Chapter 212
Haynes’s deep-set eyes darkened with intensity.
Rachel was right, it really was connected to Stella.
Keen hadn’t expected his father to come out with such a statement so suddenly. He froze for a moment, then quickly said, “It’s not something mom taught me. I just don’t want you and mom to get divorced…”
Before Keen could finish, Haynes interrupted him.
“Tell me, did you sneak out this time to find your mom?”
Haynes’s expression was stern, his presence commanding respect and a hint of intimidation that sent a shiver down Keen’s spine.
Head bowed, Keen replied, “Yes.”
Haynes’s gaze was sharp, his voice growing colder.
“Who told you about the amusement park?”
He had already checked Keen’s phone. No calls or texts suggested anything unusual. This meant someone had told Keen in person.
Keen whispered, “It was… Marvin.”
Haynes’s expression was one of expected confirmation. He had already suspected that the information either came directly from Stella or through Marvin. She was really willing to use even a child.
Seeing Keen’s anxious eyes, Haynes said calmly, “Don’t worry, your mom and I aren’t getting divorced.” Just then, a gentle knock came from the hospital room door.
Stella walked in.
Keen’s eyes lit up at the sight of her. His mom had actually come to see him! No wonder Marvin, that little rascal, always played the sympathy card. It really worked wonders.
Keen felt like he had just discovered a new world.
As Stella entered the room, she noticed Keen’s eager gaze fixed on her. Her brow furrowed slightly, but she asked, “How are you feeling? Are you still uncomfortable?”
Keen was about to say he was fine, but then he remembered how Marvin would snuggle into their mom’s arms, claiming he felt so awful, and how gently she would comfort him.
So he changed his tune, “I… I still feel a bit sick.”
However, Stella didn’t respond with the same comforting words she used with Marvin. Instead, she asked, “Keen, why did you push Marvin?”
Keen stared at Stella in disbelief.
He thought she had come to show concern. But she was actually here to confront him. And it was all because of Marvin, that troublemaker!
It was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, extinguishing all his hopes and filling him with disappointment and a sense of unexplainable injustice.
“I didn’t push him! He jumped off by himself!”
Stella looked at Keen and shook her head with a sigh.
“Keen, the surveillance footage clearly shows what happened.”
“You should know, I’ve never set high standards for you, just that you own up to your actions. Do you think pushing someone and then jumping after them absolves you of responsibility?”
Haynes and Deanna were very strict about his education. Keen had a private tutor who came four times a week. Every weekend, Deanna would take him to personally instruct him.
While she wanted Keen to have a carefree and happy childhood, she also knew Keen was destined to inherit The O’Brien Group. From birth, his path was set apart from other children, devoid of the carefree childhood they enjoyed.
Therefore, Stella never pressured him academically. She focused on teaching him how to be a good person.
Every time she corrected Keen, Deanna would scold her, claiming she was making a mountain out of a molehill and not focusing on what’s truly important in raising a child.