Linford looked over the balcony and noticed his proud son was fawning at Demi. He frowned with a disgusted look on his face, “Cody Bradley is such a simp.”
Cristelle laughed behind him as she rubbed her long damp hair with a towel, “I wonder where he got that certain trait from.”
“Are you mocking me right now, Mrs. Bradley?” Linford turned to frown at his beautiful wife.
“I’m telling you to be nice to your son. And you really should play fewer video games. I wonder where you get those weird phrases from,” Cristelle laughed.
Where did he get those weird terms from?
Linford was quite pissed off whenever he thought about this issue.
Cody had always been a proud and smart kid. And he was always hard to impress. Linford had missed five or six in the boy’s life. So he decided to bond with the boy after their reunion. But his attempts had just failed again and again.
Cody had been interested in weapons and technologies.
Linford, as a smart and devoted father, had detected in Cody’s pre-teen years that the boy was probably gonna get into video games eventually. Boss Linford had thus decided that playing video games together could be a great chance to bond with his detached son.
Based on Cody’s personality, Linford judged the boy would only be friends with those who processed true power and skills. In Linford’s imagination, when Cody finally grew into his inevitable teenage-boy-video-game-obsession years, he would finally find his dad was the true hero in PUBG and CS: GO. By then, Cody Bradley would finally see him as his icon and treat him with some respect.
Linford had been fueled by his glorious imagination. So apart from working his ass off in the company, he had also spent two or three hours every day sharpening his gaming skills.
So it had been extra hurting when 15-year-old Cody looked at him as if he was a moron, “Dad, you’re seriously digging video games? Are you like 13?”
Yep, it turned out Cody Bradley never had any game obsessions growing up. Compared with killing zombies in virtual reality, Cody enjoyed going to the actual shooting range with Enzo.
Linford would never forget the contempt in Cody’s eyes when he said that.
So there he was video-game obsessed and feeling like a clown. The grudge between the son and the father just got deeper.
“Cody Bradley is such a weirdo,” Linford shook his head as he observed the boy from above.
What kind of boy disliked video games?
“That is rude, Mr. Bradley,” Cristelle frowned.
“Do you remember what Pop and Mr. Weston promised when Fritzi was still pregnant?” Linford suddenly asked.
“What?” Cristelle was clearly not remembering any of that.
“Pop said if Fritzi was having a baby girl, the girl, and Cody would engage with each other.” Linford reminded her.
“That is just a silly promise,” Cristelle laughed, “None of the old men were taking it seriously back then.”
“I know someone’s taking it quite seriously, actually,” Linford sighed.
“Who?” Cristelle curiously asked as she approached the balcony and looked down.
“Your son, clearly,” Linford shrugged.
“You’re saying that Cody is actually in love with…” Cristelle’s mouth fell open as she noticed the way Cody looked at Thea from above.
“Yeah.” Linford sighed.
****
“What are you guys talking about?” Drew and Fritzi arrived in the garden soon.
Candace smiled and looked up. “We’re talking about things that happened when we were little. Uncle Drew, Cody’s trying to change Demi’s memories. Cody used to be a bully, right? He forced Thea and me to learn a lot of things.”
“Don’t call your brother a bully, Candace,” Drew frowned, “Cody used to be a great teacher.”
“But Demi was scared of him when we were little, right?” Candace protested. “Yeah,” Drew laughed, “No one could discipline you naughty bunch like Cody. He’s like the leader of the kids. You two all listened to him no matter what he said. Especially you, Demi, when you refused to behave or go to school, I would usually mention that I would bring Cody over. And you will instantly become a good kid.”
“Cody was like the boss,” Fritzi laughed.
Cody was like the boss? Thea shrugged. It seemed like things didn’t even change that much after all these years.
“That sounds quite amazing actually,” Thea was poking a piece of egg in her plate, “Hearing these things.”
“Don’t pressure yourself to remember anything, honey,” Fritzi sat down and looked at Thea fondly.
“I know,” Thea smiled, “It’s quite nice to hear you guys telling me about these. By the way… Where’s Mia? I haven’t seen her since yesterday.”
Thea noticed Drew and Fritzi had an awkward look. She instantly regretted asking the question.
It seemed like her new sister still didn’t like her. “Mia’s busy with things in school,” Fritzi cleared her throat, “She will come to see you when she finishes her work.”
Thea smiled, “Of course.”
When they got back into the house, Mr. Weston just came back from doing morning exercises. He asked if Thea wanted to go riding horses with him today.
Thea knew the old man had just recovered. She didn’t want to make him too exhausted. Besides, Mia refused to show up. She didn’t want to make things too awkward for them. So she mentioned that she wanted to go back. Drew and Fritzi still wanted her to stay. But Thea used her work as an excuse. So she went back home that day with her Mom and Granny eventually. Fritzi looked like she was gonna cry again. Thea could only comfort the poor woman, telling her that she would come to visit soon.
Cody was the one who drove Thea back.
Thea wanted to call Daisy, but Cody insisted.
On their way back, Cody said many things to make Grace and Granny relax. Thea only realized at that moment that Cody was trying to let Grace know that the Weston family was not trying to take Thea away from them.
Thea was surprised that her boss was actually such a sweet person.