George was elated as he gripped Tiger’s shoulders, asking in disbelief, ‘Is he back for real? Where is he?”
Tiger pointed somewhere in front. “He’s at the clinic ahead of us.” Olivia was also unusually excited as she hastily got up and said, “I’ll go with you.”
George said, “You guys should wait here. I’ll just get Mr. Gedding to come over.” Olivia looked at her family of six, feeling like they would stand out quite a bit if they went to the clinic together. Hence, she responded obediently, “Alright.”
Eugene and Olivia exchanged glances and smiled. Hector Gedding was back, which meant there was still hope. Shortly afterward, the door opened once again, and George walked in with Hector.
The old man had white hair and a white beard. His figure was on the leaner side, but he looked healthy. His eyes were bright and energetic as he looked at the children.
Olivia hastily walked over to him. “Mr. Gedding It was only then that Hector looked at Olivia with an indifferent gaze. ‘Kid, I can’t believe you’re decent enough to come back!”
Olivia took Hector’s arm and said adorably, “This is my home, so how can I not return? How have you been, Mr. Gedding?”
Hector patted her hand gently. “I’ve been good.” As he spoke, he walked inside and looked at the three children. His expression darkened when he stepped toward them.
The three children blinked their huge eyes helplessly, smiling sweetly upon being caught red-handed. With every step Hector took toward them, they would take another step backward. After being backed into a corner, they finally said in unison, “We’re sorry, Grandpa.”
With that, the three children reached out their tiny hands. They looked like they had done this hundreds of times before. Hector grunted. “Well, as long as you know your mistakes.”
With that, he produced a ruler from the fold of his clothes, ready to smack their palms. The little children seemed terrified, but even if they were so scared that they shrunk back and winced, none of them retracted their hands.
No wonder they didn’t want to come back; they would have to face punishment if they did!
Eugene and Olivia exchanged glances. Even though they both knew that Hector was just disciplining the rebellious kids for their own sake, they were the children’s parents, so they couldn’t bear to see it happening. Eugene couldn’t help but want to step forward.
Olivia gave Eugene a comforting look, but she was already holding Hector back as she coaxed, “Mr. Gedding, they’re still little children, so please don’t hit them. They’re aware of their mistakes, after all.”
Perhaps to echo Olivia’s words, the three children nodded enthusiastically. They looked extremely adorable when they did that. Who would have the heart to hit them?
However, Hector snorted, and even the beard on his mouth curled up as he said, “Little children? How are they little? They turned off my locator and asked someone to erase their tracks, then left for half a year. How can little children come up with such schemes?”
Olivia smiled bashfully as she begged again, saying, “They just wanted to find their parents, so please forgive them.”
Hector replied, “Parents? How can little children know how to find their parents? They knew it was wrong, but they did it anyway, so they’re committing crimes while being fully aware of it. Don’t stop me, for they won’t be saved from their punishment. If they sneak out again in the future, how am I going to find them? It’d be too late if they get into danger!”
With that, he grabbed Carter’s tiny hand and brought the ruler down on Carter’s palm. Smack! One could feel the pain just by hearing.
the sound.
