Liam didn't know what Victor intended to do and was overwhelmed with fear, using his little hands to push Victor away.
Victor held onto his wrist and also checked Liam's forehead for temperature. It wasn't high, so it seemed like Liam didn't have a relapse.
"Sleep. No more screaming. Understand?" Victor softly scolded.
Liam quietly replied, too scared to move or even breathe loudly.
Victor found it a bit amusing and couldn't help but take a closer look at Liam. He whispered, "Who is your mommy?"
"Hmph!" Liam turned his face away unhappily and said, with a touch of arrogance, "Jessica."
"Jessica won't save you," Victor heartlessly remarked.
Liam's voice sounded angry. "That's why I said she's a bad woman."
"Fine, go to sleep." Victor chuckled, turned to the side, and peacefully closed his eyes.
In the middle of the night, Liam not only felt wide awake, but also couldn't fall asleep. It was probably because he was lying next to the fiancé of that bad woman. Liam disliked Jessica, and as a result, Victor as well. However, he didn't understand why he felt particularly comforted with Victor by his side.
This sense of comfort was similar to sleeping next to Sophia.
Liam thought, 'Could it be because I miss Daddy too much that whenever a tall and powerful man appears, I feel a fatherly presence from him? It must be like that!'
Lost in his wild thoughts, Liam didn't even realize when he fell asleep.
Victor had a warm constitution, his entire body emitting heat. It was probably due to Liam being sick. Feeling a bit weak, Liam ended up climbing over to Victor in his sleep, clinging onto him like an octopus.
Victor couldn't sleep well the entire night and woke up early the next day, his complexion a bit pale.
"Is Liam okay?" Just as he walked out of the room, Victor was stopped by Carolyn.
Victor lazily replied, "He's fine."
"I'm going in to check." Carolyn forcefully pushed Victor aside and quickly walked towards the room. After confirming that Liam wasn't missing any limbs, she breathed a sigh of relief, carefully closed the door, and asked Sam to prepare breakfast.
Victor didn't look too good, and Carolyn thought he must have been tired from taking care of Liam last night. Victor was after all her own son, so Carolyn worriedly asked, "Did you not sleep well last night?"
"Yeah," Victor replied calmly, surprisingly not getting angry. He walked down the stairs and asked, "Mom, have you checked on Liam's mother?"
"Why would I check on his mother?" Carolyn wasn't very pleased. "His mother is not a bad person. Why are you asking this?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just curious why Liam has been staying in our house for so long without his mother coming to see him." In normal circumstances, a loving mother would not stay away from her child for so long.
Liam seemed very well-behaved, and his personality was not bad either. He must have had a good relationship with his mother, so there was no possibility of abandonment.
Carolyn had wondered about this before, but because she genuinely liked the child, she had never contacted Liam's mother out of selfishness, fearing that she would take him away. Carolyn sighed helplessly and said to Victor, "Liam was hit by my car before, and these past few days he has had a cold and fever. He's gotten so thin. The Hastings family is renowned in Woerek, and sending a child to the hospital and then letting him starve will only make others accuse us of child abuse."
Pausing for a moment, Carolyn continued, "In my opinion, we should fatten Liam up before sending him back."
"Mom, he's already chubby enough." Victor had noticed Liam had a little belly while helping him undress for his bath last night.
Carolyn glared at him unhappily. "Where is he chubby? Liam is clearly very thin! I can see that he has lost weight."
Victor was speechless. He didn't want to waste time on this topic; it was meaningless.
After breakfast was prepared, Victor went upstairs to wake Liam up. Liam was still half asleep, rubbing his eyes and slowly opening them. He was startled when he saw Victor and hurriedly got out of bed. "Uncle Victor, why are you here?"
"Get up and have breakfast," Victor said.
"Oh." Liam mumbled, then slowly got out of bed. Perhaps not fully awake, he slid and fell onto the floor.
Victor found it somewhat amusing and smiled, "Silly kid."
"Don't call me that." Liam unhappily raised his head and glared at him, looking fierce.
Victor's smile grew wider. He reached out and lightly pinched Liam's face. "Okay, I won't call you that. Go brush your teeth."
"No, I won't brush. I'm angry." He sat on the floor pretending to be mad.
Victor crouched down. "I'll say it one more time, go brush your teeth."
"If you're mean to me, I'll tell Mrs. Hastings." Liam's voice was pitiful, and his grape-like eyes glistened with tears.
'He's such a good actor!' Victor smirked and handed the troublemaker a pair of slippers, saying, "I'll be downstairs waiting for you. If you miss the time, you'll go hungry." He got up and left.
Liam quickly changed his shoes and dashed out of Victor's room, then immediately called Sophia from his own room. "Mommy, I slept with Uncle Victor last night!"
Sophia, who was having breakfast, almost sprayed milk out of her mouth. She quickly wiped her mouth with a napkin and asked, "What? How did you end up sleeping with him?"
"I was sick, Mrs. Hastings was tired and went to rest, so Uncle Victor slept with me," Liam replied softly.
Sophia was completely shocked and lost her appetite. She hurriedly asked, "Are you hurt?"
"No," Liam found it strange too. "Uncle Victor didn't bully me. He even helped me take a bath."
"Him?" Sophia was somewhat incredulous. "Are you sure he knows how to bathe? A person like Victor, obviously doesn't do anything, even needs a maid to help change his shoes at home. Would he help you bathe? It's almost like seeing the sun rise from the west."
After some thought, Liam said, "Well, it wasn't exactly helping me bathe. He just stripped me naked, threw me into the water, and then pulled me out..."
"Liam, I feel like you've been mistreated," Sophia could imagine how rough Victor must have been. Frowning, she said, "I'll come pick you up today."
"Mommy, aren't you supposed to be at work?" Liam whispered, "I get really bored during the day by myself, and you can't take me to work, and Aunt Alice is too busy to pay attention to me."
Sophia thought carefully and realized it was true.
Sophia had a job; she used to work in another city, where her boss, a single mother, took special care of her and allowed her to bring her child to work. Now, Sophia was at Victor's company, and she didn't know what would happen if she brought Liam to work.
If Jessica caught Liam again, Sophia really wouldn't know what to do.
However, Sophia hadn't seen Liam in days.
"I miss you," Sophia said.
Liam thought for a moment and asked, "Mommy, which department are you in? Can I come find you?"
"I'm in the secretarial department, I'm an assistant," Sophia answered truthfully.
Liam grinned and hung up the phone before running downstairs. He was going to Aadelha Group to see Sophia!