Chapter 108
Julian did not want to be the subject of ridicule. No matter how Ashley scolded him, he still wore a smile on his face, wanting to let Ashley let off steam.
“Ashley, you must be joking,” he said. “Aided surely won’t ask for a plane. Besides,
n for Aiden to have a particular. even if he does, I can’t afford it. But it’s uncon interest, and it’s within our means. It’s only rig us to support him, right?”
Ashley interrupted him, saying, “Stop rambling! If you buy him a piano, how do you intend to handle this month’s mortgage, utilities, and expenses?”
“This month?” Julian said, feeling puzzled. Honey, I give you the money I earn every month. Can’t you just allocate some money from the savings? Could it be that you’ve put all the money into some kind of investment again…”
“That’s none of your business,” Ashley said. “Anyway, I’m telling you. There’s not way we would buy a piano for Aiden the little fool!”
Valerie did not expect that every time she came to visit her elder brother lately, she would coincidentally encounter the couple having an argument.
She always believed that matters between spouses were not for outsiders to intervene in. However, when she heard Ashley refer to her own son as “the little fool“, she was stunned. She couldn’t hold back anymore, and she was about to push through the crowd to rush in.
Unexpectedly, a bewildered voice came from behind. “Aunt Valerie?”
Valerie turned her head and saw Aiden standing not far away, carrying a small bag on his back.
It turned out that her brother and sister–in–law were quarreling and did not manage to pick him up from school. The owner of the bakery next door happened to pick up his daughter, so he brought Aiden back with him.
Valerie hurriedly pulled Aiden over and thanked the bakery owner.
“No problem at all,” the bakery owner said. “We’re all neighbors, always seeing each other around. It’s just convenient for me to pick up Aiden.” With that said, he glanced at the fruit shop and added, “Valerie, are your brother and sister–in–law
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Chapter 108
quarreling again?”
Valerie was a little embarrassed, but she could not hide asked, “Your shop is opposite my brother’s shop. Do quarrel often?”
anymore. She simply brother and sister–in–law
The bakery owner immediately nodded and said, “That’s right! Your sister–in–law is really something, always scolding your brother regardless of the situation. I think she came to ask for money today. Your brother refused to give her, so she started scolding him again…”
Before the bakery owner finished talking, the old lady who watched over the supermarket next door came over and spoke disdainfully.
“This woman has toiled to bear him a son, but he refuses to give her some money,”
she said. “He deserves to be scolded!”
With that said, the old lady even winked at Aiden and said, “Little Aiden, your parents quarrel. They don’t want you anymore…”
Aiden was already insecure in the first place because of his parents‘ quarrel.
His eyes quickly welled up with tears upon hearing the old lady’s words. Tears the size of beans fell from his eyes. He sobbed as he said, “They don’t want me anymore. Aunt Valerie, do Dad and Mom really not want me anymore…”
H
Children’s perspectives and experiences were the purest, and Aiden was especially pure–hearted. At the thought of the two most important people in his life not. wanting him, Aiden could no longer hold back his emotions.
Valerie’s heart ached when she saw him crying. She quickly hugged Aiden and comforted him, saying, “Of course not. Your parents are certainly the people who love you the most.”
But Aiden was still sobbing with sniffles, feeling utterly heartbroken.
That old lady had made Aiden cry, yet she was overjoyed.
Valerie was secretly annoyed. “Ma’am, you are already at such an age, so don’t bully children and show no respect for yourself!” she said.
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Unexpectedly, the old lady rolled her eyes and paid no heed. Instead, she even reproached Valerie, saying, “Young lady what’s with your words? I like Aiden too, so I was just pulling his leg. Yet here you a naking a big deal out of it. How come
you can’t even take a joke?”
Valerie said, “You…”
Taking advantage of her old age, the old lady did not take Valerie seriously at all. Instead, she put on a look of grievance, as if Valerie had scolded her unreasonably. After she spoke, quite a few elderly men and women who were familiar with her also gathered around to support her, blaming Valerie for not being able to take a joke.
Although Aiden did not understand what these people were saying, he knew that they were bullying Valerie. He cried even more aggrievedly.
Valerie could only suppress her anger and continue comforting Aiden.
At this moment, Sophia, who was nearby and had been watching the commotion for quite a while, walked over. She took out a handkerchief from her handbag and wiped away Aiden’s tears. Aiden cried so hard that he was gasping for breath. He looked at the unfamiliar old woman in front of him in puzzlement. It was not until Valerie nodded at him that he felt at ease to let Sophia hold his hand.
Sophia was all smiles as she said, “Little Aiden, don’t cry. These old ladies are really joking with you. They’re just teasing you.”
When the surrounding old ladies saw that someone agreed, they nodded one after another and said, “Exactly. Exactly!”
Unexpectedly, Sophia changed the subject and said, “They tease you. You can tease them too. Come here. Let me teach you how to tease them. Aiden, tell the
following to this plump old lady in front of you. Say ‘My parents didn’t want to abandon me. They love me a lot. But you, at your age, still run a supermarket all by yourself. Where are your sons and daughters? Why don’t they come back to see you? I think they no longer want you as their mom, right?”
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