As Ian lifted his head to stare at Sebastian, the man actually saw traces of anger and resentment in his eyes. He had never seen his son like that before.
Resentment? Does Ian resent me? Does he hate his own daddy?
Sebastian’s temper finally rose at that thought. His face darkened as he loomed over his son. “What do you mean I don’t keep my promises? What did I do now?”
“You scolded her!”
“Who? Sasha? After all this time, you’re still defending her! Yes, I scolded her. What about it? Have I promised you that I won’t argue with her? Ian, have you forgotten that you’re my son? Have you forgotten that I was the one who raised you?”
When Sebastian finally came to a realization, an overwhelming pang of jealousy exploded within him, and he couldn’t help but bellow at the child in a loud voice.
Ian was utterly frightened!
He had never seen his father so scary before. The boy’s face turned pale as tears began to flow out of his beady eyes that were still glaring at his daddy.
“I hate you! I don’t ever want to see you again!”
With as much strength as he could muster, he tossed the toy he had been holding in his hand at his father. Then, he darted to his bed, where he proceeded to wrap himself tightly in the blanket.
Sebastian was dumbfounded.
It took some time for him to come to his senses. After that, he turned to look at the bundle on the bed, where a child’s whimpering could be heard. How he wished to slap himself in the face at that moment!
Sebastian, what were you thinking? Are you crazy? How could you lose your temper in front of your son! He’s just a child!
He took several steps forward and stood by the bedside as he contemplated his next move. Then, he leaned in and sat down next to the little bundle. “Ian, I’m sorry. I was wrong for losing my temper and yelling at you. More importantly, I shouldn’t have broken the promise I was supposed to keep. Can you forgive me?”
There was no reply.
The bundle did not budge. It seemed like the child was really hellbent on ignoring him.
Sebastian could not help but feel an ounce of regret.
Frankly, his son was never a crybaby to begin with. Perhaps because of his character or because Sebastian kept instilling in him what it meant to be a man, the boy rarely showed his vulnerable side in front of other people.
He was like a precocious kid who matured too fast. At the age of five, the times he had cried could be counted using the fingers on one hand.
However, the little boy was currently wrapped up in his blanket, crying his heart out.
Sebastian was beyond guilty. He got increasingly frantic the longer Ian refused to come out of his fort. So, he decided to open up the blanket himself. “Ian, please come out. I promise you that I will never argue with… Ms. Nancy again, alright?”
Sebastian hoped his coaxing would work.
Indeed, that seemed to satisfy the kid, for the crying gradually stopped.
“Do you… really mean it?”
Sure enough, the little guy lifted the blanket almost immediately. It was clear as day that, while he was hiding in there, tears had streamed down his face while snot ran down his nose, the sight of which completely upended his past image.
Sebastian’s eyes twitched slightly as he took in his son’s face, but he suppressed his emotions. “Of course, I won’t quarrel with her for no reason anymore. We had a disagreement today because she took you out when you were still recovering from your illness. I was worried, so I merely reminded her what she shouldn’t have done.”
Ian sniffled. His teary eyes had reddened like a rabbit’s.
However, he did not shed any more tears.
Sebastian took this as a sign that the boy had chosen to believe him, so he pulled him out from under the covers and into his arms.
“Alright. Let’s get you washed up. It’s time for dinner.”
“But she’s already mad.”
“What?”
When Ian blurted that out of nowhere, Sebastian was unable to make head or tails of what the boy meant. It was not until he found the little fellow standing by the bathtub, with his head drooping once again, that he realized what was going on.
Is he talking about his mother? What about her? Is she not coming over tonight?
Right then, the hand that was testing the temperature of the water in the bathtub froze midair. A glint of grimness flashed across his eyes when he thought about the reason why he came home so early.
…
Sasha had to stay at her uncle’s house until it was close to ten at night.
Jackson’s health problem was nothing new. Initially, his condition got better after Sasha treated him. Moments later, his daughter, Xenia, popped by. When she saw Sasha, she began to mock the doctor.
And that was how Jackson lost his temper.
As a result, his blood pressure rose, and Sasha had to stay back to look after him.
“Sasha, you know, you don’t have to be so kind. He’s my father, not yours. It’s futile no matter how nice you are to him. There’s not much value to be squeezed out of him anymore.”
Xenia struck a conversation, albeit with stinging mockery, when she noticed that Sasha was still treating Jackson’s illness despite the late hour.
Sasha merely furrowed her brows, opting to ignore her.
She had not seen Xenia in five years. Contrary to their relationship now, the two used to get along really well in the past. When they were children, Sasha used to visit the Wand family often to spend time with Xenia. She even requested her father to enroll her in Xenia’s school. They were not sisters by blood, but their relationship had been closer than that.
