CHAPTER 123: MISUNDERSTANDING

John was frozen in place. That voice...

He mechanically turned around and found himself facing Steven’s inscrutable eyes.

Emma obviously saw him too and exclaimed in joy, "Daddy?!"

John felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

At his level, he hardly ever had the chance to meet Steven. However, ever since marrying into the Anderson family, he had glimpsed him from afar at a few business banquets; all thanks to Mona’s connections.

Steven always exuded a deadly aura that was hard to ignore.

Dressed in a tailored gray suit, Steven held freshly bought desserts in one hand and effortlessly lifted Emma in the other.

John stammered as he asked, "Mr. Lawrence... are you... her father?"

Steven looked at him coldly.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

John quickly waved his hands in denial. "No, no, no..."

Steven handed the cake he was holding to Emma, speaking to her tenderly.

"Daddy got you a cake. Go sit at the table over there and enjoy your cake while I speak with this teacher."

On the other hand, Emma’s eyes lit up at the sight of the cake. She nodded and happily ran off to eat it.

Watching her ponytails bounce as she ran, Steven found her utterly adorable.

He couldn’t understand how such a cute little creature could exist in this world.

After watching her for a moment, he turned his cold gaze back to John.

"So you’re from the Anderson family?"

Even though Steven only stayed briefly at banquets, his incredible observation and memory had already etched these people’s faces into his mind.

The man in front of him was part of the Anderson family.

John’s heart skipped a beat.

He was asking about the Anderson family—did this mean he was planning to retaliate against them?

It was over; if Mona and his father-in-law found out about this, they would kill him!

Despite that, he had no guts to lie in front of Steven. He nodded with difficulty, pleading for mercy.

"Mr. Lawrence, I didn’t know she was your child. If I knew, even if you gave me a hundred guts, I wouldn’t have dared..."

Kenny was so terrified by Steven’s imposing presence that he burst into tears.

Steven glanced at Kenny and said blandly, "You can go back now."

John grew even more frightened. Was he asking him to leave so he could deal with the Anderson family over this later on?

"Mr. Lawrence... I..."

Steven noticed John was being so unresponsive, finding it bothersome. When he told him to go back, his actual intention was to take action against the Anderson family. Punishing a PE teacher like John would cause too big of an impact; moreover, Kenny was still around. Ever since he had Alex, Steven had refrained from handling matters in front of any child.

Now that his daughter, Emma, was around as well, he didn’t want to leave a cold image in her heart.

Steven gave John a disapproving glare, prompting him to shut his mouth obediently and leave the classroom with a sniffling Kenny in his arms.

Watching Emma with her face covered in cake, Steven smiled dotingly. He approached her and softly asked, "Do you like this flavor?"

Emma answered happily, "Emma–er, Alex likes it a lot!"

She gasped internally, almost giving herself away. Since Steven had seen her first, she would pretend to be Alex in order to avoid his suspicion.

Steven’s eyes flickered as he continued nonchalantly.

"As long as Alex likes it."

Just as he suspected...

Back when he found out he had a daughter, Alex seemed incredibly composed, which made Steven suspicious. Now, it seemed like the two siblings had known each other for a while.

They had even secretly swapped identities multiple times.

However, he still couldn’t figure out what the kids were hiding. Thus, he decided to play along and pretend like he didn’t know Emma was his daughter.

Once in Steven’s car, Emma quickly sent a message to Alex.

[Brother, urgent matter! Daddy ran into me at kindergarten and mistook me for you. You should go with Mommy first~]

Watching her try to act calm yet stealthy beside him, Steven found it amusing. These obvious actions had never caught his attention before; he only thought Alex had changed a bit. But now, it was obvious how distinct the two kids were.

Meanwhile, Alex received Emma’s message and promptly called Cecilia to explain the situation, leading her to pick him up in the end.

This was good, too. Emma had been saying she missed Steven, and now Cecilia could spend some time living with Alex; it was the best of both worlds.

In the car, Alex observed Cecilia in a good mood, feeling guilty that she remained in the dark about Steven already knowing that he had a daughter.

He sat up from his mother’s embrace and tentatively asked, "Mommy, why can’t Sister acknowledge Daddy?"

Cecilia thought for a moment. She couldn’t possibly say it was because she wanted to sneak away with both kids. Moreover, she did want Emma to eventually let Steven know she was his daughter, but...

"It’s just because I don’t know why Steven dislikes me so much..."

This was one big mystery to her—compared to other strangers, Cecilia often felt like she, the kid’s mother, was a nemesis to their father.

Alex thought for a bit and comforted her.

"It doesn’t matter, Mommy. You’re so wonderful; Daddy won’t dislike you. I think it’s just a misunderstanding."

Cecilia nodded. "Let’s hope so."

In the evening, upon returning home, Steven received an urgent message from Zane.

[Mr. Lawrence, we found out that the young master had gone home with Cecilia!]