“What a dumbass.”
Sebastian turned toward her, fixing his gaze on the woman who was slipping into slumber.
“Is it painful?” he asked.
“No…”
Sasha was drifting into sleep when she heard him speaking vaguely.
For the past five years, she had constantly kept her suffering to herself and told her children she was fine despite how much pain she felt.
Her brows stitched tightly because of the pain and she flipped on her side to cuddle in his arms. His warm embrace made her pain much more bearable.
“You’ll be fine.” His voice echoed softly in her ears as he patted her to sleep.
Over at the Hayes Residence, the somber house instantly became vivacious with the arrival of the three children.
Everyone—except for Frederick—was electrified when they knew they were coming.
“Matteo, do you want to go to my house? I happen to have a lot of delicious food at home,” one of the relatives offered.
“Matt, you and Ian should come to my house instead. I have a huge playground at my place. You guys will love it!”
“Cut it out. I asked them first.”
Everyone seemed to be enthusiastic about having the children over at their respective places, but it went without saying that they had ulterior motives.
Although their intentions were not pure, part of the reason why they wanted the kids to visit their places was that they were adorable. There was not a single person who would say no to the children, but the main reason was that they wanted to curry favor with Frederick.
Matteo and his siblings were caught in a dilemma. Since they could not get out of the situation, Matteo decided to just flash the trump card.
“What about y’all ask Grandpa?”
Ian quickly nodded in agreement.
Only Vivian seemed unfazed by the relatives’ passionate entreats. She kept herself occupied with the little yam plant in the garden, trying to dig it out of the soil. She had heard that Frederick was the one who planted this.
When the adults heard Matteo’s suggestion, they had no other choice but to let Frederick make the decision for them.
The old man was pleased when all the adults came to ask for his permission.
Everyone who stayed at the residential compound was a member of the Hayes family. After Frederick’s father built the family business and had three sons of his own, he asked all of them to come over and stay together to make sure the family never grew apart.
The residence was capacious. There were more than ten courtyards and the whole area was able to house everyone. One would easily get lost wandering around the compound unguided. It would take more than a day to finish going around the residence.
It was for this reason that the Hayes did not break away from the family residence and go out to stay on their own.
Frederick was elated when he found out that everyone was eager to invite his grandchildren over.
“They can go to your place, Roderick.” Frederick spelled the verdict after some thoughts.
“Alrighty!”
When Roderick found out the children were going home with him, he leaped like a happy kid in front of Frederick.
He held his head high in pride and marched out of the door under everyone’s jealous gazes.
“Follow me, kids. Your grandpa has given y’all the green light to come to my place.”
“We’re going to grand-uncle’s place?”
Matteo shot Ian a curious gaze. “He’s the one who gave me the gold pendant last time, right?”
Ian nodded briefly.
The child did not seem excited about the news at all. To be precise, there was a hint of despise on his face when he found out Roderick was bringing them home.
Ian’s reluctance elicited a frown on Matteo’s brows.
Meanwhile, everyone was disgruntled when they found out the children were following Roderick.
“He’s a real good bootlicker, isn’t he? First, it was Ian. Then, it was Matteo. What is Roderick trying to get at? Help his son score some brownie points?”
“Exactly. He only has one son, so he’s doing everything he can to make sure he gets on his eldest brother’s good book. God knows he’ll even get any inheritance since they are so incompetent.”
The two women complained bitterly and vented.
There was a kernel of truth in their words.
Roderick only had one son himself. Not only was his child unambitious, but he was also a failure. The family had tried putting him in Hayes Corporation a few times, but he disappointed the family over and over again.
“Let’s just wait and see how long he can last,” the women resumed.
“Do you remember what happened to Ian? Roderick used to bring him over a lot until he fell sick. Now that the other boy is added to the family, it’s a good chance for Roderick to extend his claws again.”
Despite their loathing, the women could only rant at each other.
There was nothing they could do since Roderick was elderly.
He was the second oldest in the family now after Frederick himself.
While the two women were busy gossiping, Roderick walked over to the garden with a wide smile on his face.
“Matt, Ian, where are you? Let’s go over to my place. I’ve got lots of tasty food for you.”
Ian stood up straight when he heard the familiar voice, his expression turning cold. His sudden reaction disconcerted Matteo.
“What’s the matter, Ian?”
