Chapter 517 He Can Talk Already?
“N-No.”
Lila’s current reaction confirmed Courtney’s conjecture.
Courtney pondered for a moment. On the one hand, she was worried that Lila would question Mike about the truth. But, on the other hand, she couldn’t bear it, so she simply put on a show, acting as if she only denied it after giving it some serious thought.
“The woman seemed to be in her twenties. She dressed quite fashionably, with long curly hair. She was thin and tall. Although I didn’t pay attention to the back of her hand, it didn’t look like she had a tattoo there.”
After Lila heard Courtney’s denial, she felt more at ease. Once the nerves had eased, she seemed to realize that she had just been overly emotional and leaned back on the chair again.
“Then, it’s not her. That’s not her,” she murmured with a smile on her face.
Courtney’s expression remained the same as if she had not taken Lila’s reactions to heart. She got up and slightly brushed the fray hairs on her temple.
“I’ve been bothering you for quite a while already today. I need to take my leave first as my shift is starting in a bit. I’ll come to revisit you when I have the chance.”
Lila snapped out from her thoughts when she heard Courtney’s voice, and she got up to send her off. However, just as Courtney walked to the door, she turned around for a quick glance and some emotions stirred up in her eyes.
“You’re a very kind woman. Mike is lucky to have met you.”
These words were from the bottom of her heart, with no underlying motives. She smoothened out her wrinkled coat as she spoke before turning around and striding away.
She felt that they would meet again soon, under very different circumstances and identities.
——
…
When Angie rushed back to the manor, Benny was already out at the front, looking around the whole morning. When the little boy saw a figure slowly coming in, his clear eyes suddenly lit up. Then, he broke free from the maid’s grip and threw himself on her.
She felt a dip on her leg and looked down to see that the little boy was rubbing his head against her. This coquettish behavior made the 18-year-old Angie overflow with maternal love.
“Benny, what are you doing out here?”
Then, she took his hand and walked toward the tour bus. They were about ten minutes away from the entrance of the manor. She did not expect that he would be here waiting for her.
Nearby, Marianne showed a hint of helplessness on her face.
“Young Master Benny has been waiting here since 7:00AM. If Miss Angie didn’t show up, he wouldn’t leave. So, he just sat by the stone stool and waited all morning.”
She had never expected a five or six-year-old child to be so resilient. She had no choice but to wait with him for about four to five hours and almost fainted out of boredom and mental strain.
Angie was surprised to hear this, and at the same time, she felt a little guilty. When she leaned over to say something, she noticed that Benny’s eyes were filled with excitement and energy. He didn’t seem the least bit angry at all.
Then, she couldn’t help but laugh as she reached out to pinch the little boy’s nose.
“This is my fault. However, I promise I’ll be on time in the future.”
As she said this, she raised her right hand and made a swearing oath. The excited look in Benny’s eyes did not diminish. Instead, he grinned, nodded sharply, and squeezed out a word, “Okay!”
Angie was surprised as she pinched Benny’s face in disbelief; she squished this little boy’s face mercilessly in her joy. The moment she let go, there were two apparent fingerprints on his face for a moment before they disappeared.
Benny patted his face aggrievedly.
“It hurts.”
“He can talk already?”
After she recovered from her initial shock, she looked up at Marianne to confirm. Marianne nodded with a smile on her face.
“The doctor who examined him said that he didn’t speak before because he was used to speaking Vietnamese and didn’t know much English. In addition to that, the pressure on him was too much. Now, it seems that he has adapted, and since he was still young, he has picked up the language faster. He’s learning to talk more after listening to us.”
When Marianne spoke, he looked toward Benny and solemnly nodded at Angie once she was done.
Angie was ecstatic when she heard this.
“Can you understand what we’re saying?”
“Mmhmm.”
Benny nodded his head diligently.
Back in Vietnam, he could understand some simple English, but the language was easier to listen to than to speak.
Angie touched his head as she felt relief gushing over her, like a mother to her son. She had decided not to go up the tour bus. Instead, she had a better idea. She looked at Benny eagerly and said, “How about we pay the theme park a visit today?”
She had once seen him drawing a lot of amusement parks in his sketches, and all of these paintings, without exception, had a lonely little boy silently watching by the gates of the amusement park.
Sure enough, as soon as he heard the word ‘amusement park,’ he was initially stunned. Then, after a long moment, there was a burst of uncontrollable excitement in his eyes as he jumped around Angie for three rounds, seemingly like he was completely immersed in the joyful feeling of being a child.
Angie immediately gestured to Marriane when she saw this.
“Inform the driver to prepare the car. We’ll wait here.”
When Marianne heard this, she was a little hesitant and couldn’t help but set her eyes on Benny.
“Miss Hunter said to not take Benny out when she brought him over just now.”
Only then did Angie finally remember after being reminded by Marianne, but she couldn’t break the kid’s heart when she saw Benny’s excited face. She waved her hand and said, “It’s okay. We’ll just go to the children’s amusement park in the western suburbs. There won’t be many people there. We’ll come back before dinner.”
Although Marianne had done her part in reminding her, seeing how persistent Angie was to go, Marianne naturally wouldn’t stop her. So, she quickly called the driver after agreeing with Angie.
Angie didn’t know the reason why Courtney wouldn’t let Benny out. Nevertheless, as soon as Marianne had notified the driver, Benny reached out to tug at Angie’s trousers and stared at her cutely before squeezing out two words, “Josie.”
“Do you want to bring Josie with you?”
Benny nodded vigorously; he and Josephine had made a pinky promise before. If one of them were going to do something fun, they must invite each other. However, other than just the two of them, Ethan was part of this agreement as well.
Ethan had been extremely arrogant, with his head stuck in the clouds. After he fell into the swimming pool the last time, he blamed Benny for putting the dinosaurs next to the pool, causing him to accidentally trip on it and fall in.
This unreasonable Ethan one-sidedly broke the promise with Benny.
“Bring Josie.”
Benny gritted his teeth firmly.
At this point, Angie had no choice but to call her Great-Aunt Alicia.
On the other side, Alicia was worrying over Josephine, who had cream all over her face from eating. She had proposed to send Josephine over to Gale’s place, but Josephine refused because Ethan and Fiona had a feud. Josephine had promised Fiona to ignore Ethan for the time being, so she refused to go over.
Ethan, at the side, raised a pair of aggrieved eyes from the mouse cake to look at Alicia pitifully, “Great-Aunt Alicia, Josie is closer to Fiona than with me now.”
However, Alicia gave him an even more aggrieved look.
“I will be going to a cocktail party soon. I’m worried that too many people will be there to bring you two. So, I’ll just send you to your mum. As for Ethan, are you going to go to Aunt Courtney’s place, or do I send you home?”
“Home.”
When Ethan thought about Elijah’s face, he couldn’t help but feel repelled.
Just as Alicia was about to take her bag, the phone in her bag vibrated. When she saw that the caller ID was Angie, Alicia picked up the phone. After understanding what was happening, she readily agreed to the proposed request on the phone.
Then, she hung up the phone with a slight smile.
“Change of plans. Angie will bring you and Benny to the amusement park.”
Josephine was so excited that the braids on her hair were almost standing.
“Really? Yay, I haven’t seen Benny in a long time!”
When Ethan heard this, he mumbled softly, “I want to go as well.”
