As Sophia walked out of the hotel room, she could clearly feel that people passing by were looking at her strangely. She wondered what she had done, but before entering the elevator, she heard discussions behind her.
"Who is this girl? Why did she come out of Mr. Hastings' room?"
"What did they do in there? I remember Mr. Hastings wearing white clothes when he came, so how did his clothes turn black after coming out of the room?"
"This girl is shameless..." followed by hateful insults.
Although the elevator doors had closed, Sophia could still hear clearly. Her delicate face showed an embarrassed expression. She couldn't understand why she was considered shameless. She was curious if these people had nothing better to do.
Sophia left the banquet scene and called Liam.
He was angry and said plaintively, "Mommy, it's already ten o'clock at night. Why haven't you come to pick me up?"
"I'm sorry. I just got off work. I'll come get you now." Sophia looked at the time and felt guilty.
Thoughtful Liam said, "Mommy, you just got off work? You must be tired. It seems like you're far away from me. How about you come tomorrow? It's late now, and I'm worried if you come by yourself."
"Okay." Sophia looked at the map and realized they were far apart. It would take her about an hour to take a taxi there. By the time she arrived, it would probably be after eleven at night. She felt it wouldn't be good to disturb the family hosting Liam at such a late hour, so she decided to get off work earlier tomorrow, buy some gifts, and then pick up Liam.
After Liam hung up the phone, he blinked his watery eyes and looked up. Carolyn was anxiously holding his small blanket and asked expectantly, "How is it? Did your mommy agree?"
"She agreed." Liam nodded.
Carolyn was overjoyed and quickly instructed Sam, "Did the chef prepare the supper? Bring it out quickly. Don't let my precious Liam go hungry!"
"Mrs. Hastings, I'm not hungry. I don't need to eat so much," Liam raised his little face. "Let the chefs rest. It's late at night."
"You're right. I will make sure they get off work earlier in the future, but tonight you haven't eaten much. You should eat more. If your mom sees that you've lost weight, she will be sad. I won't be able to face her then." Carolyn urged the maid to bring out the supper.
There were a total of eight dishes, but the maid stopped after serving the third one.
Carolyn asked, "Where are the rest of the dishes?"
Sam quickly replied, "Mrs. Hastings, Mr. Hastings has come back. He happened to have not had dinner, so the servant took the remaining dishes to him."
When Carolyn heard that Victor took the food she prepared for Liam, she angrily said, "He is an adult. If he's hungry, can't he cook for himself? Why does he have to snatch food from children? He's already so old. Does he think he can do whatever he wants just because he's made a little money? He can't have children, yet he dares to come home! Let him leave!"
Sam wiped the sweat from his forehead and felt a bit embarrassed. "Mr. Hastings has already come back. It wouldn't be good to drive him away, right?"
"Yeah, Mrs. Hastings. I have a small appetite. I can't eat that much. It's already embarrassing for me to eat and drink for free here every day. If you're angry with your son because of me, I will feel very guilty." Liam held the plate and blinked his beautiful big eyes.
"Liam, you're such a good boy, caring about others." Carolyn paid special attention to what Liam said, probably because he was too cute. His chubby little face was exquisite and beautiful, in line with her aesthetic taste.
Every time Carolyn saw Liam's face, she couldn't help but feel the urge to give her troublesome son a beating. She thought, 'How come other people can have such well-behaved and adorable children? Victor, as the CEO of the Aadelha Group, was very popular among all the Woerek elites. But why is he so useless?'
She felt like she needed to scold Victor to vent her anger!
Therefore, Carolyn went downstairs to scold her son.
Liam was confused, innocently looking at Sam. "Does Mrs. Hastings always scold people like this?"
Sam awkwardly smiled and said, "She used to do it, but she has been doing it more frequently lately."
Victor had a bad mood the entire day. He felt slightly pleased after lecturing Sophia. However, after being scolded by Carolyn, his face turned dark, but Victor didn't say anything and just ate his dinner in silence!
Seeing that scolding was not effective, Carolyn coldly said, "If you're hungry and want to eat when you come back, you should instruct the kitchen in advance. This food is prepared for the children. You are not allowed to eat it anymore."
"Mom, I am your own son," Victor sternly reminded.
Carolyn replied, "No, you'll embarrass me."
Victor had no words to respond.
He clearly felt that Carolyn had become much more irritable recently. He lost his appetite and put down his fork. "I'm going to bed."
Victor got up and quickly went upstairs. As he passed by the guest room, he stopped and glanced at the closed door. Unexpectedly, he could hear the voice of a child coming from inside. Victor frowned.
Just then, Sam opened the door and walked out of the guest room. He was startled by Victor standing at the door and quickly asked, "Mr. Hastings, good evening. Do you want to go in and take a look?"
Sam warmly invited Victor inside.
Victor relaxed his posture, restrained his curiosity, and asked in a deep voice, "Why did my mom arrange this child in my cousin's room?"
Sam explained, "Your cousin doesn't bring the child home often. Mrs. Hastings is afraid that the child will feel bored staying in one room for too long, so she lets him switch rooms every other day to add some freshness. Mr. Hastings, if you don't come back to sleep tomorrow, he will go to your room to play. Mrs. Hastings also said that your room has a good layout and location, and the child will definitely like it. If you can't find a wife for a long time, she will free up your room for the child to play with..."
For a moment, Victor felt like he was the one who had been picked up!
He annoyedly returned to his bedroom and slammed the door shut.
He roughly took off his shirt and washed his hands in the bathroom. Unknowingly, Sophia's angry face appeared in his mind. He thought, 'Damn it! Why did I think of that pretentious and shameless woman after listening to Sam's words?'
Victor gave an annoyed sigh as he dried his hands, then turned and headed to his study. He was in the midst of a frustrating work session when Zach called him, asking to go out for a drink.
Victor directly refused, saying, "I don't have time."
"Uncle Victor, please come out and spend some time with me. I'm really in pain..." Zach choked out.
Victor frowned. "Where are you?"
"At Nijjge Club," Zach said, stuttering.
It took Victor half an hour to navigate and find the bar. When he entered, Zach was already heavily intoxicated. There was no one around him, and there were three or four empty bottles on the table.
Seeing Victor arrive, Zach cried out, "Uncle Victor, you finally came. I thought you were ignoring me too."
Not pleased with his condition, Victor asked, "Because of that woman?"
Zach took a painful gulp of his drink. "I went to see her today, but she still rejected me."
"Then find another woman," Victor replied apathetically.
Shaking his head, Zach said, "I can't forget her. I really can't forget..."
Zach lifted his head to meet Victor's cold and stern gaze, saying, "Uncle Victor, do you know the feeling of desperately wanting something that you just can't have?"