Chapter 251: Chapter 251: How Old Is That Child?
Ann Vaughn emerged from the building as the breeze swept through, spotting the car with its headlights gleaming at the entrance, the withered vines around her heart pierced momentarily by sunlight.
Something uncontrollable suddenly broke through the surface.
She clenched her slightly cool fingers, opened the car door, and climbed in, feeling warmth instantly envelop her.
"Susie Sommers lives alone?" Cyrus Hawthorne glanced at Ann’s somewhat dazed expression and casually struck up a conversation.
"Yes, she lives alone." Ann had just been exposed to the cold wind, and the sudden heat made her brain sluggish.
"You live alone too?"
Ann was about to shake her head but hesitated suddenly, her bright eyes flickering, and she nodded without thinking, "Yes, why?"
"Not living with the nanny?" Cyrus recalled the investigative report Mark Joyce submitted today, his eyes deepening, "And the nanny’s son."
The nanny refers to Sherry.
The nanny’s "son" is...
Ann immediately became alert, observing Cyrus Hawthorne’s expression out of the corner of her eye, and speculated, "Same floor but different apartment, they need more space."
Upon hearing this response, Cyrus narrowed his eyes, "How old is that child?"
"Three... years old." Ann frowned slightly, looking at his mysterious profile, her heart tightening, "Are you investigating me or something else?"
"Really?" Cyrus chuckled lightly, but without warmth, "When I first met that child, he told me he was three and a half."
Just then, the car came to a steady stop in front of Azure Gardens Apartments.
Ann felt as if her heart had been tossed into the air and then slammed down hard, shattering, almost leaping out of her throat.
When... did he meet Kenny?
Kenny’s birth date is publicly stated as three years old, but he’s actually three and a half.
If Kenny told Cyrus Hawthorne that himself, how could she explain?
In just a few short seconds, cold sweat trickled down Ann’s back, her whole being tensed up.
"That child always wanted to celebrate his fourth birthday, because last year I gave him his favorite hero model." Ann collected her thoughts, unbuckled the seatbelt, and replied casually.
Cyrus observed Ann for a moment quietly, seeing that besides her initial surprise, there was no other change, and temporarily set aside his suspicion.
Once put aside, he realized how absurd it was.
Regardless of whether the child was kept, even if staying, according to the timeline, it couldn’t possibly be only three years.
That child doesn’t look like someone nearly four years old either.
This explains why the child’s mom is also a doctor.
Because his mom is Ann Vaughn’s assistant, also a doctor.
It’s just that he still harbors hope and refuses to give up.
"Living alone is unsafe, it’s best to have them accompany you," Cyrus advised after a long pause.
Hearing him not pursuing further questions, Ann didn’t relax, "No need, I don’t want to bother them."
Thankfully, when she bought her current apartment, she also bought the other one on the same floor.
Otherwise, there would’ve been no way to cover this lie, and Cyrus could easily uncover the truth with a simple check.
Yet leaving such an apartment unused seems wasteful.
Thinking about this issue, Ann’s gaze flickered slightly, somewhat lost.
And this trace of lostness fell into Cyrus’s eyes, appearing as if she was saddened because she didn’t want to see others living happily with their children.
He pressed his thin lips and raised his hand to gently stroke her fluffy head, "Go up and rest, don’t overthink it, goodnight."
Ann Vaughn: ??? What not to overthink?
After returning to the apartment, Ann shuffled to the window in plush slippers and saw that Cyrus Hawthorne’s car was still parked outside, not leaving.
"Mommy, what’s out there?"
A deliberately lowered childish voice suddenly came from behind, startling Ann to immediately turn around and pull the curtains closed.
Little Dumpling stood there in cow-print pajamas holding a cup of milk, gazing at her intently.
Ann’s heart skipped a beat, she couldn’t help but touch her wrist, "Mommy’s watching shooting stars; the observatory said there’d be a meteor shower tonight."
Kenny didn’t buy it, "Mommy, the weather report said there’d be thunderstorms tonight. And you always touch your wrist when you’re nervous."
Upon hearing this, Ann immediately looked down and saw that she had unconsciously been touching her wrist again.
To be precise, touching the crescent scar that was identical to the one on Cyrus Hawthorne’s lower back.
Back then, she was injured by falling debris, especially severely on her wrist.
Initially, Grandpa gave her scar removal cream, and it healed quickly.
Later, a small scar remained, which Ann thought resembled the crescent tattoo she designed for Cyrus Hawthorne’s back.
Rather than be unsightly, she didn’t want to remove it.
So she deliberately didn’t apply scar removal cream to that spot.
Luckily, the scar is faint and hard to notice unless one looks closely.
But Ann inadvertently developed the habit of touching the crescent scar whenever she’s nervous or otherwise.
At one time, this crescent gave her courage and power to overcome all obstacles, which then became a habit.
"Are you challenging your mommy’s authority?" Ann shook off her thoughts, scooping up Little Dumpling and carrying him to the children’s room, "Do you want mommy to tickle you?"
Kenny feared tickling the most, immediately giggling with pleas.
Ann tucked him into the small bed, thinking of the earlier car incident, and advised, "Baby, if a stranger talks to you in the future, ignore them, okay?"
The Archfiend is making a move?
Hearing this, Kenny immediately associated it with Cyrus Hawthorne, but seeing Ann’s slightly frightened look, he couldn’t help but reach out his chubby hand to hug her neck, nuzzling to comfort her.
Ann chuckled, then asked, "How’s the new school? Fun?"
"Fun." Kenny nodded his little head, mainly because there’s a lot of free time; he hasn’t yet handed over the blueprints he owes to his friends.
Spade J is on the verge of flooding the group with tears while urging for new blueprints.
If they found out that My King was just a three-and-a-half-year-old still attending kindergarten, they’d likely be rendered speechless.
"That’s good. Mommy doesn’t ask what dangerous activities you got into, but the happy childhood other children have, mommy wishes you to have too." Ann gently hugged Kenny’s milk-scented little body, her voice soft.
Kenny’s eyes widened, realizing mommy had always been aware of what he was doing?
Yet she never asked or tried to stop or oppose, giving Kenny the greatest freedom of choice.