Chapter 8

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 take her son back from Odell! Upon asking this question, she immediately noticed Liam’s expression darkening slightly. He responded dully, “My life is boring.” Boring? Sylvia was taken aback. Liam explained, “Before I started going to kindergarten, every day is the same as the other. It’s either playing games, eating, or spending time with Great-grandma.” Spending time with Great-grandma? Sylvia enquired, “Liam, do you live with Great-grandma?” Liam nodded firmly. The three years of pent-up frustration inside Sylvia suddenly deflated upon hearing this. How could she have ever forgotten about Madam Carter? The old madam was essentially the one who had single-handedly raised Odell, and the latter had nothing but veneration for her. She adored her grandson Odell, and it was all thanks to her that Sylvia and Odell even got married in the first place. Five years ago, Sylvia had fallen under the web of plots weaved by her stepmother along with Odell's stepmother, whereby she was led into Odell's room where they proceeded to be intimate with each other. After that, they sent someone into the room and caught the two in the middle of the act. The fallout of the incident was that Odell had no choice but to marry her. Later on, Odell never believed her when she claimed that she had been deceived the same way that he had, but the old madam trusted her. After Tara entered the picture, the old lady herself made it clear to Odell that she would not accept Tara as family. If Liam had been living with the old madam for the past three years, he must have been treated fairly and safe from the abuse of Tara. Sylvia heaved a sigh of relief before asking, “Liam, what do you think needs to happen for your days to not be boring?” Liam looked at her, then at his lovely sister, and said, “Well, it sure isn’t boring now." Sylvia was delighted by his answer. She patted his head and said with a smile, “I’ve never been happier than I am now.” Not to be outdone, Isabel leaned forward and stated, "I'm super happy now too!" … At the Carters', after sending Tara back home, this was the first place Odell rushed to. Today was Liam's first day in kindergarten. His original plan was to go to the kindergarten to pick Liam up in the afternoon, but he was held up by the infuriating encounter with that woman, Sylvia. He ended up waiting the entire afternoon for a proper apology from her. He never expected that she would resign and flee! Moments before stepping into the living room, Odell tightened his lips and suppressed his burning temper before entering the living room. He saw Madam Carter sitting on the couch and drinking tea by herself. He approached and asked, "Grandma, where is Liam?” The old lady answered curtly with a cross look, “Liam went to play at a classmate's house." "Which classmate? Why isn't he back yet?" “You’re his biological father, and you’re asking me this question. How am I supposed to answer that?” The old madam was notably unimpressed with the lack of attention from the child's father given that it was the young boy's first day of school. Odell frowned and explained, "I ran into a bit of trouble during the day.” The old lady scoffed, "It's getting late. It's time for dinner." “Alright, you rest up first. I'll pick him up right away." Odell wasted no time and left immediately. He proceeded to call the bodyguard who was taking care of Liam. … At Sylvia’s residence, she was just playing a next-generation console game with Liam and Isabel and they were just getting into action when Aunt Tonya barged urgently into the room. “Sylvia, I heard the two bodyguards outside mentioning something about Liam’s father coming to get him. He will be here very soon.” Sylvia’s expression changed. Odell must not enter. She could not risk having him see Isabel lest she be taken away from her! She immediately turned to Liam and Isabel. Before she could get a word out, Liam put the controller down and informed them, “Mommy, sis, I’ll see you two tomorrow.” Isabel pouted at this juncture. “But I already miss you, bro.” She went up and hugged Liam. Liam gently ruffled the back of her head. “Don’t be sad. We’ll meet again tomorrow morning.” “Okay then.” Isabel let go of him obediently. Liam turned to Sylvia who immediately went to hug him and told him in a soft voice, “Liam, Mommy will prepare something delicious for you tomorrow. Make sure you go to bed early and don't stay up playing games for too long tonight, alright?” Liam seemed very moved by this. He had heard similar nagging from his great grandmother countless times, but for some reason, it sounded different when it came from his mother’s lips. He promised, "I understand.” Sylvia kissed him again before letting him leave. After he went out, Sylvia accompanied Isabel to the balcony, and they peered down through the window. An expensive black car could be seen driving through the gate of the neighborhood and soon stopped in front of their house. Odell had just gotten out of the car when Liam and the two bodyguards emerged. Liam swiped a glance at his father. His little bun-like cheeks displayed no visible expression of any sort as his legs trotted toward his father’s car. Odell frowned. “Liam, don't you know you should greet your dad?” "Dad." His tone was monotonous. Odell felt something catch in his throat. The child had been extremely reserved since he was a child. He only smiled at his great-grandmother, and even then, rarely so, hence a display like this was nothing out of the ordinary. After Liam got into the car, he turned around and prepared to get in as well. That was when he had a feeling that there was something different this time, and something compelled him to glance at the second floor of the house. His vision was supremely sharp. Sylvia, who was peeping from the balcony, quickly ducked inside immediately. After a while, when her heartbeat stilled, she regained her composure. She saw Isabel with her hands on her chest, her cheeks bulging, while still glaring down aggressively. Sylvia followed her line of sight to see the car driving out of the gate of the neighborhood. It seemed that Odell had not noticed them. She caressed Isabel's head and asked, “Isabel, what's the matter with you?" Isabel pouted and shouted, "I thought this stinky person was going to be ugly and fat, but I didn't expect him to be so handsome! Hmph! How can he be so good-looking if he’s heartless enough to leave you behind?! God must be blind!" Sylvia was speechless. It was probably a good idea not to allow her daughter to watch so many of those soap operas with Aunt Tonya in the future.