Malcolm stood outside, staring in disbelief at the luxurious convoy. Who in Tirion Kindergarten could possibly have more power and wealth than him?
As the bodyguard opened the car door and Zachary stepped out, Malcolm was stunned, and so were the other kids. They had never seen Zachary’s father before. Could this be him?
“How much did Zachary spend to rent these cars?” Malcolm asked skeptically, his pride evident.
Darren, yawning, replied, “You didn’t know? My aunt is about to marry Tristan Shaw. Zac will become the Shaw family’s legitimate great-grand son.”
In reality, Zachary had told Archibald that he wasn’t his great-grandson.
But just like Tristan, Archibald was stubbornly convinced that Zachary was part of the Shaw family. He even mentioned renaming Zachary in the near future and planned to make a public announcement about their relationship. Zachary had a hard time stopping the old man from releasing the news. He didn’t want to deceive this kind-hearted elder.
He thought of explaining everything at a later date. If all else failed, he’d do another paternity test. For now, only the Torres family and a few close allies of the Shaw and Torres families knew that Zachary was Archibald’s great-grandson. “The legitimate great-grandson of the Shaw family?” Malcolm couldn’t believe it.
During class, he couldn’t resist asking Zachary in a hushed voice, “Zac, is Mr. Shaw Senior really your great-grandfather?” He often accompanied Clifford to show off at the Shaw family’s estate, so he knew Archibald.
“I went to the engagement party the Lane family hosted, remember?” Zachary didn’t answer directly but instead responded with a question.
Malcolm thought for a moment and finally recalled that when Jeremiah and Zoey held their engagement party, Zachary had indeed been there, standing right beside Archibald.
“You’re so mean. You didn’t tell me!” Malcolm grumbled. He felt extremely embarrassed. The Shaw family was just as powerful and influential as the Lane family, if not more. And yet, he had been bragging in front of Zachary all this time. “Are we still friends?”
Zachary looked at his innocent expression and wondered if Malcolm would still want to be friends if he knew that Zachary was actually the great-grandson of the Lane family.
“Pay attention to the lesson,” Zachary replied, turning his head toward the blackboard without answering him.
Malcolm felt even more hurt. He pouted, thinking, “If you ignore me, I’ll ignore you too. As long as my two uncles don’t have kids, I’ll still be the baby of the Lane family. We’re much better than the Shaw family.
….
Meanwhile, as Yara and Lawrence left, their faces etched with worry.
“How did that brat find out about the internal information?” Lawrence murmured, puzzled.
“Who knows?” Yara shook her head. “Maybe some adult tipped him off. By the way, that kid looks familiar. I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before.” Lawrence, already irritated by the day’s events, became more annoyed at Yara’s words.
“I think he just dislikes you and was
targeting you on purpose. I’m heading to the office. You can go home by yourself.” With that, he
arranged for someone to take Yara home.
Reflecting on what had happened and Lawrence’s words, Yara began to think that he was right-Zachary had looked at her with clear disdain.
When she finally got home, she wearily collapsed onto the couch.
“Mom, how did things go with Yvette yesterday?” Zoey asked as she walked down the stairs. Her face was pale after she had just been discharged from the hospital. Yara felt a bit embarrassed to say anything.
As Zoey noticed her hesitation, she coldly threw a document at Yara. “Look at what your daughter did.”