Before he left the Seet Residence, Davin reminded him to come over often to play.
Juan shot him a delighted nod in reply.
After that, he returned to Hillside Villa.
Evan gazed at Juan for a bit before a small grin tugged at his lips.
This was the first time he had felt what it was like to be surrounded by family. “Kyle, you did great today!”
Juan rubbed the back of his head and smiled at his father. He had not done anything much. In fact, he had even gotten a free meal, a huge allowance, and had brought back a lot of delicious food. This had been a fruitful outing indeed!
“Daddy, can I store the food by myself?”
Evan mulled over it for a bit before nodding.
“You shouldn’t keep these for too long. Remember to throw them away if you don’t finish them by tonight!”
“Okay! Thanks, Daddy!”
Shooting his son one last smile, Evan headed off to work.
Juan hurried into the kitchen and put all the take-out containers into a big bag before stuffing it into the fridge. That way, it would be easier to carry when he left.
At long last, he headed back to Kyle’s room and played with some Lego as he whiled the time away.
On the other side of things.
Nicole sent Maya and Nina off to kindergarten before focusing her attention on Kyle. “Where would you like to go?”
The little boy thought over the question but soon found that he could not come up with an answer.
After all, he had never been out of the house before.
Since he had not seemed to enjoy the amusement park, she pondered where to take him today. After a moment, she suggested, “Kyle, I have an idea of where we can go. I’m certain that you’ll like it.”
He glanced at her with a blank expression on his face and questioned, “Where?”
“You’ll see when we get there. We can leave immediately if you don’t like the place.”
The young boy shrugged internally and agreed. It was still early now and he was in no hurry to go back and switch places with Juan anyway.
When they arrived at their destination, Nicole searched Kyle’s face and prodded, “Do you like it?”
The little boy’s gaze was glued to the animals in the zoo, his eyes shining with delight.
“That’s a monkey. Over there is a panda and those are tigers…” she introduced the animals one by one.
He whipped his head around and snapped, “I can see for myself!”
With that said, he walked toward the pandas that were chewing on some bamboo shoots.
Taken aback at his attitude, she had to remind herself that his temper was distinctly different from her other three children. She would not hold it against him.
After all, when it came down to it, she owed him a lot.
She remained quiet after that, as she merely followed along behind him. Only when his brows furrowed in confusion would she give short explanations about whatever had seemed puzzled him. Then, she would shut her mouth and wait for the next time that he had needed her help.
Noticing how careful she was being around him, he realized that he might have been a little harsh toward her earlier.
“Just say whatever you want. You don’t have to pay me any heed!” he tossed the sentence over his shoulder before speeding ahead.
Nicole stared at his retreating figure in surprise before a bubble of laughter escaped her lips. So he does care for how others feel. He just has a different way of expressing himself. Even while being nice to someone, his face remains so cold.
Lost in her thoughts, she began to hasten, in her steps. When she sped up again, she abruptly realized that Kyle had disappeared.
Where was he?
Panic rose in her and she swept a glance around, hoping to catch sight of her little boy. How could he have simply vanished when he had just been right in front of her?
“Kyle! Kyle!” she shouted desperately.
A muted cry from nearby caught her attention, as she immediately spun to look in the direction where it had come from.
To her horror, Kyle was currently being held in the arms of a man. He had been gagged, which explained the muffled sounds that he was making.
“Kyle!”
She dashed after the kidnapper immediately. To her misfortune, the man was very fast. With her high-heeled shoes being more of a hindrance now than ever, she tossed them aside before she sprinted after the man barefoot.
The man was currently running through one of the less-walked paths of the zoo, which was paved with gravel. As such, the path was uneven and incredibly painful, as the sharp rocks dug into the tender undersides of her feet.
Despite her circumstances being as such, she charged on ahead, completely ignoring the throbbing in her feet.
“C’mon, c’mon, faster!”
She managed to snag the man right as he was about to stuff Kyle into a car.
Her hand darted down to grab a few of the silver needles that she had always carried with her. Raising one of them, she jabbed it down into the abductor’s neck.
“How dare you touch Kyle! I’m going to stab you to death!”
Well-versed in the art of acupuncture, she knew exactly where to stab, to inflict the most pain. Thus, two more stabs from her, and the man began to howl in agony. She gave him a vicious kick for good measure.
“You b****! I’ll kill-“
He did not get to finish his sentence as a small pebble smacked him right in the eye.
“Who did that!”
The words had barely left his mouth when another pebble struck him in his other eye.
“Ahh!” he wailed as his hands instinctively flew up to his stinging eyes.
Kyle glanced at Nicole and pointed out, “Grab that thick branch!”
Spinning her head around, she spotted the branch that he had spoken of, as she soon dashed over to pick it up.
“Where do you think I should hit him, Kyle?”
“His arms and his legs.”
Since he used his arms to restrain me and his legs to escape, those places shall be the areas where he gets punished!
“Okay!
Brandishing the branch as a makeshift club, Nicole started to whack his limbs as hard as she could.
Just as she was enjoying herself, several men came running over. They were most likely the man’s accomplices.
“We can’t win against so many men. Let’s go!” She swiftly grabbed Kyle’s hand and tugged him along, as they bolted out of the vicinity.
They did not stop running until they exited the deserted path. Soon, they returned to the more crowded areas. She heaved a sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?”
“You alright?”
They asked each other simultaneously.
“I’m okay. What about you, Kyle?”
The little boy shook his head in response. His gaze moved down and he noticed that Nicole’s feet were bleeding. Just the sight of them had him internally wincing in sympathetic pain.
The woman followed his eyes and looked down. Upon seeing the crimson red staining her feet, she let out a yelp of pain.
Earlier, all she could think about was getting Kyle to safety. Hence, she was able to ignore the way her skin had torn open and bled.
“Your shoes?”
“They’re back on that path. Don’t bother getting them; the men might still be there.”
“Then, you should go to the hospital first. I’ll buy you a pair of shoes later.”
She nodded in acquiescence and limped forward with a grimace.
Every single step hurt so badly!
Kyle watched her struggle and remembered how she had tossed aside all caution earlier when they had been escaping. The faster we get to the hospital, the less pain she has to be in.
With that thought in mind, he glanced back at the path where they had come from.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.