Chapter 5
However, my luck might have worsened since I came back.
There were some people you shouldn’t even think about because they’d show up in front of you the next day if you did.
It was Friday, and I was planning to pick up Janet from school with Charo.
But because Charo pooped on the way and I spent some time cleaning up the mess, I was a bit late.
When I got to the school gate, most of the parents had already left.
At that time, Charo, who was usually extremely docile, suddenly rushed towards a boy.
I quickly pulled it back, shouting, “Charo, stop!”
Finally, I managed to hold it back before it bit the boy.
The boy’s father was also there, and I was about to apologize to them.
But when I looked up, Reginald’s all–too–familiar face appeared in front of me.
I pulled Charo and was about to leave Reginald’s side.
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Chapter 5
But then, Charlie suddenly ran over and grabbed my hand. “Mom, don’t you want Char anymore?”
I shook off Charlie’s hand, saying, “Don’t you have a new mom? Why would you think of a woman like a nanny like me?”
He immediately squatted down and hugged my leg. “After Lauren married Dad, she became different. She isn’t as nice to me as before. She doesn’t cook me delicious food anymore and orders takeout every day.”
I said calmly, “Charlie, it has nothing to do with me. Isn’t this what you want? Aren’t you the one who thought the junk food Lauren took you to eat was delicious? Why don’t you like it now?”
“Michelle, it isn’t Charlie’s fault. Lauren’s temper has indeed changed a bit,” said Reginald.
Looking at Reginald and Charlie, who didn’t seem to understand what I was saying, I felt a headache.
Charlie said, “Mom, you named the dog Charo. You must have
named it like this because you missed me so much. Take Charo home and be with me.”
“Doesn’t Lauren have an allergy to animal fur? Don’t you care about that now?” I asked.
“We can let Lauren move to the small room,” said Charlie.
Hearing this answer, I just thought it was ridiculous and turned to Reginald, saying, “So the three of us will live in the same house. It’s so funny.”
4
At that moment, Janet came out of the kindergarten and naturally took my hand. “Let’s go home.”
The moment Charlie and Reginald saw Janet, their eyes were filled with disbelief.
Charlie said, “Mom, you have another child?”
Reginald shouted, “Michelle, having a child with another man would bring you bad luck.”
Janet sized them up carefully, pointing at Charlie, and asked, “Are you the bad boy who bullied Michelle? What’s your name?”
Charlie was angry. “I didn’t bully my mom. I’m Charlie.”
“Char?” Janet looked back at me, then squatted down and hugged Charo, wailing, “Charo, I’m so sorry. How could I give you a name that’s like a dog’s? Oh, you are a dog.”
Then, she looked at Charlie, saying, “You’re a dog, too.”
Kids were always so straightforward when they disliked someone.
But Charlie, who was already ten years old, still couldn’t control his temper.
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Chapter 5
He shouted, “How dare you call me a dog. I’ll beat your dog to death today.”
With that, he reached out and slapped Charo hard.
In an instant, Charlie’s ferocious expression overlapped with that of Reginald who had once thrown my cat to death.
Reginald had done the same thing before, hitting and then throwing my cat to its death.
Before I could react, Janet grabbed Charlie’s wrist.
She had been learning kickboxing for two years, but Charlie looked a bit overweight.
Charlie was yelping in pain from her grip and was about to fight back.
I was just about to step in to help when Reginald suddenly hugged me from behind.
He said, “Let the kids handle their own business. Why don’t we talk about us? Michelle, I missed you during the time you were away.”
At that moment, Charlie broke free from Janet’s hold, and the two started fighting.
After all, he was five years older than Janet and had advantages in height, weight, age, and gender.
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Chapter 5
I was held by Reginald and couldn’t break free.
At that moment, Charo suddenly slipped out of the leash easily and rushed to the school security room like lightning.
He then started barking loudly at the security room.
Taking advantage of Reginald being distracted, I elbowed him in the groin.
He immediately covered his groin and half–knelt on the ground, crying out in pain.
I quickly stepped forward to separate Charlie and Janet.
Because I used too much force, I accidentally pushed Charlie to the ground.
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His hand seemed to be scratched by the gravel on the ground, and he looked at me with a wronged expression.
The security guard rushed over, asking, “What’s going on?”
I pointed at Reginald on the ground, saying, “My ex–husband and his child are harassing me. Please help me call the police.”
After arriving at the police station, the police gave Reginald a warning, telling him not to harass me without reason, and told him that he would go to jail if he caused me any physical harm.
But Reginald seemed not to listen and just looked at me as if I were his property.
Chapter 5
Charlie sat on the bench, also staring at me.
Before leaving the police station and going home, I said to
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Reginald, “We are already divorced. Please don’t disturb my life anymore.”
As soon as we got home, Janet hugged me.
I asked her in confusion, “What’s wrong? Were you scared just now?”
Janet said, “No, I just think that they two are so bad. You must have had a hard time living with them before.”
I pinched her face, saying, “With you by my side, I don’t feel hard at all.”
“The teacher said it will snow today. How about having fondue?“. smiled Janet.
Janet and I happily started preparing the ingredients for fondue.
Since we lived on the first floor with a floor–to–ceiling window, I noticed that there seemed to be a moving–in going on next door.
It seemed that new neighbors had moved in.
Just as Janet’s teacher said, as soon as it got dark, heavy snow started to fall.
Chapter 5
Janet and I sat in front of the floor–to–ceiling window, eating fondue and watching the snow scene.
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Suddenly, I noticed that Janet stopped eating and was staring out of the window.
Only then did I see that two figures, one big and one small, appeared outside the window inappropriately.
They were both wearing down jackets and squatting under the street lamp.
When Charlie saw me looking out, he waved at me.
I decided to ignore them and urged Janet to continue having fondue with me.
I wanted to see how long they could stand there.
Just then, Charlie suddenly walked over and appeared in front of the window, holding a piece of paper.
The handwriting was crooked, unlike a ten–year–old child’s. [Mom, it’s enough for Dad and me to accompany you from afar.]
Then, he quickly squatted down and wrote on the back: [Mom, don’t blame me for my ugly writing. Dad’s business was bad, and he had no money to send me to primary school.]
After making sure I saw the content on the paper, he seemed to be happy and jumped back to his original position.
Chapter 5
Was he happy because he thought I would surely pity him and go back to him?
THE
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I asked the property management of the community why they let outsiders in, but I was told that they were the new residents who had moved in.
It seemed they had moved next door to me.
Even after we finished eating fondue, Reginald and Charlie were still standing there.
Charlie’s face was red with cold in the snow.
Reginald couldn’t help rubbing his hands to keep warm.
They were enduring hardship for no reason. But it had nothing to do
with me.
