Joshua lowered his head. When he looked at the adorable handsome boy, a burst of warmth rose in his heart somehow.
"Where did you bastard from? Who is your dad? Why are you yelling at random?!" Madeline broke out into curses despite herself with shock and anger when she saw the kid suddenly appeared.
"Wow—" The little dough, which was scared by her, opened his mouth to cry directly.
Joshua turned his head around and gave Madeline a cold look. "He's just a kid. Miss Carter, please show your upbringing."
Madeline was embarrassed and angry. Joshua actually rebuked her for being ill-bred.
Blame it on the little bastard! Madeline thought maliciously in her heart. But the next moment, she was dumbstruck as she saw Joshua's movements.
Joshua leaned over to gently hold the dough in his arms and tickled him. Looking at the uncle, the little dough kept giggling.
Madeline was jealous and exasperated from the bottom of her heart. She had been accompanying Joshua. Joshua was not at all close to her, but at least he was not close to anyone else, either. However, now he was actually so kind to a strange child!
"Sorry, sorry…" A young, strange woman rushed up hurriedly. She awkwardly took the baby from Joshua's arms. "I'm the baby's mother. I didn't expect he'd run off when I failed to watch him."
When Joshua saw the child open his arms to her, he confirmed that it was the child's mother, so he handed the child over to her.
"Children like to run, be careful," he said in a deep tone.
"I will, I will," the mother repeated and still felt a little frightened. "Thankfully, my baby has met you, a good man. It would be best if you liked children very much. Thank you so much..."
The eyes of Madeline, who were originally indignant, suddenly lit up. Does Joshua like kids? So if she managed to be pregnant with Joshua's baby, wouldn't she be able to own his heart?
Seeing the mother keep expressing her gratitude and walk away with the baby, Madeline hurried to come to Joshua. "Joshua," she said with an obsequious face, "Joshua, I like children, too. They are soft and lovely, like little angels. It would be much fun to have a lovely baby around..."
There was a touch of sarcasm in Joshua's eyes. If Ted hadn't insisted, he wouldn't have allowed such a woman to follow him.
"I never expected Miss Carter to be such a caring person."
Madeline said, "Yeah, I've always been very caring."
"But one child is unlikely enough?" Joshua wore a half-smile.
Madeline was so happy that she almost fainted! What did Joshua mean? Was he implying that he wanted her to be pregnant with many children for him?
"Not enough. Of course, the more children, the better!" she hurried to speak.
"In that case…." There was a flash of amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes, and he said to the bodyguard behind him, "You, take Miss Carter to a kindergarten. There should be many children for Miss Carter to show her love."
"What?" Madeline's jaw dropped. Why did Joshua react differently from what she thought?!
She said hastily. "I, I don't mean that…."
"Oh?" Joshua's cold eyes fell lightly on her. "Do you mean that you don't love children or that you don't have love?"
His statement choked her up. She hadn't expected that she would shoot herself in the foot! If she denied it now, wouldn't Joshua think she was very hypocritical?
Eventually, with reluctance, Madeline was sent to the kindergarten by Joshua's bodyguard.
Hardly had Joshua arrived when Ted called.
"Mr. King," Joshua spoke quietly.
"..." Ted had initially intended to say something to him, but 'Mr. King' choked Ted up.
He opened his mouth helplessly. "Joshua, I'm your father."
"Sorry, I can't feel it," Joshua spoke quietly. "If you're talking about parents' d.e.s.i.r.e for controlling children, that's pretty obvious."
"..." Ted was even more helpless.
After Joshua woke up, he forgot everything, but he was unwilling to call Ted's father. Joshua's reason for this was that he didn't feel Ted was his father at all. But when he faced Stacy, Joshua was willing to call her mother gently. This made Ted stifled.
Ted also knew that Joshua gave him a dig now because Joshua was not happy with Madeline following him around.
"I asked Madeline to follow you only because I wanted her to take care of you. I didn't mean to spy on you," Ted explained.
Ted was a little guilty somehow. He made the call just because Madeline snitched on Joshua, so no wonder Joshua didn't believe him.
"Well, take care of your own business, and I won't say much," Ted said, "but remember, you go to Country Z only because you must bring your brother back. This must be done as soon as possible. Joshua, don't stay too long in Country Z."
Joshua frowned a little. Instead of saying yes, he calmly asked, "Mr. King, why do you urge me to go home so quickly? Are you afraid of something?"
Ted had a headache. He had always been proud of Joshua's exceptional intelligence, but when that intelligence was used to fight against him, who was his father, it was a little tiresome.
"I've told you your brother misunderstood me... And he now runs the organization. If you spend too much time in Country Z and try to take him on, you're going to suffer."
"Is that why you want me to kidnap him?" Joshua jeered.
"... I don't want you guys to fall out." Ted was helpless and said in a deep voice, "Three days. I'll give you three days. You must bring Simon back!"
Ted believed in Joshua's ability. Three days was enough time for Joshua to bring Simon back. In addition, Joshua wouldn't run into Hazel in such a short time. Even if they did meet, with Madeline around, Ted didn't think Joshua would be able to become entangled with Hazel.
"Got it," Joshua said Indifferently and hung up directly.