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“What happened?” Avery squeaked from the shock.
“He said he's going to jump off the building! Could you please come to take a look, Ms. Avery?” the
housekeeper pleaded.
Avery merely said, “Get him to answer the phone.”
The housekeeper went off to call Zachary.
Avery headed out of the residential area, and the housekeeper's voice sounded not long after. “Mr.
Zachary doesn't want to listen to the phone. He insists on seeing you in person.”
“Don't worry. He won't jump,” Avery comforted the apprehensive housekeeper. “I've heard teens
jumping off buildings because they failed their university entrance exam, and adults doing the same for
a myriad of reasons, but I've never heard a child doing the same.”
The housekeeper replied, “All right, Ms. Avery. Let me go upstairs and check on Mr. Zachary.”
“Okay. You could try calling his father, Grandma, Great-grandpa, or even his Uncle Kendrick if he keeps
up with this.”
There were so many people that the housekeeper could have turned to.
Avery had just come out of the Moore residence. She could not step into the place again because of
Zachary.
Meanwhile, in the Moore residence, Zachary, who had heard the housekeeper's report, grumbled,
“Does Ms. Ery really not care whether I live or die?”
“It's not that she doesn't care. It's just...” The housekeeper was flustered. Who would believe that a kid
is going to jump off a building? Besides, Mr. Zachary is not an orphan who was deserted by his
parents. He has caretakers to take care of him.
Zachary was infuriated.
Right then, Kendrick headed downstairs and saw his nephew getting all riled up. “What are you doing?
Aren't you supposed to be at school?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“It's the summer holidays now,” Zachary said as he shot a disdainful look at his uncle.
Kendrick found his nephew's response amusing. “Why aren't you playing, then? What kind of hobby is
standing by the window? Are you enjoying the scenery?”
Meanwhile, Avery arrived at the subway station. Before she could get inside, her phone rang again.
It was not from a landline anymore. She noticed that it was an unfamiliar string of numbers.
Avery took the call. “Hello, this is Avery.”
“Ms. Avery! I am the housekeeper who called you just now. Mr. Zachary is really thinking of jumping off
the third floor! Let me show you if you don't believe it!”
Avery looked at her phone screen, and the image of Zachary sitting by the window on the third floor
came into view.
The boy was little in comparison to the huge window.
The window was so narrow that one did not actually have much space to sit on. Hence, the boy
appeared wobbly as he steadied himself. The garden behind him was in plain view.
Even though the garden was full of flowers, it was still a considerably hard surface to fall on.
Zachary would surely lose a limb or two if he really fell off the window.
“I'm going to jump if you come any nearer!” the little boy sobbed.
“Okay, I won't go any nearer.” The housekeeper then asked Avery through the video call, “What do I
do? I'm only working here. I can't possibly compensate with ten lives if anything happens to Mr.
Zachary!”
“Aren't there any other adults in the house?” Avery asked with a frown.
The housekeeper shook her head and said, “No. After the two of you left, his great-grandpa went out
with his friends. His grandma also went to the salon for a facial while Mr. Moore is at work. I can't get
through to anyone's phones. Most importantly, Mr. Zachary only wishes to see you.”
“Hand him the phone. I'll talk to him,” Avery relented.
“All right. I'll pass the phone to him right now,” the housekeeper said and passed the phone to Zachary
right away.
Zachary shook his head. “Stay away from me. I don't want to talk to her. She's abandoned us all...”
“Zach...” Rory cried out in her sweet voice right then. The housekeeper's phone shook, and Avery
vaguely noticed that Zachary had jumped off the window.
The sound of the phone smashing onto the floor made Avery shudder.
She immediately hailed a taxi and stuttered as she requested the driver to head to the Moore residence
while trying to dial the housekeeper's number.
“Sorry, but the number you have dialed is currently unavailable...”
The same intercept message kept repeating until Avery reached the Moore residence.
Upstairs of the Moore residence, the housekeeper kept looking out the window. When she saw Avery,
she said, “She's here.”
Kendrick looked out the window as well. After confirming that Avery had arrived, he summoned Rory
and ordered, “Open your eyes.”
Rory did as told obediently.
He put some eyedrops fit for babies into her eyes, making sure that her eyes were brimming with
artificial tears.
Then he proceeded to do the same for his nephew.
“You guys just rub your eyes until it's all red. I'm going to hide so that your Ms. Ery doesn't find out that
I'm home.” With that, Kendrick eyed the surroundings and scurried out of sight.
The housekeeper went downstairs to open the doors for Avery.
As the two of them headed upstairs, the housekeeper said, “Luckily, he only broke one of his legs.”
Avery's eyes widened in disbelief. How on earth is it lucky that he only broke one of his legs?
Avery noticed Rory crouching by Zachary's bed the moment she set foot in his bedroom. Rory was
holding his brother's hand with a tear-streaked face.
It was obvious that the little girl had been crying.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“What did the doctor say?” Avery walked over to the side of the bed and noticed that the little boy's leg
was plastered and hung up in the air. She felt so guilty that she could not bear to look the children in
their eyes.
Things would not have turned out this way if she had agreed to come in the first place.
“Ms. Ery...” Rory let go of Zachary and walked over to Avery's side.
Avery held the sobbing Rory and patted her on the head. She choked on her words as she said, “Don't
cry. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry.”
Zachary had wanted to make Avery feel even more guilty. However, he sobbed alongside Avery when
he noticed how guilty Avery was already feeling. In a jealous tone, he said, “I'm the one who's hurt. Ms.
Ery, you're so biased.”
Avery's eyes turned red as she looked at Zachary. Instead of blaming her for coming late, the little boy
was actually trying to act cute in front of her.
“I'm hungry, Ms. Ery... I want to eat instant noodles with an egg cooked by you.” Zachary no longer felt
the pain in his body after seeing Avery. However, he was famished.
“Are there instant noodles here?” Avery asked the housekeeper.
The housekeeper nodded with a smile. “Yes. Mr. Moore wouldn't let the kids eat that, saying that it's not
healthy. But I keep a few packets for them to eat sometimes.”
Avery brought Rory to the kitchen.
Zachary, who was faking his leg injury, smiled and gave the housekeeper a high-five, as Avery had
obviously bought their ruse.
Avery cooked the instant noodles and egg her special way.
Just when the fragrant of the instant noodles filled the house, Avery noticed the housekeeper's pale
face as the latter scurried into the kitchen. In a timid voice, the housekeeper said, “Ms. Avery, Mr.
Moore is home. If he finds out that I've hidden some instant noodles for the kids, I'm going to lose my
job.”
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