Chapter 384: ONE MORE PARENT
Ethan left the office without waiting for Jennie to react while Peter trailed behind him.
In the office, Jennie’s hands were tightly fisted and in a blink of an eyelash, she’d already destroyed the furnitures in her reach.
"Damn you Ethan! I should have known that this wasn’t going to work." She said to herself. "I should have known that this wouldn’t work. He’s Ethan Anderson. Of course, he has several other people out there who are dying to partner with him and they are of good potential."
Opening her drawer, she picked up the document she intended giving to him. Glaring at the document, she smiled at it. "I bet it would be easier if his wife talked to him. Erika Anderson, you are my last trump card right now." She continued, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"What’s it?" He snapped at the person.
"S-sir, I hope there wasn’t any problem when Ethan Anderson came in here," said the feminine voice of the secretary.
Having her mood ruined earlier, Jennie stared at the secretary as if she wanted to strangle her to death.
"Get out." Jennie instructed. "Get the fuck out of here," she repeated, completely loosing her temper. The secretary quickly closed back the door when she saw that Jennie was about to throw things in her direction.
**
Ethan arrived home later in the evening and instantly, he saw Erika and the children sitting in front of the TV, watching cartoons like them, and once in a while, he would hear them giggle loudly at the characters doing some silly things.
Erika noticed Ethan from the side of her eyes and went to hug him. The kids also noticed their father and went to greet him by hugging him.
Erika noticed how tired Ethan was and made a mental note to ask him again what was wrong.
At the dinner table, the kids narrated their funny incidents at school before Jake turned to Erika and asked.
"Mum, can we visit my dad? I would like to see him again."
Erika’s spoon that was about to deliver food into her mouth paused as her eyes moved to glance at Ethan before she looked back at Jake whose eyes were sparkly with hope.
"Jake," she called, feeling a little nervous about the situation at hand. How was she supposed to tell a four-year-old kid who just got to know about his biological father that he was dead and no more?
Ethan noticed how uncomfortable Erika was and coughed his throat to gain attention.
"Jake," he called him just like Erika did before he continued. "There’s something that both your mother and I have been wanting to tell you for a while now but we just didn’t know how to do it."
Erika glanced at the twins and wondered if it was okay to say it in front of them but concluded that there were Jake’s brothers now so it should be okay.
"Your father, Adrain, is dead," Ethan said, pausing and waiting for Jake to react but the kid was still looking at him, with a plain expression while his sparkly eyes were no longer there. They held sadness. Ethan sighed before he continued,
"Don’t worry," Erika interrupted. "He has gone to a better place."
Ethan glanced at her wondering how Adrain would be in a better place. With the amount of trouble he’d caused them, he should already own an estate in hell by then but he decided not to say anything about it.
"What killed him?" Jake asked, his voice trying so hard to be put together so he wouldn’t stutter.
Erika beckoned for him to come to her. Instantly, he sat up from his chair and ran towards her. Erika picked him up, sat him on her lap and hugged him dearly.
"He got into a fight," she replied.
The officer had mentioned the bruises and open injury they had found on Adrain’s corpse which only meant he was beaten up before being stabbed numerous times.
Without any warning, Jake started sobbing out loud which surprised everyone else on the table, even the twins as well.
He’d only spent close to an hour with Adrain at the station just that one time, but it seems he had already bonded with his father that quickly, Erika thought to herself as she patted him while he hugged her for his dear life.
Erika lifted him, got up from her seat and headed toward his room while Ethan followed behind her.
They got to his room, opened the door, and placed him on the bed but he refused to let go of Erika. His hands gripped her clothes tightly.
"Jake," Erika called, hoping he could release her and also stop crying but he didn’t move at all.
Instead of trying to make him release her clothes, Erika hugged him dearly and patted him on the head while Ethan sat on the other side of the bed and patted him on the back, consoling him.
Jake only stopped crying after a few minutes passed. Erika’s clothes were drenched in his tears but she didn’t mind at all as she continued to pat him until he decided to release her.
"I’m fine now," he said, which had Ethan raise his eyebrows at the kid. "Thank you for consoling me but I think I want to sleep now."
Erika sighed as if she already saw those would be his next words.
"Will you be fine all by yourself Jake?" She asked, concerned and the little boy nodded his head vigorously.
"Sleep tight," said Ethan and he pecked Jake on the forehead and Erika followed suit. They tugged him into bed and switched off the lights on their way out of the room.
Outside, Erika sighed again as she rested her head on the door of the room.
"This would be the right time to introduce him to Felicia. He has already lost a parent, maybe knowing Felicia would make him feel better," she suggested.
