Chapter 33
At noon, Cassidy had lunch in the company with Josiah and in the afternoon, Josiah had to deal with the grievances of the shareholders.
Cassidy sat in the office shortly before deciding to go home. As she made her way towards the parking lot, she passed by the fountain and noticed the security guard retrieving a phone from the water. Frowning, she approached and inquired, “Whose phone is this?”
The security guard greeted her respectfully and replied, I discovered this phone at the bottom of the fountain while on duty. I intended to locate the owner.
Cassidy suddenly recalled that Nathan had gone into the fountain and got a rough idea. “I know whom it belongs to. Pass it to
“Okay.” The security guard immediately handed over the phone to Cassidy.
The device was dry but had powered off after its dip in the water.
As Cassidy made her way towards her car, she turned on the phone. Upon unlocking it and settling into the driver’s seat, she was greeted by a flood of text message notifications.
Although she wasn’t one to snoop through others‘ messages, a single glance at a particular message left her stunned. The text read: [Mr. Howell, sorry to bother you, but your son’s medical checkup report has been released. Some irregularities have been identified, which we would like to discuss when you visit the school. During the checkup, it was discovered that a girl named Paisley in Jayden’s class is blood–related to him…]
The message only displayed one paragraph, and further details required unlocking Cassidy didn’t have Nathan’s phone password.
Cassidy recalled the school’s recent medical examinations. Little did she anticipate that it would reveal the bond between Jayden and Paisley. While Jayden wasn’t her biological child, he was Nathan’s son, Consequently, he and Paisley were half- siblings.
“No! I can’t let Nathan know Paisley is his child. I won’t let anyone take Paisley away!’ Cassidy’s expression darkened, and without hesitation, she started the car and drove toward Starwish Kindergarten.
At Starwish Kindergarten class, the seat next to Jayden was empty. Paisley and Jayden sat next to each other. However, Paisley was on leave today.
Jayden had brought family–themed homework painting to class, but the teacher hadn’t collected it yet. He stared at the painting all morning. The woman who had appeared in the Howell residence last night was the same as that in the painting. Jayden knew she was Paisley’s mommy. He had met her once before in the principal’s office, but he hadn’t paid attention to Cassidy at that time.
The first time Jayden felt a peculiar connection to Cassidy was upon viewing Nathan’s painting. Engulfed in his childhood dreams, he often envisioned a woman whose face remained elusive, perpetually walking forward with her back turned. Unable to catch up. Jayden instinctively understood she was his mother.
Despite David’s insistence on referring to Meredith as “mom,” Jayden’s inner voice asserted otherwise. It wasn’t until Nathan depicted Cassidy’s face in the family portrait that Jayden’s epiphany struck. She was the recurring “mom” figure from his dreams.
Upon Cassidy’s recent intrusion at the Howell residence, Jayden vocalized an almost unconscious “mommy” upon sighting her face for the first time.
Amid his lunch break, Jayden experienced another dream featuring Cassidy leading the way, with him calling out after her as “mommy.” This time, his dream altered as Cassidy halted; as she turned around, Jayden abruptly awoke.
Returning to his desk absentmindedly, Jayden noticed his painting was gone, prompting a sudden change in his expression. Surveying the scene, he spotted a cluster of people surrounding the neighboring desk.
“Wow! Jayden did such a fantastic job!” someone praised.
“The teacher asked us to draw a family photo for homework, right?” inquired another.
Chapter 33
“Why did Jayden include Paisley in it?” questioned a different kid.
“Isn’t this Paisley’s mom?” observed someone.
“Jayden doesn’t like Paisley, does he? I wish I could be Jayden’s desk mate so he could draw me in his picture, grumbled
someone.
Jayden approached the group. Slightly taller than his peers, he easily spotted a girl holding his painting, clearly reluctant to let it go. Jayden didn’t know her name, and besides Paisley, he didn’t bother with recalling others‘ names in the class. It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember; it was simply that he had no interest in doing so.
“Give me back my painting. Jayden’s resonant voice, quite different from that of his classmates, startled everyone.
The girl was taken aback. Seeing Jayden, she stood up awkwardly and asked, “Did you paint this, Jayden?”
Ignoring her question, Jayden reiterated, “Hand it over.” He was particular about people touching his belongings.
The girl, uneasy with his demeanor, hesitated but persisted, “Why do you treat Paisley nicely and me so differently?”
While most children hadn’t yet experienced budding romance, it wasn’t uncommon for girls to favor attractive, charming boys. Consequently, Jayden was quite popular in the class, particularly among the girls.
Jayden had a unique and delicate face, especially his alluring eyes. He looked very much like Nathan. But Jayden never smiled
or talked to the other children. Only Paisley was spoiled and loved by him. No matter what Paisley wanted, he would always give it to her.
Ordinarily, no child dared to venture within two feet of Jayden. Before Paisley joined the class, Jayden had claimed two seats for himself.
On the day Paisley transferred to this class, she glanced at Jayden and boldly settled beside him with her small schoolbag. Since then, she had a special place beside Jayden as well a
in his heart.
Everyone envied Paisley. In reality, there was more jealousy than envy about this. Especially when Jayden painted Paisley on a painting, the jealousy mounted. They all wondered, ‘Why is our Prince Charming only nice to Paisley?”
The girl felt so aggrieved that she began to cry. “If only Paisley would transfer to another school… We all despise her! If only she didn’t exist”
Irritated. Jayden cast her a sharp, inquiring gaze and demanded sternly, “What did you say?”
The girl, petrified by Jayden’s chilling stare, faltered in her reply. “S–Since Paisley joined our school, she’s monopolized you! We all wish to play with you, yet you only involve yourself with Paisley! We resent her monopolizing your attention!”
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