Chapter 957 Cute Susan

Chapter 957 Cute Susan

After school, she went straight to their rented apartment to wait for her boyfriend to get off work, then they headed out together to pick a gift for Teddy.

Patrick's office.

Patrick watched his son grab a water cup and smash it against the glass cabinet. He gave the boy a few light swats on the bottom, saying this wasn't hitting — this was parenting.

Randall and his girlfriend walked through the mall, weaving past display cases. "Buying Teddy jewelry?" Randall said. "You'd be better off buying him a thick coat."

"Why?" Susan didn't get it.

Randall had survived some rough times under that couple's roof. "Thicker clothes means more padding when you get hit."

So they went to the baby store.

Sure enough, before winter had even truly arrived, Teddy already had his first padded jacket.

Molly got her first padded jacket too — though hers was a gift from her husband.

They needed to buy two gifts for Teddy: one from Randall, one from Susan.

Night had fallen. The couple, done with their self-study session, decided to take a walk and unwind. They'd barely gotten started when Randall's phone rang — an unknown number. He answered politely. "Hello?"

On the other end, Jenny was crying. "Randall, is my dad with you?"

"No." Randall had no idea what was going on.

"Do you know where he went? I asked everyone at the company — they said whenever my dad goes out for business dinners, he always likes to bring you along. Do you know any of his close friends?"

"No," Randall said.

Jenny started crying again. Randall frowned. "What happened to Erik?"

"Can you help me? Come with me to look for my dad — I can't find him anywhere."

"Call Otto," Randall said. "And if that doesn't work, call the police."

"I can't reach Otto either. I already called the police, but they said my dad is an adult and he's only been missing for less than two hours — they told us to keep trying on our own first. Randall, you've had more contact with my dad than anyone else at the company. Please. My mom is losing her mind. I have to find him."

Randall stood there, frowning, and glanced at his girlfriend.

Susan opened her mouth and took a bite of the sandwich she'd just bought, cheeks puffed out. "Randall?"

Randall hung up and looked at her. "Susan, I need to talk to you about something."

Susan swallowed the sandwich in one go. "Randall, you don't need to ask. Just tell me what to do."

Randall was speechless.

He got Susan into the car and explained what had happened on the way over.

They arrived at Erik's townhouse.

They'd barely stopped when Jenny came running out the front door. She rushed to the passenger side, yanked it open, and was about to get in — then froze. Susan was sitting there, holding a half-eaten box of sandwiches, still eating.

Jenny blinked, then quickly went around to the back seat.

Someone came out of the house and called after her, "Jenny, come back soon — we still need to head home tonight."

Jenny nodded and thanked the neighbor.

Randall and Susan could already hear crying and shouting from inside, standing there at the door.

Susan took another bite of her sandwich, then reached over to the center console and took a sip of her hot cocoa.

"What's going on with your mother?" Randall asked.

Jenny buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "My mom found out about my dad's affair. Some woman is saying she's pregnant and pressuring my mom to agree to a divorce. My mom couldn't handle it — she called my dad, they got into a huge fight, and now my dad's saying he wants a divorce. My mom is falling apart."

Randall knew the story. Erik had married into his wife's family, taken over her family's company, and once he had real power, he stopped pretending to behave.

"Your mom didn't know before?"

Jenny shook her head. "I don't know."

Randall had gone with Erik to a few places over the years — including some sketchy spots Erik was always trying to drag him to. He remembered them all.

"Randall, if my parents actually get divorced... what am I supposed to do?" Jenny's voice dropped to a soft whimper in the back seat, fragile and helpless-sounding.

Right in the middle of that heavy silence, Susan let out a loud hiccup.

Randall turned. Jenny looked up. Both of them stared at the girl in the passenger seat.

Susan hiccuped again and froze.

Her face scrunched up, half embarrassed, half pouty. "Randall~ I ate too fast and swallowed a bunch of cold air and now I just — hic — I can't stop."

A fond smile crept onto Randall's face. How was she this cute? Even her hiccups were cute.

But he couldn't laugh — his colleague was grieving in the back seat. He waited for a red light, picked up Susan's hot cocoa, and held it to her lips himself. "Drink something warm. Get that cold air out of your stomach."

Susan pouted and took the cup, barely got one sip in — hic.

Randall reached over and gently ruffled the back of her head.

In the back seat, Jenny's sadness had somehow evaporated. She tried to steer things back. "Randall, you know where my dad is, don't you?"

"I don't. We'll just have to try our luck."

On the way, Jenny kept talking about how her parents had always seemed so happy together, how it had come to this. Randall said nothing. Whenever he had a free moment, his eyes drifted to Susan in the passenger seat, still hiccuping away.

Susan finished her hot cocoa and looked miserable. "Randall, I drank the whole thing and I'm still hiccuping."

Randall spotted a pharmacy up ahead and pulled over. Jenny thought they'd arrived somewhere. He grabbed the trash from the car, pinched Susan's cheek, and said, "Wait here a sec. I'll go get you something."

He tossed the trash and jogged into the pharmacy.

Left alone, Jenny looked at Susan, who was still hiccuping. "When did you two start dating?"

"That has nothing to do with finding your dad," Susan said. Hic.

Jenny didn't answer. She watched Susan through the rearview mirror from the back seat.

A moment later, Randall came jogging out, ducked into the 24-hour convenience store next door, and came back with a bottle of water. He unscrewed the cap and handed it to Susan. "Warm water. Keep drinking."

Then he opened the medicine bottle, shook out two pills, and placed them in her palm. "Tilt your head back. Swallow them in one go."

Susan hiccuped twice more, completely undercutting any attempt at dignity.

After she took the medicine, Randall drove on. He got out at a bar, did a quick sweep inside, came back out, and moved on to the next spot.

Randall had told Susan to keep drinking the warm water, but she'd already had a full cup of hot cocoa and couldn't take any more. So she sat there quietly imitating Teddy — mouth clamped around the bottle opening, refusing to actually drink.

Ten minutes into the search, Susan suddenly said, "Randall, I drank too much water. I need to use the bathroom."

Randall was speechless.

Jenny was frantically calling her father's phone. And Randall was driving around the city looking for a public restroom.