Richard's stare confused Ashley. "Are you OK?" she asked lightly.
Richard pressed his lips and continued staring at her in silence. Then, in a low and uncertain voice, he asked, "You... Aren't you afraid of me?"
The word "mom" lingered in his mouth for some time but, after much hesitation, he finally decided not to utter that word.
This response only confused Ashley even more. "Afraid of you? Why should I be afraid of you? You are my son.
I love you. Why should I be afraid of you? Why are you asking me such a question?"
Ashley's response calmed down Richard.
He smiled in relief, and a cute dimple appeared on his lower cheek.
Then, he threw himself into Ashley's arms and sweetly said, "Mom!"
Ashley's heart melted when she heard Richard calling her that.
However, she couldn't forget Richard's question just now, nor could she forget the dejected look on his face.
She gently took him to the living room to ask him more questions. Although she loved him dearly and didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable, there was one thing she really wanted to figure out.
But Richard seemed to be intentionally avoiding her gaze.
Ashley's voice became stern and serious.
"Richard, look at me."
It was the first time that Ashley had talked to him in such a tone. Richard sensed the seriousness of the matter and raised his head.
Looking straight into Richard's eyes, Ashley asked, "Tell me, why did you want to leave just now? And why did you ask that question?"
Uneasy, Richard lowered his head and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.
Silence fell over the room.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Ashley let out a sigh. She hadn't expected that Richard would be immune to hard tactics.
Finally Richard began to say something after Ashley's coaxing and comfort.
Somehow, he said in an aggrieved tone. "You... Don't you think I'm bad luck? I can see something that couldn't be seen by others. Besides, a lot of people didn't like me beca
ully.
The plot was conventional and stereotypical. The weak protagonist suffered from bullying at first, but his destiny changed after he found something and met someone new. Then, his strength and popularity gradually began to rise.
There were a lot of details in the novel, including information about gambling stones. Since this was what Ashley had begun reading the novel for, she paused and paid special attention to this part.
In no time, she was halfway through the novel, and she had become immersed in the story.
Back in high school, she had only been interested in reading romance stories that girls liked, but the novel she was reading now was more popular among men.
After a while, Ashley blinked her sore eyes and looked at the time on her cell phone. It was already eleven o'clock! She had been reading the novel for more than two hours without even realizing it.
However, she didn't want to rest at all. The more she read, the more energetic she became.
But she knew that she couldn't stay up late either.
Finally, she put down the phone and prepared to sleep.
Since she knew that Richard had a special ability that made him different from other people, she wanted to pay attention to it.
She knew what she was going to do.
After that, she began to research on gambling stones online.