Imperfect Desires

"Baba, save me!"

Darren had just stepped inside the house when he heard the loud and piercing scream of his son. For a moment, it felt like someone was torturing that little guy but from his experience, Darren was already familiar with the fact that it wasn't like that at all.

Little tiger ran over to his father's side and hide behind him. Hugging his father's leg, he continued to whimper, "Baba, your wife is a monster!"

Darren chuckled to himself before saying, "That's your mom as well."

"My mommy is best, it's your wife who has a problem," his son argued in his sticky-sweet voice.

"Whether it's your mom or my wife, both are the same person," retorted Darren.

Rowan continued to shake his head as he said, "That's not true."

Darren didn't know what to do with his son just like he still hadn't figured out what to do with his Sweets.. He was truly helpless before this mother and son pair.

Darren picked up the young man in his arms and asked, "Now, tell me what did my Sweets do?"

Rowan pursed his lips and acted out like he was suffering from an intense grievance as he told his father, "She said, I'm grounded for this month. I won't get to play with my sisters. Isn't that being too cruel to me?"

Darren raised his brows slightly in surprise. Usually, Xiu would never stop Rowan from playing with his favorite sisters. Everyone knew how close these little ones were. Rowan was the favorite of Asteria and Ava, and even Jackie was in no position to win before Rowan. For Xiu to ground her 8-year-old son... That's surprising.

"What did you do this time?" asked Darren straightforwardly as he carried his son inside.

"I didn't do anything," Rowan answered with a pitiful look but Darren didn't fall for it. After all, Rowan was the son of Xiu! Xiu - who once ruled the entertainment circle with her acting. Did you think her only son won't inherit her dramatics? How was that possible?

Clearly, this son of theirs inherited every single skill of his mother even at this young age.

"You definitely did something to annoy your mother again," said Darren. As he looked at Xiu who was serving the dinner, he went up and kissed her cheek saying, "Sweets, I'm home."

Xiu smiled at him but her smile vanished when she looked at her son in her husband's arms.

"Aren't you old enough to walk?" she said sternly. "Get down."

"Oh..." was all that Rowan managed to get out before he slid down from his father's arms. ƒr𝙚𝙚𝘸e𝚋𝐧૦ѵ𝒆𝒍.𝒄𝒐m

Seeing this situation, Darren was even more certain that something was up. Something serious happened to make Xiu look like this.

"Freshen up, Regan!" instructed Xiu in a serious tone. "Dinner is already done."

Darren silently nodded and glanced at his son before going to change this clothes. Behind him, Xiu looked at Rowan and raised her brow, "Do you really think your father can save you from me?"

Rowan looked down at his toes and shook his head dejectedly. He was old enough to understand that anything was possible in this house except for the fact that his mother would be on the losing end. For years, he had been seeing how even if his mother was on the losing end, not just his father but everyone else would give in to her. f𝘳ℯℯ𝙬𝒆𝚋𝐧oν𝑒Ɩ.c𝑜𝙢

Well, only his Uncle Dylan was the one who headbutted with his mother all the time. And he was the only one who loved to go against Xiu as well.

"Since you don't even think you did anything wrong then let's extend your punishment," said Xiu lightly.

Rowan's eyes widened as he stared at his mother with a horrified expression, "Mommy, I was wrong! Don't do it!"

"Too late for that my darling son," was Xiu's response as she smiled sweetly at her son.

However, Rowan didn't think her smile was sweet at all. He wanted to cry out but if he did that, he'd be in even bigger trouble, so he chose to just stay quiet.

When Darren came to the dinner table, he saw his son who looked like someone snatched his life from him. Darren actually found it quite funny but he held himself back from laughing out loud.

Xiu put food in Darren's bowl and even told him, "I made sour and sweet ribs have a taste."

Darren nodded while he continued to eat whatever Xiu put in his bowl. But then he noticed that his son was actually eating a bowl of porridge mixed with shredded chicken, he frowned.

"Rowan, why don't you take something else?"

Rowan's eyes lit up but the light in his eyes went out when his mother spoke up, "He isn't hungry, you don't have to pay attention to him."

"But all of these are his favorite dishes," said Darren.

"I know," answered Xiu. "Why do you think I spent so much time making all of this?"

"If you made Rowan's favorite dishes, why is he not allowed to eat?"

"So that he can learn a lesson," replied Xiu. "He had been feeding his lunch box to Bo Jiu's cat all this while. Since he loves to waste food so much, I have to let him see the consequences of doing it, no?"

Darren had a sudden realization. It seemed that his son was in some serious trouble. He could only see his favorite food but couldn't get a taste of it. What a tragedy! But Xiu was not soft-hearted at all.

Although he felt bad for his son, he still had to remind himself that his Sweets was right. Rowan was young but he had to understand that wasting food was not the way to go. If he indulged him now, things won't end well in the future.

"Until he learned the importance of food, he is going to eat only porridge!"

Rowan felt like he was sentenced to death.