“Mr. Fontaine? Why are you acting like a stranger, little guy? That’s Uncle Thaddeus to you.” Thaddeus bent over to shuffle Bobby’s hair. His eyes reflected tenderness and adoration. For some reason, Thaddeus took a growing shine to the little guy. Perhaps it was because the child resembled the younger Thaddeus in terms of looks, or maybe the boy shared his mother’s determination and wits. “Uncle Thaddeus, who are you to Mommy?” Bobby stared straight into Thaddeus’ eyes, blinking his wide and bright eyes in between while asking the question.Favoring Thaddeus a lot more than Victor, Millie was keen for Thaddeus to play the father role. Nevertheless, she kept the thought to herself as Bobby was not fond of him. “What do you think is the relationship between your mommy and me?” Thaddeus got on one knee to be at Bobby’s eye level, earnest to hear what Bobby had to say. The gesture earned Thaddeus some Brownie points as Bobby felt respected and valued. “I think you’re not just

Mona was in the dark about Thaddeus taking the kids out of school. Nevertheless, Mona had the phone number down pat when the teacher read it out to her. Why did Thaddeus pick the kids up? What was he trying to do? “Ms. Chaplin, I’ll get in touch with him now. Let me know when the children get back to school,” Mona said as she took strides out of the ward. Seeing that she was about to leave after a brief stay, Victor called out to her, “What happened?” “Victor, this will be the last time I see you. Stop forcing your way into my life again.” Mona turned back and glanced at the man before uttering, “Take care. Don’t pull something silly like that again.” Mona then left in a hurry without looking back. After walking out of the hospital building, she pulled out her phone to give Thaddeus a call. The call was soon connected, and Thaddeus’ voice came on the other side. “Bobby and Millie are with me.” “Why did you take the kids away without letting me know beforehand? That’s un

Thaddeus dropped the kids back to school and stood at the front gate with Mona as the teacher ushered the kids into the classroom for their lesson. The school patrol officer came out of the security booth and stared at the good-looking couple, somehow finding them a match made in heaven. Since he had nothing to do, the patrol officer drew close and struck up a conversation. “You must be Bobby and Millie’s parents.” Mona and Thaddeus exchanged looks. Mona shook her head to deny when the man jumped in. “Yes.” “I hardly see you picking the kids up though. Your wife has been doing the school run while you seem out of the picture. That’s not right. You can’t leave all the errands to the woman.” The school patrol officer was all smiles. Since he had been dealing with school security for many years, the officer had noticed Mona for some time now. He had always thought that she was a single mother and that it was tough to plod through life alone with two kids. Now that Thaddeus was her

Mona paused for a bit and wiped her tears dry. Lifting her gaze, she kept eye contact with Thaddeus while taking in the meaning behind his words. “What? Did you think I’d fight you for the children’s custody?” Thaddeus reached out and nonchalantly brushed the tears off her lashes. “Am I that cruel to you?” Mona sniffled, and he had a soft spot for her dewy eyes. “What are you trying to do then?” “Come live with me at the Fontaine Residence. I am just trying to bond with the kids, and you can’t leave them. They don’t want to be apart from you either.” Mona scoffed. At the end of the day, Thaddeus only saw her as a tool. He would kick her away as soon as he bonded with the children. Did he take her for a fool? Faced with her silence, he added, “I can go and live with you if you don’t want to stay at the family residence. The new house is big enough for the four of us.” “I don’t think that’s necessary. The kids and I have our own routine, and your presence is a disruption.”

Mona walked out of the office to find Mrs. Yale giving her employees in the guest reception area a hard time. Her two assistants stood across from Mona, quaking in their boots, and the younger lady even turned teary. “What’s going on here?” Mona turned over and whispered a question to an on-looking colleague. “I think something is wrong with Mrs. Yale’s jewelry. Someone stole a diamond necklace, and now the assistants are getting it…” Raising a brow, Mona glanced into the guest reception area in bewilderment. The jewelry pieces were put there. How did it get stolen? “Do you know how much a necklace costs? Your lifetime salaries put together won’t be able to cover the loss!” Mrs. Yale blew up. The younger assistant could not take it anymore and burst out crying. His wails startled a lot of the onlookers to come closer. Raymond, who was in the office, came approaching. It ticked the man off that there was foul play on his turf. His presence was the nosy crowd’s cue to dispers