Chapter 253: Chapter 253

Despite Anna Thornton’s persistent efforts, she couldn’t get the child to speak in the end.

Later, during the advertisement filming, Anna Thornton noticed that Director Lucas hadn’t assigned any lines for Lola.

At lunch, Mary mentioned to Anna Thornton, "That child named Lola seems to have autism. I asked the staff around, and none have heard him speak. It’s quite sad."

"What about that child’s parents?"

"They seemed to have dropped him off in the morning, but then I don’t know where they went."

Upon hearing this, Anna Thornton glanced through the window of the nanny van at the child who was continuously sitting alone reading a book.

It’s hard to say whether it’s because she has Pop now that her heart is easily softened,

or simply because she has a certain connection with this child, making her feel an indescribable special sensation when looking at him.

"Mary, why don’t you invite Lola to join us for lunch?"

"Alright, I’ll give it a try."

Mary stepped out of the nanny van and saw someone talking to Lola, presumably asking him some questions, trying to tease him, but every attempt was coldly ignored by the little fellow.

Mary had little experience dealing with children with autism. She approached with a friendly smile, trying not to look like a suspicious aunt with a child-trafficking agenda, and softened her voice, "Lola, are you hungry? Auntie’s van has lots of tasty food, would you like to come up and eat with us?"

But hearing that, she still couldn’t completely erase the suspicion of child trafficking, could she?

Lola raised his head and looked at Mary with deep wariness in his eyes.

Mary was somewhat caught off guard by the little guy’s imposing gaze, resembling Pop, and hurriedly explained, "Don’t misunderstand, Auntie isn’t a bad person. Remember the beautiful lady who shot the advertisement with you earlier? I’m her agent. She’s worried you might be hungry and asked me to bring you for lunch. We’re all good people."

Upon hearing Mary mention Anna Thornton, Lola finally got up from his chair.

He put the thick book he was reading back onto the chair, hugged his skateboard, and walked toward their nanny van.

Mary followed him, feeling like a small follower behind his proud, dignified demeanor.

The nanny van was quite high, and Mary worried he might have trouble getting up there by himself.

She originally intended to pick him up, but he didn’t need her help at all. He stepped on his skateboard to use it as a footstool and effortlessly climbed aboard, quite clever indeed.

Anna Thornton had already mixed his meal for him, blending some broccoli, egg, shrimp, and beef, creating a balanced combination.

"Do you need me to feed you?" Anna Thornton asked him. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs N0velFire.ɴet

Lola shook his head, took the bowl himself, cautiously glanced at Anna Thornton, and took a small bite.

He glanced at Anna Thornton again before taking another bite.

"You’re three years old too, but eating is much less troublesome than Pop; you won’t mess it up everywhere." Anna observed his love for shrimp and added a few more pieces to Lola’s bowl, "Pop is my daughter; if you meet someday, you might become good friends."

Hearing this, Lola gave Anna Thornton a look, as though he thought she was joking.

If Anna hadn’t mentioned it herself, one would hardly guess from her appearance that she had a child, especially in the entertainment industry—where a female star admits to having a child before the age of twenty-three?

But Lola felt she was different from anyone he had met before.

Having almost finished his meal, Anna Thornton started peeling fruit.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, and a middle-aged woman barged into her nanny van.

As soon as the middle-aged woman got on, she flipped over the attire Anna Thornton had carefully set aside and immediately hugged the child: "So you were here! Don’t run off everywhere and scare Mommy like that!"

"Excuse me, are you Lola’s mother?" Anna Thornton proactively greeted her.

Unexpectedly, the woman glared at her upon hearing that: "Why did you bring my son here?"

"I just... didn’t see Lola’s parents during lunch, so I invited him to join me for food."

"We manage our own child’s arrangements; there’s no need for your hypocritical concern."

"Hey, how could you..." be ungrateful.

Mary held back the last few words, refraining from speaking them aloud.

Despite clearly being a misunderstanding, she even went on to lecture her own son, "Lola, you must never randomly get into strangers’ cars or eat food from strangers. Those traffickers abduct children, taking them to remote areas to sell."

"Who are you calling traffickers?" Mary was on the verge of losing her temper, "Do we look like traffickers to you?"

"There aren’t any labels on traffickers’ faces to identify them. We have such a lovely and profitable child, who knows how many people are envious and want to steal him. Let’s go, Lola; Mommy is taking you home."

"Let it go, Mary." Anna Thornton grabbed Mary, preventing her from continuing the argument.

But Lola wasn’t willing to be led away; he turned to look at Anna Thornton, then pointed to ’his mother’s’ head beside him.

Anna Thornton surprisingly understood his hint, meaning ’this person’s brain is a bit off, don’t bother arguing with her’.

This kid’s so clever, Anna Thornton smiled and gestured an ’ok’ back to him.

"Anna, don’t you feel there’s something odd about this mother and son?"

"Usually, sons resemble their mothers, but they look nothing alike! The child is so fair-skinned and adorable, while the adult is dark and sharp-tongued. If they weren’t supposed to be mother and son, I’d suspect she’s the trafficker herself." Mary didn’t say much in front of the child.

But when it comes to sarcasm, she wouldn’t lose to anyone, and no one is allowed to bully her artist Anna.

"Are you judging by appearances?"

"It’s not just appearances; I feel... Little Lola is nothing like his mom. Did you see how resistant the child was when she tried to pick him up as she got on the van?"

After Mary pointed this out, Anna Thornton also began to worry.

She looked through the window as Lola was taken outside, then silently returned to his previous seat, reading quietly by himself, unwilling to communicate with anyone.

The middle-aged woman didn’t care about him either, continuously receiving phone calls beside him.

Her voice was loud, and Anna Thornton could hear part of the conversation just by lowering the car window.

"Yes, we just finished shooting a commercial this morning. We can head over there this afternoon for a photoshoot."

"What? The price I proposed isn’t enough?"

"Are you kidding? Do you know how in-demand my son is right now? If you can’t afford the price, don’t waste my time. We have countless engagements here in Aethelgard."

"Treating a child like a cash cow, making him earn money in such a complex environment at just three years old, and not caring about the child’s mental and physical health, truly doesn’t seem like what real parents would do," Anna couldn’t help but remark.

"Parents don’t need to pass any qualification exams, and little babies don’t have a choice in their parents. It’s really unjust. But at least our little Pop made it through, right? President Sterling has been good to all of you since he returned home, hasn’t he?"

Speaking of Conrad Sterling, Anna Thornton couldn’t help but think of the child she lost three years ago.

If Pop’s twin brother had grown up, he’d probably be just little boy now.

Seeing Anna’s gaze becoming increasingly distant and melancholic, Mary knew she must be thinking of unhappy things, so she tried to cheer her up by changing the subject: "By the way, Anna, can you guess what the box office of our movie has reached? Today’s latest figures show it’s already surpassed three billion!"

"Oh my God, three billion! I didn’t even dare to imagine that number before. I read some movie bloggers’ predictions and analyses saying our film might be in the top ten highest-grossing in domestic box office history. Because of this great news, Director Lucas is hosting a celebratory banquet tonight, so we should head there early."

Although Lola was sitting in a chair on the set reading a book, ignoring everyone.

He could feel a particularly gentle gaze watching him through the nanny van, which made him subconsciously straighten his little body.

The afternoon’s shooting tasks weren’t heavy, and Anna Thornton’s performance in her scenes was naturally commendable.

But the child, unwilling to follow the director’s instructions on expressions and actions, caused delays, resulting in wrap-up that was two hours later than anticipated.

After the advertisement shoot ended, Anna Thornton and Mary hurriedly prepared to attend the celebration banquet.

However, upon reaching the parking lot, Anna felt like someone was following her.

She couldn’t help but stop, turning around to look.

"Anna, what’s wrong?"

"It seems like someone is following me."

"Is it? Could it be a stalker?"

Anna shook her head, walked back about a dozen steps, and found a little boy holding a skateboard hiding behind a pillar.

"Oh, Lola, it’s you! How did you end up here?"

Anna squatted down, asking him, but he said nothing.

"Hey, let me give you a gift." Anna took a newly bought smartwatch from her bag, "My daughter started kindergarten, and this was a gift I bought for her. I bought a pair, kept the pink one for Pop, and gave you the blue one."

Saying this, Anna attached the children’s smartwatch to the little boy’s wrist, "This way, if you get lost while going out, you can call your parents. Do you remember your parents’ phone numbers? I stored my number in it as well, so if you can’t find your parents in an emergency, you can call me."

Upon hearing this, little Lola seemed very interested in the smartwatch, examining it closely and attempting to make a call.

Only after confirming that Anna’s phone was ringing did he feel reassured.

"You still don’t trust me, do you?" Anna ruffled the hair of the little clever boy, asking him, "Would you like me to take you home?"

Lola shook his head, indicating it was unnecessary, and pointed to the right.

Anna looked over and noticed a car had long been parked there, ready to pick him up, with two men wearing sunglasses nodding at her.

"Are they here to pick you up?"

"Is the driver your family member?"

"..." Lola hesitated for a second, then nodded.

She held Lola’s hand, escorting him to the car, and noticed there was no car seat inside.

Anna then discussed with the driver: "If this car is frequently tasked with picking up children, it’s best to install a child car seat. It’s not troublesome, but very safe."

Upon hearing this, the driver nodded: "Alright."

"Then, I’m off, Lola."

Anna waved at him through the car window.

Soon, the car window rolled up.

When the car drove out of Anna’s field of vision, Lola withdrew his gaze and lowered his head to study the children’s watch on his wrist.

The two men in the car were neither his relatives nor family members, but rather his driver and bodyguard.

This was clear from their title: "Young master, since when are you interested in such childish things?"

The bodyguard’s tone didn’t sound like he was talking to a three-year-old, as they used respectful terms and spoke with a certain reverence.

Lola realized he had lost composure in front of his subordinates, quickly returning to a cold and aloof demeanor: "Shut up."

Though he was just a little child, the tone was tender yet firm, even somewhat commanding.

The bodyguard immediately dared not breathe loudly.

"And you!" Lola glanced at the driver, "Remember to install a child seat for me tomorrow."

"Yes, yes... young master."

Lola played with the smartwatch for a while, suddenly picking up the nearby Apple computer.

His hands were small, but he operated the computer expertly, quickly typing out the words ’Anna Thornton’ in the search engine...