Xander was stunned. He chose not to tell Trueman the truth but instead replied, “It’s nothing.”
Then, he suddenly asked, “Daddy, do you think I really won’t be able to get along with my new father?”
Trueman sneered, “Of course. Do you think Justin Hunt treats you well?”
Xander thought for a moment and answered, “Not too well, but not that bad either, I suppose!”
“Then what about Nora Smith?”
Xander tilted his head and answered, “She treats me okay too. She didn’t drive me away, nor did she quarrel with Justin to get him to send me away. Instead, she’s very calm, as if she doesn’t care about my existence.”
“Really?”
Trueman sounded a little unhappy. “That woman sure is big-hearted. Or should I say that she doesn’t love Justin Hunt at all? Otherwise, why wouldn’t she care that her man has another child?”
Xander touched his nose and suddenly asked, “Is there a chance that she thinks I’m cute, so she can’t bear to do anything to me?”
“Heh,” Trueman suddenly laughed. “Do you think a woman would find her husband’s illegitimate child cute?”
Xander felt very uncomfortable being called an illegitimate child.
But he didn’t get angry.
Because Trueman was right.
He didn’t have a mother but was instead Justin’s child from some unknown woman. Didn’t that make him an illegitimate child?
Trueman went on. “Don’t be fooled by their superficial actions. Adults’ affairs are much more complicated than you think. They don’t care about you at the moment only because you haven’t grown up; you’re not a threat to Peter Hunt’s position yet. If you become outstanding enough to become the next heir to the Hunts, do you think they would still treat you well?”
For a while, Xander didn’t speak.
Trueman scoffed, “Have you forgotten about Prince Charlie? He is also an illegitimate child. His stepmother deliberately raised him into a good-for-nothing… That’s why you must find a way to drive Pete out of the Hunts! This is the only way you can become Justin Hunt’s only son, understand?”
Xander narrowed his eyes. “Yes, Daddy.”
Although he felt that Trueman was wrong, he did not refute him.
Since he was a baby, he had known that there would only be severe punishment waiting for him if he rebutted his father’s words.
He heaved a small sigh.
Then, he stood up and walked out. He was going to tell them that his birthday was also on September 8, so they could hold the birthday party together.
Xander had long forgotten Trueman’s instructions.
The excited boy went to look for Pete and Cherry, but when he walked up to the door of the room where Pete and Cherry were, he was instead stopped by a few children.
These children were all from his uncles and aunts’ families. They were about ten years old, so they roughly knew what they were doing. From a young age, their parents had told them to curry favors with Pete and had also forbidden them from bullying him.
When they heard that Pete was back, they specially came over to play with him.
However, they didn’t expect Pete to refuse visitations again. This made them feel rather bored.
Just when they were about to leave, they happened to run into Xander.
A kid said very loudly, “Is that Uncle Justin’s illegitimate son?”
Someone replied, “He does look a little like Uncle Justin, but what a pity that he is a little bastard without a mother! There’s no way he can inherit the Hunts!”
“Yes, yes! I even heard that he grew up with monsters in the wild. Can you speak human language?”
“C’mon, make a sound and let us hear it…”
The few of them surrounded Xander. They pushed him and bullied him. “Xander, right? Who is your mother?”
“He doesn’t have a mother, and he doesn’t even know when his birthday is! So, did he pop out of a rock?”
“Are you here to play with Pete? What makes you think you can play with him? Are you worthy of playing with him? He is the rightful son of the master of the household, what about you? You’re an illegitimate child! You can’t even compare to Pete’s little finger!”
“Why are you keeping quiet? Are you stupid? Pete is the smartest of us all, you know! I bet your IQ is not even a fraction of his. Also, do you know a birthday party will be held in a few days? Uncle Justin is holding it so that he can announce to everyone that Cherry is his daughter! It has nothing to do with an illegitimate child like you!”
The children were just repeating what they had secretly heard from the adults.
A boy named Xander had arrived, and everyone was talking about him. When someone asked if Pete’s status would be threatened, everyone had immediately refuted him.
Not only had Pete exhibited a high IQ since he was a baby, but his mother was even the young lady of the Smiths. With a status like hers, how would she not be able to protect Pete?
Therefore, everyone looked down on Xander.
The children’s words made Xander clench his
fists.
He stared at the kids in front of him. Although he wanted very much to charge forward and scratch their faces, he couldn’t do that. Every one of them was much stronger than him.
He focused on the leader of the group.
The kid was mocking him. He said, “Did you grow up with cats and dogs? Do you sleep together with them? Then can you talk like a
dog?”
Xander narrowed his eyes and touched his nose. Suddenly, he smiled and replied, “Of course. Not only can I talk like a dog, but I can even…”
He whispered something.
The leader of the children immediately took a step forward and asked curiously, “What else do you know?”
Xander grinned. “Come over here, I’ll only tell you about it.”
“Okay.”
The child leaned into his face. The next moment, Xander’s sharp little teeth clamped down on his ear!
“Ahhh!” An ear-piercing scream went right through the roof into the high heavens.
The kid shoved Xander away, but he didn’t let go. The rest of the children rushed forward and started beating Xander up, but Xander still refused to let go.
It wasn’t until his teeth had pierced all the way through the child’s ear that he finally let go. He ignored the pain all over his body.
He grinned and said, “In addition to knowing how to bark like a dog, I also know how to bite like one.”
He stretched out his hand and looked at the others. “Who’s the next one that wants to be bitten?”
Xander had blood at the corner of his lips at the moment. After saying that, his malevolent eyes looked at the other children. When the children saw the boy bleeding profusely, they became so frightened that they dispersed at once. “Run!”
Even the child who was bitten held his ear and rushed out with the other children.
Seeing them leave, Xander wiped the corners of his mouth. He rolled his eyes and walked towards Justin’s study.
He was going to tell his father that his birthday was also on September 8 and that he was not an illegitimate child!
He would get his father to announce to everyone on his birthday that he was his son!
In the study.
The seated Justin was musing after he saw Nora off.
He wondered when Xander’s birthday was…
If it was also September 8, then it would pretty much confirm that Nora was his mother too…