PAMPERED

71 Too distracted

71 Too distracted

Haines had never heard Allison and Charles fight. This was the first. Hence, to respect their privacy, Haines found a stop at the end of the hallway.

“Haist!”

Haines snapped his eyes when Charles stepped out of the room. The latter ruffled his hair in irritation before noticing the figure casually leaning on the corner.

The two men stared at each other wordlessly before Charles sighed heavily.

Without a word, Charles and Haines found themselves heading into the garden as if that was the only place they could talk to right

now.

“Today of all times…” Charles massaged his brows to ease his headache. “Allison wants to keep Nina just to appease everyone.”

Haines didn’t react and simply stared at the flowers.

Hearing no response, Charles glanced at him and sighed. “I told

her no.”

“I know.”

“Did you listen to us?”

“No.” Haines’s face didn’t carry any change, but his quiet but stern voice laced with certainty. “If you did, then I guess the Bennet Family needs a new head.”

Charles frowned, but he could understand Haines. Growing up,

71 Too distracted

Charles and Haines had always been compared to the point people wanted them to compete. At one point, Charles even saw Haines his competition because Haines was truly a remarkable man worthy to be the head of the entire clan.

Thankfully, despite that phase, both of them grew mature enough to know they weren’t enemies. Rather, they were each other’s strongest allies. It was why Charles appointed Haines to run their international branch – which almost carried the same position as

him.

“Being a parent is hard,” said Charles while sighing for the umpteenth time. “Allison and I had to thread on eggshells and wonder if what we were doing was right. We always ask ourselves, “Would they carry this habit or event as a trauma in the future?”

His eyes drooped as his lips curved down. “We carried our own traumas caused by our elders, but at the same time, we were aware they did what they did because they only had our best interest in mind. That is why as much as possible, Ali and I want to shower them with all the love and understanding.”

Charles paused as he thought of the good old days. They never claimed to be perfect, but until Nina got sick and they found out about the truth, he always felt like the eggshells they had been walking on thinned out.

It wasn’t Penny, but it was the fact they also wanted to please her so much without making their other children feel left out. But with this? It truly challenged the couple

“Strangely enough though, I felt much lighter now after that argument,” Charles subtly smiled. “I’m more grateful than stressed

71 Too distracted

that this happened because if it didn’t, I would probably forget I’m the man of the house.“@

This time, Haines slowly peeled his eyes from the flower to him. “Butler Jen told me that Penny was waiting for us earlier to tell us she wants to coax her auntie to delay Nina’s departure.”

“Huh?” Charles furrowed his brows. “She said that?”

“She was thinking about the boys,” Haines summarized because Charles quickly understood the entire context with just that. “I’m glad you’re still sending Nina away!

“Haines, are you still going to hold on to that?” Charles frowned. “Nina hadn’t done anything to you!”

“She did something to me.”

“What?”

“Stir trouble to this family.”

“Haines, Nina didn’t —”

“You’re not a fool, Charles. You may act like one, but you and I know you’re simply unwilling to accept that the daughter you raised is capable of doing such. She may or may not understand the depths of her actions, but she is not my niece,” Haines didn’t spare Charles anymore as it was about time to face this. “Jessa Cortez is right, after all. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” This is from NôvelDrama.Org.

Charles opened his mouth, but in the end, his voice rolled back his throat.

“Nina is just stressed,” His eyes slowly landed on the grass, and

<

71 Too distracted

smiled bitterly. “If she turned out like that… then the one’s at fault here is us, not her.”

This time, Haines didn’t speak another word because he honestly didn’t know the right answer to that. He cocked his head back and gazed up at the sky.

“This is why I don’t want to have children.” Unless they were Penny, then he could probably make an exception. 2

If only Haines could buy another Penny.

*****

Penny healed her heart with the company of her beloved pets, and it only made her thankful for Thursday Guy. That guy was the one who told her to take care of Chunchun. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t probably know a cat was in that bush.

“Now that I think about it, he looks very sick… always,” she

mumbled as she glanced up at Chunchun. “Say, Chunchun, do you think he’s terminally ill?”

As soon as that question rolled out of her tongue, a knock suddenly came from the door.

“Huh? Who is it?” she lifted her eyes and saw the door open.

Peeking his head in, Slater searched for her. Her bed was empty, the tray on the side table was untouched, and she wasn’t even on the study desk. When his eyes fell on the floor, his face twitched.

There, wrapped with a blanket on the floor was Penny. His imagination immediately showed an image of a caterpillar! Surrounding her were her cat and her frog while the unknown

71 Too distracted

creature was still in the cage, eating some peanuts.

‘She got a cat, a frog, and that unknown creature. Is she into insects now and she’s checking how it feels to be one?‘Slater pressed his lips as he foresees another ominous addition to her animal kingdom.

“Slater, what are you doing here?”

Slater’s silly thoughts halted upon her question. “Uh, Penny, can I come in?”

“Sure.”

“I can?”

“Mhm.” Penny bobbed her head. “But I’m not putting Tiana and Chunchun away.”

“…” Slater was speechless. “I’ll stay here.” 2

Her round eyes blinked as she waited for him to state his intentions. She could see the hesitation on his face as if debating whether or not he should embrace his fear.

“Thing is…” Slater scratched his temple and sighed. “I can’t study.”

“Huh?”

“I want to distract myself, but I’m too distracted and disappointed that I can’t distract myself.”

This time, it was Penny’s turn to not have any rebuttal. “That’s a lot of distractions you’re near destruction.”

“Don’t mock me for once, can you?

“Fine.” Penny unrolled herself until she was free from the blanket.

516

<

71 Too distracted

She looked at him dead in the eye and said, “Come in. Don’t worry. I’ll keep them away – Second Brother?” 2