13.05
Chapter 18 Pruning
The sound of the door closing of the room across the hallway broke Zachary’s reverie.
He was disappointed.
Damn that woman! Zachary had thought Gladys would come on to him.
It turned out he was overthinking.
The night passed peacefully.
In the morning.
“Daddy!” Mars called sweetly. Zachary was still asleep.
Mars seldom called him. Zachary opened his eyes and asked affectionately, “What is it? Hmm?”
Mars took his hand and went downstairs with him.
The boy walked quickly and seemed happy.
Zachary was puzzled. What was going on?
Mars took him to the garden. The sight before him shocked Zachary.
The flowers and plants had all been pruned into various shapes.
There were chubby pandas, lovely bunnies, leaping goats, and pretty fairies… Each of them looked lifelike and vivid.
And they were well distributed.
The garden now looked like a zoo and a beautiful forest.
Mars was just a child, after all. He walked to a goat and smiled for the first time. “I like this one. I like every one of them. Daddy, is this a surprise from you for me?”
The innocent child had a sweet smile.
13:05
Chapter 13 Pruning
Zachary had never seen his son so lively. Mars had never talked so much before. Somehow, Zachary didn’t know how to answer his question. He just said, “Go have
fun.”
After Mars left, Zachary asked Jacob, who stood behind him, “Did you have
someone do this?”
Jacob shook his head. “No. I was also surprised this morning. If I had known Mars liked this, I’d have learned this skill long before to please him.”
Not Jacob?
Then, who was it?
Zachary was curious.
Jacob said, “I checked the camera footage. It was Gladys.”
Gladys?
Surprised, Zachary raised his brows.
Then, he recalled he had asked Gladys to clean the villa. It was punishment. He had thought Gladys would cry. Unexpectedly, she pruned the whole garden.
She was already like an artist at such a young age.
Zachary had seen another side of Gladys.
If only Gladys were Julie with better conduct! Jacob thought.
At 11 a.m.
Gladys leaped out of bed immediately when she woke up.
It was already 11 a.m. She didn’t wake up until 11 a.m.!
How embarrassing.
She freshened up quickly. Then, she was surprised to see Zachary reading by the door–sized window. He didn’t go to work?
Gladys figured he’d pick on her for getting up late.
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She didn’t know what to say to Zachary. Seeing Mars, she walked to the boy quickly and held his arms.
“Mars, I promised to take you to the mall yesterday. Let’s go.”
Mars nodded with a slight hum. Then, he said to Zachary, “Daddy, let’s go.”
“Wh–what?” Zachary was coming along?
Gladys was astonished.
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Mars said, “This is the first time I’d be going to the mall. Daddy can’t be absent. You don’t want him to go with us?”
Gladys was baffled.
“How’s it possible?” She didn’t want Zachary to go with them in the slightest! With an awkward smile, Gladys took Mars‘ hand and got into the car with him. She sat by the window. Thanks to the seat in front, she didn’t have to see Zachary. Her behavior didn’t escape Zachary’s eyes. The coldness in his eyes deepened. Shouldn’t Gladys rack her brains to get close to him? Why did she seem to want to keep Zachary at arm’s length? Was she playing hard to get?
For the first time, Zachary found it hard to see someone through.
