Chapter 320
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Follow–up reports from the media revealed that the victim’s mother was now divorced. Her ex–husband had been desperate for her to have a second child and continue his bloodline.
She, however, was mired in the grief and guilt of losing a child and suffering from depression. After making the difficult decision to divorce, she packed her bags and embarked on a journey around the world.
Later, in a war–torn region, she found herself trapped while protecting a group of children. It was Quinlyn who organized a rescue team to bring her back. But that was a story for another time.
The “Living with the Devil Child” scandal finally died down after a while. Most media outlets had moved on to the more sensational entertainment industry.
Rumors spread, including one that claimed Raymond, the retired actor, was seen walking the streets of Hyloria with a group of bodyguards, allegedly being kept as the lover of a local mob boss.
Then there was Larry, the mysterious second son of the Hill family, who resurfaced at a pub and was surrounded by stunning women on a wild night.
Elowyn, who happened to be in the living room flipping through TV channels, paused.
Larry, who was having breakfast with his hair sticking up, turned pale. “No, it’s not true!” he frantically pleaded. “Those girls were all for Stanley, I swear!”
Stanley kicked him, furious. “How dare you bring that up? Those girls came to the office and deleted three days‘ worth of my game programming! I haven’t even settled the score with you for that!”
“Well, I just thought you were eighteen and needed some…experience,” Larry stammered.
“Oh, yeah? Then why didn’t you find some girls for Joseph?” Stanley asked.
“Joseph is not fit to be there,” Larry said.
“And why not?” Stanley asked again.
“He should be with my cousin Jolie,” Larry replied.
Joseph thought, ‘Did anyone ask for my opinion?”
Antonio, who had just bought the villa next door and settled down, slammed the table. “Enough. Don’t bring these matters up to the table. I don’t want the kids to be corrupted.”
“Larry, I haven’t been strict enough with you. Go take a two–hour timeout,” he added.
The Hill family was known for their strict upbringing. Even for the sole heir, Antonio never went easy Looking at Larry dejectedly walking out to practice his stance, Stanley grinned, practically asking for trouble.
on
him.
After breakfast, everyone went about their day, some heading to work and some going to school. Quinlyn slung her backpack over her shoulder. Seeing that Stanley was about to leave for the company, she walked over and tugged at the hem of his clothes. “Stanley, are you lying? Did you deliberately get Larry in trouble?”
Stanley instinctively wanted to deny it, but when he turned his head to meet the little girl’s focused eyes, he instantly caved.
Chapter 320
“He insisted that I liked Jolie and wanted me to be with her. I’m just an innocent college student. How could I let myself be wronged?” he said.
“That’s why I asked him to find me some game models for the company. I was the one who deleted the program, but I didn’t call the reporters,” he added.
‘He’s just unlucky, okay? In the end, he screwed himself over, Stanley thought.
Quinlyn gained a new understanding of the maturity level of her friends. Seeing that Stanley had run away, leaving no evidence behind, she could only ask George, who was at home, to keep an eye on him.
It was May, and summer was approaching. After standing for half an hour, Larry was drenched in sweat.
Antonio sipped his tea and supervised Larry. He didn’t even bother to open his eyes as he watched Larry. Whenever he sensed any movement, he would flick a pebble at Larry’s head.
“Move again and you’ll get another fifteen minutes,” he warned.
Larry thought, ‘You really are a tough grandpa‘
He didn’t want to argue, really. He knew his grandpa too well. Explaining would just make the punishment worse
Stanley was holding a grudge. It was just a little teasing! Besides, how could some Perkins guy be more trustworthy than a close friend? And Jolie, that naive girl, she’d probably get taken advantage of and not even realize it.
He grumbled to himself as he heard Antonio turn on the TV, flipping to Spencer’s show.
Relying on his good looks and the show’s popularity, Spencer had actually managed to launch his own psychology segment after the initial hype died down. And it still had quite a lot of viewers.
“Nowadays, it’s not just online violence. Violent crime is increasing every year, and methods are becoming more and more brutal. This has to do with societal pressure and education. People can’t find an outlet, so they start lashing out at society,” Spencer said.
Antonio was completely absorbed, when suddenly he heard a snort. He glanced up. “What? You, with your tabloid scandals, you dare look down on this talented young man?”
Larry chuckled. “Grandpa, a crime is a crime. Dressing it up as ‘revenge on society‘ just gives some clueless people false comfort.”
He continued, “I admit there’s societal pressure, but aren’t we trying to alleviate it? How many jobs does the Hill family create every year? How many underprivileged women and children does Quinlyn’s welfare home support?
“We’re even involved in legislation. What’s the point of saying pretty words in a studio when you’re not addressing real problems?
“And another thing, aren’t there just some true psychopaths out there? People who just like to kill, who are born antisocial? Do we need to understand and redeem them too? Dig for their motivations?”
He wasn’t the good–for–nothing playboy he used to be, wasting his life on booze and girls. He was running the oil fields on the borderlands now, providing 100 thousand jobs.
He had seen a lot this year. He was confident enough to say that he was better than Spencer.
Antonio only grunted after hearing him finish, seemingly laughing at his arrogance. But in the end, he still changed the
channel.
After a while, there was a rustling sound from the bushes nearby. Joseph, bent over, sneaked out from behind them and came to his side.
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Chapter 320
He lifted the water bottle and put the straw in Larry’s mouth. “Drink some water.”
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Larry jerked his head back, almost getting poked in the face. He frowned and said, “What the heck? I don’t need it. Take it away.”
Joseph’s sleeves were dirty from lying on the ground. Hearing this, he retreated back to the bushes and stuck his butt out, thinking no one would notice.
Larry said, “What are you doing?” Having a butt sticking out next to him was just embarrassing.”
George held the water bottle, his tone serious. “Quinlyn said… to take care of you… not to let anyone find out… to give you water when you’re thirsty… and food when you’re hungry…”
So it was Quinlyn’s order. “I’m not hungry or thirsty. You can go back in now,” Joseph said.
George didn’t react.
Larry was speechless. He knew George listened to everything Quinlyn said, so it seemed that George was going to carry out his mission to the end. Larry didn’t bother with him and ignored him completely.
Among the three of them, Larry was the least likely to pay attention to George.
Ever since the hypnosis experiment when George said those things that made Quinlyn sick, Larry, who had a clear sense of love and hate, had directly classified him as evil.
He usually treated George as air. Now that he was forced to be with George, Larry ignored him completely.
However, as the sun rose higher and higher, it got hotter and hotter. After an hour and a half, Larry’s throat was so dry that it started to smoke.
He couldn’t help but look down at the water bottle and ask hoarsely, “Hey, is that straw clean?” “Uh… I washed it… I didn’t drink… We can’t share… There are germs…” George stammered.
Hearing this, Larry couldn’t stand it any longer. “Give me a sip.”
George immediately scrambled up and handed him the straw.
Larry didn’t care about anything else and drank half the bottle of water in one gulp.
After quenching his thirst, he looked up and realized that George’s lips were also dry and cracked. Like him, George had been exposed to the sun for more than an hour.
