Chapter 634 Are You? Are You Worthy of It?
The butler noticed Justin. When he was about to speak, Justin stopped him. He went up to the door and looked inside quietly.
He narrowed his eyes, a look of scrutiny forming within.
To be honest, fathers didn’t have any resistance towards their children.
This was especially in the case of people who’d had children before. Thus, even if Xander was a little devil who had been raised by Trueman, and even if he had thrown the whole Hunt manor into a tizzy after his arrival, Justin nevertheless still gradually went from finding the boy a stranger to feeling a bit softhearted towards him.
But when he saw him sitting opposite Ruth, he still couldn’t help but frown.
The child did not understand the difference between good and evil, let alone what was right and what wasn’t. In addition, what he did after he returned to the Hunts had indeed angered him.
Yet when he thought of how he might be the third child he had with Nora, he would relent again.
In fact, he was actually worried about something. Should the child really be beyond hope, and should he be determined to take Trueman and Ruth’s side, then even if he must imprison him for a lifetime, he still mustn’t allow him to hurt his loved ones!
While he was contemplating, he saw Xander hand Ruth a carrot. He was telling her about the benefits of eating carrots.
“Carrots contain a lot of nutrition. They also contain carotene and anthocyanins. Eating three a day can lower one’s cholesterol levels by 10 to 20%. It can also effectively prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, which is very important to the human body…”
He prattled on and on about the benefits of eating carrots, but Ruth became angry instead. She said, “I told you, I want bread! I want rice! I want carbohydrates! Xander, I have already gone hungry for six days! If you continue like this, I will die!”
“No, you won’t. Carrots have nutrients, they will keep you alive, so don’t worry about it. Also, even if you really are dying, I will find someone to save you…”
Xander spoke with a lot of confidence.
Ruth: “…”
She was furious. She said, “Xander, tell me, are you doing this just to take revenge on me?! Because I made you eat carrots when you were younger?! The opportunity has come to you now, hasn’t it? But don’t forget this— I will go back sooner or later! When I do, I will tell your father what you did! As for you, there will eventually come a day where you’ll fall into my clutches again!”
A touch of contemplation flashed across Xander’s eyes, but his expression remained amicable. He held his chin with his hands and said, “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
“How can you not?! You did it on purpose! When you were four years old, my brother entrusted you to me and told me to take care of you for a week. During that one week, all I fed you were carrots every day. You must be holding a grudge against me because of that! You little brat, I didn’t expect you to still remember all that even though so much time has already gone by. How dare you do this to me! You must be sick of living!”
As Ruth spoke, she went forward to hit him.
However, because she hadn’t eaten for a long time, she was weak all over. The moment she moved a little, she fell straight onto the ground.
Xander stood up in front of her and rubbed his nose.
This subconscious action of his was actually exactly the same as Justin’s!
At the door, Justin froze when he heard their conversation and saw Xander’s subconscious action.
He had always been a little wary towards Xander. Thus, he had never liked this son of his since his return.
Even if he did faintly feel a bit of fondness for him, he suppressed it at the bottom of his heart and kept it hidden.
He’d thought that Trueman must have treated Xander very well, which led to the development of his anarchical character, but never had he ever imagined that Xander had actually gone through all that?
Giving a child nothing but carrots for seven days—just how exactly did Ruth have the heart to do something like that?!
He suddenly clenched his fists and stared fixedly into the interrogation room.
Xander was standing there, staring at Ruth. After a while, he said, “Yeah, if my father hadn’t returned in time, I might really have starved to death!”
Ruth yelled furiously, “What nonsense are you talking about? You have everything in your room! There is fire, there are pots, and there are also rabbits! All you had to do was just eat those rabbits! Who told you to be so pretentious and say ridiculous things like the rabbits are your friends? You even gave the carrots to the rabbits! What a joke. Those rabbits are delicacies to humans! I really don’t know who you’re putting on that pretentious act for! My brother may pamper you and let you play with the rabbits, but I won’t! You love your rabbits so much, don’t you? Then let’s see whether you can hold back from eating them when you’re starved for weeks!”
Xander lowered his head. “They are not food or animals. They are my friends.”
Ruth sneered and said in a low voice, “So what even if they are? Didn’t they get eaten anyway after they died?! Hahaha! When my brother came back, he took you out and gave you a pot of meat, right? That was a pot of rabbit meat! And also your favorite No. 6’s meat!”
Xander trembled a little. The thin little boy seemed to emanate a sense of loneliness and confusion.
He stared at Ruth. “Yeah, Dad scolded you after that. I thought you would change, but unexpectedly, you instead killed No. 6 the very next moment and even tricked me into eating it…”
Ruth smirked. “Aren’t rabbits delicious? I remember asking you how it tasted at the time, you said it was delicious. And then? What happened later on? Whenever your rabbits died, you would always choose to eat them. Heh, so is there anything wrong with what I did?”
Xander stared at her.
Indeed, ever since that incident, he would eat his rabbits after they died.
Because… if he didn’t, then the rabbits would be taken away and used as specimens for more research. His friends wouldn’t be able to rest in peace even after their deaths.
If he ate them instead, then the rabbits would be safe.
While Xander was thinking about it, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open. Justin strode in, his deep-set eyes staring straight at Ruth.
There was murderous intent in his eyes.
Ruth was shocked and intimidated by the look in his eyes. But right after that, she asked, “Mr. Hunt, are you here to let me out?” Justin’s gaze became even colder. “Yeah, I’ll send you home.”
Ruth’s eyes lit up. But the next moment, she instead heard Justin add, “After all, one must eventually return to their roots.”
Ruth suddenly understood what he meant. Her eyes widened in fright and she shouted, “Y-you’re thinking of killing me? No, you can’t do this to me! I’m Xander’s mother!”
Xander had promised Trueman that he would not expose her ident.i.ty. This was the only thing that could protect her now!
Unexpectedly, as soon as she said that, Justin said, “Oh, are you? Are you… Worthy of being his mother?”