Chapter 225


    Sophia couldn’t figure out what had made Nathan suddenly behave like a spoiled brat. After wrecking


    Stanley’s mechanical keyboard and figurinesst time, he stripped Stanley’s pet cat bald this time.


    With that, he had gotten into trouble twice in a row, which didn’t seem like a good sign at all; Nathan


    came from an incredibly distinguished background in the first ce. Now that he had begun misbehaving


    recklessly at such a young age, who knew what he would do when he grew up?


    As Nathan’s stepmother, Sophia felt hugely responsible for what he had done. How could she be worthy


    of the trust that Nathan’s dad had put in her if Nathan grew up into a spoiled brat because of her


    overindulgence?


    The night after they went home, Sophia video-called Michael while applying her facial mask when she


    told him about the two troubles Nathan had gotten himself into.


    Nathan was eavesdropping outside the door when he heard Sophia worriedly talking about the two


    incidents. Atst, she concluded, “What Nathan has done this time is terribly wrong, and he is showing


    tendencies of growing up into a spoiled brat. We can’t let him go on like this!”


    Michael pondered seriously for a moment on the other end before he said in a grave tone, “You’re right—


    kids shouldn’t misbehave like this. How can he make trouble as he pleases while being a guest at


    somebody’s home? Not only that, he also spoiled something so valuable! We can’t let him go on like


    that.”


    He then continued, “Now that he’s broken the husky’s leg this time, he might start hitting other people in


    the future! Just beat the hell out of him; he’ll stop making trouble next time once he learns his lesson.”


    Nathan, who had just celebrated his sixth birthday, experienced the pain of being betrayed by his closest


    kin for the first time. Everything is just part of his trick! he thought to himself.


    After some discussion with Michael, Sophia decided that she couldn’t leave this incident like that. She


    would make Nathan apologize to Stanley and give him some money aspensation. After all, both


    Nathan and Stanley were Fletchers, so things would be awkward between them if this incident remained


    unresolved.


    Nathan was seething as Sophia marched him off to Stanley’s ce to get him to apologize to Stanley.


    Stanley was delighted for a moment when he learned that Sophia wasing, but when he heard that


    Nathan wasing as well, he immediately hid his pet cat and dog away out of fright.


    His pet dog ended up breaking its leg after being chased by Nathan; it had to have its leg suspended in


    traction like him. Even his pet cat had been stripped bald because of the boy!


    Still, Stanley decided to forgive Nathan for Sophia’s sake, but he would never let Nathan hurt his darling


    little pets again. After hanging up on Sophia, he said to his nanny, “Auntie, please bring me my walking


    stick. I want to go for a walk outside with Judge.”


    Judge was the name of his crippled pet dog. It got its name from ‘the de of Judgment,’ a godly


    weapon in the Swordsman Game.


    Sean visited him every day and yed online games with him whenever he had no sses to attend.


    Sean and Stanley were the same age, and they had graduated from the same high school. Stanley


    joined the army right after his college entrance exam, whereas Sean went overseas to recuperate from a


    severe bout of illness.


    When Stanley left the army and came back to pursue his studies two yearster, Sean had also


    recovered from his illness and just returned from overseas. The two of them then ended up attending the


    same university and ying online games together.


    Supporting himself with his stick, Stanley eagerly pped some hair gel on his head despite not needing


    it with his current haircut. He then asked, “Do you think I look handsome today, Sean?”


    Sean nced at him and smiled before answering, “You’re very handsome already.”


    Only then did Stanley feel relieved. He left home with the aid of his stick while Sean put his crippled pet


    dog in a stroller and wheeled it outside.


    Meanwhile, Sophia had entered the militarypound with Nathan. As they headed to Stanley’s ce,


    she urged Nathan, “Darling, just listen to me and say sorry to Stanter. Got it?”


    Nathan nodded with his head hung low.


    He had been down in the dumps ever since he realized that he had been tricked by Michael. He had


    been so preupied with helping Michael that he failed to notice he had turned from a well-behaved kid


    to a spoiled brat in Sophia’s eyes.


    Stanley was clever this time; not only did he forbid Nathan from entering his house, he also changed


    their meeting ce to the militarypound’s leisure garden so that Nathan-the-spoiled-brat would have


    no way of scourging him again.


    Having entered the militarypound, Sophia headed toward the GPS location Stanley had sent her


    and found Stanley, his pet dog, and Sean.


    The militarypound was built many years ago, and it had retained its original appearance despite


    being refurbished repeatedly over the years. Its spacious courtyard was filled with lush greenery. The


    trees in the garden were nted many years ago, and they gave off an intriguing air of history after being


    well-tended over the years.


    The militarypound looked even more stately with its long history as ity bathed in thest rays of


    the setting sun.


    The militarypound was especially boisterous in the evening since aged men and women could be


    seen doing square dancing or exercising everywhere.


    Stanley was ying a game of chess with a group of old men when Sophia found him. After a fierce


    battle, he was driven into a corner by his ferocious opponent, causing him to flush and scratch his head


    with anxiety. Sean, who stood at one side, was wheeling a stroller, inside of which was Stanley’s crippled


    husky as it fell asleep while wearing a disposable diaper.


    Sitting across from Stanley was a grey-haired old man with a grey beard. Even though he was old, he


    was young in spirit; his eyes gleamed with astuteness and a heroic vigor.


    A group of old men were standing behind the grey-haired old man as they chanted, “Check his king!


    Check his king!”


    Suffering under tremendous stress, Stanley moved a chess piece apprehensively. With that, the eyes of


    the old man sitting opposite him brightened, and he shouted with an animated expression, “Checkmate!”


    He lost again!


    Stanley tossed the chess piece in his hand away and said, “I’m not going to y chess with you


    anymore; it’s meaningless since you’ve captured all my chess pieces every single time. I’m going to walk


    my dog!”


    The old man opposite him grabbed him immediately and said, “Come,e,e—let us y another


    game of chess. I’ll let you make one extra move at the beginning of this game.”


    However, Stanley didn’t budge. He could never be a match for the old man even if thetter let him make


    ten extra moves at the beginning of the game!


    However, since the old man had forcibly dragged him back to his seat, he could only sit down and y


    another game of chess with the former. After the old man let him make one extra move at the beginning


    of the game, he kept on pondering over the positions of chess pieces on the chessboard with a grave


    expression, determined to win back a game.


    This group of old men had abined age of over a thousand, whereas he and Sean had only a


    combined age of a little over forty, so how could he be a match for them?


    He thought to himself, This group of old men is bullying me on purpose. I’ve been checkmated so many


    times, and every time I was checkmated, he would let me make an extra move at the beginning of the


    next game and checkmate me again! It’s so awful of him to bully a handicapped person!


    All content ? N/.?vel/Dr/ama.Org.


    He was desperate for an excuse to flee the scene as quickly as possible, but it seemed that this group of


    old men wouldn’t let him off easily. They might look old on the outside, but they had been renowned


    figures in the military back in the day.


    Sophia came just as he was ying the game. Overjoyed upon seeing her, he tossed the chess piece in


    his hand away. “My friend is here, so I have to leave!” he eximed.


    The old man opposite him grabbed him, saying, “No—you’re not going to leave until you finish this round


    of chess!”


    The old man was nearly a hundred years old, but he clutched at Stanley with such an incredible strength


    that thetter nearly cried in pain. Stanley said, “Let go of me! I’ll finish this game of chess with you!”


    Sophia came over with Nathan when she saw Sean beckoning to her. She then caught sight of Stanley,


    who was looking at the chessboard with distress written all over his face as he was surrounded by a


    group of old men.


    He had been stumped by the same move countless times. No matter what move he made to counter it,


    the old man would always seed in capturing all his chess pieces; it must be what the old man wanted


    all along!


    Moving closer to take a look, Sophia saw Stanley’s chess pieces under threat from all quarters, and any


    bad move would result in him losing the whole game. The game was so intriguing that she unconsciously


    lost herself in it, and she began observing the positions of the chess pieces rtive to each other.


    Having decided to give up, Stanley randomly picked an unupied square and moved one of his chess


    pieces to the position. Much to his surprise, while the chess piece was still wobbling, a fair hand


    appeared out of nowhere and moved it to a position he had never thought of.


    In an instant, Stanley was saved from losing the game!