novelxo Chapter 4
Chapter 4 He’s Taking the Children Away
The children’s voices reached them before Stanley could even process what happened. The siblings shared a fierce protective look on their faces when they pounced at him, and they pulled Melinda out of his grasp.
The turn of events caught everyone off guard. Stanley had to let go of Melinda and took a few steps back under the impact before he regained his footing.
Samuel stretched out his arms and stood in front of Melinda. He huffed as he glared at Stanley. “Daddy, stop! A real man won’t hurt his woman!”
Pamela threw herself in Melinda’s arms with a worried look on her face. “Mommy, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine.” Melinda wiped the tears off Pamela’s cheeks. Then, she forced a smile despite her panic. “Don’t worry about me.”
Stanley cast a suspicious look between the children and Melinda. Then, he knitted his delicate eyebrows. A serious expression fell on his face.
Melinda’s heart lurched when she saw him glaring daggers at her children.
Unaware of her mother’s worry, Pamela stared back at Stanley with teary eyes. “Daddy is a bad guy! I don’t want Daddy anymore! How could you hurt Mommy? You’re a bad guy! Bad guy!” She wasn’t backing down even though Stanley’s presence was overwhelming.
The longer Melinda looked at Stanley, the stronger the bad feeling she had. “Stop calling him that! He’s not your dad!”
“Your words don’t mean anything!” Samuel was reluctant to give up when Stanley was standing right before him. “I say we do a DNA test. What do you think?”
Her son’s stubbornness left her speechless. “Samuel!”
“Mommy, you have shouldered everything on your own for seven years. He should share some of your burdens from now on.” Samuel remained level-headed. I’m not letting Daddy go!
Stanley’s solemn expression softened. He pursed his lips into a thin line as he was lost in his thoughts.
Silence fell on them.
“Household Rule No. 3, a child must not tell lies. But Mommy, it should apply to adults too.” Samuel locked eyes with her. “We need to know, is the man over there me and Pamela’s father?”
The wall Melinda had been building up to lock down her feelings came crumbling at a simple question. Her body stiffened under Stanley’s unfathomable eyes as she listened to the mask she put on cracking from the inside.
She couldn’t bring herself to answer Samuel.
Stanley frowned at their exchanges. He immediately got hold of the situation after looking at the children, who were as adorable as dolls.
Max followed suit by studying the children’s faces and found their facial features resembling Stanley’s. The discovery made his jaw drop.
Oh my god. It’s crazy! I can’t believe I didn’t know anything about this until now! How can I call myself Mr. Fox’s special assistant if I know nothing about this?
Melinda exhaled. She fluttered her eyes closed to escape reality for a few seconds. This can’t be true.
Afraid of offending her, Samuel wrapped his hands around her leg.
“Mommy, can you really blame us? We miss Daddy so much.” He appealed to his mother’s sympathy. “Daddy never shows up at any parent-child event in the kindergarten. The other kids always laugh at us! They said we were found on the streets.”
Pamela was saddened by the words, and tears blotted her eyes. She was conflicted about whether to receive the fact that Stanley was her father or not. Daddy is a bad guy! He’s so rude to Mommy! Do I really want him to be my dad?
Seeing no chance to convince Melinda, Samuel pulled at Pamela’s dress. “Pamela, do you want Daddy to become our family or not? Tell us.”
After pondering for a moment, Pamela turned around and wrapped her hands around Melinda’s leg on the other side. She nudged her mother with her head, her eyes remained teary. Melinda didn’t have the heart to stay angry at her children when she looked at Pamela’s sad face. Instead, the anger was replaced by distress and guilt. It’s my fault for the absence of their father in their lives.
Stanley recalled the specific night he spent with Melinda seven years ago. So, she got pregnant from that? Why didn’t she tell me such an important matter?
Max tried to gain control over the situation as he whispered, “Mr. Fox.”
Stanley returned to his senses and cast a glance at the wooden house. There’s one more thing. Who stole the Clear Sky Project?
He put any feelings aside before turning to Melinda. He demanded an answer. “Who else is living here?”
“Samuel, what did you do this time? Why is the tablet powered on? And our location is not turned off! What if the others—” Jaxon walked out of the house with a tablet. He immediately stopped in his tracks at the sight of a group of strangers. What’s with the crowd?
“Daddy! I’m the one who hacked your data!” Samuel ran to Jaxon and took the tablet before running back to Stanley. “Mommy doesn’t know anything about it! Hold me responsible if you want to.”
He lifted the tablet over his head, and Stanley took it.
“I’m also responsible for this matter.” Pamela hid behind Samuel and poked out her head to look at Stanley, who towered over them, before adding sheepishly, “We did it together.”
Their ‘betrayal’ gave Melinda a headache, so she took a deep breath to calm down.
Even though the children came clean to him, Stanley couldn’t believe that they did it.
“Daddy, I deleted the data after I stole them. I swear I didn’t pry!” Samuel looked at Stanley with an earnest look on his face. “I was just trying to get you here, so we can see each other.”
Pamela remained silent as her dark round eyes fixed on Stanley. He looks good if he isn’t angry. He and Mommy could make a good pair.
Stanley threw a glance at the tablet. As Samuel said, he deleted the project data. Besides, the tablet was still sharing the device’s location.
He couldn’t pin the reason down, but when Stanley met Samuel’s eyes, he didn’t have any doubt in believing Samuel. After all, eyes wouldn’t lie.
The visage of the pair of children standing in front of him gave him complicated feelings.
Stanley returned the tablet to Samuel, and Samuel had to use both of his hands to take it before he shoved it back into his duckling backpack.
Stanley bent down and picked up the boy before gesturing for Max to carry the child.
Next, he carried Pamela in his arms before throwing a meaningful look at Melinda. “They’re my children too. I’ll shoulder the responsibility to take care of them in the future as they wish.”
The bodyguards immediately took the hint and opened the door for them. Max quickly slipped into the car with Samuel in his arms.
When Melinda finally reacted to his decision, Stanley had already shoved Pamela into the car. She would’ve complimented him on his efficiency if the matter didn’t concern her.
“Hey! They’re my children! Get your hands off them!” She reacted out of her motherly instinct to get her children back, but the bodyguards blocked her in her path.