Luckily I reacted fast enough to prevent crashing into him.
“What are you doing here instead of eating your dinner, Gregory?” I bent down and asked.
However, he said nothing and was staring at Thora warily.
The latter shook her head, feeling disheartened as she said in a self-mocking manner, “Seems like I’ll always be seen as the enemy in this kid’s eyes.”
Only then did I realize what was going on. Under the Hall family’s arrangement, Gregory had to accept that Thora was going to be his future stepmother. He had been resisting it for so long and he was still feeling the same way towards her.
I quickly patted his head and consoled him, “Ms. Ziegler is my friend, Gregory. Don’t be rude, alright?”
His brows furrowed together as he said, “What would happen to you when she becomes my mother, Mommy? I don’t want her, I want you!”
Thora and I exchanged looks with each other, both of us feeling nonplussed.
After a moment, she mimicked me as she bent down and a rare look of adoration appeared on her face. “Hey, Gregory. I promise you that I would never steal your mommy’s place. You have to be more magnanimous. Let’s make peace, okay?”
“You’re not lying?” The little boy remained headstrong.
She held up three fingers in the air and vowed, “I promise.”
“Okay!” Gregory gave her a high five and said, “It’s settled!”
The crisis had finally been settled and John called out from the dining room, “The dishes are cold. Can we eat now?”
“You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to. No one’s forcing you,” Ashton said, deliberately going against him.
“Where are your manners? Is this how you’re supposed to talk to your brother-in-law?”
“Right back at you. It’s a first for me to see someone berating their father in front of their niece and nephew.”
“Don’t get on my nerves, Ashton!”
“That’s great. I feel like doing that today.”
John was rendered speechless at that.
Thora raised her brows and said to me, “Is this what they mean by ‘lively’ home?”
It was obvious that the experienced female president who started her career at the age of nineteen didn’t quite understand what it was like to bicker at the dining table.
The corners of my lips curved up awkwardly as I didn’t know how to explain it to her.
She took in a sharp breath and instantly strode towards the doors as though she was running from someone out to get her life. The woman didn’t even turn back to look at us once.
“Hey! Don’t leave in such a hurry! At least stay for dinner with us…”
Before I could even finish my sentence, the thunderous rumbling of a car engine sounded.
Thora would probably never yearn for the so-called warmth of a family anymore.
I turned back into the dining room and saw that John and Ashton were still bickering. They threw snipes and jabs one after another and none of them had any intention of letting the other party win. Where are the reputed business elites? They’re obviously babies who hadn’t even finished kindergarten!
Feeling pissed, I stomped my feet on the ground and shouted, “Enough! Both of you! Can’t we just have dinner peacefully?”
The room fell silent in an instant. Even Gregory and Audrey didn’t dare to move a muscle.
Their gazes were all on me and that made me uncomfortable.
Right then, it was as though Audrey had an epiphany as she pointed at John and Ashton and ordered, “Mommy’s angry. Stop fooling around, John! And Daddy, be good. Don’t make Mommy angry. You’re going to drive me crazy!”
I wondered where she learned to call her uncle by his name. When Audrey saw that there weren’t any reactions from them, she hopped down from her seat and pushed them down onto their own seats.
“Sit down. You won’t be allowed to eat anymore if you continue this.”
Ashton must’ve never expected a six-year-old to control him like this as his brows were knitted tightly and he had an annoyed yet helpless look on his face.
John, on the other hand, burst into laughter after being stunned for a moment. After that, he picked up his fork and started eating again.
The fight between the two men was resolved by Audrey just like that.
