Max, on the other hand, contemplated for seconds. Then, he leaned in and said with a smile, "Mom, Dad, did you... win a lottery today?"
The two looked up and asked in confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"What lottery?"
Max smirked impishly. "Haha, if you didn't win a lottery, why are you hugging each other so tightly? It's as if you were afraid that you might lose each other! It's weird."
Chad and Christine were both stumped for words.
They quickly let go of each other. Chad cleared his throat. His expression was rather awkward.
He scowled at Max and said, "Nonsense. We were just watching TV."
Max nodded pensively.
"Oh, you were watching TV. But that's no reason to hold each other that tight."
Christine's temper towered. She grabbed a cushion and tossed it at Max.
"Why are you everywhere? Go wash your hand! Leave us alone!"
Max caught the cushion with one hand. Aware that he had ruffled his mother's feathers, he didn't dare to talk back. Smiling apologetically, he replied, "Okay. I'll go right away."
With that said, he ran off to the bathroom.
When he and Kevin returned to the dining room after washing their hands, Chad and Christine were seated side by side at the table.
Dinner had been served. There were more dishes on the table today. The food looked more palatable than usual, too.
Max had keenly observed that several dishes seemed to be cooked by his mother.
His eyes lit up at once.
"My instinct is right. Something is different today."
"Otherwise, how could Mom, who rarely cooks, have prepared those dishes in person?"
Associating this with the intimate embrace the two had on the sofa, Max came up with a bold guess.
Kevin had also sensed something unusual.
But with Max here, he didn't want to play the fool with him, so he didn't admit it.
Even so, he had clearly noticed that Chad and Christine were both somehow different today.
But the difference was good. So he was not worried or eager to point it out.
Anyway, since they had summoned him and Max back, they would not hide it from them. They probably wanted them here just to tell them about this.
Sure enough, after the two sat down by the table, Chad told the servant to open a bottle of wine and pour a glass for each of them.
Christine also had some wine. Chad couldn't have alcohol yet, so he just poured some water into his glass.
"We called you back here tonight to have dinner because it's been quite a while since the four of us had spent some quality time together."
"I heard that Ally has gone abroad to further her study, so she isn't home today. Laura is shooting a new TV show, right?"
Max nodded at once and said, "Yes. She's not in Eqitin. She's gone to Pratu."
Chad then chuckled and said, "What a pity! I wanted to invite her and Ally over as well. Maybe next time then."
As he said this, he couldn't help but peer at Christine out of the corner of his eyes.
Seeing that she showed no trace of annoyance, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, he continued, "Other than having a reunion dinner, today, I and your mother also have an announcement to make."
Hearing this, Max and Kevin were dazed. They put down their forks at the same time.
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