Chapter 267

“What a dumbass.”

Sebastian turned toward her, fixing his gaze on the woman who was slipping into slumber.

“Is it painful?” he asked.

Woz”

Sasha was drifting into sleep when she heard him speaking vaguely.

For the past five years, she had constantly kept her suffering to herself and told her children she was

fine despite how much pain she felt.

Her brows stitched tightly because of the pain and she flipped on her side to cuddle in his arms. His

warm embrace made her pain much more bearable.

“You'll be fine.” His voice echoed softly in her ears as he patted her to sleep.

Over at the Hayes Residence, the somber house instantly became vivacious with the arrival of the

three children.

Everyone—except for Frederick—was electrified when they knew they were coming.

“Matteo, do you want to go to my house? I happen to have a lot of delicious food at home,” one of

the relatives offered.

“Matt, you and lan should come to my house instead. I have a huge playground at my place. You

guys will love it!"

“Cut it out. I asked them first.”

Everyone seemed to be enthusiastic about having the children over at their respective places, but it

went without saying that they had ulterior motives.

Although their intentions were not pure, part of the reason why they wanted the kids to visit their

places was that they were adorable. There was not a single person who would say no to the

children, but the main reason was that they wanted to curry favor with Frederick.

Matteo and his siblings were caught in a dilemma. Since they could not get out of the situation,

Matteo decided to just flash the trump card.

"What about y'all ask Grandpa?”

lan quickly nodded in agreement.

Only Vivian seemed unfazed by the relatives’ passionate entreats. She kept herself occupied with

the little yam plant in the garden, trying to dig it out of the soil. She had heard that Frederick was

the one who planted this

When the adults heard Matteo's suggestion, they had no other choice but to let Frederick make the

decision for them

The old man was pleased when all the adults came to ask for his permission.

Everyone who stayed at the residential compound was a member of the Hayes family. After

Frederick's father built the family business and had three sons of his own, he asked all of them to

come over and stay together to make sure the family never grew apart.

The residence was capacious. There were more than ten courtyards and the whole area was able to

house everyone. One would easily get lost wandering around the compound unguided. It would

take more than a day to finish going around the residence.

It was for this reason that the Hayes did not break away from the family residence and go out to

stay on their own

Frederick was elated when he found out that everyone was eager to invite his grandchildren over.

“They can go to your place, Roderick.” Frederick spelled the verdict after some thoughts.

“Alrighty!”

When Roderick found out the children were going home with him, he leaped like a happy kid in

front of Frederick.

He held his head high in pride and marched out of the door under everyone's jealous gazes.

“Follow me, kids. Your grandpa has given y'all the green light to come to my place.”

"We're going to grand-uncle’s place?”

Matteo shot lan a curious gaze. “He's the one who gave me the gold pendant last time, right?”

lan nodded briefly.

The child did not seem excited about the news at all. To be precise, there was a hint of despise on

his face when he found out Roderick was bringing them home.

lan’s reluctance elicited a frown on Matteo's brows.

Meanwhile, everyone was disgruntled when they found out the children were following Roderick.

“He's a real good bootlicker, isn't he? First, it was lan. Then, it was Matteo. What is Roderick trying to

get at? Help his son score some brownie points?”

“Exactly. He only has one son, so he’s doing everything he can to make sure he gets on his eldest

brother's good book. God knows he'll even get any inheritance since they are so incompetent.”

The two women complained bitterly and vented.

There was a kernel of truth in their words.

Roderick only had one son himself. Not only was his child unambitious, but he was also a failure.

The family had tried putting him in Hayes Corporation a few times, but he disappointed the family

over and over again.

“Let's just wait and see how long he can last,” the women resumed

“Do you remember what happened to lan? Roderick used to bring him over a lot until he fell sick.

Now that the other boy is added to the family, it's a good chance for Roderick to extend his claws

again.”

Despite their loathing, the women could only rant at each other.

There was nothing they could do since Roderick was elderly.

He was the second oldest in the family now after Frederick himself.

While the two women were busy gossiping, Roderick walked over to the garden with a wide smile

on his face.

"Matt, lan, where are you? Let's go over to my place. I've got lots of tasty food for you.”

lan stood up straight when he heard the familiar voice, his expression turning cold. His sudden

reaction disconcerted Matteo.

“What's the matter, lan?”