The Ex and Her Riches

An old man around the age of sixty was standing outside.

His hair was white, and he had a gray beard. He also had defined features—something not most Chanaeans had.

Cedrick could somewhat recall who he was—the biochemistry professor, Eugene Yortz.

He had been the one who gave Benedict the book about Abnormal Psychology, so Cedrick later contacted Joshua and found out about the man.

Nevertheless, Cedrick solemnly stared at Eugene, wondering why Benedict seemed nervous earlier.

“Professor Yortz, what can I help you with?”

Eugene scratched his head and scoured through his memory to figure out who was the man standing before him. “You must be Benny’s father.”

“Yes, that’s me,” was the only polite answer Cedrick gave to Eugene.

Eugene let out a laugh, a hint of mockery entering his eyes. “It’s rare to see his parents caring for him. In that case, I won’t disturb your time with him. Please continue with your conversation.”

With that said, he turned to leave.

“Stop!”

Cedrick grabbed his hand and forcibly lifted Eugene’s hand. As it turned out, Eugene was holding a book.

Its title was How Do People With Paranoid Personality Disorder Turn Into Murderers?

Cedrick’s heart lurched, finding the book title spine-chilling.

In a stern voice, he confronted Eugene, “You’re bringing an inappropriate book for my son again. As a professor in the lab, why aren’t you trying to be a good role model? Why are you trying to lead a child astray? What are you trying to do?”

Eugene found his words absurd. “How is this book a bad book? It’s just a book about humanity. You’re always absent despite being his father, so what’s wrong with me talking about books with him when I’m free? Why are you accusing me of something so outrageous? You’re strange.”

Strange? Don’t you know who’s the strange one here?

Cedrick tamped down his anger as he gritted out, “Benny’s only five—an age where he’s naive. Why are you teaching him about humanity with books like these? What are you trying to do?”

Eugene flung his hand away, annoyed. “Naive? He’s your son, so don’t you know his character well? He likes books like this, so I brought this for him. It’s not as if he had learned anything bad from these books. He’s smart and much more mature than kids his age. I’m sure he can judge for himself.”

Cedrick did not wish to continue talking to Eugene, however.

I might report this incident to Federal Bureau of Investigation. Wicked people shouldn’t

Eugene fell silent. After a

he was gone from the stairwell before returning to the room and closing

and the tension in the room

as if he knew the mistake

about lying just now,

out a thin ruler from the bedside table’s drawer before passing it

punish me. I’m

saw him roughly flipping his hand around and making the blood flow back into the tubing, his heart

“Benny…”

the ruler from the boy before turning his hand around and massaging his

with my right hand, so maybe you should hit my bottom like how you used to

boy since young, and he spent most of his time on a lab bed. Thus, Cedrick never dared to lay

saw how miserable Benedict looked when he asked to be punished, Cedrick’s

wasn’t thinking of punishing you. I just hope that you’ll

I lied too. Are you not

lied. Hence, Cedrick pinched his cheeks, only using a

and continue lying, I’ll definitely punish you

paled, a little fearful of

I won’t

the red spot he had pinched earlier, unable to bring himself to say anything harsher than

couldn’t keep you company that often. From now on, I’ll find ways to

not your fault. I’m a big kid already. I don’t need you to stop work because of an IV therapy. I’ll feel bad if you

on him, he would never be

father to

mother had been the one keeping him company for the IV therapies, he had been able to easily divert her attention. His father, on the other hand, was

not know what was on Benedict’s mind, but it was clear that the boy was thinking of nothing good from what he could see of

about it. If you have any pranks you want to do, you can

normal for children to be mischievous, but there

but he was certainly taken aback when he heard that Benedict wanted to

thought of a

a silent sigh and decided that

are you thinking about? Are you really going to accompany me for all of my

reality and asked, “Are you

Benedict forced out with

Cedrick took a toothpick and passed him a slice of peach. “Eat

…