3
Alex’s brows furrowed. He looked down at me, clinging tightly to his leg, then at Snowball, excitedly circling. A vein pulsed faintly on his temple. “I’m very busy,” he
rubbed his brow. “I don’t have time to look after a child.”
I immediately held up three tiny fingers. “Nanny will be super good! I can eat by myself, sleep by myself, and play by myself!” Snowball seemed to understand our conversation. It suddenly rushed into the living room, grunting as it dragged its giant dog bed to my feet, then proudly let out a “Woof!” its tail wagging like a propell-
es
Alex looked at it expressionlessly. “She’s not a kitten. She can’t sleep with you. You’ll crush her.” Snowball whimpered indignantly, nudging my hand with its wet
nose, as if to say, “No way, I wouldn’t.” Finally, he let out a long sigh. “… If you don’t cause trouble, I can reluctantly keep you for a few days.”
“Thank you, Big Brother! Thank you, Snowball~” I hugged Snowball and gave it a big kiss. Snowball was even more excited than me, snatching my little blanket and
running all over the house, until Alex’s stern gaze froze it in place.
“Sleep,” Alex said, picking me up by the back of my collar, like carrying a kitten, and carrying me into the guest room. I obediently crawled into bed, watching him tum off the light and leave. The moment the door closed, the room plunged into darkness. The wall clock ticked. Outside, tree branches swayed, casting grotesque sha-
dows on the wall. I clutched my blanket tightly, finally unable to resist climbing out of bed.
At the end of the hallway, a sliver of light peeked from under Alex’s bedroom door. I gently pushed the door open, seeing Alex leaning against the headboard, reading documents, the bedside lamp casting a warm shadow on his chiseled profile. Snowball immediately noticed me, wagging its tail happily as it ran over.
“Now what?” he asked without looking up.
I fidgeted with the comer of my blanket, quietly saying, “.. Nanny’s afraid of the dark.” Alex finally looked up, seeing me trembling at the doorway. His expression softened slightly in the lamplight, but his tone remained firm. Three years old and still afraid of the dark?”
“Auntie Sarah said if I don’t sleep, monsters will come and snatch me away at night!” I exclaimed in terror. Alex stared at me for a full ten seconds, then defeatedly closed his file ‘Come here” My eyes lit up, and I scurried over with my blanket. Snowball was even faster than me, already jumping onto the bed and claiming the
best spot
“Not here,” Alex pointed to the long sofa in the comer. “You sleep over there.” I obediently climbed onto the sofa, wrapping myself into a cocoon with my blanket. Snowball whimpered in protest but jumped off the bed, lying down on the rug beside me to guard me. Alex turned off the main lights, leaving only a small night
light
I wanted to put some pressure on my brother, hoping he’d start caring about me again. But I never imagined that after a day of being “away from home,” he still hadn I noticed I was gone He had gone on a business top with Clara. Alex had sent someone to check, and when the nanny realized I was missing, her first reaction wasn
1 to tell my brother instead, afraid of being held responsible, she fled!
“Excellent,” he sneered. He looked exactly take a cartoon villain when he did that Is Sterling Corp currently negotiating the East River project?‘
James, his assistant, pushed up his glasses “Signing tomorrow”
“Before midnight tonight, I want that project to belong to Sterling.” Alex said, tossing his broken pen into the trash. Til pay double the penalty.“I was just counting on my fingers how much double the penalty would be, when he suddenly picked me up and placed me on his desk
He braced his hands on
side of
arrowed dangerously “I ante che dove your brother shews front you like this?” Snowball urgently nawed at the
