“What’s that supposed to mean? Who are you going to punish?”
Morty came up.
Samuel frowned and grunted, “That’s my son, not yours! Even if he were, make him behave himself!
Ask him what he did!”
Ignoring Samuel’s wrath, Morty went straight forward to ask Lucas, “Tell me what happened.”
Morty said that calmly, but Lucas still kept his mouth shut. He went towards the mansion. Thinking that
this mansion actually belonged to Yasmeen’s father, he stopped at the gate. He turned around and
asked Nicole, “Can I find another place to be grounded?”
Nicole realized that she came here in order to pick up his son and then this got in the way.
“Go and wait in the car. I have something to say to Uncle Morty.”
Lucas did what she said.
Michele was upset seeing him like that.
“Daddy, the thing is...”
Michele explained what happened.
Morty kept frowning. He looked at Nicole and Samuel and asked, “You called Lucas a jerk?!”
“So what? You want us to praise him for what he’s done?”
Samuel was still mad thinking about what he had done to Yasmeen and Lucas didn’t even admit he
was wrong. Samuel hit her by mistake and now they had to see William in person.
Morty glanced at Nicole, “And Mrs. Green thinks so?”
Nicole didn’t answer but she seemed to agree with her husband that Lucas was wrong.
Morty laughed suddenly, “You guys are so busy putting your hands on each other that you have
degenerate into cavemen, aren’t you?”
That was pretty harsh.
Even though he was smiling, Nicole, Samuel and Michele could all sense his anger.
Samuel quickly stepped in front of Nicole.
“If you are mad, you can just yell at me. Leave my wife alone. I know you like Lucas but he is our son.
We have the right to teach him what is right and what is wrong.”
“You have the right to teach him a lesson.”
Morty’s chest started to feel tight.
He lit a cigarette. Even though Nicole hated the smell of smoke, Samuel didn’t do anything to Morty
and just said in a cold tone, “Better keep your distance before you do that. You’ve got a wife and a kid
and you’re still smoking? You’re a dad now!”
Morty was stunned and automatically turned to Michele.
Michele said hastily, “It’s okay, daddy, I wouldn’t mind.”
She looked up at him and giggled happily. He instantly felt something in his heart.
He put out the cigarette and apologized, “My mistake. Michele, you’re still too young and second-hand
smoking is bad for you. I won’t smoke in front of you and your mommy again.”
His words made Michele’s eyes wet.
Indeed, he treated her like she was the most precious thing in the world, unlike Dylan.
Morty asked, “You think Lucas is a genius and low-maintenance so you can treat him like an adult
now?”
“What do you mean?”
Hearing that, Samuel was still frowning. But Nicole finally saw what the reason was.
She suddenly realized that Lucas was only 7 years old, not 17.
If he did that when he was 17, then of course he would be a jerk. But now he was just a 7-year-old child
and he only did things out of instincts.
When Yasmeen and Lucas first met, things didn’t go pretty well.
Lucas was forced to fight her and Yasmeen even saw him naked. No child would bear such kind of
things. It was reasonable that he held grudges. Now they met again and Michele was in such a hurry
that Lucas thought she came for a fight. It was completely normal for him to protect Michele and said
mean things to Yasmeen.
But what did Nicole and Samuel do?
They saw this incident from the perspective of adults. It was truly unfair to Lucas.
Lucas never caused any trouble for them before and they subconsciously thought Lucas was mature
enough to handle anything, including this situation.
Nicole thought of the look on Lucas’s face and hurried to the car.
“Nicole.”
Samuel was a little surprised. Morty chuckled and said, “Mrs. Green seems much smarter than you.”
“Get lost.”
After that, Samuel followed her.
Lucas was sitting in the car alone, looking depressed.
When Nicole opened the car door, he quickly glanced and then looked away.
Nicole felt sorry and regretful for him.
“Sorry, sweetie, mommy shouldn’t be so mean. Please don’t get mad at me.”
Samuel heard their conversation and waited outside.
Lucas was about to cry and he felt wronged.
“Mommy, do you also think I was wrong?”
Lucas stared at her stubbornly, his eyes red, and Nicole felt really terrible.
She held Lucas in her arms and whispered, “If you were a grownup, you would be wrong. But mommy
and daddy forgot that you’re just a little kid. Lucas, you are so incredible and excellent and mommy and
daddy ignored that you’re only 7. It’s all our fault. We’re sorry.”
Morty was right. Lucas was just a child. How could they expect him to behave like a responsible adult?
They were too hard on him.
Lucas was sort of confused. But when he heard Nicole’s apology, he quickly said, “I just didn’t know
what I did wrong. I wouldn’t do that if Yasmeen isn’t so dangerous.”
Dangerous?
He thought a tiny little girl was a threat? Nicole was shocked at his words. But still, she said, “Yasmeen
was little two years ago and she did do something unpleasant. But it’s been two years and she must
have known better than that, right? Think about it, isn’t she different from what she used to be two
years ago?”
Lucas thought for a while and it seemed that she didn’t get physical first or forced him and Michele to
do anything. It was he who said mean stuff first. Yasmeen was better at fighting now. Two years ago,
he let her win. But today she almost beat him.
Thinking about that, Lucas nodded and admitted unwillingly, “She is a better fighter now.”
Nicole smiled awkwardly.
He seemed to focus on the wrong thing.
“Lucas, you may not be able to understand what I’m saying, but one day you’ll know that it was never
okay to hit a girl for a gentleman.”
“But she is not a girl.”
Lucas insisted on that and Nicole tried her best to explain it to him.
“But what you said to her was pretty hurtful. Think about it, if others say that to Michele, will you get
angry?”
Lucas was speechless hearing that.
Fine. If anyone dared to say that kind of stuff to Michele or Zoe, he would tear up that person’s mouth.
So, he was acting like a jerk back then, right?
Even though he was still mad at Yasmeen, he finally caved in, “Then I’ll just apologize to her. But
shouldn’t she apologize for what she did two years ago?”
He was still not okay with that incident. Although an apology wouldn’t make a difference and undo what
she had done, she must say sorry to him.
Seeing that, Nicole smiled, “Of course. You two settle this down. Mommy and daddy won’t get involved,
okay? But you should thank her for taking that slap for you.”
“She did that on purpose so I’ll owe her one.”
Lucas began to frown again.
He always seemed to keep frowning at the mention of Yasmeen.
Nicole didn’t know what to say. But kids were always so simple and blunt about how they felt. Maybe
one day when they grew up, they would finally realize feelings during childhood were the sincerest.
Samuel knocked on the door when he heard they solved the problem from the outside.
“I’m sorry too, Lucas.”
Lucas buried his face in Nicole’s embrace and ignored him.
He definitely did that on purpose.
Samuel was even a little jealous seeing their position.
“Let daddy hug you. Mommy hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
“No.”
Lucas rejected him without any hesitation.
Nicole curved her lips and said, “Let Lucas solve this by himself. We should eat first and then go back
to the mansion, okay?”
Thinking that Aiden and Dylan were still in the mansion, Nicole and Samuel became gloomy.
It had been almost two days since Evelyn’s last appearance and they still didn’t have a clue. As for Tim,
they didn’t even know where he was. They just hoped that they wouldn’t be too late.
They drove to the nearest hotel and went inside.
Lucas was texting Yasmeen but he seemed to be quite grim, just like the old Samuel.
Nicole clearly wanted to say something else, but she stopped, thinking of Lucas’s age.
Never mind. It was none of her business.
They enjoyed the meal very much. Before the desserts were served, Samuel’s phone rang.
“Mr. Green, Aiden woke up and wants to speak to you. He said he knows where Tim is.”
Nicole and Samuel were both surprised to hear that.
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