Chapter 369 - Pete's Sense of Security

“You—”

He dissed Yvonne to the point that she was rendered speechless.

She turned and went upstairs in a huff.

Louis curled his lips disdainfully behind her and said to Lisa, “Don’t bother with her. She’s just spoiled.”

Spoiled?

Lisa bit her lip. “She looks pretty graceful to me, though.”

Louis gnashed his teeth in fury and said, “It’s all an act. I know that woman the best, we grew up together. She does one thing in front of other people and another altogether behind their backs, and is the most hypocritical person ever. She has no blood relation to the Smiths. She’d be nothing at all if Uncle Ian hadn’t adopted her.”

“… Oh,” said Lisa.

After saying that, Louis realized that it wasn’t appropriate for him to badmouth his family to an outsider, so he said, “Just keep waiting here. I’ll go up for now.”

He had a bedroom in the Smiths’ manor. When Louis heard that Yvonne was no longer taking charge at home, he had come back excitedly, hoping to see her down and out.

He had made up his mind—he was going to move back to the Smiths’ from this day on!

—

In the suburbs of New York.

Tanya was playing games with Pete in the villa. She had specially bought a jigsaw puzzle meant for twelve-year-olds and above, which had a higher level of difficulty, so that she could keep Pete company.

But unexpectedly, a brief two minutes later, Tanya looked at the completed jigsaw puzzle on the floor, and then at Pete, who sighed and said, “It’s too easy.”

Tanya: “…”

She asked tentatively: “Shall I buy you a jigsaw puzzle meant for grown-ups next time?”

“… God-mom, do you like jigsaw puzzles a lot?”

Tanya: “?”

Pete sighed and said, “I’ve already played with you for so long. Can I go and do my Olympiad assignments now?”

Tanya: “!!”

So, to Pete, doing jigsaw puzzles with her was actually a waste of time and energy?!

The corners of Tanya’s lips spasmed. “Go ahead.”

Only then did a satisfied Pete walk over to the desk next to them and take out his Mathematical Olympiad workbook from his schoolbag. Before he started working on the problems, he suddenly looked at Tanya and asked, “Is Mommy really okay?”

Tanya was taken aback.

She had brought Pete back with her after school the day before. Pete had followed her home without saying anything at that time. She’d thought that he wouldn’t ask about it, but unexpectedly, he was actually such a perceptive boy.

Tanya said, “She’ll be fine.”

Pete kept quiet for a while before he asked, “Mommy will come and pick me up, right?”

Tanya: “…”

The way he was asking those questions so seriously and with such a tense look on his face broke Tanya’s heart.

It was only then that Tanya realized that even though Nora had found Pete, and that even though he was sleeping on the same bed as his mother every day these days, Pete was actually still very insecure at heart.

She walked over, hugged Pete, and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, she’ll definitely come. Your mom loves you very, very much. When we were looking for our children abroad back then, she was really crazy about it.”

Her words piqued Pete’s interest all of a sudden. He asked, “How so?”

Tanya: “????”

Pete put down the workbook in his hand and looked at her seriously, his eyes full of interest. He really wanted to know all the details!

The corners of Tanya’s lips spasmed. She had gotten him so many toys, yet none of them had aroused Pete’s interest at all. Instead, a simple one-liner from her had unexpectedly made the boy so fixated on something.

She could only say, “Your mom was in poor health when she first went overseas. Even so, she insisted on coming to our meetings every week and listened to us share our experiences in looking for our children. After that, she would try again and again to return to the States. At that time, she was falling comatose for a while almost every day, so your grand-aunt never allowed her to come back. Thus, she got people to look for you in the country instead.

“I remember that there was once a liar who called your mom and told her that he had found clues about your whereabouts. We all knew he was a liar, but your mom believed him. I tried to talk her out of it when she was giving him money, but she instead said, ‘I know he’s a liar, but what if he really has news about my son? I won’t allow myself to miss out on any possibility.’

“There was also another time someone told her that they might have news about you. She had a fever at that time, but she still made herself go over. In the end, it also turned out to be fake news, but she passed out in the wilderness and was almost eaten by wild dogs…”

Tanya’s eyes reddened as she spoke.

It hadn’t been easy for her and Nora during all those years back then.

Nora’s suffering had already come to an end, but what about her?

There was still no news about her child even now.

Tanya lowered her head. She didn’t notice Pete’s eyes flickering.

Even though Pete now had a mother, he had still felt insecure all this time. After all, his family was incomplete, and Mommy was always finding Daddy too troublesome.

He had actually had nightmares quite a few times.

He dreamed that Mommy had gone abroad with Cherry and didn’t want him anymore. He kept chasing after them, but he simply couldn’t catch up to them at all.

His feet were so heavy in the dream.

He was afraid that Mommy would suddenly separate from Daddy one day and leave him.

Listening to Tanya talk about how Mommy had looked for him so painstakingly back then made him distressed, but also relieved at the same time.

What Cherry said was true—Mommy had never given up on him before.

After Tanya talked about the past for a while, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Pete got up at once. “It must be Mommy!”

Tanya stared at him, caught between laughter and tears. It was only at times like this that Pete looked like what a boy his age should look like.

She smiled and went to open the door. “You’re finally here! Your little brat is already sick of me by now!”

She opened the door as she spoke intimately, only to see Joel standing outside instead.

Tanya was stunned. “Why are you here?”

Joel’s fox-like eyes, which easily made one feel as though he was deeply in love with them, were fixed on her.

But Tanya knew exactly how heartless the man was.

Seeing her expression go from joy to wariness, Joel lowered his gaze, acerbity filling his heart.

He said softly, “Nora is fine now. I came to take the child home.”

Tanya was a little taken aback when she heard his term of address for Nora. Then, she looked away and uttered, “Oh.”

She then glanced at Pete and asked, “Has she gone home yet?”

“No, but she’ll be home soon.”

Tanya was very wary. She said, “You can’t take the child if she isn’t home. Let’s wait until she’s home.”

“Okay.” Joel was unexpectedly agreeable. He asked, “Are you planning to have me wait outside, Ms. Turner?”

Tanya: “…”

Seeing that Joel was about to enter, Tanya stopped him at the door and said, “It’s not quite appropriate for a man and a woman to be alone together this late at night, is it, Mr. Smith?”

Joel kept quiet for a moment before he said, “Isn’t the child also at home?”

The way he spoke sounded as if the child was theirs.

Tanya sneered and said, “The child is still young, so it’s still inappropriate. You’d better go back to the car and wait there instead, Mr. Smith. I’ll let you take the child once Nora gets home and retrieves her cell phone, and I confirm things with her.”