Chapter 208
"Brian, how did you change? You used to be..."
Brian cut her off and asked back, "Don't you like it?"
"I like it!"
Elizabeth gave a small, firm nod, lightly tapping her cheek as if to ground herself. “It just feels so unreal,” she murmured, barely audible even to herself."
"Let's go eat."
Once the food was served, Elizabeth couldn't help but look up at Brian every few bites.
Later it turned into looking up after every single bite.
Brian glanced at her, "Just eat your food."
"Okay."
Elizabeth finally behaved.
Although she still didn't quite understand why Brian had changed, she was very obedient.
Not far away, our family of three sat here.
Jessica stared hungrily at the chicken leg on the plate, wanting Jason to pick it up for her.
"Daddy, I want to eat the chicken leg."
Jason smiled, "Want it?"
Jessica nodded hard.
Jason reached for the chicken leg, lifting it with unbothered ease. Under Jessica’s expectant stare, he set it straight into his own bowl.
Jason spoke slowly, "What a coincidence, I want to eat it too."
As Jessica's face looked like she was about to cry, he added, "Jessica, let daddy teach you something today—you should respect your elders, so I'll take this chicken leg."
I put down my utensils and looked helplessly at the childish Jason across from me.
"Stop teasing her."
Jason glanced carelessly at Jessica beside him, whose eyes were turning red.
"Who's teasing her? I'm petty, and I won't give chicken legs to people who betray their own family."
He really was quite petty.
Jessica felt wronged and tried to defend herself pitifully, "Daddy, I didn't betray our family."
Jason snorted, "So you’re out here calling other men handsome now? In front of me, no less. What exactly does Brian have that I don’t?"
I really couldn't hold back and rolled my eyes hard.
I had really overestimated Jason's generosity.
Jessica had just politely greeted Brian, and even that made him jealous.
It's really hard on my dear Jessica, having to manage her dad's feelings at such a young age.
Jessica clearly hadn't expected Jason to get angry over this comment.
She stood there stunned for a while before shaking her head, "Daddy, you're the most handsome. Mr. Ethan can't compare to even one strand of your hair."
Only then did Jason smile with satisfaction.
"That's more like it. Besides me, you can't compliment other men on being handsome, understand?"
Jessica thought about it but still couldn't help defending herself.
"Daddy, I wasn't sincerely complimenting him. That was just being polite."
But Jason spoke matter-of-factly, "You're my daughter, you don't go around praising other people. In this world, it's others who should be praising you, understand?"
"You should be arrogant and act like you're above everyone."
What on earth is he teaching Jessica!
This is my sweet, soft daughter!
"Jason."
I warned Jason.
Jason winked at me and blew me a kiss.
Jessica nodded, half understanding, "Daddy, can I flatter boys I like in the future?"
I looked at Jessica in surprise.
I didn't expect Jessica to be thinking about dating at such a young age.
"No, you're a girl. It's boys who should be flattering you."
Jason shook his head, "You're my daughter—the Cooper family’s little princess. Stand tall. You should carry yourself like you’re above everyone else."
Jessica blinked, "But daddy is really great, and he still flatters mommy."
I couldn't help but choke.
Jason rubbed my back gently as he spoke in an even tone, "So what? In daddy's eyes, mommy is also a princess—no, a queen. A man who can’t express admiration properly isn’t much of a man."
After saying this, Jason didn't hear Jessica's response.
He didn't mind and casually served me a bowl of chicken soup.
"This restaurant's chicken soup is pretty good, honey, have another bowl."
After he finished serving the soup, he turned around to find the chicken leg from his bowl was now in Jessica's hands.
She was eating it happily, her mouth all greasy.
Jason asked, "Where did you get that?"
Jessica blinked up at him, all innocence. “Daddy, didn’t you say I should act like I’m above everyone? I just wanted the chicken leg, so I took it!"
I held back my laughter, watching Jason's speechless expression.
That day I received a Facebook message from Lily.
I opened it and immediately laughed.
Lily had sent a photo of a bowl of seafood porridge that looked delicious.
Lily: [Look! This is the seafood porridge I made!]
Me: [Don't try to fool me. Everyone knows you can't cook.]
If you ask me, someone else made this seafood porridge!
Lily: [Why would I lie to you? I really made it. Look carefully—aren't I amazing?]
I zoomed in on the picture and looked at it carefully several times.
I realized the seafood porridge wasn’t something you could rush—most of the ingredients needed to be soaked overnight and simmered slowly for hours.
That's not something Lily would do.
Me: [Amazing, amazing, but who prepared the ingredients for the seafood porridge?]
Lily: [You can even tell that! To be honest, I didn't prepare them, but I really did make the seafood porridge!]
Me: [So who prepared the base ingredients?]
Lily didn't answer.
I couldn't help but laugh and kept asking, [So who prepared them for you?]
Lily left it on read, choosing to pretend she didn't see it.
Me: [Actually, I know even without you saying—it must be Ryan. It definitely couldn't be that old man Chris.]
Seeing Chris's name, Lily responded.
Lily: [I'm still eating! Don't gross me out!]
I raised an eyebrow, [So it was Ryan, right?]
This time Lily admitted it.
[It was him.]
Me: [Did you two get back together?]
Lily: [No, we just slept together. He said it himself—I don't need to take responsibility.]
I was confused.
Their relationship was really strange.
From the looks of it, it would be hard for Lily to cut ties with Ryan and his family.
I thought about it before replying, [It's good that he doesn't want you to take responsibility. Then you can sleep with him without worry! Since you're satisfied with Ryan's body, just drain him dry!]
Lily: [Enough about me. It's getting late—you better get ready to drain Mr. Cooper dry!]
I typed with a smile, [Stop it, what are you saying!]
"What are you looking at? You're smiling so happily."
I was holding my phone and laughing when Jason suddenly pushed the door open.
I instinctively put my phone face-down on the nightstand and shook my head. "Nothing funny."
Not giving Jason a chance to ask more questions, I immediately changed the subject, "You finished your work already?"
He'd been in the study dealing with work since coming home today.
"Yeah, time for bed. I came to sleep with you."
Sleep...
Thinking of what Lily said about draining him dry, my eyes flickered and my cheeks felt hot.
I burrowed into the covers and pulled them up to cover half my face, "I don't need company to sleep."