You More Than Anything In The World

“Mommy, don't overthink and make wild guesses!” Zachary refuted loudly.

Arissa could not resist chuckling as she gazed at them. Next, she approached Tim and wrapped her arms around him affectionately.

The latter remained still in her arms and could not fathom why she suddenly embraced him again.

Catching sight of the sorrow on Arissa's face, Gavin and the others could not help but feel down in the dumps.

Did Mommy find out what happened? Ah! It seems Mr. Hinton is not around too! At the thought, Zachary was momentarily stunned before scrutinizing Arissa discreetly.

Tamping down the surging distress from within her, Arissa kissed the boy in her arms and cast a look in the direction of the other kids. “Go over to accompany Great-grandaunt first, okay? I need to have a chat with Tim for a while.”

Gavin, Zachary, Oliver and Jasper seemed to sense something amiss. Nevertheless, they only nodded obediently. “Okay!”

After the foursome stepped out, Arissa embraced Tim again. Her heart wrenched at what he had gone through.

Sensing the change in her emotion, Tim lifted his hand to pat her back. “Ms. York, what's wrong?”

Arissa tightened her arms around her son and kissed him again before letting go of him.

“Tim, how did Great-grandaunt's son treat you all the while?” Arissa cut the crap.

Tim's eyes widened in astonishment. He could sense something was bothering her. Casting his head down, he mumbled, “Ms. York, did Great-grandaunt tell you anything?”

Arissa looked at him for a while and stroked his head gently.

“No, she didn't say anything. Thus, I hope you can pour out everything to me!” she coaxed him.

Tim bit his lip and stole a glance at her without uttering any words. But why did she suddenly ask about that jerk? Could it be she has discovered anything?

“Ms. York, he loves gambling. Apart from that, he is seldom home and doesn't care about Great-grandaunt and me,” Tim replied honestly. Nonetheless, he chose to keep mum from her Raphael had been beating them up.

Even so, Arissa stroked his head gently and cut to the chase. “He always beat you and Great-grandaunt, didn't he?”

Tim was stupefied. Seconds later, he asked warily, “Ms. York, have you found out about everything?”

“Yeah! I've just known about it.” Arissa nodded. No words could describe the anguish enveloping her at the moment.

Realization suddenly dawned on Tim why she seemed to be behaving weirdly. He tried to comfort her, “Ms. York, you don't have to be worried about me. Whenever he wanted to beat me, Great-grandaunt always stood in his way. Hence, I was seldom beaten, but she ended up sustaining more serious injuries than me!”

Arissa wrapped her arms around him, choking up. “Sweetheart, I'm sorry! It's my fault! I couldn't protect you during those moments!”

“I never blame you!” Tim emphasized as he gripped the hem of her top. Tears started to well up in his eyes.

Shortly after, Arissa's tears finally flowed down her cheeks and dripped onto his shoulders.

He lifted his head from her arms, only to find that she had burst into tears.

“Don't cry!” he yelled out apprehensively and wiped off the tears on her face with his hands.

“Okay!” Arissa sniffled and flashed him a smile, but tears flowed down her cheeks even more.

“Sweetheart, thank you!” She tried to get a grip of herself and wiped off her tears. Her heart wrenched even more as he was mature for his age.

Tim tried to coax her, “Don't cry anymore. Otherwise, your eyes will be swollen!”