Chapter 189
Matty tilted his head. “Then tell me, what exactly is so great about Kelly?”
Theo’s face twisted with frustration. “She buys me lots of tasty snacks!”
Matty nodded lightly. “Mm, and gave you an allergic reaction.”
Theo fired back, “She cooks for me herself!”
“Oh, right,” Matty replied calmly. “That seafood porridge? Almost gave you another allergy attack.”
“She plays the violin,” Theo said, louder now, as if that would help.
Matty didn’t miss a beat. “Still lost to Sharon.”
Theo opened his mouth, struggling. “Kelly also… also…”
“She also cries,” Matty said flatly. “Frames people. Takes what doesn’t belong to her… Kelly is so amazing, huh? But really, I should thank you. If your taste wasn’t so terrible, how else would my dad and I have the chance to take Sharon away?
“Oh, and guess what-I forgot to tell you. This weekend, I’m going to the amusement park with Sharon and Dad. Want to come?
Too bad. You’re not invited.”
Matty watched Theo, eyes gleaming as he delivered the final blow. “Snatching someone else’s mom… feels great.”
Theo’s eyes turned bloodshot. The next second, he lunged forward, fists clenched, ready to swing.
But Matty didn’t even flinch. He only smiled, pleased with himself. “Go ahead and hit me. I’ll tell Sharon and make you apologize all over again.”
Theo, for all his anger, wasn’t stupid. Even pushed this far, he kept a sliver of control.
He gave a cold laugh. “A punch in exchange for one sorry? Worth it.”
“Then come on.” Matty met his stare without blinking. “But if you hit me, Sharon will feel sorry for me. And she’ll be even more disappointed in you. You have no idea how sweet she is to me afterward. Like I’m her real son or something.”
Theo froze. The hand he’d raised mid-air just… stopped there.
That was how Matty won people over-by playing the pitiful card, by acting vulnerable. Now the kindergarten teachers and kids
were all on his side.
Some little girls who liked Matty had even warned Theo not to bully him again.
But before Matty showed up, Theo had been the favorite-teachers adored him, the other kids followed him around. Everyone
used to like him.
Matty turned to leave, satisfied, but Theo’s icy voice stopped him.
“You’re such a fake. You say you like the food my mom makes, but you didn’t even finish it. You just gave it away to the other kids.”
Matty paused mid-step and glanced back.
“You mean that?” he said, pointing at the nearby thermos. “That one’s not the real deal.”
He smiled. “The real medicinal food-that’s the one Sharon made just for me.”
“I asked her to make a second batch for the other kids to try. But…” Matty’s grin widened, “you don’t get any. Mad?”
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+25 BONUS
Chapter 189
And with that, he turned and ran toward the other kids still huddled around the thermos, fighting over the last drops.
The weekend came quickly.
Theo stood outside the amusement park, hiding near the entrance, scanning the crowd.
He didn’t want to believe it. That his mom would actually take that awful kid Matty to the amusement park.
She’d never taken him.
He thought back.
He used to want to go with both Mom and Dad, but Dad was always busy-always made plans, then left at the last second with
some excuse.
Mom had wanted to take him alone, but without Dad, it just didn’t feel the same. He ended up deciding not to go.
And then came Kelly.
On Mom’s birthday, Kelly invited him and Dad to the amusement park.
They went. They left Mom behind at home and went off to have fun.
Now, standing there alone, a strange feeling rose in his chest-heavy and hollow. Like maybe this was what it felt like to be left
behind.
And then, from a distance, he saw them-three figures walking slowly toward the park gates.
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