Who's Crying Now, Ex-Husband?

Chapter 479

"Yes, sir."

The car fell quiet for a moment. Leonard thought for a bit, then filled in the gaps from the past few days-everything he hadn't reported yet. He hesitated, then added, "And about Mrs. Bennett... her throat's been bothering her lately, so she's been resting at home these past few days..."

"I know," the man replied, his voice tinged with a faint, amused warmth.

Leonard's expression shifted. He continued, "And, two days ago, Eugene dropped off our radar for a while. There's a good chance those people are already here."

The man's tone lost its smile in an instant. "But Cossio hasn't made a move yet," he said, clicking his tongue softly. "That old fox is being extra careful. Keep a close watch-they're bound to act soon... especially concerning Mrs. Bennett. Don't let your guard down around her."

"Understood."

Meanwhile, at Sunnybrook Elementary.

Adrian walked into the classroom and saw Julian sitting alone in the back corner, surrounded by a cluster of kids all talking at once. Julian, though, just stared into space, only occasionally mumbling a reply, stiff and absent, like a puppet with its strings cut.

Adrian's fists curled instinctively-he always had the urge to start a fight. But remembering Leonard's warning, he forced himself to hold back, took a few deep breaths, and finally strode over, pushing through the ring of classmates.

As soon as he appeared, Julian's dull eyes lit up.

"Adrian!"

"... Yeah." Adrian gritted out a reply. He reached into the desk and yanked out Julian's backpack, not caring whether Julian agreed or not. Grabbing his hand, he dragged him to the seat beside his own, tossing Julian's bag onto the chair. He muttered, not sounding all that thrilled, "From now on, you're sitting next to me."

But Julian just smiled.

so long since he'd been around other kids-and there was something about Adrian that made him instinctively want to get

to use much force-but whether it was his own strength or Julian's weakness, he wasn't sure. Either way, Julian stumbled, hit the edge of

Adrian froze.

pushed that

there, head down, saying nothing. That only made Adrian angrier— until Leonard's words echoed in his mind: Hold

knelt and tugged at the boy.

Even after being pulled a couple more times, he only whimpered quietly, his face white

realized something was

Julian to his feet-despite being a year older, Julian was much smaller and

the place well-years of scrapes and scuffles had made him

Ms. Stephanie, their teacher, hurried over, fuming as the nurse checked Julian over. "Adrian, are

had left her number with Ms. Stephanie, telling

Adrian bristled. "I just gave him a little push, barely touched him, and he

shaky but soft, "I just... my legs gave out. I wasn't

chimed in

looked doubtful-Adrian was notorious

a few other things, asked some questions and quickly figured out the truth: the boy was simply hungry, his stomach aching and head spinning from

how you looked at it, it could

for her phone, intending to call Julian's parents. But Julian, now a bit steadier, grabbed her sleeve, his face still pale. "Please, Ms. Stephanie, I'll be fine

added, "If my folks find out I

"But you-"

Adrian jumped in, not only impatient but worried his own mom might get dragged in if parents got involved. He grabbed Julian, steering him toward the cafeteria. "C'mon, I'll get him some

"You two-slow down!" Ms.