Chapter 142: For a kid her age...
Five years later...
The feet of a little girl running across the house made light patter sounds. She ran fast, but with legs so short, she couldn’t get far.
Yet... She was able to get away from the one she was running from.
"When I get my hands on you, Little Missy, it’s over." Michael’s furious voice echoed as he surfaced into the living room but despite how furious he looked, it didn’t look like he was ’that’ upset.
The little girl hid under the kitchen cabinet and covered her mouth, giggling silently as she felt she had played a fast one.
’He won’t know I’m here, will he?’ She thought and then shut her eyes, more giggling muffling in her hands that covered her mouth.
Michael stood in front of the kitchen counter, his hands on his waist and staring at the cabinet where his daughter was hiding.
He sighed, his hand on his face and then he played along.
"She always knows how to evade me." He said. "Where could she have hidden her tiny body? This is getting out of hand."
Though he clearly knew where she was hiding, since he wanted it to be a little fun, despite how furious she made him feel, he decided to give her the upper hand... For now.
"I should go check the balcony." He said. "This time, she won’t get away with it."
After he walked away, the little girl felt her plan had worked and so she crept out of the cabinet, only to flinch as she felt Michael’s burning gaze behind her.
Slowly, she turned her head and found him standing on the other side of the cabinet.
"You think you’re so smart, eh?" He asked and she yelped.
"Ahhh, save me." She planned to run with her little feet again but he caught her by the arm and then flung her over his shoulder, spanking her as she had deserved it this time.
"Bad girl, you should listen when I tell you not to play with my laptop. If you keep at this, I’ll ban chocolate Tuesdays for life." He threatened, taking her to the living room and she whimpered.
"Woo, not the chocolate." She whined, her eyes growing teary.
"Then, listen to my warning, okay? You’re being so disobedient and I certainly don’t like it." He sat on the chair and then held her up, looking at her sad face.
It hurt his heart that she had such an expression but he couldn’t afford to spoil her to bits and then end up ruining her life.
She needed to know when to stop, listen to instructions, and be obedient. She had to be a good kid, so that once ’he’ saw her, he wouldn’t be disappointed with the way he had raised her.
"Olivia, my darling," Michael said, brushing her hair. "Does it hurt?" He asked and she nodded. "Sorry, but you just don’t listen. I don’t want to spank you either but..." He sighed and then pulled her in for a hug, resting her head on his shoulder and she wrapped her little arms around his neck. "...I want to make sure you know right from wrong, and can tell when you’re doing something that will displease others."
"But why can’t I play with your laptop, Papa?" Olivia asked, her voice soft and wimpy. "I just wanted to see Daddy."
Michael shut his eyes. That was the kind of line Olivia always used to get him. But he could not falter this time. Not after what she did the last time.
He hadn’t always restricted her from using his laptop. She was in school and she learned quite a lot about computers.
For a kid her age, it shouldn’t be possible to understand those things. They shouldn’t even teach children such advanced things.
It was to the point that he was starting to doubt if she indeed learned it from her class or if she snuck into another class and listened to the lecture without anyone finding out.
In any case, she was too smart for her own good.
With no intention of keeping anything from his daughter, Michael told Olivia about her father. He told her how he was working overseas and they could not see each other until his work was done.
It didn’t take Olivia long to realize her father was someone famous since he was so handsome. Typical thinking of a child.
So, she began to put the newly acquired knowledge to work and then searched for her father.
She discovered who he was, what he was working on, and other things, but she did not stop there.
She was tempted.
Despite always knowing how Michael tried not to contact her father, she felt maybe it would be better if she were the one doing the contact and not him.
She just wanted to have a chat with her father, for the first time in her life, so she sent an email to the company with a picture of her attached.
It was a ridiculous email that said,
’Daddy, this is Olivia. I miss you very, very much and I really, really want to talk to you. This is our house line, so promise to call me when you get this message, okay? Of course, she could not spell those words correctly, and it looked very much like a child’s scribble, so the company did not want to take it seriously.
But since Sebastian had given word that any message coming from Manchester, no matter what it was, should be taken seriously, they decided to take it up to him.
But that day, Sebastian was not in the office and the one who ended up getting that mail was Noah.
As soon as Noah saw the picture, he knew right away. He knew in his bones, his heart, his flesh, and his soul that that was his daughter.
She had his eyes, after all. But that pristine beauty of hers and that cute nose... It was definitely Michael’s.
No way he wouldn’t know his own daughter at a glance.
And then there was her name.
Olivia.
How could he miss such vivid details?
He did not know how he was able to get this message or why. But something pushed him and he wanted to speak to the daughter who missed him very much.
The daughter whom he had never spoken to in his life.
He picked up his phone, planning to make the international call right away but he hesitated. He did not know what to say.
