Passion 336

Chapter 336

During this time, Xavier’s memories had been returning to him slowly, bit by bit. He remembered that he had known how to code since he had been a child.

He checked Zachary’s code when the latter was done with part of it, and he was surprised to find that it was flawless.

Zachary was, after all, a child who had yet to learn to hold in his bursting pride. He boasted, “I’ll be better than you when I am at your age.”

The remark didn’t bother Xavier. “We shall see.”

Suddenly, a wicked idea flashed across Zachary’s mind. “If you lose, you’ll have to leave Mom’s side. What do you say?”

Xavier paused and raised his eyebrows slightly. “What if I win?”

“If you win, I’ll allow you to stay.”

Chuckling, Xavier commented, “It’s not fair to me. Even if I refuse to compete, I can still stay here.”

Zachary was taken aback at his bastard father’s quick thinking. He asked, “What do you want from the bet, then?” There was no way he wouldn’t win against the blind Xavier.

Xavier proposed, “You’ll have to call me ‘Dad‘ if I win.”

Zachary froze. He could never imagine calling his bastard father “Dad“.

Seeing Zachary hesitate, Xavier taunted, “Are you scared of calling me ‘Dad‘? That’s cowardly of you.”

“I’m not scared. Let’s do it.” Zachary puffed his cheeks.

Right then, Yvette had just come out of the room after cleaning it up. She saw Zachary and Xavier in the living room, furiously typing away on their keyboards. She was slightly confused by their sudden closeness.

“Za–Noah, it’s time for a shower.” She had nearly called him by his own name.

Zachary was right, though. It didn’t matter whether or not Xavier misunderstood. He’d leave after he regained his memories anyway.

“Mom, I’ll do it later. You should get some rest,” Zachary replied, but his eyes remained glued to the laptop screen.

“Alright.”

Zachary had always wanted to shower alone ever since he had been three years old.

An hour later, Xavier hacked Zachary’s laptop. Zachary slumped on the couch as if bis soul had been sucked out of him. His eyes stared vacantly into the air.

“I won,” Xavier declared.

When he fully regained his memory, he would come to realize that Zachary, his rival, was the kid who

12

had stolen more than seven billion dollars from him.

With his head hung low, Zachary muttered, “…Dad.”

Xavier said, “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”

Zachary had no choice but to raise his volume. “Dad!”

Xavier finally stood up and stroked Zachary’s head. “Good boy.”

…

+15 BONUS

The next day, Zachary looked deflated. He refused to reveal what was wrong when Yvette checked on him. “Mom, stop asking. Drive me to school.”

“Alright.”

Yvette drove him to Tirion Kindergarten. They had woken up early that day since the kindergarten was hours away. Zachary couldn’t stop yawning; it was as if he hadn’t slept well at night.

“Zac, does the idea of your dad bother you?” Yvette wanted to know if he felt troubled after learning that Xavier was his father.

Zachary misinterpreted her question and fretted when he was reminded of losing the bet and having to call Xavier “Dad” yesterday. He thought Xavier really was a devil.

As they were near the kindergarten, Zachary immediately replied, “Mom, I’ll be late to school. Stop talking.”

Yvette put an end to the questioning and watched as him walk into the kindergarten.

Upon his arrival, Malcolm and Darren immediately went up to him. “Zac, why are you only here now? We agreed to look for a handsome guy together, didn’t we?”

Before this, Zachary had agreed to pretend to be Kiki’s son and find her a hotter man than Leonard to spite the latter at his wedding.

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