Chapter 8

The receptionist nurse at the desk noticed the little boy. He had a head of charming black hair and was dressed in a white T-shirt with an armor print on his chest, a pair of black track pants, and a black mask. The monochrome look of his getup made him look stylish, like something out of an artistic painting. The nurse fancied that he looked just like a little prince from a comic book. ‘He’s so freaking cute!’ "Who are you looking for, little one?" The nurse walked over and greeted him with a warm smile, her voice gentle. "I'm looking for my—my daddy!" the little boy instinctively. ‘Mommy said I should always be careful when I'm outside. ‘Don't tell any strangers the truth, except for police officers, of course.’ The little guy looked up innocently at the nurse, "Miss, do you know where my father is?" When the petite nurse observed the boy's face, with his big round eyes peeking from under his mask, she was awestruck with a sudden realization. ‘Those eyes are exactly the same as the cold Mr. Ares’s!’ However, Mr. Ares always had that trademark serious look on his face. Even with the charming good looks he was gifted with, most people would not dare to approach him. The little guy standing before her was the complete opposite. He looked soft and cuddly and his warm smile could melt snow. Frankly, he was rather irresistible. "Oh, yes. Mr. Ares’s office is on the ninth floor!" the nurse answered quickly without hesitation. The little boy was a little displeased. Did he really look like this Mr. Ares's son? Or did he just have a common face? The nurse’s attitude took a 180-degree turn. She leaned over and asked courteously, "Shall I take you to his office?” The boy quickly shook his head. "No." ‘This nurse looks pretty but she doesn't seem very bright. If she follows me around, she might ruin my plan, ’ he thought. At that moment, the elevator door opened and the boy swiftly hopped onto the elevator. As he went up the floors, the tracker on his smartwatch told him that he was getting closer. When he arrived on the ninth floor, his current location and the destination marker overlapped. The little boy exited the elevator and followed the prompts of the positioning system and soon located the room Rose was surely locked in. On the big wooden door hung a wooden sign that read “President's Lounge". The small boy pushed the door but it did not budge. He noticed the copper fingerprint lock on the door and, with no better plan, tried to unlock it by placing his little finger on the scanner. To his surprise, he heard the fingerprint lock click and the door swung open. The little guy was dumbfounded. ‘Is this fingerprint lock specially designed for me?’ he wondered. The boy pushed the door open and saw the humiliated figure of his mother tied to a table leg. Her hair was disheveled and her face was buried in her knees. Her shoulders were shaking. ‘Is Mommy crying?’ he thought, alarmed. He had never seen his mother cry before. ‘Someone must have done bad things to her to make her cry.’ "Mommy!" yelled the small boy, dropping his scooter and dashing toward the tied up Rose. When Rose heard her son’s familiar cute voice, she lifted her teary face, and there he was. Her baby Robbie, standing right in front of her. To say that Rose was stunned was an understatement. Her gaze wandered to the fingerprint lock and she realized that her hunch was true. Her baby Robbie really did have the same fingerprint as Jenson! Baby Robbie tore off his mask and his small, handsome face scrunched up with anger. "Mommy, who's the jerk who bullied you? I’ll kill him.” As he said that, he performed an elaborate and nimble roundhouse kick in the air. Baby Robbie was fairly talented at Taekwondo. Initially, Rose had signed him up for Taekwondo classes to strengthen his rather frail and weak body. To her surprise, the coach was soon raving about the boy's natural talent. Two years later, Baby Robbie’s bookshelves were crammed with his many taekwondo trophies. In the past six months, he had even started to challenge the older groups and performed very well. Rose helped him put his mask back on his face. "It's dangerous here,” she said hushedly, “let's leave quickly, we’ll continue later.” "Okay!" Baby Robbie responded obediently. Before she left, Rose had a sudden thought. “Wait," she said, “we have to find a way to delete the surveillance camera footage. We can’t let the bad guys find out about you." "That’s easy. Leave that to me." Very soon, the entire building's surveillance camera footage was erased. ... The villas in City South seemed to blend into the horizon. The area was renowned as the most valuable real estate paradise in the entire city. The bungalow villas were huge in themselves but their gardens were even bigger. The microdistrict had a record-low percentage of the city's population—less than 0.5 percent of the citizens lived there. Of course, only the richest and the most powerful people could afford to live in that paradise that seemed to blend into the heavens. Jay drove his Lincoln into the underground garage. Swiftly and elegantly, he drifted into the parking spot, planting the car perfectly. Jay quickly got out of the car and hurried into the house. He unlocked the security door and a delicious aroma wafted into his nostrils. Jay was slightly taken aback and peered around the room. "Jay? When did you get back?" Josephine was holding a platter of sweet and sour pork ribs and greeted Jay as he entered. Jay's mother was setting up the table. Jay's father was in the recreation area in ​​the living room with his grandson, building a tall Lego robot together. Or perhaps more accurately, the old grandpa was merely sitting next to Jenson, looking at his grandchild proudly. On the other hand, Jenson completely ignored his grandpa’s presence. Jay changed into his indoor slippers and walked toward Jenson. He said casually, "If Grandpa and Grandma are here, why did you need daddy to come back? Daddy was very busy at noon today—" ‘Busy, my foot!’ Jenson thought scornfully. Jenson turned a deaf ear to his father's words. He continued happily building the Lego robot which was already taller than him.　 "Say something!" snapped Jay. "You chose to come back by yourself," Jenson said coolly. What he meant was, since his daddy had his own free will and full control of his own legs, him coming home was on him and not Jenson, really. Why should he be so displeased if he chose it himself? Jay was speechless for a moment but kept his calm as he tried to reason with his son. "Daddy only rushed home because I thought you didn’t have any food for lunch. If you told Daddy that Grandpa and Grandma were home on the phone, Daddy wouldn't have needed to rush home.” "The doctors said I have autism. Why are you expecting me to say that much? Idiot!" Jenson forcefully slammed the last piece of Lego into the robot's eyes and stood up. He shoved Jay away and went upstairs alone. "Why are you talking so much now?” Jay called out. "I guess I’ve outdone myself!" Jenson snapped. Jay’s face darkened from Jenson's retort. Grandpa laughed and said sarcastically, “Like father like son.” Jay was so angry that he almost smashed Jenson’s robot. Grandpa hastily stopped him. “Don’t do it. This is Jenson’s mommy. If you touch his mommy, your son said that he’ll do the same to yours.” It had always been this way. The whole family would suffer when Jenson threw a fit over Jay's actions. And it always ended up with his grandma shedding tears for her dear grandson.