Chapter 273: Aunt York, Apologize

Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Aunt York, Apologize

Thea York instinctively tried to stop him. Christian had already stepped forward, warmly linking arms with Scott. His face carried a child’s innocence, but a flash of cunning flickered in his eyes.

"What do you mean, stealing a room? I invited Scott to come play in my room. Did you make a mistake, Aunt York?"

At this, all the parents turned their attention to Thea. Her expression stiffened, and she let out an awkward laugh. "What?"

Christian tilted his head. "Scott and I are classmates, so I invited him to my room to play. Zachery and Mia heard it just now, too. Why did you say Scott was trying to steal my room, Aunt York?"

Thea never expected her usual tricks to fail today. Usually, as long as she pushed the blame onto Scott, someone would sympathize with her, thinking it was a tragedy that she had to take care of the first wife’s grandson.

Seeing the increasingly odd looks from the other parents, Thea took a deep breath. "So that’s how it is. Christian, I didn’t know you and Scott were friends."

"We are." Christian stared quietly at Thea. "That’s why I’m quite confused. How come I, as his friend, didn’t misunderstand him, but you, his own family, immediately accused him without caring about the truth?

"Logically, seeing us standing together, shouldn’t you be happy that Scott made a new friend? Why did you start scolding him without even asking?

"You are Scott’s biological aunt. How could your trust in him be so incredibly thin?"

The corner of Thea’s eye twitched.

"I’m sorry. It’s just because Scott has a history of..."

Christian glared at her coldly. "Is that so? Well, now that you know you were wrong, Aunt York, aren’t you going to apologize?"

Thea’s face turned red, then pale. He wanted her to apologize to this idiot Scott?!

One of the parents frowned slightly. "Miss York, you misunderstood the child. What’s the harm in saying you’re sorry?"

"From what I can see, Scott doesn’t seem nearly as bad as Miss York described. Hasn’t he been perfectly quiet during the entire two-hour trip?"

"Yeah, no crying, no fussing. He doesn’t seem to be deliberately bullying his classmates either."

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. Even if Scott bullied his classmates before, today, it was you who misunderstood, Miss York."

Christian shielded Scott behind him and said calmly, "Apologize, Aunt York."

Thea clenched her fists tightly, mentally noting another grudge against Scott, but she put on a helpless expression. "I’m sorry, Scott. Auntie made a mistake. It’s all my fault..."

Scott shot Thea a bizarre look before Christian pulled him aside with a beaming smile.

"Scott must be so heartbroken from being accused for no reason. He’ll just have lunch with us today. You shouldn’t mind, right, Aunt York?"

Thea gritted her teeth, forcing out a strained smile. "Of course not."

Without so much as another glance at her, Christian led Scott straight into his room.

Estelle Lockwood noticed that something was amiss. She gently patted Mia’s head and asked in a low voice, "Does Scott usually bully you?"

Before Mia could speak, Zachery had already clenched his fists. "He sure does!"

Estelle recalled how Scott had charged straight at Mia at the kindergarten entrance two hours ago. He looked like a vicious, fierce, and dreadful little brat. Yet his eyes had been filled with confusion and panic.

If he was a habitual school bully, why would he feel confused while "bullying" a classmate? The more she thought about it, the more wrong it seemed. Estelle felt the most likely explanation was that the York Family was doing this on purpose. They were deliberately sabotaging the upbringing of the sole heir left by the first wife’s son, using Scott to highlight the benevolence and righteousness of the mistress’s family.

Christian tilted his head, meeting Estelle’s gaze. "Mommy, I’ll take Scott back to the room first."

Estelle shot a glance at Thea, then nodded.

After the rooms were assigned, the kindergarten organized a meal featuring local farmhouse specialties. While the city kids were all having a great time playing, Christian stayed quietly to the side, with Scott right beside him.

Estelle softly asked Nathaniel Sloan, "What has Scott’s situation been like in the York Family all these years?"

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes, watching the chubby little boy obediently trailing behind Christian.

In families like theirs, raising a child was all about comprehensive development. When it came to food and clothing, they were strict but healthy. For instance, although children were all growing, none of the other kids were anywhere near as overweight as Scott.

In a wealthy household like the York Family, everyone was assigned a nutritionist. A professional nutritionist would ensure the child received optimal nutrition while managing their weight. After all, with Scott being this overweight, anyone with eyes could see it was highly abnormal.

Yet, the York Family continued to indulge him. This included his schooling, his studies, and even the so-called "school bullying."

Having grown up in the Sloan Family, Nathaniel naturally understood what was going on. It was just that the Yorks couldn’t even be bothered to keep up appearances. "The York Family is deliberately raising him to fail."

Estelle looked at the plump figure who panted just from walking and shook her head. "They aren’t just raising him to fail. He’s also a PR tool for Thea and Mrs. York to repair their own reputations."

Inside the bed-and-breakfast room.

Scott stared at Christian, his whole body radiating resistance. Zachery and Mia huddled together.

"Why did the young master bring him back?" Mia asked, bewildered.

Zachery, fully embracing his role as the young master’s number one fan, declared, "If the young master did it, he must have his reasons!"

Mia glanced at the space between Scott’s eyebrows and suddenly frowned. The reason she didn’t like playing with Scott wasn’t because he bullied people, but because she thought he was just a massive idiot. Mommy had said that hanging out with idiots would make you an idiot, too.

However, Scott’s brow had been peaceful before. Now, it was shrouded in a cloud of black mist. Having learned a bit of fortune-telling and face-reading from her granduncle, she could glean a thing or two. It was obvious that Scott was about to run into some terrible misfortune.

Mia leaned closer, finding it stranger the more she looked. She muttered under her breath, deeply puzzled. "He looks completely doomed no matter how I look at it. What kind of bad luck could possibly happen in a place like this?"

Scott remained seated off to the side. Hearing Mia’s voice, he didn’t even twitch. To outsiders, he was just an ill-mannered little fatty.

Christian, however, narrowed his eyes. Resting his chin on his arms, he fixed his gaze on Scott. "Scott, with so many people in the York Family, why was Thea the one who brought you on this autumn trip?"

Scott looked up at Christian but stayed silent.

Although Christian was only five years old, he had perfectly inherited all of Nathaniel’s best traits. When he looked at someone calmly, he naturally carried an aura of quiet, imposing authority.

"Scott, you know what Thea is going to do next, don’t you?" Christian suddenly shifted the topic. "You guys are targeting Mia."

Off to the side, Mia, who had just been enjoying the show, thought, "Huh? Me?"