Chapter 19


    Chapter 19 A Lesson Taught


    “Oh,e on. Do you think I have nothing else better to do than drive a wedge between you both?


    Keep your man in line and tell him to leave me alone. Amanda shuddered at the thought of Elias’


    shameless act of forcing a kiss upon her in the meeting room the night before.


    When everything is over, I’m going to take Aiden with me and head to somece abroad once Simon


    is back, thedy thought to herself. She was determined to cut ties with Elias.


    “Don’t worry. Elias will leave you alone. If Old Mr. Winters hadn’t gotten in our way, we would have


    gotten married a long time ago. Hmph!” Grace turned around and left the bathroom.


    In the meantime, the little boy was waiting for his mother outside the restroom, and he caught sight of


    Grace walking out the door angrily. When Grace left, she nced at the boy beside her and stopped in


    her tracks for a while, finding him somewhat familiar. Have I seen this brat somewhere before? For


    some reason, he reminds me of someone.


    When Aiden realized thedy was staring at him, he only grunted coldly and looked the other way.


    Meanwhile, Grace didn’t dwell on it any longer as she quickly moved on and made her way toward


    Elias, but little did she know that the child was the son of the man she loved.


    A few secondster, Amanda came out of the restroom and saw her son waiting for her obediently.


    “Let’s go, Aiden. We’re going to grab something to eat at the cafeteria over there.”


    “Sure, but I’m not having a kid’s meal.” The boy looked at Amanda with a skittish expression on his


    face, acting like someone arrogant yet familiar to his mother.


    Suddenly, Amanda stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar silhouette. It turned out that she had


    spotted Grace walking into the cafeteria with a man who looked like Elias. In that instant, her eyesConTEent bel0ngs to N?v(e)lD/rama(.)Org .


    widened in disbelief. Damn it! That’s Elias. What am I going to do now? What if he sees my boy?


    “Mommy, can we hurry up? I’m getting hungry now.” Aiden seized Amanda’s hand, his stomach


    growling desperately after ying for a few hours.


    “Baby, why don’t we dine somewhere else? Let’s call it a day for now. I’ll promise to bring you back


    here again.” The only thing that Amanda had in mind was to leave the ce with Aiden, for she knew it


    would be over for her if Elias saw her son. After all, she would be no match for him in court due to the


    Winters’ influence and power.


    Aiden was angry as he pouted bitterly. “Hmph! You’re making empty promises, Mommy. You said we’d


    be here until night, so I’m going to eat here and continue ying after that. I haven’t had enough yet!”


    “But you’ve already yed for hours, and I’m getting tired.”


    “Well, you can rest in the cafeteria, Mommy.” Aiden was adamant and determined to do what he


    wanted, reminding Amanda of his father.


    Knowing that she couldn’t change her son’s mind, Amanda came up with an idea. “Alright. Wait


    for me outside the cafeteria while I get some takeaway for you. We’ll dine elsewhere, okay?”


    “Alright…”


    “Good boy. Wait for me right here until Ie back, okay?” Amanda then entered the restaurant alone,


    thinking she would just let her son y for a bit after lunch and take him home. Well, what are the odds


    of us running into each other? The theme park is packed with people, after all.


    She decided to take her chances, though she didn’t want to risk losing custody of her son to Elias.


    Nevertheless, it would appear that fate liked to prank her as she bumped into Elias and Grace almost


    immediately after she stepped into the cafeteria. What a small world!


    “Oh, it’s you.” Elias paused when he saw Amanda. After all, he didn’t take her for a woman who liked


    spending her time in a theme park. While the man wasn’t implying anything with his brief response, his


    words somehow made Grace feel jealous, reminding her of the same thing Amanda said to her in the


    restroom earlier.


    Seriously? This is too much of a coincidence.


    “Yeah, I’m here… to have some fun, just like everybody else. Amanda walked toward the cashier


    briskly, wanting to ce an order before getting out of there.


    Nevertheless, Grace tried to y on Elias’ sympathy and said. “Elias, there is something I want to talk


    to you about. I ran into Amanda in the restroom earlier, and she told me what happenedst night was


    not like what you said. Are you hiding something from me?”


    When Elias heard that, he felt helpless, wondering why she had to give him a headache. Oh, boy! Here


    she goes again.


    “What did she say?” He turned to look at Grace,


    “Amanda said… that you guys… did itst night!” Grace pretended to look sympathetic.


    Elias knitted his eyebrows and looked at Amanda, asking in a deep voice, “What do you mean by that?”


    “Seriously? Do you really want me to tell you what we didst night? Are you sure about that?” Amanda


    was disgusted by Grace’s pretense. Goodness, how did this b*tch get so good at acting?! She can be


    such an innocent little girl in front of Elias but act like a b*tch when I’m around.


    At Amanda’s words, Grace was overwhelmed by disappointment, feeling as if she was about to fall


    apart. Did Elias lie to me earlier? Did they sleep with each other?


    “Amanda!” The man gritted his teeth, thinking he would have choked thedy right away if they hadn’t


    been in a public area.


    “I’m busy right now, and I don’t have time to waste on your nonsense.” Amanda made her point and


    headed toward the cashier.


    “What are her words supposed to mean, Elias? What did you do with her? What did you guys talk


    about?” Grace’s eyes were filled with tears in that instant.


    Elias eventually grew tired of Grace’s fuss and snapped at her. “Do you trust her or me?! Because if it’s


    her whom you trust, you should stop asking me stupid questions!” He turned around coldly and headed


    toward a table by the window.


    In the meantime, Grace was left behind with her eyes fixed upon the indifferent man as her heart was


    filled with rage and bitterness, but even so, she was forced to suppress her emotions.


    Meanwhile, Aiden, who was watching through the window from the outside, witnessed the entire


    confrontation between his mother and the duo. Although he had no idea what was going on, he could


    tell that the two adults were bullying Amanda.


    Hmph! How dare you both bully Mommy?! I’m going to teach you guys a lesson now. He then opened


    the door and sneaked behind Amanda, who was busy ordering food, making his way toward the


    window.


    At that moment, Elias was already seated while Grace was just heading his way to grab a seat. Then,


    Aiden quickly sneaked behind thedy and pulled her chair away just when she was about to sit down.


    “Ah!” Grace immediately fell to the ground and copsed on her butt, but Aiden had already run


    away


    with a cheeky chuckle. At the same time, her loud screech instantly drew the attention of all the patrons


    in the cafeteria.


    “Wait a second! Isn’t that Grace Murphy, the celebrity?”


    “Yes, that’s her! How did a grown adult like her fall on her butt? Haha…”


    “Isn’t she concerned about her image? By the way, the man sitting opposite her is so handsome. I


    wonder who he is…”


    Hearing those murmurs, Grace got up from the ground in a clumsy manner just as the other tourists


    started to take pictures of her. She felt embarrassed. Oh, this is humiliating! I wish I could just dig a


    hole and bury myself in the ground!


    On the other hand, Amanda hurriedly left the cafeteria upon retrieving her orders out of fear that Elias


    would discover Aiden’s existence. Therefore, she didn’t notice what Grace had just gone through


    moments ago. Soon, she exited the cafeteria and saw her son chuckling, wondering what was so


    funny. “Why are youughing, Aiden?”


    Aiden pretended as if nothing happened when he saw his mother. “Nothing, Mommy. Let’s go. I want to


    have my lunch and continue ying after that. I don’t want to waste more time because time is


    precious. Isn’t that what you always say?” The boy then seized Amanda’s hand and walked


    away.


    Not long after that, two people happened to walk out of the cafeteria while gossiping about Grace’s


    embarrassing situation. “The woman who fell onto the ground earlier was Grace Murphy, the celebrity,


    right? It was hrious, don’t you think?”


    “Yeah, I saw a boy sneaking behind her back before he pulled her chair away. Kids are naughty. aren’t


    they?”


    “By the way, the man sitting opposite Grace Murphy looked so handsome. Is he the wealthy boyfriend


    she’s said to be dating?”


    Amanda’s face darkened when she overheard their conversation. Needless to say, Aiden, who noticed


    his mother’s expression, quickly tried to change the subject. “I’m getting hungry, Mommy. I want to eat


    now. Let’s go over there.”


    Amanda grabbed her child and questioned, “Hold it right there. You were the naughty boy who pulled


    the chair away, weren’t you?”


    “No!”


    Then, Amanda pretended to be mad and pointed at the boy’s head. “What have I always told you?


    Never lie to me!”


    Aiden immediately gave in and pouted. “Fine, it was me, but I just wanted to teach them a lesson. since


    they were bullying you.”


    Although Amanda was supposed to be angry, she felt touched and amused by her son’s response.


    Unable to bring herself to lecture the boy, she took Aiden elsewhere and gave him the hamburger and


    coke she bought earlier. “You mustn’t do that again, Baby. That isn’t the right thing to do.”


    Deep down, Amanda was more afraid that Elias would discover Aiden’s existence, thinking her


    innocent, cheeky son was ying with fire. Phew! Fortunately, Elias didn’t see him at all, or things


    would have gotten ugly.


    “Alright, Mommy. I heard you, and I won’t do it again.”