Malcolm‘s entire body was frozen in shock as though he had been struck by lightning when faced with
Joshua‘s cold gaze. His mind was racing with thoughts of how to escape this room. A split second later,
he smiled meekly at Joshua and said, “M–Mr. Lynch, how can I possibly dare to use your children like
this? “They told me they weren‘t happy with you and Luna…so I risked my life to sneak here to check on
them. After all, Nigel, Neil, and Nellie had lived with me for six years, so of course I‘d care about them.
“How can I not come to check on them after they told me that they weren‘t happy with their situation?”
He began taking small steps backward as he continued, “The reason I came here was to talk to them
about cutting you and Luna some slack. They‘re children, after all, so they wouldn‘t understand the
situation you and Luna are in, but I know that you and Luna care about them just as much as you care
about Riley and the lost child. “After all, there is no such thing as favorites to a parent, isn‘t that so?”
Malcolm‘s back pressed against the door, and he surreptitiously snaked his hand backward and tried to
open the door. After jiggling the doorknob for a few moments, he realized he had been locked in from
outside. A glimmer of despair flashed through his eyes at this realization. It seemed that…he would have
to face his fate.
“You‘re right.” Joshua shifted into a more comfortable position in his chair.” Luna and I care about the
triplets just as much as we care about Riley and our lost daughter.
“The three of them have never felt neglected by us. The reason they told you that was just to lure you out
of hiding.” Joshua lifted his head to glance impassively at Malcolm. “The lemonade that you drank just
now…”
Malcolm‘s voice turned cold as his face twisted into a grimace. “That lemonade was poisoned, wasn‘t
it?”
He could not believe that even Nellie had picked up on Joshua‘s cunning ways!
“I knew it!” He glared at Joshua and spat through gritted teeth, “No matter how cute she looks, she‘s still
your daughter. Not only did she take after you, but she‘s just as cunning Aao&&123;D) deceitful as you are!”
Joshua narrowed his eyes when he heard this, and a hint of warning crept into his tone. “She didn‘t
poison you.”
He continued curtly, “That was just an ordinary glass of lemonade that she made for you.” Despite
knowing that Malcolm had ill intentions toward them all along and that he was now out to get them, Nellie
still spent an entire afternoon learning how to make the perfect jug of lemonade from Neil.
In her opinion, this was her way of expressing gratitude to Malcolm for taking care of them for the past
six years.
However…
She probably never thought that her kindness and gratitude would be interpreted as a means of deceit in
Malcolm‘s mind. She would be devastated if she found out about this!
At the thought of this, Joshua suddenly lost all interest in continuing this conversation any further.
He glanced impassively at Jim.
Jim narrowed his eyes, strode over, and grabbed hold of Malcolm‘s collar. Thomp!
Jim‘s swinging fist made Malcolm crumple onto the ground like a puppet. No matter how hard he
struggled, he could not seem to pick himself off the ground.
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