Chapter 654: Chapter 657

Chapter 657 Parenting Natalie was furious when she found out the kids had purposely hid it from her.

Now that she saw the teary-eyed Clayton, she couldn’t get even one word out of her mouth to admonish him.

Instead, her heart clenched even tighter at the sight of him, apologizing so cautiously.

Noticing Natalie’s silence, Clayton tugged on her sleeve hesitantly. “Mommy, I know I’m wrong. I won’t do it again.” Realizing what he said, he immediately added, “I promise you there’s no next time.”

Natalie couldn’t hold on to her anger any longer with Clayton sobbing.

“Did Sophia treat your wound?” she asked instead.

“Yeah.” Clayton nodded his head. “She was worried that my injuries wouldn’t heal, so she treated them for me. It’s not her fault, but mine. If you want to punish me, then so be it. I hope you won’t punish any of them.”

“You silly boy. You’re still trying to protect your sister at a time like this, huh?”

“I—”

“Do you think you can hide it that long without them covering for you?” Natalie undid the bandage on his arm and examined the injury. “I’m not that petty. I’ll let it slide this time with no punishment, but if I catch you doing something like this again, I’ll give all of you the cold shoulder treatment.”

Clayton laughed upon hearing Natalie’s words.

“Okay. Our Mommy is the best mom in this whole wide world!”

“Stop trying to butter me up.” Natalie cast a side glance at him and said, “Your injury must have hurt and itched the whole time. It must have been tough for you to act like nothing happened in front of me.”

A small smile tugged on her lips when Natalie noticed that Sophia did a good job at treating the wound.

This girl is much more talented than I thought.

It has only been a few months since I started her lessons. I can’t believe she has learned so much in such a short time and did so well.

After treating Clayton’s wound, Natalie asked how he got hurt.

“Clayton, I want you to be truthful with me. Is the injury on your arm related to Marcus’ incident?” she asked.

Clayton knew that his mother was intelligent and would see through his lies, so he nodded honestly. “I was with him at the abandoned warehouse when the explosion happened.”

“What?” Natalie exclaimed. Dread tightened her gut at the close call.

“He saved me in the end, pushing me out of the warehouse at the last minute before the whole thing exploded and got swallowed by the fire.” Clayton balled his hands into fists at the horrific memory.

“Clayton, I need you to tell me everything from the start.”

“Okay. This is how it started...”

He began recounting everything that happened that day to Natalie.

After hearing it firsthand from Clayton, Natalie had a clearer understanding of the entire incident. I’m sure Yara’s involved with Marcus’ death. It was too much of a coincidence, after all. I mean, how likely is it for Marcus to die from an explosion shortly after arriving at Dellmoor?

But, something’s weird. Clayton claimed he saw Marcus curled up on the ground when he entered the warehouse. That Marcus’

lips were purple, and his veins were bulging. Those were symptoms of being poisoned, not from a heart attack.

Yara had no medical knowledge, and I doubt Dexmed Pharmaceutical would develop this kind of poison. If Marcus was poisoned in such a short period, then Yara might not be the culprit.

The more Natalie mulled about it, the more her head hurt.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just thinking about something.” Natalie rebandaged the injury on Clayton’s arm. “Make sure your wound stays clear of water, so be careful when you shower. You can get Sophia to help you with changing the bandage next time. It doesn’t have to be me.”

“Okay.”

Clayton halted in his tracks at the door. He couldn’t help looking over his shoulder and glancing at Natalie after much reluctance.