Chapter 72: Why Did You Bring Us Here?

Book:TEMPTING The Mysterious CEO Published:2024-5-31

“Look at him. He looked exactly like Linford when he was this age. They looked exactly the same, and my granddaughter was really so adorable. Do you guys see how beautiful she is? Jack, give her to me. I want to hug her,” Franco Bradley, Linford’s grandpa, couldn’t stop smiling as he saw the children.
Cody grabbed Candace’s little hand and took a step backward, “Who are you? Why did you bring us here?”
Darwin smiled as he saw how Cody reacted. He looked exactly like his third son. And he didn’t appear to be timid at all.
So he explained gently, “I’m your grandpa.” And then, he pointed at Franco, “This is your great-grandpa. We’re your family, boy.”
Cody frowned, “Do you have any proof? Why should I believe you?”
“Look at this smart boy,” Franco exclaimed, “Your dad is Linford Bradley, right? That man is my grandson. He’ll be here soon. You can see if he’s gonna call me Grandpa later.”
Cody still stayed alert, “I’ll call you great-grandpa when he calls you grandpa. But I won’t call you anything right now.”
The house of adults all started to laugh.
The boy was too cute and smart.
Cody, however, was a bit anxious. Why would that stinky man have so many family members?
Tanya felt extremely jealous and sour as she saw the babies. She forced out a smile as she asked, “What are you guys’ names?”
Cody huffed, “My name is Cody, and my sister’s name is Candace. You guys said Linford Bradley will be here soon, right? When will he come exactly?”
Darwin’s face fell, “What did you just call your dad?”
“Linford Bradley,” Cody lifted his chin up,
“What? I’ve been living with my Mom for 5 years. That guy suddenly jumped out of nowhere and said he was my dad. Why would I call him dad that easily?”
Franco smiled. This boy was quite tough. He admired his courage.
Tanya frowned, “You can’t say that, boy. Linford is your father. It’s disrespectful.”
Darwin didn’t say anything.
Franco laughed, “He’s just a boy. You shouldn’t be that serious, Tanya.”
Clara meditated for a while before asking, “The babies are so cute. Why is the girl so silent? Is she scared?”
Clara had known about Candace’s condition a long time ago. She asked the question on purpose. The more Franco liked these kids, the more she became jealous. She regretted every decision she made. But there was nothing she could do to change everything abruptly.
Candace held onto her brother’s arm. She was so scared. If Cody weren’t here with her, she would have cried out loud. What were these people doing? Why did they bring her here?
She suddenly missed Mom right now.
“Candace is shy. She didn’t want to say anything,” Cody smartly answered, frowning.
“The teachers from their kindergarten said the girl hasn’t talked to anyone yet. Should we find a doctor for her, father? Could she have conditions?” Tanya pretended to be caring.
Darwin also frowned, “She hasn’t talked to anyone in school? Is she incapable of talking? What’s the problem?”
Candace only grew more nervous this time as she heard their conversation.
Clara smiled, “She’s probably just too scared.” She knew big houses like the Bradley despised people who were timid and unpresentable.
The furrow between Darwin’s brows deepened as he heard that, “Being scared doesn’t mean being unable to talk. What happened to the little girl exactly?”
Candace hid herself behind her brother.
Cody was so mad as he took a step forward, blocking his sister from those people, “Stop making things up! My sister can talk. She just doesn’t want to.”
Tanya snapped, “How could you be so rude before your seniors, boy? Don’t you know how to be respectful?”
Darwin also sounded angry, “He must have learned that from Linford. That man doesn’t have many manners growing up.”
Clara took a sip from her coffee, “They’ve only spent days with Linford. They couldn’t be influenced by their father that much. They must haven’t got enough education from their mother. Especially the girl. She should have been lively and curious at this age. But…” Clara sighed as if she felt bad for the babies.
But she was actually shifting the blame onto Cristelle, trying to make everyone think that she failed to take care of her children.
Tanya also added, “I remember the babies’ mother is called Cristelle. She used to live in a small city. I know that place is quite remote, but how could she be so neglected when it comes to the babies’ education?”
The atmosphere suddenly got tense.
Franco thudded his cane against the floor, “What are you guys talking about? We wouldn’t have the two beautiful babies without Cristelle! It’s normal for kids to get shy. You people should shut up!”
Tanya thus shut her mouth reluctantly.
Cody bored his eyes into Clara. He could sense this woman had been trying to sabotage his Mom intentionally.
Linford’s car stopped by the gate. Then, he walked into the mansion directly. He wore a gloomy face while passing those bodyguards by the gate.
“Candace, come over to Daddy.”
Candace heard Linford’s voice. She whipped around and ran into Linford’s open arms, calming down as she rested her head against his chest.
Cody looked up at the man, frowning. What took him so long?
Linford ruffled his hair with one big hand, “Sorry, young man.”
“Linford, you’re back.” Clara stood up from her seat, eyes following Linford as if he was the only one she saw.
Linford ignored her downright, approaching Darwin, “I didn’t know our house was such a bully. Your men took away the babies under the teachers’ noses, Father. You don’t care about how other people view our house at all?”
Darwin felt a bit embarrassed hearing what Linford uttered, “This is all your fault! It would help if you took them back earlier. Are you talking about the public views with me? Didn’t you see how those journalists wrote about bad gossip lately?”
Linford took a seat, pouring Candace a glass of water, “So you feel obliged to give those journalists more to write?”
“You!” Darwin was so pissed off, but he didn’t know how to justify his actions.