Chapter 531: Are You Even His Grandfather?
Chapter 531: Chapter 531: Are You Even His Grandfather?
[Still worried about the kid’s vestibular development? They’re clearly raising him as their own son.]
[Everything your parents are doing is super suspicious.]
[Have you asked your parents if they’re being so nice to him because they want to take him in as their own son?]
Susan stared at the comments and sighed. "Actually, I jokingly asked my mom about it when we went to the supermarket. She just said I was overthinking things and that it was nothing."
She pressed her lips together and continued, "I hope I am just overthinking it, but this is what I’m seeing with my own eyes."
Later, she vented about it to a friend and found out she could ask Renee Jennings for help to see if her cat knew anything.
So for the past half-month, Susan has been camping out in Renee Jennings’s livestream, and she was lucky enough to get connected today.
She stood up and found her cat.
It was a chubby little orange cat.
No one else was home right now; Mrs. Bell had taken the boy out to visit some people.
Susan placed her phone on a stand on the coffee table, then sat down on the soft sofa while holding the orange cat. "His name is Mandy. He was a gift from my neighbor the year I took my college entrance exams."
"A very cute cat," Renee Jennings said with a smile.
"He is, isn’t he?" Susan nuzzled her cheek against Mandy’s fluffy head. "He’s so adorable. If my university didn’t forbid pets, I’d want to take Mandy to school with me."
"MEOW~" Mandy meowed softly. "Cat wants to go with Sister. Harvey is too mean. Cat doesn’t like him."
Hearing Mandy’s words, Renee Jennings raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who’s Harvey?"
"Harvey is my cousin’s son," Susan replied, then found it strange. "Ms. Jennings, why do you ask about Harvey?"
"Mandy brought him up," Renee Jennings explained. "Mandy said Harvey is too mean and that he doesn’t like him."
Susan frowned, seeming to guess what was going on. "Mandy, has Harvey been bullying you?"
"MEOW MEOW MEOW!" Mandy, nestled in her arms, nodded aggrievedly. "Sister, Harvey always steps on Cat’s tail on purpose, and he kicks Cat all the time! But as soon as Mom comes over, Harvey starts wailing and tells her that Cat bullied him!"
"MEOW MEOW~ Then Mom scolds Cat, says Cat is being bad, and won’t give Cat any food."
"MEOW! Because of Harvey, Cat has gone hungry so many, many times!"
When Susan heard from Renee Jennings what Mandy had been enduring at home, her eyes turned red with anger. "That little brat is despicable! And Mom has gone too far! How could she let you go hungry!"
’No wonder Mandy has been so clingy whenever I come home lately, always staying in my room and refusing to leave. He used to be really attached to Mom, too.’
"Mandy," Renee Jennings asked softly, "do you know why Harvey is living at your house?"
"MEOW~ Mmm, Cat knows!" Mandy nodded his head vigorously.
Renee Jennings’s lips curled into a smile. "Can you tell us about it?"
"MEOW~ Yes!" Mandy nodded again. "One time, Harvey’s grandpa and grandma brought Harvey over to our house to play."
Renee Jennings picked up on a key piece of information and asked doubtfully, "Aren’t Harvey’s grandparents divorced? Why would they go to your house together?"
Susan said, "It was probably because they had to take care of Harvey. My cousin had a kid and didn’t want to raise him, so he just dumped Harvey on my uncle and aunt."
"MEOW~ Right~" Mandy chimed in. "That day Harvey’s grandpa and grandma came to our house, they were crying, saying they couldn’t take care of Harvey."
Susan’s uncle and aunt had been divorced for many years. A few years ago, the aunt had shacked up with a widower.
Not long after, the uncle also found a girlfriend.
The cousin had just dropped the child off and left, but this child... the uncle’s girlfriend didn’t want to look after him, and the aunt’s widower partner didn’t want to raise him. Both sides were trying to pass the buck, so they ended up going to Susan’s parents to mediate.
"Brother, Sister-in-law, I’m living in someone else’s house now, so it’s not my call. As for this kid, Harvey... I’m willing to help, but I just don’t have the means!" the aunt sighed.
The uncle was also exasperated. "My girlfriend was just threatening to break up with me a while ago. If I make her help me raise Harvey, she’ll leave without a second thought. Brother, Sister-in-law, you don’t want to see me end up a lonely bachelor in my middle age, do you?"
Susan’s father and mother didn’t know what to do either.
The aunt covered her mouth and sobbed. "It’s all because this child has a bitter fate. He was born, but there’s no one to love him."
"Don’t, don’t say that." Mrs. Bell couldn’t stand hearing such things. "If there’s really no other way, you two can take turns. One month each."
"Forget a month, just one more day with him would be torture!" The uncle looked anxious and frustrated. "If my girlfriend runs off, it’ll be hard to find another one so young and beautiful!"
The uncle slapped his thigh and said bluntly, "You know what? Let’s just send the kid to an orphanage."
Hearing this, the aunt thought it was a viable idea. "Now that’s a solution."
But Susan’s father and mother refused. "No!"
"Why not?" the aunt said, frantic. "Staying in an orphanage has to be better than being with us!"
The uncle nodded emphatically. "Exactly! I don’t have the energy or stamina to raise a grandson."
Forget raising a grandson; he had been just as neglectful when raising his own son.
"Let’s think of something else," said Mr. Bell. "After all, he’s of the Zane family bloodline. How can we send him to an orphanage?"
"Then you tell me what we should do, Brother!" The aunt’s eyes darted around, and she shot to her feet. "Anyway, I’m not looking after this kid for one more day. You all can figure it out yourselves."
With that, she dusted off her hands and walked out.
Seeing this, the uncle grew even more anxious. He shouted, "Don’t you go! That’s your own grandson!"
Of course, she didn’t turn back. If anything, she only ran faster.
The uncle sighed and slapped his thigh hard, cursing himself for not running off first.
He looked at his grandson, who was being held by his sister-in-law, and suddenly had an idea. "How about... how about..."
"What are you trying to say?" Mr. Bell urged, hearing him stammer for a while. "Just spit it out!"
"Brother, Sister-in-law," the uncle suddenly leaned in and said mysteriously, "why don’t I just leave this kid, Harvey, to you?"
Mr. and Mrs. Bell looked at each other, not quite understanding what he meant.
"What do you mean, ’leave to you’?"
"Little Brother," Mrs. Bell said, "what are you talking about?"
The uncle wrung his hands. "Brother, Sister-in-law, don’t you have no son? The family planning policy was strict back then, so you only had Susan, a daughter. Now the policy has been relaxed, but you’re getting on in years..."
He gave a dry laugh. "You can’t have any more children now. Instead of going out and adopting a son, why not just raise Harvey? No matter what, Harvey is one of our own, from the Zane family bloodline, isn’t he?"
"You!" Mr. Bell was initially furious at his words. "What kind of outrageous nonsense is that? Are you even his grandfather?"
"I can choose not to be his grandfather!" the uncle said, completely self-righteous. "Besides, Ben is young. He can have plenty more sons!"