Chapter 7 You Are Mine From Now On

The headmistress of the kindergarten was sandwiched in the middle, looking left and right. "Mr. Sheng, something happened between the two kids. They fought earlier."

Moses took Carol to Selina and looked at her gently. "You and Carol step out first. I'll deal with this."

Looking at Moses, Selina pursed her lips. She wanted to object, but he held her hand and squeezed it while peering deeply into her eyes.

All she could do was nod and take Carol out.

When they reached the door, Carol suddenly turned around and looked at Moses. "We'll wait for you outside, Uncle Moses."

Moses affectionately gave her a thumbs up. Then, they left the headmistress's office.

Selina and Carol waited outside in the garden for a while. After a few moments, Richard also came out. He stared at her and her daughter with so much hatred in his eyes. His face was full of bitterness that he should not even have at his age.

Selina hated Viola, but the child was innocent.

Besides, Richard looked a lot like Ezra. He was like a mini version of his father. She really could not find it in her heart to hate the little boy.

She opened Carol's backpack, fished a lollipop from it, and extended it to Richard. "Candy can make people feel better," she said.

He glanced at the lollipop in her hand and sneered, "I don't want such childish stuff."

Then, Carol suddenly pulled her hand away. "Why are you talking to him, Mommy? No one likes a kid like him! He's a nuisance!"

"You're a nuisance!"

As soon as Richard heard Carol, he got so furious that his face turned completely red. He looked like he was about to pounce on her again.

Selina immediately stood between them. She looked at Richard and asked, "How old are you this year, Richard?"

He should be the same age as Carol. The precocious and extreme expression on his face reminded her of the child she had lost five years ago. She left in such a hurry that she lost the chance to give him a proper burial.

Thinking of that child, she felt a lump in her throat. Looking at Richard's cold face right now made her feel like she was staring into the eyes of a long-forgotten ghost.

Richard stared up at Selina's gentle face, and he felt warm in his heart. He had never felt such feeling around his own family. After a few moments of hesitation, he finally answered, "Five years old."

When Selina gave birth to her son and Carol, Viola was also pregnant and about to give birth to a child. That must be Richard.

That meant Carol and Richard were probably even born on the same day.

"You were angry at Carol because she made a face at you and laughed at you. Is that right?" She slowly reached out her hand and stroked the little boy's forehead.

He did not recoil or even flinch. He even leaned into her touch and nodded.

Seeing that her mother was treating the nuisance so gently, Carol stepped forward and pulled Selina away. She whimpered with much jealousy, "Don't you love me anymore, Mommy? Are you going to love him now?"

Selina could not help cracking up. She looked at Carol, kissed her on the forehead, and said in a kind voice, "You two are classmates, honey. I really hope that you get along well with Richard and all your other classmates."

With her rosy lips slightly upturned and her delicate face full of unwillingness, Carol retorted, "I have never met such a strange person like him. How could I be friends with him?"

Selina looked at her daughter and shook her head. She handed the lollipop to her and made a gesture to give it to Richard.

After hesitating for a while, her little girl sighed and extended the lollipop to Richard. "Well, you got mad today because of me. It's my fault. But you did something wrong, too. Why did you throw mud at me? Look at my beautiful face. It's ugly now because of what you did. You're a boy..."

Richard was aloof and a little arrogant. But at the same time, he was very precocious. He looked at Carol in front of him and then at her mother.

Selina was so beautiful, and her smile was so warm.

He slowly took the lollipop and said, "You're right. I'm sorry."

Selina and Carol were both shocked to hear those words out of Richard's mouth. Carol immediately took out another lollipop from her bag, yanked off the wrapper, and stuffed it into her mouth. "Well, you have accepted my candy. You are mine from now on."

Selina was chuckling once again.

With a blank look on his face, Richard peeled the wrapper off his lollipop and put it in his mouth. "Thank you for the candy," he said.

To Selina's surprise, Carol walked over to Richard and hugged him. "You are actually very handsome, Richard. But not as handsome as my Uncle Moses."

Obviously frightened by the gesture, Richard flashed Selina a panicked look.

Selina immediately cleared her throat and said, "You're making Richard uncomfortable, sweetie. Let go."

Hearing her mother, Carol let go of Richard right away, popped the lollipop out of her mouth, and stretched out her little finger at him. "Pinky swear that we will always be friends."

Richard glanced at Carol's little finger and then at Selina who nodded at him. Then, he finally wrapped his pinky around Carol's.

Selina found it amusing that her daughter's attitude toward another kid could change so fast. Less than an hour ago, she hated Richard to her core, and now she was talking his ears off. She seemed to be really excited to gain a new friend in the detached little boy.

Richard, on the other hand, did not say a word from beginning to end. He just watched Carol talk and talk and ate his lollipop with such unsettling elegance.

He really looked like Ezra.

Everything from his appearance to his demeanor was an exact copy of his father's.

What was wrong with her? Why was she suddenly thinking about him all the time?

He did not love her. Even if she had done so many things for him, he had not stopped once and appreciated her. He even accused her of cheating on him and carrying another man's child.

He looked at her and treated her like trash.

She raised her head, took a deep breath, and held back her tears.

She just concentrated on watching Carol and Richard who were chatting away happily. As it turned out, Carol had already added Richard's phone watch number and even started chatting with him in her phone watch. "Hello, Richard! I'm lovely Carol!"

Richard was the water to Carol's fire. Her storm was his calm, but they balanced out each other quite beautifully. He even seemed to be enjoying himself playing with her. He sent her back a message, "Hi, I'm Richard."

It was the most harmonious scene Selina had witnessed in a very long time.

Not for long, Ezra and Moses came out.

While Carol threw herself into Moses' arms, Ezra grabbed Richard and started towing him away like a wagon.

Richard looked back at Carol and waved his hand, "Bye."

It took all of three heartbeats for Ezra to usher his son into the car and drive away.

Selina had been so worried about Carol and Richard's issues that she completely forgot about her sprained ankle.

After setting Carol down, Moses noticed that her ankle was red and swollen. He frowned and squatted in front of her. "Your ankle is swollen. What happened? Take off your heels."

Before she could refuse, he already took off her shoe with one fluid movement. His warm palm gently covered her ankle. "How did you sprain it? Does it hurt?"

She shook her head and replied, "It doesn't anymore. It's getting late. We should head home. I can deal with my ankle there. Don't worry."

As she spoke, she tried to put her foot back in her shoe.

But Carol smartly picked up her heels and ran away. Chuckling, Moses scooped her up in his arms effortlessly.

"Moses, put me down. I can walk by myself."

But he ignored her and just carried her to the car where Carol was already waiting.

He really loved not taking no for an answer.

On the way home, Ezra sat in the car with a cold and ruthless expression on his tense face. Richard looked up at him and watched him quietly, waiting for a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

But none came. There was nothing but endless indifference.