Chapter 142 Sharp–tongued Eloise
Richard looked at Eloise, who stood with a dead–serious expression on her tiny face, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
He had a gift for smiling like a saint while cutting deep, and clearly,
he didn’t draw the line at kindergarteners.
“Honey,” he said smoothly. “There are all kinds of dads. Technically, he’s your stepdad. Do you know what a stepdad is?”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but size her up.
She’s actually kind of cute. Which means her mom probably isn’t bad–looking either. Lucky bastard, that Alistair scored big for a
broke nobody.
Alistair smiled. “That’s true. And then there’s the kind of dad who
ditches his own kid at birth, lets someone else raise him, and then gets mad when the kid calls the other guy ‘Dad.‘ Not sure what kink that is, but hey, to each his own.”
So we’re playing the insult game now? Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep that smug face on.
Alistair wasn’t even worried. No amount of passive–aggressive
poking from Richard could shake the bond between him and
Eloise.
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She knew everything.
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She knew she wasn’t Caroline’s biological daughter. She knew Alistair wasn’t her birth father either. But in her heart, they were
her real parents, the best parents in the world.
Most kids were simple. Whoever loved them, they loved back.
Daniel was no different.
Alistair wasn’t blind or naive. He’d raised Daniel from a squishy
newborn into a full–blown troublemaker. There was no one who
knew that child better than he did.
He’d seen the way Daniel looked at him just now. Every flicker of
emotion in that little face–he caught it all.
Daniel was a brat, no question. But no kid turned into that on their own. The blame sat squarely with the adults around him. And though Alistair had been the one changing diapers and waking up at 3 AM, he’d never truly been Daniel’s parent. Just the guy hired
to keep him alive.
A glorified nanny didn’t get to discipline the heir.
Daniel and Eloise were worlds apart. But Alistair knew that if someone gave Daniel proper guidance, there was still hope. The
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kid wasn’t a lost cause yet.
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But for that, he’d need real parents. Not Rebecca, who probably didn’t know what a moral compass was. Not Richard, whose worldview could best be described as nonexistent.
At Alistair’s dig, Rebecca dropped her head in shame. Richard’s face darkened immediately. He was just thankful Daniel was too young to grasp the meaning behind Alistair’s words.
No matter how much he disliked Rebecca these days, Daniel was
still his son. That wasn’t going to change.
Wives were replaceable. Kids weren’t.
His parents had been over the moon when they heard he was
bringing Daniel home tonight.
Frustrated by his failed attempt to rile Alistair up, Richard turned to
Eloise again. “Honey,” he said with mock kindness. “What do you
think will happen when your parents have a baby of their own?”
Before he could finish, Eloise interrupted sharply, “My mommy and daddy will still love me, even if I get a baby brother or sister.
And I love them too!”
Her eyes blazed, fierce and unwavering. She looked ready to leap out of Alistair’s arms and bite.
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Richard blinked.
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The little girl had the kind of soft, delicate face that usually ran
crying into a parent’s arms if anyone so much as raised their voice. But she wasn’t crying. She wasn’t backing down.
Alistair felt a wave of pride.
She’s not just cute. She’s strong, fierce, untouchable.
But Eloise wasn’t done yet.
She turned her glare on Richard. “If you’re his daddy, then you need to treat him better. Otherwise, he’ll keep trying to steal my
daddy! My daddy is my daddy! He’s not going back to being your
son’s daddy, so tell your kid to give it up!”
Daniel froze. Maybe it was Eloise’s tone. Or maybe it was hearing
the truth out loud. Whatever the reason, Daniel burst into tears.
Eloise crossed her arms. “Oh, please, quit crying. My dad’s not yours, and you’ve already got one. You don’t get to keep both!”
Alistair was speechless.
Is today Eloise Appreciation Day? Because she’s absolutely killing
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He ruffled her hair. “She’s right. Daniel, you have a new dad now. You can’t have me too.”
Daniel watched Alistair walk away, tears still streaming down his face.
He didn’t understand everything, but at that moment, something
clicked.
It wasn’t that Alistair didn’t want him anymore. It was that he’d already been replaced. A kid can only have one dad, and now
Alistair belonged to someone else. He sniffled hard, biting back
more tears.
It’s new daddy’s fault. He’s the reason my old daddy left.
*****
“Mommy,” Eloise said later, sipping her juice with a serious expression, “now I know why that boy kept trying to steal my daddy. It’s because his daddy is awful. He even said mean things about my daddy right in front of me. Mommy, I think that boy’s
really sad. His mommy’s not nice. His daddy’s even worse.”
Caroline had just wrapped up work and joined them at a juice shop on the pedestrian street.
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Alistair, practically bursting with pride, retold the entire story, every one of Eloise’s mic–drop moments.
Caroline smiled and stroked her daughter’s cheek. “You’re amazing, Eloise.”
Eloise beamed. “Mommy, when are you gonna give me a baby brother or sister?”
Caroline choked a little on her drink.
Most people get hounded by in–laws. I get pressure from my own
kid.
Eloise turned to Alistair, eyes sparkling. “Daddy, Mommy always does what you say. Can’t you talk her into it?”
Alistair laughed.
Yeah… she definitely wasn’t fazed by anything Richard said.
“Unbelievable. These days, some people look all polished and
respectable on the outside, but underneath? Scumbags. Groping
women old enough to be their mother in front of their own wife
and daughter, no less. That’s not just trash behavior. That’s
animal behavior.”
On their way home from the juice shop, a commotion erupted at
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the front end of the pedestrian street.
A woman was clutching a man’s collar, screaming “pervert!” while the surrounding crowd erupted with fury.
And the man? The man was Richard. Face red, veins bulging, he
tried to shout his innocence, but it was too late. The woman’s son, furious, punched him square in the jaw and dropped him flat.
Rumor had it that the evidence was solid that Richard had groped a woman nearly twice his age. But honestly, Alistair didn’t quite believe it. He suspected Richard was probably innocent. Then
again… innocence was relative.
The man was a born schemer. And if life was poetic at all, well, Alistair happened to carry The Schemer’s Bane.
That was just bad luck. For Richard, anyway.
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