady that Aunt Tonya mentioned! Tara quickly detected Isabel's hostility towards her, and she felt a wave of discontent rising inside her. Still, she formed a smile and addressed Isabel, "What a cute little girl. What's your name?" She approached Isabel and appeared to want to hug her. Liam immedi
Two days later, it was Monday. It had been two days since she saw Liam. The thought that she would get to see her son again made Sylvia especially ecstatic. She took an early day off and left by noon. She went to a nearby shopping mall where she bought large bags of ingredients, then she headed to the toy store to buy Liam and Isabel their favorite toys before making her way home. Right after she entered the car and was just putting on her seat belt, the kindergarten teacher called her.The teacher’s voice sounded anxious on the phone. “Miss Ross, your daughter got into a fight with someone at school. Please come as soon as you can.” Sylvia's expression shifted in an instant. "Okay, I'll be right there.” After hanging up the phone, she quickly revved the engine and zoomed off. It took her less than ten minutes to reach the kindergarten. She went to the teacher's office, and as soon as she came in, she saw several children standing by the wall. The one that immediately
By the time Odell came to his senses, Sylvia was miles away and her silhouette was the size of an ant. Odell's expression turned as black as tar, and an intimidating roar sounded through the cracks of his clenched teeth, "Sylvia!" Tara was frightened by his terrifying expression, and it took a while before she dared to approach him. She hugged his arm and tried to comfort him, “Odell, forget it. She has always been like this and there’s nothing we can do about her. Let’s not get caught up with her antics.” This only seemed to make things worse. What Tara said reminded him of the previous infuriating encounter with Sylvia. As if letting her threaten him with a razor blade to his neck was not bad enough, he had already let her escape from his very palms so many times! Just as he was about to erupt with anger, Tara quickly reminded him, “Odell, let’s go in and see Liam.” This seemed to do the trick of calming him, and his expression changed swiftly. He would deal with th
At the Carters', a black vehicle stopped outside the gate. Before the driver could step out of the car and open the door for the passengers, Liam pushed the door open and hopped out by himself. He trotted inside with an icy look on his face. He was not going to wait for Odell. The look in Odell's eyes darkened at the sight of this. Tara stepped out of the car with him and held his arm affectionately, “Odell, Liam is still a child and doesn’t understand that you’re doing this for him. He will understand when he grows up." Odell's expression eased slightly as he turned to her. "I'm staying here tonight to be with the kid. Get the driver to send you home.” There was a brief moment when Tara let her sadness show. “Alright, I guess it’s inconvenient for me to go in. Say hi to Grandma for me.” She said this with a gentle, understanding smile. Odell took her into his arms and gently kissed her forehead. He promised her, “Tara, Grandma will approve of our marriage one day. I kn