Pete blushed. "No, no, it's fine, Mommy."
Nora chuckled softly and said, "Cherry's a big girl now."
Pete ran away in a hurry after Nora let go of him.
He stood outside the door to the bedroom and listened to the movements inside. The sound of running water, the sound of someone in the bath, and the sound of Mommy walking around in slippers after she was done bathing.
After confirming that Mommy was dressed, he opened the door and saw her lying on the bed. With her eyes closed, she said, "Mommy has a very important operation in two days, Cherry. I need a crazy amount of sleep for the next few days, so I'll go to bed first, alright?"
"… Okay, Mommy."
His sister had told him before that Mommy had poor health and that her hobby was sleeping. She was usually either asleep or dealing with troublesome issues so that she could sleep.
Therefore, he mustn't disturb Mommy.
Two minutes later, when he heard steady breathing coming from where the bed was, Pete tiptoed over to his mother. His tiny little form climbed onto the bed. Then, he found a spot in Nora's arms and curled up there. Before he knew it, he had fallen into deep sleep while listening to her heartbeat.
How wonderful.
He also had a mother now.
As a result, he didn't see the SOS messages from Cherry on the cell phone in his pocket:
"Help, Pete!"
"Let's exchange our positions again, Pete!"
"Sob, I don't love Daddy anymore!"
Downstairs.
Cherry took advantage of the opportunity while Justin was pouring a glass of water to send another text message to her brother on her cell phone. When she saw that he still wasn't replying, she could only give up and start tackling her assignments.
She bit her pen and stared at the textbook, her face all wrinkled as she frowned.
She, who had grown up abroad, was still at the literacy development stage. She couldn't understand the questions on the papers at all!
Justin sat next to her when he returned.
It had been half a year since he last tutored his son. As such, he didn't know how far their current progress was. He pointed at the simplest question and asked, "Do you know how to solve this?"
Cherry's big eyes were completely blank.
Justin fell silent for a moment. Then, he flipped back to syllabus from half a year ago. "What about this?"
Cherry shook her head hard.
"…"
Justin stared at her. He wanted to ask Pete why he couldn't solve the question now when he could do it half a year ago. Also, was he really shaking his head when he hadn't even read the question?
Cherry wordlessly suggested, "Why don't we learn about history instead, Daddy? I'm very knowledgeable in that."
"… Alright."
Justin flipped open the textbook. "Who's the first president of the United States?"
Cherry's eyes lit up. She raised her hand and said, "I know this!"
Justin breathed a sigh of relief. His son had fallen behind in his mathematics, but it would also do if he was doing well in his history classes.
As soon as the thought formed, he heard her yell, "Tom Cruise!"
"… It's George Washington!"
Cherry blinked. "Oh right, I must have remembered it wrongly. Next question please, Daddy."
"Which American politician was assassinated in 1963?"
"Leonardo DiCaprio!" Cherry immediately answered.
"…"
Justin took a deep breath and told himself not to get mad. His son had just started talking a little more. He mustn't lose his temper. He decided to try again. "Who invented the light bulb?"
Full of confidence, Cherry answered, "Keanu Reeves!"
As Justin looked at his son's usually stern countenance that seemed more alive and animated today, he couldn't help yelling, "Peter Hunt!"
Cherry looked up, her expression as though she was eagerly seeking praise. "Aren't I great, Daddy? There's still a lot more that I know!"
Justin was perplexed.
But when he saw how his son looked, he immediately reined his temper in.
The tutors were the ones who had taught him all these, so what was he losing his temper at the kid for? He would just 'reward' those two tutors even handsomely!
Justin said glumly, "Let's continue tomorrow."
"Okay, Daddy!"
Cherry heaved a huge sigh of relief. Seeing Lawrence poking his head into the room every now and then because he probably had something to talk to her father about, she carefully climbed down from the chair and said, "I'm going off to play now!"
"…"
Justin rubbed his temples as he watched her run off.
Lawrence entered the room. With a complicated look, he said, "Pete seems to be doing worse than how the tutor had put it. If this goes on, he'll probably fall to the last place in the year-end assessment, right? Do you want to quickly contact a few other tutors? There's still time until the end of the year…"
The Hunts held assessments for the children at the end of each year.
Pete always took top place in the past. That was how he became known among outsiders for having a high IQ.
Yet his grades had deteriorated so badly in just half a year.
No wonder it was said that even though children had good memory, they were also prone to forgetting. Once they stopped learning, their grades would suffer immediately.
Flames of fury flared in Justin's eyes. He closed his eyes and pondered for a long time before he finally sighed and said, "Forget it. Let's not force him to do it anymore."
It was exactly because he had placed too much emphasis on education in the past that he always fell out with his son.
But when he saw how he smiled and how he cried and kicked up a fuss, it was then that he realized that his son's mental health was more important than anything else.
Even if his son were to really forget everything that he had learned and take the last place in examinations every time, he could just live from day to day in the future. He would pave the way for his son's future.
Justin, who had always been bold and resolute when facing the unscrupulous commercial world, hesitated for a moment. Then, he asked, "Do you find Pete very different today?"
The abuse had been ongoing for a very long time, but his son had never once mentioned anything.
Yet not only had he spoken up today, but his personality seemed to also have become a lot more cheerful?
For some reason, Justin suddenly thought of what that woman had said downstairs… How did she know that the tutors were problematic?
Had Pete been keeping in contact with her all this time?
A pondering Lawrence also said, "Could Miss Smith have counseled Pete? Speaking of this, she's really not a simple woman. After all, so many women have tried to gain Pete's favor in order to get near to you, but all of them have been unsuccessful."
Lawrence couldn't even keep count of how many of Justin's suitors he had had to handle in the past anymore.
He thought for a while and asked, "Do you want to consider giving Miss Smith a chance to get near you if she really has a positive influence on Pete?"
Justin hesitated for a while before he asked, "What is she doing now?"
A hesitant look appeared on Lawrence's countenance again. "When the cleaners went to clean the room just now, they heard from the nanny that she's asleep, and she forbade them from disturbing them. Her aunt's life is still in limbo, yet she can still bring herself to sleep?"
A person who could do that was too unfeeling.
Justin's expression darkened. "Don't let her make contact with Pete so often anymore."
"Yes, sir."
Lawrence wanted to say more, but Justin suddenly noticed that the little fellow had fallen asleep on the sofa.
He gestured to Lawrence to keep quiet. Then, he walked over and picked up Cherry, intending to carry her into the bedroom.
A dazed Cherry suddenly placed her arms around his neck and said,
"Mommy, I've found my elder brother. He looks just like me…"
Justin paused and frowned.