As soon as Alice started crying, Joshua could not help but feel sorry for her. He sighed and pulled her
into his arms. “No, please don’t think that. I’m just… really busy with work lately.“
He lifted his head to wipe away the tears from under her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m home now.“
With her head down, a triumphant glint flashed across Alice’s eyes. She nodded meekly and said, “
That’s okay. If you’re busy, you should do work. All I needed to know is that you don’t hate the kids or
me, that’s all.“
Joshua gently patted her back to comfort her. “How could I hate you?“
He let go of Alice and bent down to hoist Nellie into his arms. “Come on, let’s eat.“
“Okay! “ Alice replied. She watched as Joshua headed t o the dining room with Nellie in his arms before
she turned around to glower at Neil. “You recorded me? You’re not so stupid after all.“
Neil grinned at her. “Well, I learned from the best, though you managed to outsmart us in the end. I
guess I underestimated you. “ With that, he turned around and swaggered off in the direction his father
had left.
Alice narrowed her eyes. She wanted so badly to punish these two rascals, but she was afraid that it
would arouse Joshua’s suspicion. How dare they trick her!
”Neil, Nellie, ” Joshua called. ”In the future, you can eat dinner whenever you feel like it. You shouldn’t
have to wait for me. ” He glanced at them before he added, ”Children shouldn’t have to please adults. ”
”Okay ! ” Nellie lowered her head and started stuffing herself with food. She gulped down her food
without even bothering to chew it thoroughly.
Joshua pitied the sight ; it seemed she was awfully ravenous. Finally, he sighed and said, ”If it’s not time
for dinner yet, you can ask Mommy and Daddy for some fruits or dessert. You’re growing now. You need
to eat more so you can grow strong and healthy.”
”Ms. Alice said that children shouldn’t have snacks— not even fruits or dessert. Otherwise, we’ll make it
a habit and will be too full for our regular meals.” Neil pursed his lips in indignation. ”Who should I listen
to, then? Ms. Alice or Mr. Lynch? Since you two have opposing opinions, why don’ t you fight it out and
then tell us who we should obey?”
Alice could not help but roll her eyes at this. She chuckled and said, ”Of course you should listen to your
father. He’s the head of this family.”
Neil glanced at her. ”This means we should only listen to him from now on, and we don’t have to do
everything you tell us to, right?”
Alice’s face turned pale.
Joshua frowned and cast her a glance. ”You still have to listen to your mother.”
”Oh.” Neil pursed his lips again. ”Well, then, I guess I don’t have to listen to her since she’s not even my
mother.”
Alice’s face lost its color completely.
“Neil.” Joshua frowned at him. “Come to my study later after dinner.”
“Okay.” Neil gave him a childish grin. “Is Mr. Lynch planning to give me a lecture?”
Joshua shot him a glare. He placed some more food on Nellie’s plate but did not say anything further.
After dinner, Neil sauntered into Joshua’s study and plopped down on the sofa. “What do you want to say
to me, Mr. Lynch?”
Joshua could not help but frown at his son’s sloppiness. “Sit properly! “
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda