CHAPTER 248

Chapter 248

Damian rushed over to his mother and stood in front of her, a bright smile spreading across his face.

In the living room, everyone had gathered. Charlie looked at Isabella and immediately began to complain, “Isabella, Damian is really attached to you all. As soon as you left, he started crying, and we didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, I figured out he was upset because he was worried about you. So, I opened the door of the house and told him you and Adrian would be back soon and to keep an eye on the door. As soon as I said that, he stopped crying. See, I’m pretty good at this babysitting thing, aren’t I?”

Isabella listened to Charlie’s endless rambling, feeling a bit dizzy. She thought, ‘Here’s this famous celebrity I’ve only ever seen on TV before, right in front of me, proudly bragging about such a minor achievement with the child. It’s kind of funny.

“Yeah.” Isabella held back her laughter and nodded.

Charlie, thrilled by her response, glanced at Adrian and then earnestly continued his plea to Isabella, “So, Isabella, since I’m so smart, can you teach Damian to call me Uncle Charlie? I’d love it if he called me first, okay?” As he spoke, his bright smile revealed a row of white teeth, looking extremely hopeful.

“Dream on!” Bryce rushed over in a hurry and interrupted anxiously. “Isabella, don’t listen to Charlie’s nonsense. If Damian is going to call anyone uncle, he should call me Uncle Bryce first, and then Uncle Charlie!”

Charlie was angry and retorted, “Bah, go away. You don’t even know how to coax the child. Why should Damian call you first?”

Charlie and Bryce quickly began bickering, and the argument soon intensified. Isabella was bewildered, unsure of whom to side with!

Adrian watched them with a blank look, then turned to Isabella and said, “Just ignore them. They can be pretty obnoxious sometimes.” Isabella was at a loss for words. Adrian then suggested, “Let’s go make dinner together.”

Isabella quickly nodded and said, “Okay.”

Not only did they head to the kitchen, but Stacey also hurried over to help. Seeing Stacey join, Hayden followed as well.

Isabella’s kitchen wasn’t very big, and with several people in it, it felt a bit cramped. However, none of them wanted to leave.

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“Adrian, Isabella, let me help with dinner,” Stacey offered with a smile as she entered the

kitchen.

Isabella, recalling Becky’s difficult past, quickly refused, “N–No need, Becky. You should rest outside. Adrian and I will cook, and we’ll call everyone when it’s ready.”

“Let’s all do it together. It’ll be easier that way, Hayden suggested. His voice, calm and dignified, made it hard to refuse. In the end, they decided the four of them would cook together.

Hayden glanced at the ingredients and asked Isabella what dishes she wanted to make. After getting her input, he divided the ingredients, taking half for himself and Stacey to prepare, while Adrian and Isabella worked on the other half.

Hayden’s actions were so natural that Isabella was stunned. His skilled movements as he cleaned the ingredients made it seem unreal to her.

She thought, ‘Wow, can someone from such a wealthy family really cook this well? After Becky’s divorce, her new suitor seems awesome. She might be really happy with him.‘ While lost in thought, Isabella subconsciously looked at Adrian but quickly looked away when their eyes met, feeling her ears flush.

Adrian might not have known how to cook before, but over the past year at her house, he had basically learned all kinds of household chores.

As Isabella pondered, her thoughts became increasingly confused. ‘Can a wealthy man really be like this? Would he learn to cook just for someone he cares about?‘ The idea made them seem like genuinely good people.

Once the ingredients were prepped, Adrian and Isabella took over the cooking while Hayden and Stacey stepped back, respecting the fact that they were in someone else’s home and didn’t want to take over.

While Adrian and Isabella cooked, Debra, Patrick, Bryce, Charlie, Lillian, Kevin, and Jeremy all quietly came in multiple times to watch, The children didn’t understand much, but the adults were increasingly surprised, their gazes at Adrian growing more and more impressed.

Isabella found herself becoming anxious without even realizing it. But as she noticed everyone watching Adrian cook, she became more convinced of his earlier claim that he had never cooked before. ‘So… did he learn to cook just for me?‘ she wondered.

When the dishes were finally ready, they filled the entire table, and everyone could barely fit around it.

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After dinner, Adrian naturally began to clean up the dishes, and Stacey stood up to help as well. Isabella wanted to lend a hand, but Stacey stopped her, telling her to go rest for a while.

Once the dishes were done, Lillian, Kevin, Jeremy, and Damian were ready for bed. Isabella quickly guided them to their rooms and tucked them in.

The children had a place to sleep, but the adults were less fortunate due to the limited space in Isabella’s small home.

Fortunately, no one seemed to mind much. On the contrary, Adrian’s parents, Debra and Patrick, were very earnest in apologizing on behalf of their son for his previous actions toward her. Even Bryce apologized for his earlier deception. In the end, only Charlie remained dissatisfied, grumbling that they deserved it and suggesting that Isabella take the opportunity to properly punish Adrian for being a deceiver who deserved retribution.

Isabella listened to everyone’s words, and finally, Charlie’s open accusations made the underlying issue clear. Adrian had previously hidden his identity, preventing Charlie and Becky from meeting them, which had caused Charlie a lot of resentment. He was taking the chance to get back at Adrian.

“Isabella, really, I wanted to come and see you and Damian so badly before, but Adrian wouldn’t allow it. He was afraid of revealing his identity. Don’t you think he deserves a good scolding?” Charlie continued to complain to Isabella.

Isabella glanced at Adrian, who immediately adopted a stern expression, glaring at Charlie, and scolded, “Charlie, are you looking for trouble?”

Charlie wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. He looked at Isabella and huffed, “Do you think I’m afraid of you? Just so you know, if you ever try to bully me in the future, I’ll be sure to complain to Isabella.”

“You!” Adrian exclaimed in disbelief and gritted his teeth. “How old are you? Don’t you see how childish you’re acting?”

“Childish?” Charlie snorted disdainfully. “What does that even mean? Is it edible?”