Birthday Present (8)
Nora had never thought that Trueman would actually send a gift.
The butler in front of her also had a grave look on his face. He said, “It was delivered by a mailman. We
have investigated him—he is indeed an ordinary mailman, he has been delivering the mail here for many
years. Also, the parcel was sent from within New York.”
From within New York…
Had Trueman returned to America?
She was alarmed.
To be honest, because Xander had grown up under Trueman’s care, his personality had long since
developed to be like Trueman’s. Thanks to Trueman’s grooming, his moral compass had also strayed
from the right path a little.
Trueman was not a good man. Besides, one could tell from what Xander had said that he did not treat
Xander that well either.
Moreover, didn’t Xander leave her side precisely because Trueman had taken him?
One couldn’t hold gratitude towards a human trafficker just because they didn’t kill their
son.
Thus, Nora didn’t want the two of them to ever make contact with each other again.
Besides, the way she saw it, Xander was nothing more than Trueman’s pawn. Judging from Trueman’s
attitude towards Ruth, one could tell that the man was rather unfeeling…
She stared at the gift box in her hand and slowly opened it.
When she saw the contents, a look of shock suddenly formed in her eyes, and she instantly slammed the
lid shut! She thought of all the events in the past, as well as what Caleb had told her, and her heart
suddenly started to pound madly.
“What’s wrong?”
Just as she was a little flustered, Justin’s low and deep voice came from the back, putting her at ease a
little.
She looked behind her and narrowed her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, someone nearby
noticed Justin and came over to talk to him.
Nora kept quiet.
Justin said, “Uncle Ian is in the lounge upstairs. Why don’t you go over there? I’ll come over in a minute.”
“Okay.”
Nora’s fingers around the box tightened, seemingly very afraid that the box would fall and shatter. She
took a deep breath and went upstairs.
Before she entered the lounge, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out from below.
Nora looked down to see a few people holding cages. Inside the cages were some rabbits, as well as
cats and dogs.
Xander was circling around them in joy and surprise. “No. 6! No. 3! And Rabbit No. 5! Why are you guys
here?”
Nora: “?”
It was the butler again who had brought the cages in. He had only brought them in after consulting
Justin.
In the midst of Nora’s hesitation, Justin had dismissed the person who came up to him with just a few
words. He went over to her.
Nora kept quiet for a while. Then, she asked, “Are those also gifts from Trueman?”
“Yeah.”
Justin said, “I allowed the butler to bring them in here when he asked me about it. Since Trueman has
shipped them to Xander by air freight from a great distance away, they are likely very important to him.”
Before, he had neglected Xander a lot when they couldn’t be sure of his identity.
The two of them were currently dying to give Xander everything he wanted so that it would foster a sense
of belonging in him. It was indeed beyond their expectations that Trueman would send the animals here.
as
After all, with the animals here, Xander would probably no longer have any longing for that basement
abroad, right? Moreover, with the company of these animals that had grown up with him, perhaps he
wouldn’t be so difficult to get along with anymore.
The two of them stood at the door and stared at that little corner below.
Some people simply loved having cats and dogs around, so they weren’t surprised that someone would
give them to Xander as gifts. The butler put them in the corner and said to Xander, “Mr. Xander, these
animals have to be tested for diseases. We didn’t know that you have so many pets. Are you planning to
keep them with you, or would you like us to specially set aside a room in the garden and let them stay
there? If it’s the former, then we’ll have to merge your room with the one next to it, so that it’ll be big
enough.”
Xander replied without any hesitation. “They are not my pets, they are my friends! Of course they are
gonna stay with me!”
The butler was a little troubled. “But this would mean that you may have to stay in a guest room during
the renovation.”
Xander was very happy at the moment because of the animals, so why would he possibly mind all that?
He immediately waved. Just as he was about to say that he was alright with it, Pete said, “Why don’t you
stay with me for the time being?”
Xander was a little surprised. Then, he grinned and asked, “Aren’t you afraid that I will beat you up in the
middle of the night?”
Pete sighed. “So be it, if that’s the case. Don’t worry, I won’t retaliate. After all, you are my younger
brother.”
Xander: “??!”
“Get lost! I’m the older brother!”
Pete shook his head helplessly. “Okay, okay, you are the older brother. Will that do?”
Xander: “?”
That way of speaking… Why did it sound so much like he was giving in to him?
When he thought of what Pete had said just now about how an older brother should give in to his
younger brother, he immediately understood. It was just like how an adult faced with a child’s
unreasonable demands would say “Will that do?” in a pampering manner! That was exactly what it felt
like!
Xander suddenly felt rather frustrated.
How was it that he simply could not get the upper hand when he faced Pete?
He bared his teeth at Pete and acted as if he was going to pounce forward and bite him. At the sight, the
animals in the cages also howled at Pete.
In fact, Butterscotch-aka No. 6, the wolfhound-even got ready to pounce forward.
Pete was not frightened. Instead, it was Xander who got a shock. He immediately tried to calm them
down. “Stop that, Butterscotch!”
Only then did the wolfhound stop. It looked at Xander perplexedly, probably wondering to itself, “Doesn’t
master hate that guy a lot?”
As though sensing its hesitation, Xander rolled his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling and said in a stuck-
up manner, “He is my younger brother. Even though I don’t like him, I’m the only one who can bully him.
Understand?”
“Woof! Woof!”
Butterscotch let out a couple of barks. While there was no way of knowing whether it had understood
Xander, it certainly didn’t bark at Pete anymore.
“This cat is so cute!”
Princess Lucy said as she pointed at a listless little cat in the cage.
Cherry had also squatted down beside the cage. She stretched out her chubby little hand to touch the
animals in the cage, but when the cat saw her hand reaching into the cage, it shrank back and stared at
her with its green eyes. Cherry’s heart melted at the sight. “Xander, this cat is so cute! Can you give it to
me?”
“Heh, no way! Emerald is not a pet, I can’t give her away just like that!”
But after Xander said that, he added, “Unless you acknowledge me as your older brother.”
“Big Brother Xander!” Cherry yelled out without hesitation, taking Xander by surprise. Cherry rushed up
to him and said, “Big Brother Xander! Big Brother Xander! You’re the best, yeah!”
Xander: “!!”
Could the girl please have a limit to how low she could go?
The corners of his lips spasmed a little. “I can let Emerald stay in your room, but you mustn’t bully her.”
“Okie-dokie! I promise! No problem!”
Cherry and Lucy looked at each other and the two of them secretly giggled. Lucy then asked, “Can we
sleep with her tonight?”
“Of course!”
Without Nora and Justin’s permission, Cherry had agreed to Lucy’s request to stay over!
Also, the reason why she had happily acknowledged Xander as her older brother was that she was very
sure that she was the youngest! Her mother had said so.
Her mother had said that back then, after she regained consciousness, she had only managed to save
her last child.
As for who the older one between Pete and Xander was, it was hard to say. After all, Nora didn’t know
which of the two boys, that had been carried out of the room, Trueman had taken…
Cherry looked at Xander again and looked him up and down.
Xander was a little flattered by her gaze. “Are you looking at how your big brother is more handsome
than Pete?”
Cherry replied, “… Nope. I was just thinking that it’s fortunate that you treat these animals very well.
Otherwise, I would think that you’re the psychotic little friend I had met online!”
Xander: “??”
Cherry explained, “I met a little psycho on the Internet. He is very annoying and also very foul-mouthed,
he’s basically just like you. He also has a lot of pets… but he’s always carrying out psychotic
experiments and bullying those little animals every day. You are not like him, though. You love and care
for the animals so much, you would never bully them, right?”
Xander the Little Psycho’s lip corners spasmed a little. He quietly replied, “… Nope!”
He swore that he would never let Cherry know in his lifetime that he was that exact little psycho himself!
The two adults upstairs didn’t know about the children’s conversation. The two looked at each other and
entered the room.
Ian was sitting on the sofa. He looked at Nora when he heard the door open.
He wanted to ask about her aunt—in other words, about Queenie-and ask her how they had met, and
also what kind of person she was. But unexpectedly, when he looked up, he instead saw a very grave
and solemn look on Nora’s face.
Ian immediately abandoned his thoughts and asked, “What’s the matter?”
In just a split second, a sharp and forceful feeling had already crept into his voice, and he sounded much
like he was ready to fight it out with the person who had bullied his daughter.
Additionally, after he spoke, he glanced at Justin.
Justin was speechless.
In an attempt to explain, he hurriedly asked, “What did Trueman send?”
Nora clenched her jaw.
She looked at lan and then at Justin.
In the past, she had always shouldered everything by herself whenever she met with trouble. But now,
she had a father, as well as a lover.
Nora did not push herself beyond her capabilities. At the question, she immediately opened the gift box
in her hand.
Lying quietly inside the box was a small bottle of serum.
The serum was stored in a tiny glass bottle, and there was only a very small dose. However, written on
the note beside it was its name: ‘Gene Serum’.
For a while, all three people in the room fell silent.
Justin stared at the serum. Suddenly, he sighed. “I knew it. It was just a matter of time before we
eventually found out. So, why would Trueman still send the boy back when he could have used the boy
to threaten us. So that’s how it is!”
Ian frowned. The man, who wasn’t in the loop about the ins and outs of what had happened, asked,
“What do you mean?”
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