Chapter 197 Nothing to Fear
âSelf-defense?â Madeline subconsciously looked at Sebastian. âIs this because of the childrenâs⦠kidnapping?â
As soon as she mentioned the word, she took a peek at the childrenâs faces, only to find that they looked like they usually did. They didnât look like they were particularly traumatized.
At that sight, she could finally let out a breath of relief.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
âYes,â Sebastian told her. âNo matter how good the bodyguards are, there will come a time when they cannot protect the children. It would make them much safer if they had the ability to protect themselves.â
âYou are right.â Madeline agreed with him, and she nodded.
She would have been bullied more by the Taylors if she hadnât learned martial arts to protect herself.
There were tons of benefits of learning martial artsââthe first one being that one could protect themselves, and the second one was the increased level of confidence martial arts practitioners had. Anyone with that confidence would be able to stand up against anyone without fear because they know they have the ability to take care of themselves.
The thing was⦠Learning martial arts was no walk in the park. She was fine with having a tough time, but the boys were her babies. For someone who had painstakingly raised them to grow up without any hardships, the thought of putting them through something so tough pained her.
Sebastian noticed that she was unwilling to say yes to it, so he comforted her, âDonât worry. I will teach them step-by-step. I wonât put them through any hardships.â
Besides Madeline, Sebastian, too, was reluctant to do it as well!
It pained him to think that his beautiful and obedient sons, whose limbs were as delicate as flowers and whom he didnât need to put in a lot of strength to carry, were going to take up something so physically taxing.
If it wasnât because of the kidnapping incident orchestrated by Luke, he would have been absurdly reluctant to let his children learn martial arts.
âDaddy, Mommy, I am a tough cookie!â Quincy convinced them in all seriousness. âNo pain, no gain! I want to become someone who has the ability to protect Mommy and Buddy! I canât be more brilliant than other people if I donât work harder than them!â
âMe! Me!â Joel raised his hand and eagerly joined the conversation. âI am the same as Aldo! I will do anything Aldo does!â
Sebastianâs gaze flicked between Quincy and Joel. At that moment, Sebastian couldnât help but pull them into an embrace before smacking a big kiss on each of them. âI wonder what good deed I did in my past life for me to get such wonderful boys as my sons in this lifetime.â
âDaddy!â Joel hugged his father with his small face tilted upward as his crescent moon eyes looked at Sebastian. âI must have done lots of good things too in my past life for me to have such a good Daddy, Mommy and Aldo!â
Upon hearing that, Sebastian, still hugging Joel, couldnât help but look at Madeline and ask, âMaddie, did Buddy grow up drinking honey water? He is too sweet.â
Madeline started laughing at that, and she reached over to caress the little oneâs head.
She didnât know who Joel took after for him to be such a sweet talker. He had always been the best at cheering her up.
Joel was born with a weaker constitution than Quincy. Not only was he shorter and skinnier, but he also fell sick more than his older brother did. As their parent, it was natural that Madelineâs scale would tip more to the sicker childâs side. Even though she constantly reminded herself that she shouldnât pick sides and she needed to treat both her children fairly, she would always unconsciously be more concerned about Joel.
She would sometimes worry that Quincy would get jealous of his younger brother, but she eventually realized that she had been worrying over nothing. Joel loved his brother so much that his eyes shone every time he saw Quincy. His older brother was the one he stuck to the most, other than his mother. Joel would even say all kinds of sweet things to his older brother every day.
After they had outgrown their toddler stages, Quincy, who was born only a few minutes before Joel, had automatically assumed the responsibilities of an older brother. Not only did he not get jealous because of his motherâs love for his younger sibling, but he was also even showing as much love to his brother as his mother would.
Joel was so enthusiastically clingy that he could even follow Quincy to the washroom, but Quincy never once showed that he was annoyed by Joelâs persistence. He would always let his younger brother do anything he wanted.
Whenever Madeline saw the siblings together, she would think that she might be the most blessed person on earth.
She, too, wanted to say what her husband and younger son had said about good deeds and karmas. She wanted to tell them that her sons must be her blessing from her past life!
Seeing how warm the atmosphere in the room was, Madeline couldnât help but probe what her children thought of the kidnapping.
When she did, Quincy only showed her how fearless he was, while Joel was as muddled as he always was. He didnât seem to have any idea about what had happened.
It might have been the fact that the children were still young, or because they hadnât been hurt and had woken up in their own home that the incident didnât seem to leave much of an impression nor trauma on them.
She could finally be at ease after making sure that her children were fine.
That night, she prepared a scrumptious meal to welcome Logan and Luke with Sebastian by her side.
She still held some resentment and anger toward Luke for the things that he had done to them, but upon seeing Logan limp, her heart felt so much pain that she didnât feel like holding onto those negative feelings anymore.
Just like Luke said, Logan was the prime example of what a perfect man was before he sustained the injury to his leg⦠Logan might look elegant and gentle on the surface, but she knew just how prideful of a man he was. He might seem to not care that he had become a cripple, but she could only imagine how upset he must feel about it.
And coincidentally, Luke was Loganâs only brother and family. She was willing to let Luke off her hook for Loganâs sake.
She only hoped that Luke would start behaving and stop worrying about his only brother.
The atmosphere at the dining table was peaceful because the children were there.
When night came, Madeline arranged for Logan to rest in their guest room, whereas Luke, along with Conrad and Dean, went to the bodyguardsâ quarters to the east.
Luke was rather obedient as he quietly went with his new colleagues. He didnât compare his plight to that of his brother.
When the second day came, Madeline, to her pleasant surprise, noticed how Loganâs limp wasnât as severe as it was yesterday. As much as she was elated by the sight of that, she thought that she might have imagined it, and so she quickly took a few more looks at Logan.
Logan laughed out loud when he caught her stealing glances at him, and he said, âMy limp was more obvious because I was too tired yesterday. My leg feels much better now after I had proper rest.â
Her lips parted and quivered ever-so-slightly, but she didnât know what to say in return. There was still a suffocating feeling that a boulder was pressing on her chest.
âI am fine!â Logan patted her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. âMaddie, donât worry about me. I am good. And I am really happy⦠I have never been better.â
The first memory that Logan had was of his sickly mother, who was in bed, and how distant he felt he was from Luke. For as long as he could remember, there werenât a lot of happy moments in his life.
After his mother had passed away and his father had remarried, he and Luke were basically abused by their stepmother every day. They had to struggle to stay alive back then.
The two of them managed to make their escape to Worrick with the help of their uncleâs friend after that. They might have gotten out from the evil clutches of their stepmother, but he spent every day thinking of a way to get his revenge and take back everything that was theirs to begin with.
Alas, he succeeded at it. He took back their property and got his revenge. However, his beloved sister was no longer by his side thenâ¦