"Mommy…do you hate me?" Roland Rong asked, putting on a pitiful face. Lily Ling sighed and shook her head.
"First of all, I am not your mommy. If you insist on this, you will make your real mommy sad, you know? And ladies don't like pushy boys."
"B…but…" Roland protested before tearfully lowering his head. Lily placed a hand on his head.
"I don't hate you. But I have my own life and family. You wouldn't like it if somebody barges into your home unexpected, do you?"
"If it's you, I would love it."
"Like I said, I promise I'll visit you once in a while. But you must understand, it's not very polite to drop in on somebody without letting them know in advance."
Riley Rong remained cold and impassive, not at all affected by her words even though he was clearly the target. Instead, he consulted his smartphone.
"Actually, you are his real mother," he told her. Lily gaped at him in disbelief.
"No, I'm not. Stop lying."
"Have you forgotten? Five years ago, you got pregnant and went overseas. But when you were about to give birth, there was an accident and the hospital told you that you suffered a miscarriage. But Roland ended up being delivered to my doorstep. Apparently someone kidnapped him from you after you gave birth and brought him to me."
"Are you seriously ripping off like every CEO story ever?" I asked, rolling my eyes. Well, that wasn't exactly true. It was only one variant. The other variant would have the female lead giving birth overseas and singlehandedly raising her child before returning here for some reason, only for the male lead to discover that he was the father.
"…first of all, I was never pregnant. I have never been pregnant in my whole life. Secondly, you've clearly been reading way too many CEO novels. Thirdly, even if you are somehow telling the truth, which I doubt, you've gotten the wrong lady. If you don't believe me, you can check my medical records. I'm still a virgin, how could I ever have gotten pregnant? And five years ago? I was still in university. I didn't have time to mess around."
Lily was getting annoyed. Riley Rong was really pushing it. I didn't know what he was trying to do, but the guy was growing more and more ridiculous. Was he really that desperate for Lily to be his wife and Roland's stepmother?
"B…but you are the female lead!" Riley Rong protested, still living in his delusions. "You need that sort of backstory, otherwise this can't count as a CEO novel!"
"Hello? This is real life, not a CEO novel." Lily sighed and buried her face in her palm. I could tell what she was thinking. Was this Riley Rong really a CEO? Then why was he throwing a tantrum and acting like a spoilt brat? Why was he indulging in his deluded fantasies? This made no sense whatsoever. Someone like him couldn't possibly run a multibillionaire business, not when h was so childish.
"Please…mommy…come home with us." Roland was clinging to Lily's dress and begging oh-so-pitifully. The kid could win an Oscar for his performance. Not that I would give him one. I could tell that he really believed in the nonsense that his father was spouting.
Like father, like son, huh?
"Honey, I really am not your mother." Lily knelt down and placed her hand on his head. "I'm very sorry, but that's the truth. You know what, I'll help you find your real mother. How about that?"
"No!" Roland sobbed as he buried his face in her dress. "I don't need any other lady! You're my mother! Leave this bad man and come home with daddy! Let's be a family!"
"Why are you calling my husband a bad man? You do realize that he saved your life, right? If it weren't for you, those kidnappers would have done something worse."
"I don't care! I never asked him to save me! He's bad because he got between you and daddy! He's the reason you don't want to come home with us! He stole you away from me and daddy!"
…what the fuck? What the hell was wrong with this kid? If he wasn't a kid, I would have punched him. Indeed, it was taking every bit of my self-control not to hit him. I knew he was just a kid, but that was no excuse for him to go too far. He couldn't just keep using "I'm just a kid" as an excuse to get away with anything. Otherwise, as he told his uncle Richard, he could get away with murder by using his age and going into juvenile. Yeah, he "didn't know better" but that didn't change the fact that he was playing a dangerous game with these stunts.
"Bad man!" Roland jabbed a finger in my direction. "Leave my mommy! Stop getting in daddy's way and tearing our family apart!"
I really shouldn't have rescued this brat. But I couldn't take back my actions now. And he was a kid, so I had no choice but to be an adult and restrain myself. Clenching my fists, I forced myself to stay silent.
"Roland, you are going too far." Lily's voice was sharp. "How can you say that to the person who saved your life?"
"Like I said, I never asked him to…!"
"You are making me very angry. Do you want me to not visit you?" Lily raised a finger. "Also, if you insult my husband, that means you insult me as well. You don't like it if someone attacks your father or me, right? So think about it…think about how I would feel when someone insults my husband. Right in front of me, too."
"A loser like him doesn't deserve to be your husband!"
"Are you not listening to a single word I said?" Lily's voice was filled with chilly rage. Roland shrank back, suddenly realizing that he had pushed his luck too far.
"Look…" Riley Rong took a suitcase out of nowhere and opened it to show me the stacks of cash lined up inside there. He then shut it and shoved it at me. "I can give you a billion dollars. Just leave Lily Ling. If you want more, you just need to ask."
"The fuck is wrong with you?" I threw up my hands in annoyance, not caring that I was in the presence of a child. "I already told you no. Why do you think you can just bribe me? You think my wife can be bought with cash? I already told you that she's priceless. That no amount of money will ever be enough. Hell, I don't need your dirty money. Lily is not an object or my belonging. She's a person! She can't be bought or sold! You're disgusting, treating her like a commodity."
"I don't believe that you will not be moved by any amount of cash," Riley Rong said coldly. "All men are the same."
"Does that include you?" I asked, bringing up my smartphone. "All right, how about I pay you 10 billion dollars so that you will stop bothering me and my wife ever again? Does that sound like a fair deal to you? How about 20 billion? Name your price and I'll transfer the funds over to your account immediately. PayPal works for you?"
"You dare insult me!" Riley Rong roared. I glared back at him and folded my arms.
"That's pretty rich, coming from you. So you admit that you've been insulting me this whole time?"
"You should be aware of the difference between our statuses." Riley Rong jabbed a finger into my chest. "I can insult you, but you're not allowed to insult me. Because I am Riley Rong."
…what the fuck? Was there something wrong with this fella's head? How did someone like him ever become a CEO? This made no bloody sense at all!
"Honey, can you tell your daddy to leave?" Lily couldn't help but sound cold. "He's pissing me off. If possible, I wish he would just go right now."
"No! We will only leave if you come home with us!"
"If you stay any longer, I'll get angry."
"What about our feelings?"
Wow. How shameless. You came here, not caring about Lily or my feelings, and you whined about your feelings? I really wanted to smack the kid, and to hell to being an adult or being the mature one. He was going too far.
"Trevor, I have enough." Lily rose to her feet, gently pushed Roland toward his father, and then stepped back into the house. I understood and shut the door close before father and son could enter, locking it.
"You…!" Riley Rong growled, and began hammering the door. I shook my head in disgust and followed Lily back to the hall where we began having hotpot. In order to drown out the noise from the banging of my door by the Rong father and son, I switched on some anime music and allowed it to blare across the house.
We had no idea how patient or stubborn Riley Rong and his son were, nor did we care. If they wanted to stand outside my door the whole night, they were welcome to try. I was more patient than them, having gone through so many hard times and fought against all odds.
A single night of noise wasn't going to bother me none.
"Should we call the police?" Lily asked, glancing at the door, frowning.
"No point." I shook my head. "He's Riley Rong. Even the police will be afraid of him."
I could imagine Riley Rong driving away the police with the mere mention of his identity. He could probably buy off the whole police with his wealth if he wanted to. If I wasn't mistaken, the bastard would even use the police to issue a warrant and force their way into my house.
Just because he was rich, he thought he was above the law. In any case, the police wouldn't be able to help us.
"They are both so persistent. Ugh!" Lily held her head in frustration. "I'm sorry, but I'm beginning to regret ever intervening and helping Roland. He looks so cute and sweet, but he really is…"
"…a brat?" I offered. Lily giggled and wagged a finger at me.
"Now that's not very nice."
"Compared to what they are doing? They are literally harassing them. If he wasn't a rich and handsome CEO, we could have him arrested."
Such was the world…reality was unfair as always. I didn't know what to say. The rich and powerful often oppressed the poor.
However, I had resources of my own. I was loathed to call in the military to deal with this, but they were my last resort. A trump card that I could reveal if nothing went according to plan.
"You know what?" Lily was picking up a piece of meat with her chopsticks. "Why don't we go to the civil bureau tomorrow?"
"What for?"
"To register our marriage." Lily smirked. "I'm sure that will piss Riley Rong off to no end."