Chapter 636 Ulterior Motives
“Gregory looks so much like you,” Janet uttered with a smile as she went down the stairs with Nicholas. Nicholas nodded for a moment before he lowered his head to speak to the boy in his arms. “What have you done at home today?” he asked.
“I finished my homework in the afternoon, and I stayed in the piano studio to think about Miss Tessa in the evening,” Gregory told his father about his day in a soft voice. When Janet saw how the father and son seemed absorbed in their two-person conversation, she felt terrible for herself as she couldn’t seem to be a part of it. She bit her lips in jealousy. He’s just a child that a surrogate mother gave birth to. Who is he to get so much of Nicholas’ attention?
Once they got to the hall, Nicholas brought Gregory to the couch. Janet gazed at the identical father-and-son couple as she thought, If I want to be with Nicholas, I’ll have to win over the young boy first.
“This is my first time seeing you, and I don’t know what sort of toys you like, so I bought a few different ones, Gregory. I hope you like them.” Janet pulled out a few toys that she had bought. She placed the mixture of toy cars and airplane figures on the table. Gregory took a look at them and glanced at the woman as he felt a peculiar feeling in him. For some reason, I feel like this lady is… trying to please me.
Gregory blinked for a moment—the intelligent boy had quickly guessed that this woman had some ulterior motive. Janet had no idea that Gregory knew what she was trying to do. She curled her lips into a smile that she thought looked gentle and kind while she tried her best to get close to the small boy. But Gregory was familiar with such tactics, so he wasn’t intrigued at all.
“Thank you for your kind gestures, Miss. However, I stopped playing with such toys when I was three,” he replied. Janet froze upon hearing the kid’s words, and the smile on her face turned stiff. Despite the awkward situation, she tried her best to maintain her smile while she continued the conversation. “What do you like, then? I’ll buy you something else next time.”
“I like violins, but my grandma collects tons of them, so I don’t need anymore.” Gregory rejected her with a straight look on his face. Janet was rather exasperated at this point, but she still kept a warm smile on her face. “It sounds like you really love violins.”
“Of course. Miss Tessa is a great violinist,” he replied with his chin stuck up high to form a proud look on his face. “I’m going to be as great of a violinist as her someday,” he said. Janet could no longer keep the smile on her face when she heard Gregory praising the woman. She knew who Gregory was referring to, but she hadn’t expected the kid to have so much love for Tessa.
Janet couldn’t help but glance at Nicholas at this point. As expected, there was a pleased and contented smile on Nicholas’ face when she looked at him. This made Janet unable to contain the jealousy she felt at that moment. I don’t understand. How is Tessa better than me?
So, Janet tried even harder to get close to Gregory after that. “Gregory, do you want to hear about stories of your dad in the army?” she asked. She figured that boys would typically look forward to becoming a part of the armed forces. It was true that Gregory was rather curious, but he didn’t want to give the woman a chance to please him. “Thanks, Miss. I’ll ask Daddy about it when I want to hear stories.”
The more Janet arrived at a dead end with the kid, the more she felt a strong sense of dislike toward him. All that this boy talks about is Tessa. It sounds almost like she’s his biological mother! As much as she didn’t like the boy, she tried her best to control her emotions. She knew that she had to do so since she wasn’t with Nicholas yet.
A while later, Andrew walked over before speaking in a respectful tone. “It’s time for dinner, Master Nicholas.”
Nicholas nodded before turning to gaze at the woman, who didn’t seem like she had any plans of leaving. “You can eat with us,” he offered as a kind gesture.
“Thank you for having me.” She nodded while smiling. She could tell that Nicholas had wanted to send her off, but she pretended not to notice anything. After all, she knew that Nicholas was a mannered man who would ask her to stay for dinner. When Gregory saw the sly look in Janet’s eyes, he stuck his lips out as he scoffed to himself.
