Chapter 123 Back at the Maple Forest Villa, Madeline came out of the bathroom and saw Thomasâs messages flashing on her phone. She clicked on the chat and scrolled down. Most of the messages were the little boyâs complaints. She had just decided to read through them without answering when one particular message caught her attention.
Noah had found out Thomasâs name?
A disquieting feeling assailed her, and she rapidly typed a line of text to Thomas. âNoahâs found out who you are?â
Thomas replied immediately with, âThatâs not possible. Daddy thinks that Thomas is my nickname, thatâs all. Donât worry, Mommy!â
A moment later, he sent another message. âThatâs right, Mommy, Iâve given Daddy your Instagram account. He wants to add you to his friend list.â
Madeline typed back, âWhat? Alright, what did he bribe you with?â
Thomas replied hastily, âNo, no, thatâs not the case. How could I ever betray you, Mommy? I wouldnât do such a thing!â
Madeline responded with, âAre you absolutely sure?â
Thomas immediately replied, âRelax, Mommy, itâs just that Daddy insisted on giving me pocket money, thatâs all. He said since Iâd just found Mommy again, heâd like it if I treated you to a really good meal. He gave me 3 million, Mommy! So I reluctantly accepted it...â
Madelineâs heart stopped for a moment. She typed back, âNoah knows youâre my son?â
Thomas answered, âYep! Daddyâs pretty smart. Iâm guessing he saw we get along well together and figured it out himself!â
Madeline sent back, âSo youâre saying you used your Golden Child account to collect the money, and the name on the account just happened to be Thomas Grant?â
This completely threw Thomas for a loop, leaving him at a loss. It took a while before he finally responded with, âMommy, do you think Iâve been found out?â
Madeline responded with, â...â
She rubbed her forehead in frustration. That wretch Noah was far too intelligent for his own good, but to use his intellect to trick a five-year-old child was too much!
She closed the chat, her mind in turmoil. Noah would not even let her take one son with her; if he discovered that she had been pregnant with triplets back then, that would be a disaster. He would certainly try and gain custody of all three children!
Madeline felt panic rising at this. Hurriedly, she asked Thomas where he was so she could bring him home. However, Thomas did not reply for a while and this made her distinctly uneasy. The brat almost always answered his messages instantly!
Madeline decided to go and look for him. She had just gotten into the car when she heard her messenger notification chime. At first, she thought that Thomas had replied to her message, but when she looked at her phone, she saw that someone had sent a request to add her to their friend list. Feeling a little disappointed, she opened Instagram and immediately drew a sharp hiss of breath.
Noah was requesting to add her to his friend list. Not only that, he had even requested it under his own name.
Madeline ignored the request and started the car. However, the messenger notification chimed yet again. When she looked, she saw that it was still Noahâs friend request. This time, though, there was an attached message that read, âLet me add you to my friend list, then Iâll tell you where he is.â
The minute she saw this, Madeline immediately turned the engine off. She sat in the car, staring at her phone.
From the looks of things, Thomas had not replied to her message because his father was âholding him hostage,â in a manner of speaking!
She hesitated for a moment but finally approved Noahâs friend request.
Not long after that, a message popped up in the chat. It was the GPS coordinates for the Creek Montessori School.
Madeline stared at the location, startled. She had expected Noah to hunt her down immediately and demand an explanation after discovering Thomasâs identity, but he had sent her the location of a school instead.
What was going on? Had he sent that little rascal, Thomas, to a kindergarten?
Madelineâs brain was full of questions, but she set them aside for the time being and drove to the location she had been given.
Meanwhile, at the Creek Montessori School, Thomas was blissfully drinking a bottle of chocolate milk and strolling around with Noah. âDaddy, I know everything they teach in kindergarten. Can I not go?â He pouted, trying his best to persuade his father into agreeing.
He was not sure what was up with his daddy today. Noahâs injury still seemed to be giving him trouble, and he had already fainted this morning, but as soon as he regained consciousness, he had arranged for Thomas to be enrolled in this kindergarten after only a brief moment of father-son bonding.
If it werenât for Noahâs injuries, Thomas would have already escaped to go and see Madeline!
âYou should attend kindergarten at your age.â Noah interlaced his fingers with Thomasâs small ones as they strolled leisurely around the schoolâs grassy field. Suddenly, he felt that life was good for a moment.
If that ugly incident hadnât happened several years ago, he would be here with Madeline now, strolling in the field with their son.
They would be sending the boy to kindergarten every day and fetching him home together every night, talking and laughing with the little rascal.
He reached for his phone and unlocked the screen. The chat log only contained the GPS location he had sent Madeline; she had not replied to him.
She would be here soon, in other words.
âDaddy, youâre hurt. Why donât we go home first? Iâll go to school when youâre better!â Thomas racked his brain to come up with a reason to avoid going to kindergarten. Besides, he had almost finished his chocolate milk, and he still had not been able to coax Noah into allowing him to stay home from school.
âColt, do you remember when I brought you here a month ago?â Noah found a place to sit on the bleachers around the field and gently pulled Thomas down beside him. From this vantage point, they could see several children playing soccer with their coach.
âHuh?â Thomas blinked, somewhat confused.
He had never been here before, but he wasnât sure if Colton had come with Noah previously. His daddy had really been behaving oddly ever since he fainted earlier.
Daddy couldnât possibly have found out that he was pretending to be Colton, could he? Was he testing Thomas right now?
âWhen I brought you here, you really liked the place. In fact, you even pulled me over to sit here with you, saying you liked to see the children playing soccer on the field,â Noah said. He did not bother to check Thomasâs reaction, but he seemed somehow very warm and affectionate.
âReally? I think maybe my brain is too little, so I canât really remember much. But youâre fantastic at remembering things, Daddy!â
Thomas hedged rather awkwardly. He honestly did not know anything about this kindergarten at all. Furthermore, he did not know any details of whatever memories Colt and Noah had of this place, so he did not dare to fabricate anything.
What Thomas really wanted to do right now was to message Colton and ask what had happened. Unfortunately, his scumbag daddy had borrowed his phone! Not only that, he did not know when Noah would return it. Would he sound too petulant if he asked for his phone back?
Right as Thomas was trying his best to look casually at his daddy, Noah received a message from Wayne on his phone with the results of Wayneâs investigation.
Thomas Grant, the youngest competitor in the Youth Computer Networking Grand Championship, had won first place...
Related posts: