“We need to keep our guard up,” Juan whispered as he looked at their aggressive faces. “I bet the bad woman’s friends won’t be any nicer,” he added, looking at Daphne.
The other three nodded and let go of their toys as they stood up.
“You guys must be Nicole’s kids,” the duchess said as she approached them.
They nodded in silence.
The duchess glared at them fiercely when none of them greeted her. “Don’t you guys have a home? The estate is not a place for y’all,” she insulted.
The kids obviously understood what she meant from her despicable tone—she wanted them out of the estate.
But they knew they should not leave until Mommy had found out who her father was.
Maya blinked her beautiful eyes at the fierce duchess before saying politely, “We do have a home. We won’t stay here for long.”
The duchess scoffed at her naive reply in disdain. “Good. Then your Mommy and y’all should take leave now.”
Beside her, Daphne put on a smug smile looking at the kids. But just as they thought they could walk all over the kids, Nina came forward and confronted them.
“You have no right to ask us to leave. Mr. Levant invited Mommy over. That makes Mommy his guest. I don’t see why we should leave unless Mr. Levant says so,” Nina spoke up in a determined and confident voice.
Standing right in front of Nina, Portia chuckled in disbelief. She was not expecting a little girl like Nina to retaliate.
“Do you think you can use Levant to shut me up? Do you know who I am? I’m his mother! He has to listen to me!” The duchess raised her voice.
The kids looked at each other in surprise. This is Mr. Levant’s mother?
Maya pursed her lips and started a discussion among her siblings. “Mr. Levant is so nice to us, I can’t believe he has such an evil mother.” She purposely said it loud enough just so the duchess could hear it.
“I know right! I don’t believe this woman. She must be a fake. There’s no way Mr. Levant has a mother like her,” Nina agreed.
What the kids said hit Portia’s sore spot and she was infuriated.
Her biggest regret in life was not having a kid of her own—and Levant was not her biological son.
She clenched her fists in uncontrollable rage as the kids exposed the biggest pain in her life. “Seize these impudent kids and throw them out of the estate! Now!” she shouted at the servants.
The kids widened their eyes in bewilderment when she heard the duchess’ order.
There was no way they would allow this evil woman to throw them out like this. They knew Mommy would be worried if she could not find them when she returned.
“Run!” Juan shouted as he saw the servants charging towards them.
The four children started running as the servants hastened their steps behind them.
Seeing them catching up, Kyle came up with a plan. “Juan, we need to bind them up! Maya and Nina, run towards the rockery and hide in the holes!”
“Yes!” they all shouted in unison.
Immediately, Nina held Maya’s chubby hands and the two girls dashed towards the rockery as the boys went in another direction.
Juan and Kyle looked around as they ran and their gaze landed on some colorful accessorial rocks on the ground.
“Who’s better at aiming?” Juan asked.
Kyle spared him a quick look and smirked. “I’ll challenge you!”
“I’m down!” Juan exclaimed.
The two boys made for the pile of rocks and sought refuge behind it.
Behind them, the servants pursuit them tirelessly. “They’re behind the rocks!” one shouted.
But before they could even come closer, Juan picked up a rock and threw it in the face of a servant.
The rock hit the man right in the eye and sent him crying out as he covered his eyes in agony. “You son of a b*tch!”
Kyle quickly followed suit and took up a bigger stone before aiming for the man’s other eye.
“Ouch! My eyes!” the man shrieked as his two eyes started swelling up after the attack.
“You scoundrels! Wait till I get my hands on you!” the vexed servant cried out.
Juan gave Kyle a thumb’s up and complimented him, saying, “I think you’re better than me!”
Kyle shot him a proud smile and tilted his head in confidence. “Of course. I used a bigger stone and I aimed better!”
“I don’t believe I can’t outdo you!” Juan challenged.
“I dare you!” Kyle replied.
But before they could reach out for their next stone, a few sturdy servants overshadowed them and had the two surrounded.
Now that they were besieged, the two boys clustered together and devised a new plan. “We’ll see who’s faster. You’ll take those two and I’ll tackle these two,” Juan proposed as hot sweat rolled down his forehead.
“Alright!” Kyle replied as he panted.
They picked up as many rocks as they could barehanded and flung them towards the servants. Their aims were fast and accurate, and the servants waved their hands around frantically trying to block off the rain of rocks flying towards them.
“Cover your eyes!” one of them shouted.
The others quickly did so and covered their eyes with their hands as the kids sent rocks flying incessantly in their direction.
