Chapter 91: So What if I Lied to You?

The moment Samuel Ford walked in, he saw Felix Ford sitting on the floor with his back to him. Documents were scattered everywhere, and a headache began to form. "Didn’t I give you the phone so you could call Dr. Vance? What are you throwing a fit about now?"

Felix Ford didn’t hear a word he said. He only caught the mention of Amanda Vance.

He swallowed hard. This document and the one Jean Vance had given him differed by a single word. That word was "not."

It might only be one word, but it created two completely different meanings.

’So, this one says there *is* a familial relationship.’

Jean Vance had lied.

’He’s Dad’s son, which means Mom...’

’He’s Mom’s son, too!’

Seeing him silent, Samuel Ford took two steps forward. "What is it now?"

The footsteps behind him grew closer. In a panic, Felix Ford glanced around, quickly crumpled the paper into a ball, and stuffed it into his clothes. He scrambled to his feet and ran for the door. "It was an accident! Dad, you can clean it up yourself."

With that, he was gone.

He was running a little strangely.

Samuel Ford watched him for a moment. He saw that Felix had hidden something but didn’t pay it any mind. ’It’s probably just some toy,’ he thought, bending down to pick up the documents from the floor.

Feeling as guilty as a thief, Felix Ford ran all the way back to his room and slammed the door with a BANG. A moment later, he quietly opened it a crack to see if his dad had followed. Once he was sure he wasn’t there, he breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the door, his heart still pounding.

’Wait a minute, why did I run? Didn’t Dad say he was looking for Mom, too? He’d be happy if he found out.’

’On second thought, I won’t tell him yet. I’ll let Jean keep Mom to himself for a few more days. Dad is the most domineering person ever. If he found out who Jean’s mom was, he’d monopolize her completely, and there’d be nothing left for me.’

’But no matter what, I have a score to settle first.’

Felix Ford stomped over to his bed, plopped down with puffed-out cheeks, and fiddled with his phone. He put it down a moment later. So annoying! He didn’t have Jean Vance’s phone number.

After lying on the bed for a while, he sat up again and beckoned Seven over. He placed the document in front of it. "Seven, can you help me read the words on this?"

"Of course, Little Master." Seven’s lights flickered. It quickly scanned the contents and began to read, word by word.

It was built with top-of-the-line technology, so its speech wasn’t robotic or stiff. The cadence was clear, the pace was even, and apart from a few technical terms Felix Ford didn’t understand, the rest was fine.

He heard the last sentence with perfect clarity.

There was indeed a blood relationship between them.

He grinned so wide it nearly reached his ears. "Seven, read that last sentence again! No, I want it on a single-sentence loop."

"As you wish," Seven said, and immediately began repeating the sentence over and over.

Felix Ford’s smile grew wider and wider, and even when he fell asleep that night, the corners of his mouth were still turned up.

Seeing its Little Master asleep, Seven automatically activated silent mode and stood obediently in the corner.

’Time to recharge my energy, too.’

The next day, after finishing breakfast, Felix Ford suddenly announced, "I want to go to school."

This was the first time he had ever volunteered to go to school.

Samuel Ford gave him a strange look. For a moment, he felt like he didn’t even recognize his own son.

Seeing his father’s silence, Felix Ford repeated, "I want to go to school."

Samuel Ford snapped back to reality. "Okay. I’ll take you in a little while."

"No, no, just have Mr. Rocco take me. You should get to work, Dad." He didn’t want his dad to see Jean Vance just yet.

Besides, he had his own selfish reasons. ’Jean Vance is so smart. If Dad sees him, he’ll definitely like him a lot.’

’And then he won’t like me anymore.’

’Of course, it’s not like I care if he likes me or not. But... Mom doesn’t even know if she can accept me yet. If Dad doesn’t want me anymore either, what will I do?’

Grumbling inwardly, Felix Ford became even more determined in his decision. He absolutely could not let his dad take him.

Giving him another glance, Samuel Ford didn’t overthink it. The fact that he was willing to go to school was a good thing.

"Alright. I’ll have Rocco take you later."

"And have him pick me up tonight, too."

At these words, Samuel Ford’s hand paused. He stared at his son for a long moment. Just as Felix Ford was starting to think he had guessed something, Samuel looked away. "Alright."

In the car, Rocco asked, "Young Master, are you still angry at Sir?"

Felix Ford was busy thinking about how he was going to settle the score with Jean Vance at school. Hearing the question, he didn’t register it at first and let out a little "Huh?"

Rocco took that as an admission and began to persuade him earnestly, "Sir really does care about you, Young Master. He once went out of his way after work just to buy you toys, and he picked out every single one himself. And when he heard you were sick, he rushed back immediately. Sir is just a man of few words and doesn’t like to say much."

Felix Ford didn’t say anything. He slowly swung his little legs and stroked his chin thoughtfully. ’If that’s the case, Dad is actually okay... I wonder what the chances are of getting Jean Vance to go with Dad.’

But then he remembered Jean’s reaction that day and shook his head. ’No, that won’t work. Jean didn’t just inherit Dad’s smarts; he inherited his bossy streak, too.’

’Didn’t he lie to me before just so he could monopolize Mom?’

’Hmph. I’ve already seen right through him.’

’Everyone says *I’m* the problem child, but how is it that he’s even more of a brat than I am?’

’Seriously. I was completely fooled by his act.’

Seeing him shake his head, Rocco assumed he was disagreeing and sighed. ’This father and son pair... they’re natural-born rivals. I wonder when they’ll ever stop being like this.’

Knowing Felix had little patience and that saying more would only annoy him, Rocco didn’t press the issue. But he couldn’t help but worry.

When he saw the boy skipping cheerfully into the school, his worries deepened.

’It’s over. The Young Master who hates preschool so much is this happy to go to school just to avoid Sir.’

’It seems he really can’t stand being around Sir at all.’

Felix Ford had no idea Rocco had imagined such a dramatic scenario. He had originally planned to go straight to Class 8, but after a moment’s thought, he held back.

’There are too many people around now. What if we cause a scene and the teacher calls our parents?’

’I’ll wait.’

He waited until the afternoon activity period before heading toward Class 8, still wearing his mask. As luck would have it, he ran into Jean Vance before he even got there.

He blinked, puffed out his chest, and looked at him with a huff. "Jean Vance, don’t you think you owe me an apology?"

’For lying to me.’

Jean Vance glanced at him, his eyes darkening slightly. He hadn’t slept well last night, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes. Seeing Felix now, he pressed his lips together and said, "Follow me."

His voice was a little hoarse.

’Fine, I’ll follow you.’

Felix Ford grumbled to himself. ’It’s not like I’m scared of him.’

The two walked one after another into a classroom. Felix Ford pulled two crumpled, wrinkled pieces of paper from his pocket. He did his best to smooth them out, held one in each hand, and asked with his chin held high, "How do you explain this?"

It was the original paternity test report and the forged document Jean had modified.

One he had seen with his own eyes, the other he had made with his own hands. He knew what they were with a single glance.

"That’s right. I lied to you."

Hearing this, Felix Ford’s eyes went wide with disbelief. ’He’s the one who lied, so how can he still be so brazen and self-righteous?!’