Chapter 8
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The door clicked shut softly. Ivan glanced back with a disdainful grunt.
“Don’t get distracted. Just get to work.” Audrey gave his head a light tap.
When Audrey first came to Ashwood Mental Hospital, they wouldn’t let her sleep at night, and in the morning, they dragged her out for a run. When she refused, two attendants physically hauled her out to the track.
It happened to be the same time Ivan, who also refused to cooperate, was punished. Without thinking, Audrey rushed to his side.
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Audrey grew up doing heavy chores at home, so she was strong. Plus, she joined the boxing club in college. Though she could easily take down a few men, she wasn’t afraid of hitting women.
The staff was wary of Clayton, so they only dared to abuse her in secret. But with so many people on the track, they couldn’t retaliate, and Audrey left a few of them with bruised faces.
She told them, “I’m here because I have violent tendencies. If you lay a hand on him, don’t blame me for going off.”
Ivan was amused by her words and muttered, “What a berserker.”
Audrey shot him a sideways glance and sneered, “Dumbass, don’t you know how to fight back?”
With Audrey blatantly protecting Ivan, people at the mental hospital only dared to starve Ivan but not to punish him anymore.
When Ivan’s mother picked him up, he tried to say goodbye to Audrey, but she was locked up due to a high fever and didn’t get the chance to see
him.
Ivan tossed the test paper at Audrey and grabbed the game controller again.
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Audrey browsed through it and kicked him out of the chair. She didn’t expect him to miss all the correct answers.
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“Dear, are you tired? Have some fruit.” Brooke knocked and entered with a fruit tray.
She saw the test paper and said to Audrey, “His foundation is really poor. His studies have always been a headache since elementary school. Valebrook Middle School is in this district, so he was admitted there.”
“I’ll help him.” Audrey placed the fruit aside and said, “Mrs. Gomez, I’m gonna teach Ivan now. Please don’t distract him with food. It’ll only break
his focus.”
“Okay.” Brooke nodded and left, but she returned five minutes later. “How
about some water?”
Ivan scratched his head, clearly annoyed.
“I’m not asking you. The teacher’s been talking for so long. Bet her throat is dry,” Brooke muttered, leaving again in dissatisfaction.
Ten minutes later, the door knocked again.
Brooke said, “Madam, I told my husband that if Ivan’s willing to learn with you, we’d hire you to tutor him. I just wanted to learn more about your academic background.”
Audrey took a deep breath, and she seemed to understand why Ivan was so rebellious.
She gave Brooke a smile. “Mrs. Gomez, can we talk about that after class? Each lesson only lasts forty minutes. Students need to focus during the
time.”
Brooke seemed a little embarrassed. She opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she just nodded and left.
Ivan spun the pen in his hand, sneering at Audrey. “I thought you were
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gonna use violence on my mom.”
“You want me to hit your mom?” Audrey asked, raising her eyebrows.
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Ivan shrugged. “She’s hopeless. She never considers anyone else’s feelings. If you don’t do things her way, she cries and throws a fit.”
Audrey gently patted Ivan’s head, saying, “Just focus on your studies. I’ll
take care of the rest.”
Just as Audrey finished grading his test, Brooke came back in and said, “Oh, please go ahead. I’ll just listen from the side.”
Audrey ignored her and pulled out similar questions for Ivan to resolve. Ivan clearly didn’t want to, but he still obediently picked up the pen.
He resolved five questions of the same type, yet he still made mistakes.
“Nice effort. You’re actually pretty smart.” Audrey encouraged him while taking out a candy from her bag as a reward.
“I’m not a kid,” Ivan grumbled, but he still unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth.
Audrey walked to the living room with Brooke. Just as she was about to ask Audrey about her marital situation, Brooke’s husband, Miguel, came home.
“Honey, this is the tutor I interviewed today,” Brooke said, taking her husband’s bag and observing the exchange between him and Audrey.
“Hello,” Miguel said, looking a bit tired. He waved to Audrey and suggested her to sit down. “Since Ivan’s willing to have you tutor him, please come every day. My wife has already discussed the price with you.”
“Yes.” Audrey nodded.
Brooke handed Miguel a glass of water. He took a sip and continued, “Ivan’s currently ranked 1200 at school. There’s a test at the end of the
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month. If he moves up even one place, I’ll give you a 300 dollar bonus.”
Audrey glanced at Ivan, who was leaning against the door. He avoided eye contact with Audrey because he was always stuck in the bottom twenty, so it wasn’t an easy task.
“Okay, but I have one small request,” Audrey said.
Miguel said, “Go ahead.”
She said, “I don’t want to be disturbed while I’m tutoring Ivan. If I am, there’ll be an additional charge for another lesson.”
Miguel paused for a second and then looked at Brooke. She awkwardly stood up and said, “Almost forgot I’m baking something.”
Miguel’s gaze turned complicated, and once his wife was in the kitchen, he spoke, “My wife is a bit controlling, but I’ll talk to her. As long as Ivan shows improvement, your request is no problem.”
“Great, then I’ll come at this time tomorrow. Is that okay?” Audrey asked, looking at Miguel.
Ivan cut in, “Let’s have one class in the morning and one in the afternoon. I want to have two classes a day.”
Brooke came back from the kitchen and heard Ivan’s words. Her doubt
toward Audrey was raised again. She said in a calm tone, “Ms. Henderson must have other students. She can’t just teach you alone.”
She forced a smile and added, “Let’s start with one lesson a day. If his scores improve, we’ll switch to two.”
“That’s okay.” Audrey took out a printed contract, and they both signed it.
Today was supposed to be a free trial lesson, but Miguel insisted on giving Audrey 100 dollars. After confirming the time for tomorrow’s class, she was ready to leave.
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Ivan still had plenty of questions for Audrey, but with his parents around, he couldn’t ask.
Audrey made a quick stop at her new house. The cleaners had already finished their work, and the walls were repainted. She opened the windows to air it out. It’d be ready to move in by tomorrow or the day after.
As soon as Clayton walked in the door, he instinctively reached for the
thermos on the table.
He talked a lot, and his throat often felt sore, so Audrey always made sure to have various soothing drinks ready for him.
But today, the thermos was empty, and Clayton’s heart sank a little.
Valerie’s cooking was hard to judge. Not only did the dish get burnt, but the soup nearly exploded. In the end, they had to order takeout.
After having dinner and cleaning up the table, Valerie rushed to the balcony and chatted with Clayton, “Hey, I heard the price of houses here is pretty high. Your place must be worth over a million, right?”
“Yeah,” Clayton replied while sipping the honey water he made for
himself.
It was the same thing, but somehow, the honey water he made tasted worlds apart from the one Audrey made.
He poured her a glass and handed it over.
Valerie took it and asked, “Clay, has Audrey moved out? I didn’t realize how possessive she is. I’m responsible for this too. You’re married, and I still ask for your help with my divorce case.”
Clayton checked his watch, thinking, ‘I didn’t expect a simple meal would take so long. At this time, the office is already closed.
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‘Should’ve just ordered takeout at the office, instead of coming home. The pots and pans that got burned have to wait for Zoe to clean up tomorrow!
“The law firm is there to serve people who need it,” Clayton said, taking a sip of water. “Hey, Luna’s probably about to get out of school, huh? You should go pick her up. Don’t keep her waiting.”
Valerie didn’t realize that Clayton meant she should leave. She walked up to Clayton, looking conflicted. “Clay, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
