As soon as he entered, Justin saw a familiar figure running nimbly into the inner courtyard.
It was just that the person seemed to be wearing a skirt?
Justin's expression suddenly darkened and he took two quick steps forward. He grabbed Pete and said grimly, "Pete, you…"
He looked at his son with a complicated look, wishing he could rip off the clothes on him!
It was all over.
His son's condition had worsened again.
Pete, "??"
A sullen Justin picked up Pete and went out.
Tanya, who was waiting in the car, was taken aback when she suddenly saw him coming out with 'Cherry' in his arms. When she recovered from her astonishment, she hurriedly got out of the car and shouted, "What are you doing?"
Justin stopped and looked at her, puzzled.
Tanya was about to rush over and grab the child back.
How dare anyone abduct children like that in broad daylight? It was unforgivable!
But just as she was about to take a step forward, Pete shouted, "Daddy, what's the matter with that lady?"
Tanya, "??"
'Daddy'???
Before returning to the States, she had already heard from Nora that she had found her son. However, he was living with his father, so it wasn't easy for her to take him back. Could he be Cherry's father?
In the midst of her spacing out, she subconsciously glanced at the Quinn School of Martial Arts' entrance again. That was when she saw Cherry, who was wearing boys' clothing, hiding behind the door frame and jumping up and down while waving at her.
After being stunned for a moment, Tanya finally said, "… Sorry, I mistook the two of you for someone else."
Justin glanced at her and said nothing. With a frown, he led Pete into the car and left immediately.
After they left, Cherry ran out and said, "God-mom, you frightened the living daylights out of me! You almost exposed us~"
Tanya, "…"
On the way home, Cherry begged and wheedled, "Don't tell Mommy, God-mom. She'll get mad!"
Just as Tanya was about to say something, Cherry sighed and said, "You're so beautiful, gentle, and understanding, so you'll definitely agree to Cherry's request, right? You won't be able to bear watching Cherry suffer smacks on her bottom, right? I knew it! You're the best godmother ever!"
"…"
Could Tanya refuse when she had already put it like that?
The pair returned to the Andersons after they reached an agreement.
As soon as they entered, they spotted Nora sitting on the swing in the yard, leaning against it while resting with her eyes closed.
Cherry, "…"
Likely because she heard the car, Nora slowly opened her eyes. Her eyelids were still droopy and her world-weary face looked exquisite and beautiful.
However, she looked at Cherry with a seemingly half-amused smile and said, "Cherry, your kindergarten teacher just called."
Cherry, "??"
A slightly foreboding feeling formed in her and she thought to herself, 'Surely not? There's no way Pete would misbehave, right?'
She quickly lowered her head. "Mommy, I'm…"
Before she could utter the word 'sorry', she heard Nora say, "Your teachers sang your praises."
Cherry, "??"
She immediately beamed and said, "Mommy, I've always been very outstanding! You don't have to be so proud of me~"
Upon hearing that, Nora's cat-like eyes narrowed and she said, "Uh-huh. To think I actually didn't know that you've secretly learned how to solve Mathematical Olympiad problems at some point while I was raising you the last five years. Your teachers said that they've sent an application for the Mathematical Olympiad competition on your behalf, so they want you to take part in it when the date arrives. Looks like you'll have to practice your Mathematical Olympiad problem-solving skills for an upcoming period of time."
Cherry's expression turned pitiful the moment she heard that she had to study. She thought to herself, 'Sob! Pete, how could you!'
Mommy was so mean, too! She definitely knew what was going on, yet she simply didn't expose her, so that she could force her to learn how to solve Mathematical Olympiad problems.
Cherry was so pitiful!
She hung her head and walked into the room with her shoulders drooping. Before entering the living room, she also heard Nora say, "Oh, the teachers are also telling you not to spout nonsense in school anymore. Your classmate Brandon Smith heard from you that boys will become girls once they cut off their little willies, and then return to being boys once they grow out again, so when he went home… He almost mutilated himself."
Cherry, "…"
Was he an idiot? How could he believe something like that???
"Are you an idiot? How can you believe something like that?!"
In the Smiths' living room, Warren Smith, who was the second eldest in the family, was pulling Brandon by his ear and scolding him loudly. He said, "It's a good thing you were too much of a chicken, so you burst into tears from fright and didn't dare do anything even though you were already holding the knife! Otherwise, it would have been terrible!"
Despite being scolded, Brandon didn't cry. He turned his face to the side, grabbed his father's hand with his own little hands, and said, "But that's what Cheryl Smith said. She was still a little girl yesterday, but she stood while she was peeing today! I saw it with my own eyes!"
Warren spanked him angrily again. "Are you still lying even at this point? You're infuriating me!"
"I'm not lying! Everyone in the school knows about it, including Mia! You can ask her about it if you don't believe me!"
As soon as he said that, Warren stopped what he was doing.
On the sofa, the seated Joel Smith narrowed his fox-like eyes. When he heard what he said, he subconsciously looked at his daughter, who was in his arms, and asked, "Is he speaking the truth, Mia?"
Little Mia nodded and replied softly, "Yeah!"
Joel sounded a little concerned as he asked, "Did you also see her peeing while standing with your own eyes?"
Mia shook her head. "Nope~"
Only then did Joel breathe a sigh of relief. Then, he heard his daughter continue and say, "But she went to the boys' toilet~ What a pity. Cheryl Smith says that she's the only one who can switch her gender as and when she wants to. Other people can't do it."
Joel, however, narrowed his eyes when he heard her.
He quietly chatted with his daughter a little more before he got up and went to Hillary's room.
Hillary was packing the room. When she heard the door opening, her eyes lit up and she said, "Joel, you're her—"
Joel was amicable to everyone, but she was the only one to whom he was cold and frosty. He sneered, "Hillary, have you been spouting nonsense to Mia again?"
Otherwise, why would she find it a pity that she couldn't turn into a boy?
Hillary's eyes flickered a few times. Then, she lowered her head and replied, "Joel, we've already been engaged for so many years, but you simply refuse to take me as your wife all this time. Is it because Mia isn't a bo—"
However, before she could finish, Joel suddenly gripped her throat. The man had a terribly violent look in his eyes as if he wanted to kill her, frightening Hillary so badly that she couldn't say even a word.
An icy Joel said, "Remember this, Hillary. Mia is my daughter. You're not allowed to bully her!"
He turned and left the room after saying that.
Hillary gasped for air. She bit her lip hard but smiled after that. As long as he loved his daughter, it was all good.
As for Tanya… She cast her eyes down and let out a cold laugh.
—
At the Andersons.
Cherry, who had finally dodged Mommy's interrogation after much difficulty, entered the study with the mission of learning how to solve Mathematical Olympiad problems on her shoulders.
She stared at the Mathematical Olympiad problems in front of her. After five minutes of headache, she said, "It's time for the live-stream. I'll come back to the problems after live-streaming for a bit."
She picked up her cell phone and opened the live-streaming app.
As soon as she did, she saw a large face-off interface splashed across her live-stream channel. It was hard for anyone to ignore even if they wanted to.
Cherry was dumbfounded.
What the heck was this????