Matthew kissed his wife's red lips for a long time. When he finally let her go, he said hoarsely, "Honey, we won't have another baby. Four sons are enough for us!"
"Okay!" Erica wrapped her arms around his neck and added innocently, "Then let's go to sleep!"
The man chuckled at her words. "I said we wouldn't have another baby, not that I wouldn't make love to you."
After that, Erica got tortured in bed for a while. Still, Matthew was very kind to her that evening. The moment he saw how tired she was, he let her go before she would begin to beg for mercy.
The next morning, Adkins was sleeping soundly in his bed when his father unexpectedly woke him up.
The little boy had no idea of the disaster that was coming his way. Sleepy, he looked at Matthew and rubbed his eyes before he asked in a daze, "Dad, what time is it?"
With his arms crossed in front of his chest, Matthew stood still and didn't say anything as he stared coldly at his eldest son.
In less than two minutes, Adkins' eyes widened. "Dad, why are you looking at me like this? Have you found something out?"
Matthew sneered. His son was quick to think! "I know what you've done!" he stated coldly.
How did a three-year-old kid dare to borrow money in his name? In fact, not only he did that, but he also gave his dad's phone number to another woman.
He wanted to show Erica what her treasured son had done behind their backs.
With this plan in mind, the man stretched out his long arm and caught the little guy. Then he strode out of the bedroom with the boy under his armpit.
Along the way, Adkins shouted desperately, "Help! Help! Colman! Damian!" Colman and Damian were good at playing nice boys. If his two younger brothers managed to say anything loving to their father, maybe Matthew would let go of him.
Upon hearing that, Matthew patted him on the hip and ordered, "Just shut up!"
Adkins shushed immediately after being hit on the butt.
Anyway, his cries had already woken up the other three boys, who had all promptly hurried out of their rooms.
They came to find Adkins in their father's bedroom in time to see the man tossing him on his big bed. Quickly, Adkins took the opportunity to crawl into Erica's quilt and hide himself in his mother's arms.
"Get out!" Matthew ordered in a harsh voice.
The only reason for him to bring Adkins to his room was to let Erica know what her dear son had done behind their backs. No way, he would allow the boy to ask for her protection now.
Erica had been awakened since Matthew took the phone call in the morning. However, before she could ask anything at then, he had already left to get Adkins from his room. At last, she asked, "Matthew, what happened?"
Turning around, Matthew glanced at the other three kids in their identical pajamas and messy hairs. "Since you are all awake, you'll watch the lesson I'm going to teach your brother today. If you ever make a mistake in the future, that's how you'll all be treated!"
His stern gaze made the other three kids nod immediately.
"Get out!" Matthew turned to Adkins and ordered one more time.
Under his dad's stern glare, Adkins had no choice but to get out of the quilt.
"Get out of the bed!" Matthew specified.
Reluctantly, the boy obeyed once again.
"Kneel down!"
Adkins, however, didn't move this time. "Dad, you're insulting me. Only a coward will kneel, and I'm a man. I won't kneel!"
"I'm your father! A man can kneel to heaven and earth, or to their parents!" Matthew said.
Biting his lips, Adkins glared at his father. "No matter what, I won't kneel."
Fury was written all over Matthew's face. "Do you want to have a taste of the Huo family's punishments?" Everyone always said that his eldest resembled him the most, but Matthew didn't think so. A three-year-old Matthew wouldn't have the guts to borrow two million dollars in his father's name.
As soon as Erica realized the situation was only getting worse, she rushed over and hugged Adkins. Looking at Matthew, she asked, "What on earth happened? If you have something to say, just say it. It's not appropriate to simply hit someone." She didn't want to stop her husband from disciplining their son, but she wanted to know what Adkins did first.
Matthew glanced at her and explained in a low voice, "Your son borrowed two million from someone in my name!"
The other three kids all gasped. It turned out that their brother's money was borrowed after all.
Erica was shocked to learn that. After requesting the boy to look at her, she asked him seriously, "Is that true what your father said?"
Adkins didn't deny. "Yes, it is. Mom, I didn't steal anything. I used my own skills to borrow this money, and I never said that I wouldn't pay it back. Why should Dad punish me for it?"
At that moment, Erica felt a headache coming. Still, she patiently explained to the child, "That's right, but how can you go out and borrow money at such a young age? You should come to your parents if you need money."
"Mom, you don't know the whole story. Dad knew we needed money from the beginning, but he didn't give it to us. Instead, he said we should earn money on our own!" the boy explained.
Matthew snorted, "You think that borrowing money makes you capable of earning it?" Looking at Adkins, Matthew could finally understand why Carlos was more loving towards his daughters than his son. He realized now how annoying having a boy could be at times.
His son had sold his phone number to a woman and asked that same woman to call him, causing his wife to be mad.
Adkins looked back at his father in disgust and answered, "Indeed, I feel capable. But since you doubt my skills, you can pay the money back for me. If I'm going to be punished like this, I won't accept it!"
Trying to calm down, Erica asked gently, "Adkins, tell Mommy, why did you borrow the money?"
"We want to raise pandas. But since Dad wouldn't give us the money, the four of us had to get one million by ourselves. Mom, don't you feel sorry for us?" The little boy sniffed and added in sorrow, "Dad's clothes are worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, depending on which. But he wouldn't give us money to raise some cute pandas. Mom, I'll take you back to Tow Village, okay? I can support you. We don't need Dad…"
Slap! Suddenly, he got spanked in the butt again. This time a little harder than before.
Of course, Matthew was the one who beat him.
Adkins cried even louder. "Mom, we can't be his biological children. Dad is a stingy man. He's so rich, and yet he doesn't give us money. I'm going to run away from home and find Grandpa so he can teach his son a lesson. Boo…hoo…"
Erica was rendered speechless. 'He's going to find his grandpa? Wow, the little guy really knows how to deal with the situation, ' she thought to herself.
However, Adkins was really in the wrong this time. It wasn't a matter of how much money he had borrowed, this just shouldn't have happened at all. Therefore, Erica wouldn't interfere if Matthew taught the child a lesson.
Pulling Adkins out of Erica's arms, Matthew told him to stand straight in front of him. "Don't cry! You are a man. Why are you crying like a woman?"
"I'm still a child! It's okay for me to cry," Adkins responded loudly. "I haven't even graduated from kindergarten yet, but you're always bullying your children. Are you not ashamed of yourself? Mom's an adult, but you never bully her. Why is that? You can't blame me for using my skills to borrow money."
'He wants me to bully Erica? Not a chance!' Matthew decided to beat his son up.
With a frown, he said, "Stop crying first!"
Adkins snorted twice and stopped crying.
"Go back to your room, wash yourself and go to school. I'll teach you a lesson when I come back home tonight!" Matthew ordered expressionlessly.
Upon hearing that, Adkins turned around and ran out of the bedroom without hesitation.
