Lost Me, Gained Regret (Jane and Bryant Ferguson) novel Chapter 450

I stood frozen in place.

Ike wriggled out of his restraints and rushed back to me like a little cub, clutching my legs as tears streamed down his face. "That's not true, Uncle, you're being so unfair!"

Hearing this, Gregory chuckled, his gaze steady on me. "Is that so?"

I guessed he had misunderstood something. The things he said were meant to test me. He was staring at me, waiting for me to provide a contradicting answer. This was probably the last chance he was giving me.

Slowly, I diverted my gaze, crouching down to hug the sobbing Ike, wiping away his tears. "It's okay, Ike. Uncle was wrong. Can you give your sister a little time? I need to explain something to your uncle, alright?"

The little munchkin blinked his teary long lashes, his voice soft and milky. "Okay..."

"Chris." I dialed Christine’s number.

She answered with confusion, "What’s up?"

"Can you come up to the fifth floor? Take Ike to the birthday party, will you?"

"Sure." Christine sensed something was off in my tone and agreed promptly, but she couldn't help asking with concern, "What's going on?"

I pressed my lips together, "I’ll explain tonight."

Soon, Christine arrived to take Ike away, leaving me and Gregory alone, one standing outside, the other inside. In a standoff. Annoyed at each other.

I glared at him, licking my dry lips. "Gregory, has anyone ever told you you’re being childish?"

He was generally a great guy. Just too sharp-tongued. Never knew how to speak kindly. As a kid, unless I was in tears, it was rare to hear him say anything nice. But as a child, I was the same. Spoiled, willful. We were born the same, but the experiences of the past twenty-plus years had changed me, forced me to evolve. Me and him, we had become entirely different people.

Gregory tapped his cheek with his tongue, “Jane, you won’t even give me an explanation before you start lecturing me?”

"Do I dare?" I smiled faintly, looking at him. "Is it about what happened two years ago?"

"Yes."

"You looked into me?"

"Yes."

"What did you find?"

"What do you think?"