06:08 Mon, 1 Sept T.
Chapter 38 The Punishment
Chapter 38 The Punishment
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In the study, father and son faced each other–one sitting, one standing
Alan lounged back in a rosewood chair, tailored suit immaculate, one hand resting on the armrest, long fingers tapping lightly.
His face betrayed nothing, but the silence pressed down like a weight.
Andy cracked first.
“Dad, it was Mom who ignored me first! I just gave her a little push, how was I supposed to know she was so tired? I got scared too!”
The initial panic had passed, and with Mom not in any real danger, Andy now felt wronged.
He hadn’t done anything!
It was Mom who brushed him off first–how was any of this his fault?
Alan simply watched him, expressionless. His gaze was steady, unblinking, until Andy squirmed and dropped his eyes. Only then did Alan speak, voice calm but sharp as a blade.
“What did I tell you earlier?”
Andy froze, his round face blank. “What?”
Alan didn’t answer. He just kept staring.
It took less than half a minute before Andy jolted, memory rushing back–Nathan’s instructions before leaving:
“Your mother isn’t feeling well. Be good, keep her company. Don’t make trouble. That’s what your father wants,”
Dad’s orders.
And he hadn’t done it. Mom had fainted because of him.
His father rarely placed restrictions on him. Alan usually let him play as he pleased. But if he gave an order and Andy failed to follow it, Alan’s anger was guaranteed.
And when Dad was angry, there was punishment.
Andy’s little face went pale. He stepped forward, panicked. “Dad, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have disobeyed you. I’ll do it right next time! Please don’t send me to Great–Grandpa’s! I don’t want to go!”
Every time his father punished him, he was sent to his great–grandfather’s estate.
And that was hell. Rules everywhere, endless lessons, constant drills. If he failed, there was the bamboo stick–on his palms, on his backside–sharp, stinging pain.
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06:08 Mon, 1 Sept ↑
Chapter 38 The Punishment
His mother might scold him, but she never hit him. Great–Grandpa never held back.
He didn’t want to go.
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Alan’s tone didn’t change. “Whether you go or not depends on your mother when she wakes up. Until then, you’ll stay here and think about what you’ve done.”
He rose and left the study.
“Dad!”
Andy lunged for the door, but it clicked shut and locked before he could reach it. He pounded the wood with his fists, furious.
He couldn’t understand.
Dad didn’t even care about Mom. And this was just one little thing–why punish him for that?
It wasn’t fair!
But the thought of being sent to Great–Grandpa’s, trapped in those endless lessons, trembling at the sting of the bamboo stick–it made him shudder.
No.
He couldn’t let it happen.
And he couldn’t rely on Mom to save him. She never had any say.
“I’ve got to think of something…”
Alan left the study and returned to the master bedroom. He set his laptop on the bed and had only just begun working when there came a soft knock.
He opened the door. Nathan stood there.
Alan shut it behind him. “What is it?”
“Sir, Ms. Summer called just now. She couldn’t reach you, so she rang me instead.”
Alan’s phone was on silent; he hadn’t noticed. He didn’t explain. “What did she want?”
Nathan hesitated briefly. “It’s about Andy. He’s scared you’ll send him to his grandfather’s, so he reached out to Ms. Summer, asking her to plead for him. He even said he wanted to stay with her for a while. Do you want me to refuse?”
Alan chuckled. “Why refuse? He’s working so hard at it.”
Nathan’s expression didn’t change, but there was the faintest hesitation in his tone. “If you really send Andy over there, isn’t that… a bit much?”
Alan’s eyes narrowed slightly, sharp and unreadable. “He made the choice himself. As a Moore, if you
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Chapter 38 The Punishment
make a decision, you bear the consequences.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How many people do you want watching over him?”
“The fewer the better. None, if possible.”
Nathan stiffened. This was the Moore heir.
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He wavered, but Alan’s fox–like eyes glinted with cold amusement. “If he doesn’t take a few knocks now, he’ll never learn. Besides…” Alan leaned back, voice almost casual. “We’re still young. There can always be another heir.”
The meaning couldn’t have been clearer.
Nathan froze, then lowered his head. “I’ll make the arrangements.”
Less than half an hour later, Andy was released from the study.
Before long, he was sitting in a car arranged by Nathan, headed straight for the Zach family estate.
Crisis averted–for now. Relief softened his little face.
Still, guilt tugged at him. Dad had told him to reflect, and instead he’d schemed his way out. Hesitantly, he leaned forward and asked, “Mr. Nathan… did my dad say anything else?”
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