"What? You're not even going to welcome me in? I came here straight after finishing work without even having dinner just to bring Jay this gift. What's this attitude?"
Baron asked in a tone of mock indignation.
"It's not like that. You're always welcome to my home. Anyway, we haven't had dinner yet either, so let's go out and eat. I'll go and call Jay."
Nicole turned around to go upstairs and bring Jay, but before she could walk away, Baron grasped her shoulder.
"I want to eat the food that you made. Jay told me on the phone that you made braised fish in brown sauce."
Back in Manhattan, they had often had dinner together, even after Nicole had given birth to Jay.
In fact, Baron's girlfriend at that time had even broken up with him over his friendship with Nicole, suspecting that Jay was actually his child. Baron hadn't even tried to explain the truth to her. And after that, he had never dated anyone else.
The truth was, he was actually a little disappointed that Jay was not his child.
"Ah! Well, there's no more, we already ate all of it. So, let's go out instead," Nicole explained.
If it weren't for Kerr, there would have been some food leftover. Today, she had made all the dishes that Jay liked, but it had turned out that Kerr was fond of them as well.
'Like father, like son. Blood ties are strong indeed,' she thought to herself.
Then, she continued, "Wait for me in the car. I'll ask Jay to come down."
Baron nodded and got into his car. Sitting in the driver's seat, he looked thoughtfully at Nicole's receding figure.
Earlier, a black Rolls Royce had passed him, and from inside the car, Kerr had given him a provocative glare.
Anyway, this was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that Nicole seemed to feel something for Kerr.
A while later, Nicole walked out and got into the passenger seat of the car.
"Jay said that he prefers to stay home and read a book, so I'll just bring him back some food."
Nicole fastened her seat belt and leaned her head against the seat with a hint of agitation on her face.
"What's wrong? Are you in any trouble?"
As Baron started the car and drove it out of the community, he kept shooting glances at Nicole to observe the expression on her face.
"Sort of. There's something I haven't told you yet. It turns out that Kerr Gu is Jay's father," Nicole finally said.
She didn't know who she could turn to for help, so she decided to discuss it with Baron.
When Baron heard that, he immediately stepped on the brakes and turned to Nicole in shock.
"I asked you who Jay's father was even before he was born, but you said you didn't know."
He had always wondered about the identity of Jay's father, but since Nicole hadn't given him any information about it, he had completely been in the dark until now.
"I really didn't know at that time. I just found out by chance a while ago. The whole situation is so coincidental. Anyway, you are the only person I've told this to. You can't tell Jay about it," Nicole said seriously.
Jay was a clever boy, and he seemed to like Kerr a lot already. She was afraid that if he knew that Kerr was his father, he would directly tell Kerr about it.
Besides, Jay was still a child. Nicole didn't want her son to see the complexity of human nature just yet.
"So, what are you going to do now? Get married to Kerr?
Baron joked when he saw the confusion on Nicole's face. He wanted to lighten up the situation, but he also genuinely wanted to know what Nicole was going to do with this information.
"Of course not. I never expected to find Jay's father, but now that I have...I don't know if he will be a good father. I just want to lead a peaceful life with Jay."
Kerr's words—"Jay loves me," flashed through her mind. Those were the words he whispered in her ear before he left. Anyway, just because her son liked Kerr didn't mean that he was suitable to be a father.
"If you want a peaceful life, you'll have to hide this information. As far as I know, the Gu family is not a simple one. They're very influential. On top of that, Kerr Gu is not someone who should be underestimated, either.
In the past few years, he has been cruel not only when it comes to business, but also when it comes to women. No one knows just how many women he has been with. The news about his love affairs has never been made public."
In fact, Baron had looked into Kerr Gu long before Nicole had. After coming back from Manhattan and starting to work for the Fang Group, he had a business relationship with Kerr, so he knew that Kerr was a cautious but decisive man. But that was about as much as he could find out about Kerr.
Information about Kerr's personal life was well concealed and almost impossible to find.
In Baron's opinion, the deeper the secret was, the more complex a person's background would be.
"I know, that's why I'm so worried about this. I can't let him find out that Jay is his son. That's why I asked you for help last time," Nicole explained.
She thought of the call she had overheard before and felt a little depressed. No wonder Kerr had been able to win Jay's heart so quickly today; it seemed that he already had a lot of experience winning the affections of other people.
"Are you an idiot? Why didn't you tell me about this last time? Do you know how dangerous this is for you and Jay?"
Baron chided, reaching out and tapping her on the forehead.
"I didn't want to cause any trouble. Kerr is a powerful man, after all. Anyway, although he has met Jay, he doesn't know their relationship yet. I told him that Jay is seven years old on purpose. He won't suspect a thing."
It was lucky that she had been able to make up such a lie on the spot.
"I'm not afraid of any trouble. I've watched Jay grow up, so I would do anything for him. How about I tell my mother that Jay is my son and then marry you? That will solve the problem," Baron said as casually as he could.
Then, he restarted the engine, began driving,
and took a glance at Nicole.
"That will just make things worse. Your mother might even try to kill me! I want to live a few more years at least,"
Nicole said, rolling her eyes at Baron before turning to look out the window. Her thoughts were fully occupied by Kerr, and she felt like his eyes were deeply engraved in her mind.
After dinner, Nicole arrived home and walked to the dining room.
"Jay, it's time for dinner. I've brought you some pizza," she said, placing the box of pizza on the table.
"Mom, pizza is not healthy at all."
Jay climbed onto the chair and frowned slightly.
"It's just once in a while, it doesn't matter. This is a gift from Uncle Fang." Nicole smiled.
She was used to her son's grown-up attitude.