Balfour stared at her quietly for a while and then slowly cracked a smile. âNo worries. You just seem a bit off today. Didnât you sleep well last night?â
Ellinor replied, âIâm good. I just had a few dreams.â
Balfour stood up and gently patted Ellinorâs head. âDonât overthink before bed, then you wonât dream.â
Ellinor nodded slightly.
Balfour turned to Byran beside him, his tone getting serious. âByran, I got someone to call in sick for you today. Stay home and keep Ellinor company.â
Byran stared at him in surprise. What? Did he hear that right? Balfour actually helped him skip school?
Seeing his brotherâs surprise, Balfour reminded him sternly. âEven though I got you off, your teacher left homework for you. It better be done before I get home from work.â
âOh, got itâ¦â Byran nodded obediently. He didnât expect to have homework even on a day off. But hey, doing homework at home wasnât that bad. He could even sneak out for a bit while Balfour was out.
After Balfour left, Byran turned to Ellinor in amazement.
âEllinor, youâre something else! He actually got me off school because he was worried youâd be bored at home.
I heard he was really fond of Pearl, and I always wondered just how much he loved her.
Now I get it. Youâre even more powerful than my sister, Patricia! Balfour always had rules for her, but for you, heâs got none!â
Ellinor smiled. âEat your breakfast, then do your homework!â
She didnât want to compare herself with Patricia. She wasnât interested in who Balfour liked more, either.
Byran grinned and suddenly dropped his pride. âCan I go out for a bit this afternoon then? Just an hour, I promise Iâll be back on time.â
Ellinor raised an eyebrow. âIf you can finish your homework this morning, sure.â
Byran jumped up immediately. âNo problem! Iâll get on it now.â
After saying this, he ran upstairs to do his homework.
Ellinor looked at his breakfast and shook her head.
These young people sure have a lot of energy.
She needed to eat well and get her strength up so she could be in the best condition for the babyâs birth.
At half past ten in the morning, Byran excitedly ran downstairs with his completed homework to show Ellinor.
âLook! I finished my homework!â
Ellinor was on her phone, checking why Theo hadnât accepted her money transfer. She reminded him earlier, but he wasnât responding.
He really knew how to rile people up! Why couldnât he just accept it?
Hearing Byran made her come back to reality. She took the homework book from him and started checking his answers.
While slowly raising her hand, Ellinor asked, âWhereâs the pen?â
Byran frowned in confusion âWhy do you need a pen? You donât have homework to do.â
Ellinor pointed to a question on his homework. âWhy? Iâm going to circle the mistakes. If you donât correct them, youâre not going out!â
âOh!â Byran scratched his head in annoyance.
Left with no choice, he turned to go upstairs and get a pen.
Ellinor found over twenty mistakes in Byranâs homework. She had him sit and correct them, then checked again.
To be able to go out, Byran had no choice but to listen to her and carefully correct his mistakes.