Chapter 163: Zachery and Mia Are Here to Slap Some Faces
Chapter 163: Chapter 163: Zachery and Mia Are Here to Slap Some Faces
Meanwhile, at the Sloan residence.
Zachery and Mia got out of the car and were led to a reception room. The assistant left as soon as he brought them in, and soon, only the two little ones remained.
Zachery looked around and lowered his voice as if he’d discovered a great secret. "Mia, I have a bad feeling about this."
Mia was speechless. ’Silly Zachery is only just now realizing something’s wrong? I knew something was off the moment that so-called assistant came to find us.’
Half an hour earlier, the kindergarten principal had personally brought someone to them, explaining that Old Mr. Sloan wanted to see his great-grandchildren. Then, he’d put them in a car.
’But if he wanted to see us, why didn’t he tell Christian?’
’This was definitely a setup.’
They waited for ten minutes, but no one came. Leaving two five-year-olds alone in a strange place was bound to cause panic.
Mia wasn’t afraid, though. She had already figured out the truth.
’This is an intimidation tactic. They want to make us feel uncomfortable and act out so these Sloan Family people can say that Mommy doesn’t know how to raise children, that she’s turned us into such unsophisticated brats.’
’But did the Sloan Family really think they could plot against *her*?’
Mia sat on the sofa, her short little legs dangling back and forth. Looking incredibly cute, she flashed a sweet smile, leaned over, and whispered her plan to Zachery.
Zachery’s cheeks puffed out.
His brow unfurrowed.
Realization dawned on Zachery!
Zachery praised her wholeheartedly. "Mia, you’re a genius! So what about me? What’s my part?"
’Mia guessed it wasn’t Old Mr. Sloan who wanted to see them, but that old hag Laura Jennings who was deliberately trying to give them a hard time. Mia decided to give her a taste of her own medicine... so what about him? What was his role?’
Mia thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Silly Zachery, just be yourself."
Zachery nodded excitedly. "Okay, okay, I get it! Hmm... Wait a second."
’In a plan that involves acting dumb to make the enemy reveal their true intentions, Mia isn’t telling him to act dumb... She’s telling him to just be himself...’
It took his brain two seconds to catch up. Then, indignantly, he cried, "Are you saying I’m actually a dummy?!"
Mia was speechless.
Another ten minutes passed.
During that time, several servants walked past but completely ignored them, as if the two children didn’t exist at all.
Just then, a commotion erupted outside the door. A crowd of people bustled in, spouting fawning compliments. "Young Mr. Keith, we heard you like blueberries, so Madam had some prepared for you ages ago."
"Young Mr. Keith, Madam has been waiting for you for a long time! Hurry now, get out of the way! It’s hot out here, don’t keep Young Mr. Keith waiting outside!"
"Young Mr. Keith, please come in! You’ll be staying in the main residence for a while. Remember that room you had your eye on last time? It was Young Mr. Christian’s, but Madam said he never comes to stay here anyway, so she went ahead and gave it to you!"
"That’s right, Young Mr. Keith! Even though you’re Madam’s grandnephew, you’re practically her own grandson!"
Hearing this, Zachery figured out who this "Young Mr. Keith" was. ’So he’s the grandson of that old hag Laura Jennings’s brother.’
’Is she out of her mind? Giving her own grandson’s room away to her grandnephew? You’d have to be brain-dead to do something like that!’
Mia’s eyes flickered. She discreetly poked Zachery’s hand, signaling that this Young Mr. Keith was up to no good.
Sure enough, the next moment, Keith Jennings waddled over on his chubby frame. He looked at Zachery and Mia with pure contempt and let out a cold snort.
"Who are these two? How many times do I have to say it? Grandma doesn’t allow you servants to bring your own children to the Sloan residence!"
Mia clicked her tongue. ’So it begins,’ she thought.
A woman who looked like a housekeeper rushed forward, playing her part. "Young Mr. Keith, these two are not the children of servants. They... they are the recently returned Mr. Zachery and Miss Mia!"
The fat on Keith Jennings’s face quivered. "So you’re those two bastards. Raised on the outside, just as I thought. You have no manners at all. You see me, your older brother, and you don’t even know to greet me?!"
The housekeeper’s eyes darted about as she put on a frantic act. "Oh, dear! Mr. Zachery, Miss Mia, I forgot to introduce you. This is a young cousin of the Sloan Family. He has been raised by Madam’s side since he was a child, and he grew up right here. His status is nearly on par with Young Mr. Christian’s."
"Therefore, you must call him ’Older Cousin’! Young Mr. Keith is older than you, and he has been part of the Sloan Family for much longer. You will greet him properly and pay your respects!"
Zachery frowned.
He wasn’t always the quickest when it came to social situations, but even his slow brain could tell that this whole thing was a calculated move to intimidate him and Mia.
’First, even though everyone knows we’re Scumbag Dad’s biological children, the entire Sloan household ignores us and fawns over this cousin instead. That’s the first move.’
’Second, when they see us, they start with passive-aggressive comments about us being ’servants’ children,’ then mock us as bastards unworthy of the noble Sloan Family. That’s the second move.’
’And finally, Keith Jennings makes threats while the housekeeper uses a mix of coercion and flattery to force us—the *real* young master and miss of the Sloan Family—to bow and scrape before him. No matter what really happens, the story that gets out will be that the two long-lost Sloan children are, as expected, utterly unpresentable.’
’And that will make people question Mommy’s ability to raise children!’
Zachery ran through the entire scheme in his head and gritted his teeth. ’They’re so vicious!’
Mia, however, remained perfectly calm. She shot them a single glance before ignoring them completely, sitting on the sofa with perfect posture, utterly composed and unmoved.
She was a stark contrast to the arrogant, domineering Keith Jennings, who was now simmering with impotent rage, his face a mask of brutish flesh.
Keith Jennings waited smugly, expecting the true young master and lady of the Sloan Family to greet him. This would prove his status was even higher than theirs.
After all, the entire Jennings Family had always told him that with Christian Sloan’s frail health, he would never live to see adulthood. The Sloan Family’s fortune would inevitably be his—Keith Jennings’s—for the taking.
That was why Keith Jennings had always believed the Sloan villa was his, the main residence was his, and the company was his.
Everyone in the Sloan household had to greet him with respect. So what if these two were Nathaniel Sloan’s biological children? ’Grandma will back me up,’ he thought. ’They’re just a couple of little mongrels. One look at me and they’ll be scared shitless!’
However, he waited for a long time, but the terrified greetings and pleas for mercy he expected from Zachery and Mia never came.
Keith Jennings seethed with rage. "Raised by hicks, so you’re hicks too!"
Suddenly, his sharp eyes spotted the jade pendant around Mia’s neck. His own eyes lit up, and he reached out to snatch it, shouting as he did.
"Where would a hick like you get such a fine jade pendant? You stole it, didn’t you? Give it here! I’m taking it... AAAAAAH!"
Mia caught Keith Jennings’s fat, greasy hand and gave it a seemingly effortless squeeze. Immediately, a blood-curdling scream erupted from his throat.
Keith Jennings collapsed to the floor and began to throw a wild tantrum, spewing a stream of profanity that was hard to believe could come from a five-year-old.
He hadn’t been crying for a minute before Laura Jennings came rushing in, shrieking, "My darling grandnephew! You two little bastards, how dare you lay a hand on him! Is there no justice in this world?!"