Chapter 15
Chapter 15
This was the first time Olivia felt such affection for a young boy. She had always been a person who did not show strong or intense feelings outwardly. She kept her feelings closely guarded, finding it difficult to open up to others. She was not particularly fond of children either. Sometimes, when encountering mischievous and naughty kids on the street, she would involuntarily furrow her brows and take a different route to keep her distance from them.
However, Andrew seemed to be sitting right in her heart, making it feel soft and tender.
She did not even want to bother about the matter with Abigail anymore. After the banquet ended, she even received a call from Andrew, who invited her to his house tomorrow to see the drawings he had made. “Sure,” Olivia said as she nodded. She agreed to come to Andrew’s house. Then, she could not help but enjoin. “How can a little kid stay up so late?” she said. “You wouldn’t grow taller if you were to stay up late.”
Upon hearing this, Andrew became very nervous. He was worried that if he did not grow taller, Olivia would not like him anymore. He quickly nodded and said, “I’ll go to bed now. Good night, Olivia.”
After saying good night, he felt like it was not enough, so he added, “I will grow taller. I will grow really tall.”
“Alrighty,” Olivia replied as she smiled gently. Her heart was filled with bittersweet happiness.
Over at the Sullivan family’s home, the nanny, Zoe Carter, noticed that the lights in Andrew’s room were off. She was rather surprised.
“Zoe thought, ““Andrew has always been a night owl and rarely goes to bed this early. It’s only 10 o’clock, and he actually turned off the lights? He stayed up past midnight just yesterday and didn’t
wake up until noon the next day, which made Mr. Sullivan so angry that he picked him up and said he would send him away.”
“Could he be sick?” Zoe was very worried.
She tiptoed to the door of Andrew’s room, gently pushed it, and softly called, “Andrew, are you asleep?”
Andrew was tossing and turning, trying to induce sleepiness. He was already having trouble falling asleep, yet Zoe still came to interrupt.
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Instantly, he got displeased. He threw a little tantrum and said, “Who let you in? Get out!”
Zoe was very apologetic. She said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Are you feeling unwell. Andrew?”
When children threw a tantrum, it could be difficult to manage. Andrew was only four years old. He had not quite mastered controlling his emotions yet. However, he had a good upbringing. Soon afterward, he realized that he had misbehaved.
He thought, “My attitude is so bad. How could I get angry at Zoc? She’s been so kind to me.”
This was because his mind was preoccupied with something that bothered him. He was worried about not growing tall, yet he could not fall asleep. Hence, he snapped at Zoe.
A four–and–a–half–year–old boy could not handle such complex emotions yet.
Andrew immediately broke down, burying his head in the pillow and crying.
This cry startled Zoe.
“Why are you crying?” Zoe asked. “Are you feeling unwell?” Zoe instructed another nanny to quickly ask Daniel to come over. She then walked to Andrew’s side and reached out to touch his forehead.
Andrew did not have a fever. He was just a bit sweaty.
Zoe pulled the blanket a bit and softly comforted him, saying, “Why are you crying, Andrew?” she said. “Did someone bully you?”
By the time Daniel arrived, Andrew had been crying for quite a while. His eyes, nose, and cheeks were all red. His neck was damp. The air in the room felt stuffy.
Daniel signaled to Zoe to turn on the air conditioner.
Zoe did not move. She softly reminded, “Andrew may catch a cold.”
Daniel frowned. He no longer insisted on turning on the air conditioner. With just a lift of his hand, he carried Andrew from under the blanket.
Daniel was a person who had never been patient. He was not patient toward his son either. He could not comfort Andrew in the same slow and gentle manner as Zoe did. He went straight to the point and asked, “Why are you crying?”
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Andrew turned his head away, ignoring Daniel.
He was behaving like a proud and stubborn little rascal.
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“If you don’t want to sleep, don’t sleep then,” Daniel said. “Sit here and cry.” Paniel had spent a long time searching for Olivia on the subway today. He was already filled with frustration. He was too busy to give any attention to Andrew, so his tone was harsh when he spoke.
Andrew was not afraid of his father. However, upon hearing that Daniel did not allow him to sleep, he immediately became nervous.
He wiped his tears and said, “I can’t fall asleep.” His voice was soft, and it carried a trace of a sob.
Upon hearing this, Daniel chuckled. He raised his hand and patted his son’s head.
“He is just a little boy, yet he has insomnia,” Daniel thought.
He softened his voice and said, “If you can’t sleep, don’t sleep then. Go to the living room and watch TV.”
The amount of time that Andrew was allowed to spend watching television was strictly controlled. He was only allowed to watch for two hours a day, and he had already used up his allocated time today. When Daniel told Andrew to go watch television, he was essentially giving Andrew extra time beyond the usual limit.
If it were in the past, Andrew would definitely be extremely happy.
But today, Andrew did not move. He just looked up at Daniel with a pair of moist eyes and stubbornly emphasized, “I want to sleep.”
Seeing these eyes that resembled someone else’s a lot, Daniel’s heart softened for a moment.
He gestured for Zoe to leave. Then, he held Andrew in his arms and lay down on the bed. His tone was unusually gentle as he said, “Daddy will sleep with you.”
Andrew had always slept alone since he was an infant. He had never shared a bed with his father.
Children were like that. Even if they usually had many grievances against their father, they became tender and clingy as soon as their father showed gentleness.
Andrew leaned against Daniel’s embrace and confided to him.
“Tomorrow, I will invite a friend to come over and play at our house,” he
said.
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“A friend?” Daniel said. He thought it was one of Andrew’s classmates from kindergarten, so he asked, “Want to go back to the old mansion? There’s a playground over there.”
Isabella doted on her grandson. She had specially set up a playground at her home.
“No. I am not going to the old mansion,” Andrew replied with an adult–like demeanor. “Olivia is an adult. She doesn’t like playgrounds.” “What did you say?” Daniel said as he suddenly sat up, his gaze intense
and fixed on Andrew. “Who is this person that you’re talking about?” Andrew felt a bit frightened. He shrunk his shoulders and said, “It’s Olivia.”
Upon hearing this, Daniel suddenly remembered something that Andrew had said earlier. When Andrew returned home, he enthusiastically told Daniel, “Daddy, I really like the girl from the Taylor family. Can she be my mom?” Afterward, Andrew continued rambling about something. At that time, Daniel was completely immersed in his own sense of disappointment, so he did not listen carefully at all. It was only now that he realized that Andrew was talking about Olivia at that time.
Daniel felt that his heart was racing intensely.
His lips trembled for a moment before he could speak normally. He asked Andrew, “Is the Olivia you mentioned Olivia Taylor?”
Andrew did not know why his father was so worked up. By now, he had calmed down and sat up. With an air of composure and confidence, he tilted his head to look at his father.
Andrew was still wearing pajamas, and his hair was disheveled. It was a little messy, but he exuded a unique sense of elegance like the young princes from ancient times.
He nodded at his father, indicating that the name was indeed correct. At the same time, he looked a bit puzzled. His attractive and adorable eyes were scrutinizing Daniel continuously. His tone was serious and cautious as he asked, “Do you know Olivia?”
This four–year–old boy was unbelievably smart.
He was just a little child, and he did not understand many things. However, he could quickly make judgments about the things he did understand.
With his thoughts in disarray, Daniel did not have the presence of mind
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to pay attention to his son. Daniel simply laid Andrew down, tucked him in, and instructed, “Sleep well.” Then, Daniel got up and left. Upon returning to his study, Daniel walked to the window and lit a cigarette.
He did not smoke regularly. He used to smoke heavily in the past, but later, someone mentioned that she did not like the smell of tobacco as it was unpleasant and caused discomfort. So, he quit smoking. It was only when that person disappeared from his life that he resumed smoking. During the first few years when he resumed smoking, he had a strong addiction. He smoked heavily. He could smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. But in recent years, he gradually smoked less. On one hand, it was because of Andrew, as the smell of smoke was not good for children. On the other hand, it was because of that girl.
He was afraid that after she returned, she would despise him and the smell of tobacco on him.
For some reason, Daniel felt a sense of warmth in the corner of his eyes. He blinked and cleared the moisture from his eyes. He walked over to his computer and started searching for information about the precious darling of the Taylor family who had gone missing for 18 years.
Just as he typed “Olivia Taylor” and hit the search button, there was a photo on the search page. The sight of the familiar figure in the photo made his eyes well up again.
Daniel supported his forehead and chuckled softly.
He was unsure if he was happy or mocking himself.
He thought, “You cheeky girl, you’ve finally come back!”