Noah nervously asked, "Where did she take Charlotte to play?"
Alexander sat on the sofa with a gloomy expression, arms crossed, and said in frustration, "I don't know! No matter where we went before, Mommy always took me and Charlotte together. Now she only takes Charlotte."
The more he talked, the more aggrieved he felt.
His eyes turned red, and tears welled up.
Upon learning that Samantha only took Charlotte out to play, Noah also felt extremely frustrated.
He sat silently on the sofa without saying a word.
Ethan didn't understand why they were acting this way, thinking they wanted to go out and play. He said casually, "Don't cry. Do you want to go out and play? I'll take you."
Alexander and Noah both shifted their gaze to him.
Ethan continued, "Go upstairs and change your clothes. I'll take you out immediately."
Alexander and Noah both glared at him, then got up and went upstairs without saying a word.
Ethan thought they were going upstairs to change clothes, patiently sitting on the sofa and waiting for them.
Waiting and waiting.
Half an hour passed.
They still hadn't come down.
Ethan became uneasy, got up, went upstairs, and knocked on their bedroom door.
"Are you ready?"
No response from inside.
He was afraid something might have happened to them. He wanted to open the door but found that they had locked it from the inside.
Ethan frowned in displeasure.
Just as he was about to use a spare key to open the door, he heard a muffled voice from inside. "I don't want to go out with you. Go away. I don't want to see you. It's all because you bullied Charlotte that Mommy doesn't like me. I hate you."
Ethan: "???"
Then, Noah's voice rang out, "I don't want to see Father either. Please, Father, leave."
Ethan couldn't help but laugh. With a wry smile, he ground his teeth, turned around, and left.
...
Dinner time.
Anna and Suzy arrived.
They brought a whole carriage of toys for Alexander and Noah.
Anna and Ethan discussed, "Your grandfather has spoken. He wants to organize a private party for Alexander and introduce him to all relatives and friends. Prepare well, teach him some etiquette, and don't embarrass us. In these four years, he has picked up many bad habits being with Samantha."
Ethan didn't like her belittling Samantha, and a touch of coldness appeared in his icy eyes.
Sensing his anger, Anna wisely closed her mouth, said no more, and went upstairs with Suzy, carrying the toys.
Presenting the toys in front of Alexander and Noah like treasures, she said, "Look, Grandma and Mommy brought you something."
She then unpacked the toys and arranged them on the floor.
Alexander and Noah gave the toys a disdainful glance, their faces full of scorn.
Seeing their cold expressions, Suzy tried to please them, "Do you not like these toys? Tell Mommy what you like, and Mommy will buy them for you."
Alexander frowned in disgust, "You're not my mommy. Don't call yourself my mommy; it makes me sick to hear."
Suzy's expression froze. A hint of embarrassment flashed across her face.
Seeing this, Anna, displeased, sternly said, "Alexander, you're not allowed to speak to your mommy like that. Whether you acknowledge her or not, she is your biological mommy. If it weren't for Samantha separating you four years ago, you wouldn't have been apart for so long, and your feelings for her wouldn't have faded. Now that you're finally reunited, you can't treat her like this."
Implicit in her words was that all of this was Samantha's fault.
Although Alexander and Noah looked identical, she could still clearly distinguish their identities from their personalities.
Hearing her words, both Alexander and Noah's faces turned dark.
Alexander angrily said, "I won't allow you to slander my mommy. If it weren't for my mommy, I wouldn't even know where I'd be now. I've been weak since I was a child, and Mommy has endured a lot for me. If you speak ill of my mommy again, I won't recognize you as my grandma."
The first time meeting relatives other than Mommy, he treasured it especially. He genuinely liked them from the bottom of his heart.
However, as he saw their deep prejudice against Mommy, he gradually started to dislike them.
Anyone who bullied Mommy or looked down on her, he didn't like.
Noah also said angrily, "Grandma, what you said is not true. Miss Samantha has never raised me, yet I still like her. On the contrary, I have no feelings for this biological mother, and I even dislike her deep down."
If not for the blood relationship, he would definitely kick Suzy out.
After hearing their words, Suzy felt wronged, her eyes reddening, and tears falling instantly.
She lowered her head, silently wiping away tears, choked up and said, "What kind of potion did Samantha give you? Why do you all like her? I am your biological mother, but you treat me like this!"
With that, she turned around in sorrow and ran away.
Anna, unable to contain her frustration, said, "I'm so disappointed in you! Treating thieves as your mother."
After saying that, she followed Suzy out.
Alexander and Noah felt no ripples in their hearts.
Instead, they found Suzy to be extremely hypocritical.
Putting on an act.
...
After being upset by Alexander and Noah, Suzy did not give up. Instead, she rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen, wanting them to taste her cooking skills.
However, when Alexander and Noah found out that she had prepared dinner, they threw their spoon, showing no respect.
"Except for meals cooked by Mommy and the chef, we won't eat anything made by anyone else."
Implicitly, they were saying she wasn't even as good as the chef.
Suzy felt humiliated. Her face turned bright red with anger.
Anna glared at them, extremely disappointed in her two grandsons.
"You two are enough. As a mother, she is qualified. As sons, do you think you are qualified?"
Alexander retaliated without backing down, "Your so-called qualification is just her using us to get closer to Daddy, right? Trying every means to marry into the Steele family? What contributions has she made to us from childhood to now? Let's not talk about me, let's talk about Noah! When Noah was sick, did she stay up all night to take care of him? When Noah was in a bad mood, did she go out of her way to cheer him up? Did she know when Noah was bullied at school? When Noah almost had depression, where was she?"
Anna and Suzy listened in silence, their faces changing subtly as Alexander spoke.
"Do you think buying us some toys and making us a meal is being good to us? Is that being qualified? Samantha is not my biological mommy, but when I was sick, she stayed by my bedside all night, taking care of me without even changing her clothes. When I was in a bad mood, she would go out of her way to cheer me up and comfort me. When I had conflicts with other kids, she would find the root of the problem and resolve the conflicts. People don't like or dislike someone for no reason. She may want to marry Daddy, but that's impossible. Grandma, I don't want her actions to affect our relationship. If you continue to vilify my mommy and stand by this woman, I'm sorry. I won't call you grandma anymore. I'm sorry, I'm full of anger, and I'm going upstairs."
With that, Alexander stood up, didn't look back, and went upstairs.
In one breath, Alexander poured out all the grievances that Noah had accumulated over the years.
Noah was deeply moved.
Indeed, only Alexander understood him the most.
For so many years, he had never liked Suzy, but he had never thought about the reasons.
After hearing Alexander's words, he instantly understood.
It turned out that Suzy's so-called liking and kindness towards him in these four years were just empty words, with no practical actions.
When he was sick, Suzy wasn't there to take care of him.
When he was in a bad mood, she didn't notice, let alone comfort him.
Even when he almost had depression due to bullying at school, she didn't realize anything.
Her supposed kindness was superficial, like putting on a show for others.
But Samantha's kindness towards Alexander came from the heart, like a genuine mother's care for her son.
Silently putting down his spoon, Noah said, "I've lost my appetite. I'll go back to my room first."
At the dining table, only Ethan, Suzy, and Anna remained.
The three were left speechless by Alexander's words.
The dining room fell into silence, and a cold air spread rapidly.
Ethan tightly pursed his thin lips, his exquisite side profile resembling an ice sculpture.
Suzy's face turned alternately pale.
Extremely ugly.
Anna's mouth formed an 'O' shape, and it took her a while to recover. She incredulously asked Ethan, "Noah almost had depression? He was bullied at school? When did this happen? Why didn't I, as his grandmother, know anything about it?"
She had recently heard that Ethan had severed ties with Kindergarten A Foundation and its entire branch.
Could it be because of this reason?
***