Chapter 209 You Were Even
With just one sentence, he could flip her heart upside down–then in the very next second, with some careless little gesture, he could send her sinking into even deeper confusion.
Amelia drew a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
She bent down to pick up the tongs from the ground, forcing her attention back onto the chicken wings suffering on the grill.
She needed something–anything–to distract the heart that felt ready to explode.
So, she started flipping the wings mechanically–almost roughly–as if she could vent every bit of her frustration and helplessness on those innocent pieces of meat.
“Aunt Amelia!”
Hayden came trotting back on his little legs, holding a glass bowl filled with freshly washed strawberries and grapes, so clean they practically gleamed.
He ran up to Amelia, set the fruit bowl on the small table beside her, then copied the adults- cupping his cheeks in both hands as he squatted nearby, watching her with pure curiosity.
After a while, confusion crept into his big, bright eyes.
“Aunt Amelia, if you keep flipping them like that, the chicken wings are gonna fall apart.”
Amelia didn’t know what to say.
She paused, gave an awkward little cough, and avoided his gaze–yet still forced out, “Ahem … if it’s softer, it soaks up the flavor better.”
Hayden tilted his head. “Aunt Amelia …
… are you feeling guilty?”
Amelia felt like something exploded in her head.
She whipped her head around, staring at the innocent–looking little boy like she’d been jumpscared. “Me … guilty about what?”
Seeing her react so strongly, Hayden looked like he’d uncovered the secret of the universe and scooted closer, thrilled.
He lowered his voice and spoke conspiratorially.
“Because I saw it! When Daddy Mason picked you up, you … you sneaked a kiss on him!”
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Chapter 209 You Were Even
Amelia’s eyes widened as she stared at Hayden in disbelief.
Finished
She never imagined that chaotic, intimate moment had been witnessed so clearly by a child.
“N–no!” She started waving her hands in panic, rushing to explain. “Hayden, listen to me- that wasn’t a kiss, it was an accident! Yes–an accident, do you understand?”
She was so flustered her words tangled, scrambling for an analogy a kid could understand.
“It’s… it’s like when you’re walking at school, and you accidentally bump into a girl in your class!”
Hayden looked at her bright–red face and nodded like he kind of understood. “Oh … so that’s what it was.”
But honestly, that wasn’t what he was thinking at all.
He really wanted to tell the pretty aunt who looked ready to cry, You don’t need to be this nervous.
Last time at home, Daddy Mason sneaked a kiss on you, too–you only accidentally brushed him this time.
If you did the math, you were even–no one lost.
But then, Hayden reconsidered.
Grown–ups‘ world always seemed so complicated and awkward.
They always assumed kids didn’t understand anything–and loved making simple things unnecessarily confusing.
Since they believed that anyway, he might as well obediently be the kid who “didn’t understand a thing“.
So, Hayden put away that investigative look, sat up straight, and said to Amelia with extra sincerity, “Aunt Amelia, don’t worry. I actually … didn’t see anything just now.”
He thought his considerate words would comfort her, not realizing that this painfully obvious “reassurance” only made Amelia feel even more mortified.
Right now, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Caught between embarrassment and shame, Amelia’s hands lost all sense of control.
By the time she snapped back to reality, the two wings on the grill had been flipped so many times they were basically mush.
Amelia forced herself to keep it together, used the tongs to pick the slightly–less–terrible-
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Chapter 209 You Were Even
looking one onto a plate, and handed it to Hayden.
“Hayden, this … is done. Want to try it?” Her voice was full of guilt.
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