Sensing Samuel’s burning gaze, Bryce glanced at him, raised his eyebrows, and said, “You’ve been talking non-stop since you got here. Is the food not to your liking? Shut up and eat, yeah.” Samuel choked on hearing that this restaurant was part of Bryce’s subsidiary company.
Who would dare say the food here was not to their liking? He could only bite his tongue. The atmosphere was suddenly slightly awkward. Fortunately, the food for Natalie arrived not long after. She had no choice but to lower her head and focus on her meal. Her intention was to leave with Liam after a short while.
But when Natalie had finished her meal, Liam was reluctant to leave. Seeing that his mother was going to leave with him, he held Bryce’s hand and shouted, “Daddy, I want to be with you! Daddy, don’t go!” This trick of Liam’s often worked, and this occasion was no exception.
Bryce hesitated, and Liam, sensing this quickly, continued, “Dad, don’t go, okay? We need daddy. Daddy will protect us. Mommy and I won’t be bullied by bad people.”
Natalie wished the Earth would open up and swallow her. She was speechless and didn’t know where Liam had learned to say these kinds of things. Embarrassed, she was about to explain, but Bryce frowned and asked her, “Where do you live now? We’ll get you home.” Natalie hesitated for a moment but realized it was very rare for Liam to be so reliant on someone. With that in mind, she followed her heart and told Bryce their address.
Liam was very excited during the drive home. He couldn’t sit still, pointing here and there, while Bryce held him. Natalie, though, stared out of the car window. Samuel was driving but he looked in the rearview mirror. He caught Bryce’s gaze intentionally or unintentionally, then glanced at Natalie’s profile. He was even more bewildered. Seeing their reactions, it seemed they did not have a close relationship, but maybe it wasn’t that simple.
The car soon arrived at Natalie’s place. Natalie heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you for today. We’ll head in now.” Natalie was about to carry Liam out of the car, but instead, Liam looked at Bryce wide-eyed and asked, “Daddy, aren’t you coming in with us?”
Natalie didn’t know what had gotten into Liam today, constantly pestering Bryce and calling him daddy. If it had only happened once or twice, she could have forgiven Liam for not being sensible, but now she felt that he was going overboard. She was losing her patience. She scolded Liam softly, “Liam, stop being naughty. Come with Mommy now.”
Seeing his mom getting angry, Liam let go of Bryce’s hand and nodded his head sadly, saying, “I’m sorry, Mommy. I didn’t mean to make you angry. I just missed daddy.” Liam’s eyes were getting red, and tears started to fall. He felt unfairly scolded by his mom. Bryce had no intention of going into the building with them, but seeing Liam like this made his heart ache again. He hesitated but did not move.
Samuel noticed the little boy’s face, and his heart started to melt. He urged Bryce, “Bryce, how about you take the little guy up? I’ll wait for you here.” He gave Bryce a wink as he spoke, ensuring Bryce understood his meaning. Bryce glared at Samuel, thinking that he really was very annoying. Samuel rubbed the tip of his nose and laughed nervously, knowing Bryce had a bad temper. He didn’t want to provoke him. Natalie said, “We’ve troubled you enough already. It’s fine, really. There’s no need.” Liam said goodbye to both uncles, and they headed inside.
It was difficult for Liam not to show his disappointment, but he obeyed his mom and said farewell to Bryce and Samuel.
Just as Liam was about to get out of the car, he asked Bryce, “Dad, will you come and visit us?” Bryce looked perplexed, but seeing Liam’s hopeful look, he nodded. Liam smiled broadly and said, “Yes!” pumping his fist before joining his mom.
Bryce stared at Natalie and Liam through the car window as they walked away, his gaze never leaving them. Samuel, looking at Bryce in the rearview mirror, realized Bryce was not the child’s father. He assumed the little boy must be mistaken about Bryce being his dad.
However, the way Bryce was handling the situation surprised Samuel. It was obvious that Bryce didn’t despise the child. This was a miracle enough in itself.
Samuel knew there was no point in questioning Bryce about this as he would not give him a straight answer. So he asked casually, “Bryce, are you going home now?” Bryce looked at him coldly and said, “Yes, let’s go.” Samuel nodded before starting the car and driving away.
Natalie stopped outside the building entrance. She sensed Bryce’s gaze on her all the way up to the walk, and she felt confused. When they got indoors, she planned on telling Liam not to call Bryce “dad” anymore. The poor kid was missing a father’s love, and Natalie felt sorry for him. But at the same time, she couldn’t continue to let him call Bryce “daddy” when Bryce wasn’t really his father.
As Natalie walked up the stairs, she saw a familiar figure at the entrance to the corridor. When she saw the man, her face turned cold, and she said, “What are you doing here? You’re not welcome here. Go away.”
Liam also saw the man and subconsciously moved in front of his mom to protect her, shouting, “You’re a bad person, and you’re not allowed to bully my mom.” Natalie was worried that Liam would get hurt, so she pulled him behind her to shield him.
She looked cautiously at the man. It was the man she’d had a standoff with this evening and didn’t want to see: Nick Barnard.
It would have been very easy, she thought, for the Barnard family to find out where she was living if they’d wanted to. She was furious at that realization. Nick probably came here when he left the restaurant, waiting for her to return. He hadn’t even changed his clothes.
Nick looked at Liam, starting to feel restless. Nick thought about how, if the accident hadn’t happened, he would still be with Natalie, and it would be him standing beside Natalie instead of this little boy. Thinking about this, Nick’s expression soured. He glared at her.
“Natalie, we’ve known each other for over a decade, and you know how I treated you because of our past. I didn’t want to hurt you,” Nick said. Natalie interrupted him coldly, “Stop it. I don’t want to talk about the past, so there’s no need to say anything.” But as soon as she said that, she felt pain in her heart. If Nick had believed in her at the beginning, would they really have ended up like this?