"Yes, that’s right!" Mia anxiously took out her cell phone and looked at Pete. She said, "Cherry, what’s your father’s phone number? I’ll call him for you!"
He didn’t want to do it. After all, his parents hadn’t acknowledged each other yet. It probably wasn’t a good idea to just call Justin like that.
For a moment, he kept quiet.
Terence immediately laughed and said, "Hah, did you see that? He doesn’t dare to call him! Cherry, you’re just bragging! It’s impossible for your father to be Justin Hunt!"
"It’s true!" Mia’s eyes were red. Her father had told her that. There was no way there would be any mistake about it.
Besides, she was the one who said that Justin was Cherry’s father. It had nothing to do with Cherry at all. Even if there really was a mistake, it wasn’t because Cherry was bragging but because she was mistaken instead.
Yet, she didn’t know how to explain herself and ended up panicking.
Terence looked at her. "What are you being so anxious for? It’s as if you’re his wife. How would you know who his father is?"
"I just do!" Mia had always been a pushover. This was the first time she was being so aggressive. She insisted, "Cherry wasn’t bragging! Neither did she lie!"
Terence scoffed and said, "You little liar. You lie even about your own affairs. Your mother was rejected by your father, yet you insist that it isn’t true... Little illegitimate daughter, if you’re that impressive, then why don’t you get Cherry to give us the phone number?!"
Mia was about to cry. Just as she was about to say something, Pete stepped forward and said coolly, "212XXXXXXX."
The place fell quiet for a moment.
Terence looked at Pete. "Cherry, what do you mean by that?"
Pete didn’t look at him but at Mia instead. "That’s my Daddy’s phone number. You weren’t lying."
Mia finally came back to her senses. She hurriedly dialed the number on her cell phone.
"Toot... toot... toot..."
Mia and Brandon both held their breaths together with the dial tone.
Even Terence was keeping quiet. For a while, the atmosphere around them became very quiet.
However, after the phone rang three times, the recipient didn’t answer but rejected the call instead.
"Beep... beep... beep..."
Brandon was also stunned.
Terence, however, burst into laughter and said, "You saw that, right? You were just giving us some random number! The recipient didn’t even pick up! Cherry, you’re a wild child without a father! You don’t have a father at all!"
Mia, who was panicking, dialed the number again.
However, after it rang a few times, a message instead played: "The number you have dialed does not exist..."
Mia’s phone number had been blocked!
Brandon was also dumbfounded. He asked, "Cherry, what’s the matter with your father?"
Pete replied very calmly, "My father doesn’t answer calls from strangers."
Brandon believed him immediately. "I see, so that’s how it is!"
Mia also nodded. "Oh, that’s true. My father doesn’t answer calls from strangers, either!"
People of Justin’s and Joel’s class all owned private phone numbers. It was standard protocol for them to reject calls from strangers on their private phone numbers.
Additionally, in the case of people like them, apart from their family and other people of the same class as them, others rarely were able to get a hold of their private phone numbers.
While they were talking, Terence sneered, "Of course, my father doesn’t answer calls from strangers, either. But why don’t you use your own cell phone to call him? Cherry, it’s because you know everyone has that habit that you deliberately said that, right? The number you gave us isn’t Justin Hunt’s at all!"
"212XXXXXXX," said Pete again suddenly. Then, he asked, "Have you remembered it?"
Terence curled his lip disdainfully. "What?"
Pete said coolly, "Your father should have my father’s private phone number. You can go home and confirm it with your dad after you remember it. You’ll see after that."
He was taken aback for a moment, but right after that, he sneered, "I get it now—you’re stalling for time! But even if you gloss it over today, you’ll still be a wild child without a father tomorrow! Hmph, I’ll go home and cross-check the phone numbers right now!"
Terence turned around and led the group of children away after he spoke.
To be honest, he was actually a little scared that Justin Hunt would really turn out to be Cherry’s father. If that happened, things would become troublesome.
His father had warned him several times not to mess with the two children from the Smiths in school. Additionally, he wasn’t to mess with children from the Hunts, either. It was just that the Hunts didn’t send their children to the school, so he wasn’t that worried about it.
After Terence left, Mia and Brandon looked at Pete. Mia asked timidly, "Cherry, did I cause trouble for you..."
If she hadn’t revealed Cherry’s father’s information in school, Terence and the others wouldn’t have known about it at all.
It was indeed troublesome.
Pete, who was a little troubled, glanced at Mia—only to see that the tiny little girl’s pointed, oval-shaped face and big eyes were filled with a look of tentativeness.
This made Pete calmly reply, "It’s not a big deal."
After he said that, Tanya called out to him from a distance, "Cherry, come for your dance class! Stop dilly-dallying. You’re about to be late!"
He massaged his temples and walked toward the dance studio with a headache.
When exactly was Cherry switching back with him?
As he walked over, he suddenly looked back—sure enough, he saw a look of envy all over Mia’s face.
Tanya was also looking at Mia when Pete walked up to her.
The little fellow looked at her timidly, unable to conceal the longing in her eyes. It made an indescribable sense of acerbity well up at the depths of her heart.
Come to think of it, this was rather strange.
She was obviously Hillary’s daughter, yet she found him very lovable.
Was she really that much of a cheap woman?
After all, she was technically Hillary’s half-sister. Mia should actually be calling her Aunt Tanya.
At the thought, Tanya forced herself to look away.
She took Pete to the dance studio resolutely, leaving behind Mia with a longing look on her face, and disappointment and sadness in her eyes.
Next to her, Brandon said carelessly, "Cherry is really almighty. Not only is she great at solving Mathematical Olympiad problems, but she can even dance. Mia, do you want to learn to dance?"
Mia lowered her head and stared at her toes as she replied, "Yes, I do."
Brandon said casually, "Then let’s ask Ms. Turner to teach you! She is the best dance teacher ever! Just tell your father; he will definitely agree to it!"
Mia heaved a sigh, turned around unhappily, and returned to the classroom.
Terence dashed out of the school and got into the car. As expected, his father, Paul Quinlan, had come to pick him up.
The six-year-old child was as stout and muscular as a bull. Paul, on the other hand, looked more refined. It was just that his eyes looked particularly sinister.
Terence whined, "Daddy, there’s a brat in the kindergarten who’s actually pretending to be Justin Hunt’s daughter!"
Paul was taken aback. "What?"
Terence suddenly thought of something and recited a series of numbers. Then, he said, "Quick, Daddy, can you check if this is Justin Hunt’s phone number?"