Don't Mess with the Girl with Candy novel Chapter 389

Harold looked at his assistant, his expression grave. "I need you to do something for me."

"What is it?" the assistant asked, his eyes wide with confusion.

"Go back to Australis and get a strand of my father's hair."

Harold traced the scar on his chest, thinking back over the years. His father would often stare at him in a daze, as if looking through him at someone else. His mother's eyes always held a deep sadness. And then there was his wife, Lorelei…

The thought of her made his mind falter, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes before disappearing.

"Get his hair?" The request seemed bizarre, but the assistant nodded. He'd long thought that Harold and his father, Faulkner Houston, looked nothing alike. Oh no. Could Dr. Houston be the product of his mother's affair? That would explain Faulkner's terrible attitude towards him.

...

Two days later, the assistant rushed back to Eclara City with a hair plucked from Faulkner's head.

"How is everyone at home?" Harold asked calmly as he placed both hair samples into the analysis machine. "Is my mother's health alright?"

"Your parents are both fine," the assistant replied respectfully. He glanced at Harold's stoic face and added, "And your wife is doing well, too."

Harold looked up sharply. "Who asked about her?"

The assistant fell silent. Weren't they talking about family? As his wife, wasn't she family? He knew their marriage was forced and loveless, destined to end in divorce. That's why he had been hopeful when Dr. Houston seemed interested in Ms. Payne. But it seemed he was just a little too late.

"Dr. Houston," the assistant said, changing the subject, "what will you do if it turns out you and Faulkner aren't related?"

"What was your score on the last physics quiz?" Juniper asked.

"Ninety-one," Janet replied with a bright smile, holding up ten fingers. "I improved by ten points!"

Her teacher had said she'd be lucky to maintain an eighty. After Juniper's tutoring, she felt she could do even better.

"I'm going to get a perfect score too," Janet declared, pumping her little fist. "And if I don't, I'll just declare it again!"

Juniper chuckled, amused by her spirit.

"You're smiling, Juniper," Janet said, tugging on her arm. "You look so pretty when you smile. You should do it more often."