hapter 262
Chapter 262
Jayden stood with his hands behind his back and asked, “Can we talk inside the room?”
Eliana nodded at him. “Sure, come on in.”
After Jayden entered the room, Eliana saw him still keeping his hands behind his back.
She thought he might want her to help solve some problems about homework. But he said, “You gave me a shell
necklace, so I want to give you a gift in return.”
Eliana thought, ‘This little tyrant actually knows how to return a favor. And he’s being so serious about it.‘ He was
more like Theodore than Anthony. Eliana couldn’t help but chuckle. “What’s the gift?”
“Take this.” Jayden finally showed his hands, where there was a piece of drawing paper, a bit crumpled from being squeezed.
Eliana took the paper and unfolded it. On the drawing was a woman holding two children’s hands, with a Pekingese squatting beside the woman’s feet.
Seeing Eliana staring intently at the picture, Jayden cleared his throat and pointed at the woman in the drawing. “Look, this is you.” Then he pointed at the two children, “These are your two future kids. Cute, right?”
Eliana looked at the two abstractly drawn children and said quite insincerely, “Hmm, very cute.” After a pause, she looked at the Pekingese by the woman’s feet and asked, “What’s this dog?”
Jayden answered without thinking, “It’s Theodore.” The next second, Jayden clutched his forehead and looked at her in surprise. “Why did you hit my head?”
Eliana pulled back her hand, which had just flicked his forehead, shook her head, and said, “Don’t be disrespectful to your elder brother. I don’t want to hear anything like that anymore.”
Jayden snorted and said, “Then when he bullies me, why don’t you say anything to him? You’re a biased, bad woman.”
Eliana said, “What did you say?”
Seeing Eliana raise her hand again, Jayden instinctively covered his forehead and said, “Don’t hit me. If you hit me again, I won’t grow tall.”
“I’m not going to.” Eliana rubbed his forehead and said softly, “Thank you for the gift. I’ll keep it safe.”
Jayden met her gentle gaze, and his face turned red. “As long as it can comfort you, that’s enough.”
“Huh?” Eliana was confused about why he thought she needed comfort.
At that moment, Samuel walked in. When he saw Jayden in the room, he looked as if he’d seen a ghost.
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Chapter 262
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Samuel knew better than anyone how difficult this kid was. Back then, Jayden always snuck in to provoke Theodore when he lost his vision. Samuel was worried that Jayden played prank on Eliana this time.
UUF F
Thinking this, Samuel took a quick step forward to pick Jayden up and walked outside.
“Hey, Dr. Wilson–” Eliana wanted to say something, but Samuel shut the door with his foot.
Outside the room, Samuel put the struggling Jayden back on the ground and warned, “Stay away from her.”
Jayden patted his clothes and said unhappily, “She invited me in. What’s wrong with you?”
20
“Kid, you can fool others, but not me. I remember exactly how you mocked Mr. Russell and then acted innocent in front of others afterward.”
Every time he thought about it, Samuel couldn’t help gripping his teeth.
Jayden clicked his tongue. “Ridiculous. You mean I can’t like Eliana because I hate Theodore?”
Samuel was stunned. “You say you like her?”
“Yeah. She saved me, pleaded for me. She’s better to me than anyone, so why can’t I?” Jayden’s affection for Eliana carried an amusing childishness.
Samuel couldn’t help but remember that he heard from Theodore that Eliana once saved Jayden from an icy lake, which made her run a high fever.
Samuel had come to give her an IV at that time, but he’d even scoffed in his heart that saving Jayden was the worst decision she had ever made.
“So you weren’t here to provoke her?” asked Samuel.
Jayden said, “Of course not. I came to give her the drawing. It has her in it, and two kids–”
“What did you say?” Samuel suddenly cut him off and asked angrily, “Why did you mention kids in front of her?”
“Why are you so angry?” Jayden felt pissed, then realized. “She doesn’t know that Alice hurt her?”
Samuel said, “Of course not. Mr. Russell and I are deliberately hiding it from her, afraid it’ll stress her out and hinder her recovery. You gave her this drawing. What if she overthinks it?”
“Um… I’ll go get it back?” Jayden panicked. His original intention was never to provoke Eliana.
“If you go get it back, it’ll only make her more suspicious.” Samuel was so angry. “Forget it. Just pretend this never happened. You mustn’t slip up in front of her later. Got it?”
Jayden nodded quickly.
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Chapter 262
Meanwhile, at the Burke Manor, Hannah had just woken up and come downstairs. She saw Hudson in a suit, looking energetic and ready to go out. She couldn’t help but ask, “Dad, it’s Saturday. Where are you going?”
Hudson said naturally, “Going to the company to work.”
“Work?” Hannah thought he was out of his mind. “Aren’t you going to play chess or go fishing? What about your old friends?”
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“Well, I don’t have time to mess around with them now.” As Hudson spoke, he glanced at his watch reflexively and said, “I have to hurry, or Linsey will nag me again.”
“Dad” Hannah wanted to say more, but Hudson had already put on his shoes and gone out. His back looked surprisingly full of fighting spirit.
After observing him for over a week, Hannah had to admit her dad had changed. He no longer fixated on family trivialities but focused on his career.
Since she’d applied to work at Burke Group, even if she was wronged at work, Hudson no longer stood up for her. He only said if she couldn’t take it, she could come home, and he’d afford her life.
All changes happened because of Linsey. Hannah wondered what exactly that woman was.
As Hannah was lost in thought, her phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw it was Belinda calling, so she answered, “Mom?”
After chatting for a while, Belinda asked awkwardly, “Hannah, has your dad mentioned me lately?”
“Well,” Hannah lied, “Of course, Dad has often talked about you.”
“Really?” Belinda asked excitedly, “Did he say when he’ll come to apologize and pick me up?”
Hannah was speechless because Hudson had never mentioned anything like that.
Just when Hannah pondered how to reply, she heard someone say to the phone, “No, Mom. Not at all.”
Hannah immediately looked over and saw Isaac chewing instant noodles. She shouted, “Shoo, just eat your food. Don’t talk.”
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