Chapter 27 Alexander's Goodnight Kiss for Max
Alexander said coldly, "Get out!"
"Do you need help?" Grace asked with good intentions.
Alexander replied, "No, get out!"
Grace frowned and grumbled to herself before turning and leaving.
After two hours of struggle, Alexander finally finished bathing both children and carried them into the bedroom.
Grace had just finished making the bed when Alexander walked in carrying Max and Liam, placing them on the bed.
He had also taken a shower and changed into pajamas. Judging by how long he'd taken, it seemed Max and Liam had caused quite a bit of trouble.
Max crawled to the head of the bed, pulled back the covers, and slipped under them. His little face flushed red as he looked toward Grace and mumbled, "He spanked me."
"What?" Grace didn't catch it at first.
But Alexander heard him and glared at Max, his brow furrowing.
Max wasn't afraid of him hearing and tattled to Grace, "He spanked me!"
He pointed his little finger at Alexander, his eyes filled with indignation.
Grace looked at Alexander in confusion.
Alexander said, "He wasn't behaving. He kept moving around and splashed water all over me."
Max retorted, "That's because he was bothering me!"
Bothering?
If Max hadn't used such an dramatic word, Grace wouldn't have had such a hard time suppressing her laughter. Liam beside them pressed his lips together, also struggling to contain his amusement. He must have thought of all the saddest things in the world to keep from bursting out laughing on the spot.
Grace asked in confusion, "How was he bothering you?"
"He..." Max struggled to find the words, "He touched me..."
Grace immediately fixed Alexander with a suspicious look.
Alexander just felt that Max's mouth was utterly infuriating and unreasonable. "I did not."
"Max said you touched him..."
Liam panicked, seeing his daddy about to be accused by Max. He stood up on the bed and waved his hands frantically, trying to clear Alexander's name.
Alexander said, "I scrubbed his entire body. How is that inappropriate?"
Liam nodded vigorously.
Max protested, "I can scrub myself!" Usually during bath time, Grace would help him undress and put him in the bathtub, then busy herself with other things like making bubbles with the bath sponge, while Max would scrub himself.
"Alright, Mr. Hayes was just helping you wash," Grace coaxed Max. "Max, it's getting late. Lie down like a good boy."
Max always listened to Grace and immediately lay down obediently.
Liam also crawled over to Grace's side using his hands and feet, lying down on her other side.
Grace said, "I'm going to read Max and Liam a bedtime story to help them fall asleep. You can go back to your own room now."
Alexander hummed in acknowledgment.
In the past, Liam used to sleep with him, but later when he started working late into the night and kept waking Liam up, he had arranged for a nanny to put him to bed.
However, the goodnight kiss was essential.
Alexander walked to the bedside, leaned down, and gently pressed a kiss to Liam's forehead.
Alexander said tenderly, "Goodnight, Liam."
Liam nodded and hugged Grace's waist.
Alexander straightened up and suddenly remembered something as he looked toward Max.
Grace had made him a condition, however he treated Liam, he had to treat Max the same way.
Alexander looked at Max, his brow slightly furrowed.
By all rights, he shouldn't feel any affection for Max. This child wasn't his biological son—he was Grace's illegitimate child, born from her betrayal and affair with another man.
Such a stain should disgust him, but looking at Max's little face that was an exact replica of Grace's, he was too delicate, too adorable.
Moreover, he was a man of his word. He had promised Grace he would treat Max as well as he treated Liam.
Therefore, Alexander walked toward Max's side of the bed.
Max didn't know what he intended to do and shrank his entire body under the covers, leaving only half his little face exposed.
Alexander suddenly leaned down and gently kissed his forehead.
Max froze completely.
Except for Mommy, no one had ever kissed him before.
Instinctively, he should have felt resistant and repulsed, but instead, his body went rigid and he didn't move at all.
Max hadn't expected Alexander to give him the same goodnight kiss as Liam.
Something deep in his heart stirred powerfully.
Back in his study.
Alexander received a report call from Jeremy.
"Mr. Hayes, I'm very sorry. Regarding Max, despite my investigation, I haven't made any progress."
Alexander looked at the virus sample on his computer screen. This was the virus that had recently breached Crest Corporation's entire security network. Programmers who had dissected the virus structure found that its design was extraordinarily complex and seamless. Even the company's highest-level security staff couldn't eliminate the virus from its source.
In the end, the virus had been contained.
That child claimed he had developed this virus.
Due to the virus invasion, Crest Corporation had suffered heavy losses and needed to rebuild their security network. Fortunately, no important business secrets or client data had been lost.
It was all like a child's prank.
He was only seven years old. How could he develop such a terrifying virus program?
More importantly, Alexander had asked Jeremy to investigate this child's background thoroughly, but came up empty-handed.
He seemed like an ordinary child, just like his peers, with a simple background.
But Alexander knew this child's origins were definitely not simple.
...
Foster Manor.
Deep into the night, lights blazed throughout the estate.
Mia snuggled pitifully against Evelyn's side, complaining, "Mom, you didn't see the scene today. Grace was so arrogant in front of me, making me lose face completely!"
Evelyn Foster was Grace's stepmother. When Grace's biological mother Hannah Foster was seriously ill, David Foster paid no attention to Hannah and instead indulged in Evelyn's tenderness.
At that time, Hannah's condition wasn't terminal—surgery would have improved everything.
But Evelyn, arm-in-arm with David, brazenly entered their home and said to Hannah, "When you die, I'll marry David. I'll take his surname and become Evelyn Foster."
David was deeply moved by this and declared he would divorce Hannah.
Hannah couldn't bear such a blow. Filled with despair, she jumped from a building and killed herself.
However, Grace was still young then and only knew her mother had died of illness. In reality, Hannah had been driven to suicide by Evelyn's cruelty.
David was an extremely obsessive man who feared Hannah's death would bring misfortune to the Foster family. So her coffin was never properly buried. He hired a priest from a special religious sect he believed in to perform a ritual at an abandoned well in the suburbs, sinking Hannah's coffin into it.
Not only that, but Hannah's spirit was supposed to bless the Foster family's prosperity for generations to come, while her official grave was nothing but an empty tomb.
From then on, Grace was also neglected and suffered countless cold stares.
Meanwhile, Evelyn, after bearing David a son and daughter, enjoyed endless favor.
Grace had been missing for many years. Evelyn only knew she had lived miserably, but never expected that now she had somehow attached herself to a wealthy noble family.