“You’re forbidden from raising your voice at him in the future.”
“…Mhm.”
The little guy, who had never seen his dad behave this way before, stared straight at Ji Ziming. His slightly swollen eyes were filled with curiosity, which made him look adorable.
“He’s still small; talk to him nicely.”
Pei Ge did not notice the strangeness of the man’s behavior as she kept lecturing him on the proper way of raising children.
“Mhm.”
Even the man did not realize how obedient he was being.
He kept his head down and continued applying medication on her.
Mu Heng, whom the boy had squeezed aside earlier, frowned deeply at his childhood friend’s behavior.
He thought that there was no way his best friend would have any interest in Regina, given that his thoughts were always on the woman who had disappeared long ago.
Now, watching his friend carefully treating this woman, a different kind of emotion began to build in him.
He did not know if he should be happy that his best friend was moving on from his fixation or… be sad that the person the latter had his eye on was his goddess…
“I’m telling you; Regina definitely has experience in educating children. She has two children of hers, after all!”
He deliberately told the other.
Immediately after he spoke, Ji Ziming paused from applying medicine and asked, “You… have children?”
His cold eyes looked plainly at her.
For some reason, Pei Ge felt guilty at this.
“Yes, I do.”
“…”
Just as the man was about to say something in reply, there was a commotion at the door following the sound of a female voice.
“Honey! Mommy’s good boy, where are you hurt?”
Before she was seen, everyone heard Qiao Jingyun’s voice coming from outside.
Without anybody telling them, everyone in the room knew that the boy’s mother had arrived.
Tak, tak, tak!
The woman quickly appeared in the room in her evening dress and high heels.
“Honey!”
The moment she walked in, she rushed to the little guy, acting like a loving mother, but she was stopped by Madam Ji.
“You stop right there!”
Qiao Jingyun’s footsteps paused before coming to an awkward stop at this.
“Auntie,” she called gently, smiling at the older woman.
The latter scoffed and glared coldly at the former.
“I’ve always pegged you as a schemer, but I never knew that you’re this bad! What kind of mother hurts her child?! You vile woman, how could you be so hard-hearted?!”
“Wha-What do you mean?”
She looked confusedly at her with her dark-brown eyes.
“Go on! Keep pretending! If not for you, how would our precious boy fall from upstairs?!”
Madam Ji slammed her hand on the surface of the mahogany table.
Bang! The table rattled.
“What are you saying? What does Baby falling from upstairs have to do with me?”
Seeing that the woman was still looking confused, she stood up from her chair angrily.
She did not understand why this woman could keep pretending even at this stage!
“Don’t be mad; don’t be mad.”
Seeing the older woman stand up, Qu Jingwan did so as well.
“You can’t be this shameless; if not for Ms. Regina today, we might see your son end up at the hospital!” Taking a deep breath, the older woman tried reining in her emotions as she stared coldly at Qiao Jingyun.
“I don’t care about the mess between you adults, and neither do I want to care, but! You can’t implicate the boy in all of it! He’s still young! He won’t be able to bear being used by you!”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about! I couldn’t wait to shower my precious son with love, so why would I make use of him? Besides, you all have kept a strict eye on him. We don’t even have the chance to meet often; how would I make use of him? Even today, I left your gathering really early.”
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face.
“You all love my son, but I love him, too! He’s my son; I can’t even wait to love and dote on him, so how will I bear to see him get hurt?”
Looking at the tears on the woman’s face and the things she had said, Pei Ge only felt that something was off.
However, as a mother, she agreed with what the woman had said.
A real mother would never make use of her child, not to mention harm him.
Still…
She turned to look at the boy gripping her arm tightly.
Just then, when he saw this woman appear, his body froze, and he tightened his grip on her.
The little guy was clearly terrified of this woman…
At this thought, she raised her head and looked at Qiao Jingyun.
Indeed, no matter how long it had been, this woman was still as pretentious and fake as ever.
At this thought, her palm gently touched the little guy’s head, and she began to feel bad for him.
It was sad for such an obedient and adorable child to have a mother like this.
“You love him? Why then would you say such things to him?!”
Madam Ji refused to believe the woman’s words. Looking at the latter’s tear-stained face, she only felt that she was full of lies.
“I’m telling you; don’t even think of entering the Ji family in this life! The only daughter-in-law that I recognize is Jingwan alone!
“As for the boy’s mother, it will only be her, too! Don’t even think about seeing him again in the future!” she said in a fit of anger, disregarding the woman’s status as her grandson’s mother.
“Auntie, how could you say that? I don’t care if you misunderstand or dislike me, but the boy is my child! That’s something you can’t change.”
As she spoke, Qiao Jingyun took big steps toward the little boy, who was huddling with Pei Ge.
“Mommy’s good child, are you all right?”
As she watched the woman reach out for the child, Pei Ge inexplicably put herself between them.
She did not want this woman near the boy.
