Ch. 1411..1420

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1411--The most crucial point was that if he were Lily’s son, then everything would make sense.

‘She has an odd relationship with Dominic and even knows who his secret apprentice is.If that’s the case, I can understand why the old man would dote on the boy"

"Granduncle, he’s Lily’s child, isn’t he?" Austin asked hesitantly after giving it some thought.

While drinking water, Dominic choked.

"Who told you that?" He looked panicky and glanced at the boy's face.

‘Does he look like her that much?"

Although he did not admit it, Austin could tell from his reaction.

‘ Bingo!’ "Granduncle, what's your relationship with Lily? You’re not only good to her but also her child..."

He could not help but suspect that the child was his grandson, but he shook off the ridiculous idea.

‘No way! No f*cking way!"

Seeing him look puzzled and shake his head, Dominic frowned.

"Why do you care? Who are you to pry into my affairs? Why are you here? If you have nothing to discuss with me, then get lost!"

"Yes, I do, Granduncle!"

Glad that he asked, Austin hurriedly said, "You see, I’ve been treating a young girl who’s obese.Judging from her pulse, I think she suffers from chronic toxicity, which is not fatal but unusually complex.I feel like it’s a bit hard to come up with a cure for such poisoning.What do you—"

"why are you asking me? You're her physician, not me," Dominic said in disapproval.

"After learning herbal medicine for so long, can't you find a cure? Didn’t I tell you to use the simplest method to counteract a toxin, no matter how complex it is? "Always apply the right medicine to the right illness! Haven’t you learned to use the matching medicine for any poison? Don’t you know how to simplify what is complex?"

Dominic scolded him but simultaneously gave Austin ideas.

Puzzled, Austin asked tentatively, "Are you saying..."

"Pm saying if you’re so stupid, stop misleading the public by using my name.

If you get into trouble, don’t expect me to clean up your mess, okay? Don’t spoil my reputation either!"

Dominic growled.

Austin was speechless.

‘The old man always says things that are hard to understand, and I have to figure them out myself.

Simplify the complex.

Does it mean that no matter how many toxins are there, I should simply use a counteracting prescription for each of them? In that case, what if the herbs are not compatible?’ He thought alone for a while, and just as he was about to ask again, he heard footsteps approaching from the backyard and a familiar and pleasant female voice saying, "Hey, old man, have you gotten lazy lately? The grass on the east side has withered a bit.Is it too much for you to look after them yourself?"

Austin was nonplussed.

An awkward look flashed across Dominic's face because Austin was still there.

Dominic frowned and scolded, "Shouldn’t you scram now?"

His voice was quiet, but Lily heard what he said.

Not knowing that there was someone else, she thought he was talking to her and wondered why he was in such a bad mood.

"Okay, I'll scram right away! Don’t worry, I won’t even come again if you beg me," she said as she entered the house.

She was surprised to see Austin.

Austin was nonplussed.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1412--However, on second thought, she figured it was not surprising to see him here.She had gathered what she wanted in a bag and was carrying the bulky container.She thought that since she was here, she should take as many as she could.

"What good stuff have you plundered this time?"

Lifting his eyelids, Dominic asked.

However, he did not seem to mind and had no intention of checking her bag.

"The ones you don’t appreciate, okay?" She answered and looked toward her son.

"Galen, have you been naughty and bullied Grandpa?" As if he had not heard her, the little boy did not answer and buried his head in a heap of snacks.

"Hmm-hmm."

He made the sound to show that he was having fun.

"No, no, he’s been a well-behaving boy!"

Dominic said protectively of him, "There are food and drinks and things to play with here.Of course he’s on his best behavior!"

"Really?"

Doubtful, Lily curled her lips.

"Then how about we come tomorrow again?"

"Well..."

Dominic gave an awkward look.

‘I knew it.My son is mischievous and forever restless.It’s good enough if he’s not wreaking havoc around here, but to expect him to be well-behaved? The could hardly be associated with him"

Still, Dominic was protective of the boy.

Being both scared and fond of him, the older man had conflicting feelings.

Seeing them bantering in such a casual way, Austin was jealous.

He had never seen Dominic like this.

‘It was as if he was an easygoing and slightly mischievous old man.

One that would dote on his grandchildren and joke around.

However, I've never seen him behave in this manner before.

It could only mean that Dominic is much closer to Lily than me"

"Granduncle..."

Finding his voice, he looked at Lily and then at Dominic.

"You two..."

"Us?"

Lily looked toward Dominic and raised her brow questioningly.

‘You’ve not told him about our relationship, have you?’ Dominic shrugged.

‘How would I dare to tell him without your permission?’ Lily nodded in approval, and Dominic grinned smugly.

Austin was dumbfounded.

‘What the hell is happening now? Am I not standing here? Can’t anyone answer my question?’ "What are you asking so much for? It’s not that you don’t know Lily!"

Dominic faked a coughing fit and tried to hedge.

Austin thought quickly and wondered why Lily and Dominic would be so close before he became fond of her son.

‘Dominic rarely left his house over the years, and his social circle was limited.

There could only be one possibility why he knew Lily and was on such good terms with her.."

"I see!"

He slapped his head as realization dawned on him.

Dominic was baffled.

Austin was dumbfounded.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1413 --Lily was also baffled, and even Galen, playing by himself, looked up questioningly.

"Granduncle, you’ve always refused to tell me or publicly announce who your secret apprentice is."

Austin curled his lips into a mysterious smile and peered at Lily.

"It’s Alexander, isn’t it?"

Lily and Dominic were perplexed.

They exchanged looks and communicated without words again.

‘He’s so dumb.Is he truly your grandnephew?"

‘He's not my family, and I don’t know him, okay?’ Austin felt frustrated to see the two communicating through expressions.

It was as if there was a wall between them and him, and he could not be a part of them no matter how hard he tried.

He could not understand why they were shrugging, shaking their heads, blinking their eyes, or sighing.

"Granduncle, I know you don’t wish to announce it publicly because Alexander is someone special, and he wants to keep it a secret, but you don’t have to hide it from me.I guarantee that I won’t reveal it to anyone!"

Austin held up his hand and swore earnestly.

"Hmm..."

Dominic hesitated.

Lily was the first to respond, "Yes, we don’t wish to let too many people know about this.Since you know now, I hope you can keep it a secret and not tell anyone."

Dominic was bemused, while Austin was pleased to see her acknowledging he was right because he had finally uncovered the secret.

‘No wonder Lily knew I wasn’t Dominic’s secret apprentice.It also makes sense that she knows so much about herbal medicine, even though she’s just a perfumer.That’s also why her experiment succeeded after she rested at home for a few days.It must be because of Alexander! It must be!’ With those thoughts in mind, Austin felt that many things finally made sense.

He also felt relieved.

All this while, he refused to accept that Lily, a layperson, and a woman, would know herbal medicine better than him, outperform him in experiments, and be more highly regarded in the laboratory than him.

‘It makes sense now since there’s someone behind her.Also, the person is Dominic's secret apprentice! I must admit that Alexander is truly outstanding and distinguished among his peers.Since he’s Dominic’s secret apprentice, I accept that he has beaten me"

Austin’s frustration disappeared, and he found Lily less irritating.

He said in a friendlier tone, "Don’t worry.I’m not someone who can’t keep his mouth shut.If you had told me earlier that you owed much of your success in the lab to your husband, I wouldn’t have made fun of you.You couldn’t have done it without your expertise in perfumery, could you?"

Lily was perplexed.

After two seconds, she understood what he meant and nodded without retorting.

"Yes, the experiment required knowledge of both fields, and we couldn’t do it without either expertise."

"That’s not exactly true."

To Lily’s surprise, although she refrained from correcting him, Austin tried to do so instead.

"Although I don’t know much about perfumery, I felt it’s not that complicated after studying your data.

"I’ve already succeeded in creating two new samples.I believe everything will go more smoothly from now.Rest assured, the lab can still yield good results without you," Austin said rather smugly.

Then he remembered something and continued, "Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. I recovered the data you tried to destroy. Therefore, I’m in charge of the project at the lab."

"You recovered them?"

Lily did not expect that.

Lily was perplexed.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1414--"You never expected that, did you?"

Austin was pleased with himself and felt he could finally beat her at one thing.

"I restored the data you destroyed, and the lab is running as before—no, it’s better than when you were there, and I believe all experiments will soon succeed."

"You..."

Lily wanted to tell him that he was an idiot and had self- righteously done something stupid.

On second thought, she knew she could achieve nothing by scolding him since he had recovered the data—instead, she laughed coldly.

"Then I wish you good luck."

Austin thought Lily was upset that he could recover the data she destroyed and felt even prouder.

"You have no idea I learned from a hacker for a while, do you? I could restore the data even if you destroyed the database and only smashed the hardware."

"Really?"

Lily lifted her gaze and smiled because Austin had given her a new idea.

‘He’s right that I only destroyed the hardware.

What if I hack into the database and destroy all lab data? It seems like a good idea, doesn’t it?’ Her gaze toward Austin grew friendlier with that thought in mind.

Lily lowered her head to sort out the plant in the bag, then cleaned her hands and returned to say to her son, "Galen, let’s go home."

She clapped, but the little boy ducked into a corner with his buttocks lifted because he was having too much fun there.

"No, no »"

"No? Look how messy you made grandpa’s place! How many strands of grandpa’s beard have you pulled from his chin? He’ll lose his beard if you keep doing that! You can’t do that."

Lily chided her son quietly, and the older man subconsciously felt his beard and hair.

‘It’s not gone yet, is it?’ Even Austin looked at Dominic despite himself and saw his most precious beard look rambling.

"Ahem..."

Dominic let out a dry cough to hide his embarrassment and said, "If he would like to play for a while longer, then let him.

You always come and go in a hurry and treat this place like a hotel —no, ashopping mall, where you can just leave after shopping.Take a seat.What’s the hurry?"

Lily turned around when she heard those words.

"Then how about T let Galen stay here for a few days, and I only pick him up when he wants to go home?"

The boy widened his eyes and clapped.

"Okay, okay!"

However, Dominic looked terrified and blurted, "Okay, my a*s!"

He noticed Galen's disappointment, regretted what he had said, and continued, "I’m saying I have no problem with you staying here, but your mom will worry."

"I won't!" Lily said.

Dominic shot her a look ‘Can you not sabotage me?’ He added, "Then your dad will worry!"

‘His dad.."

Lily’s faint smile froze.

She thought about Alexander, who was still overseas with his fate unknown to her, and her longing for him grew stronger.

"Old man..." she said quietly.

"Have you heard of the pandemic in Burnwken?"

Her voice seemingly did not sound off and was light and casual, but since Dominic knew her well, he could tell otherwise and asked, "why? "

However, Dominic looked terrified and blurted, "Okay, my a*s!"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1415 --"Nothing.Just...trying to follow the news," Lily said blandly.

Having been disregarded by them, Austin finally found an opportunity to join in as he knew about the matter.

"You're worried about Alexander, aren't you? You don’t need to!"

Austin said, "Since he’s my granduncle’s secret apprentice, he should be able to deal with the pandemic.Even if he’s not good enough to solve it, he should have no problem keeping himself safe."

Since the duo did not deny it, Austin naturally thought they had acknowledged that he was right about Alexander.

He thought that since Alexander was Dominic’s secret apprentice and had studied herbal medicine for so long, dealing with the pandemic would not be a big problem.

However, he did not know that Lily was Dominic’s secret apprentice, not Alexander, as he had assumed.

Lily could not help but roll her eyes when she heard what Austin said.

‘He’s such a dumb*ss for thinking he’s right all the time!’ She had no interest in replying to Austin and turned to Dominic, saying, "I heard the pandemic is not as simple as the last ones.There seems to be a new type of virus."

Dominic could guess that Lily was worried about her husband.

"I saw some news, but the situation is still unclear, and our country has tightened entry requirements for travelers from that country.

"However, Alex is no ordinary person and is unlikely to get exposed to the virus.Besides, he’s a grownup and not a child.He understands the situation better than us and would know how to protect himself."

Dominic was trying to put Lily’s mind at ease but what he said was also true.

Austin felt utterly numbed.

‘Grandpa is so unfair! He’s never spoken a nice word to me, but even if Lily is the wife of his secret apprentice, he doesn’t need to be so good to her, does he?’ "Granduncle, I think the rumors sound too incredible.

A new type of virus we haven’t seen before? Now that technology and medicine are so advanced, what type of virus haven't we encountered before? "Even if we haven’t, the experts could devise a countermeasure.Burnwken is backward and slow in dealing with it, so the virus spreads quickly.We would’ve solved the problem if it had happened in our country!"

After reading some of the news and following the reports, he thought the media had blown the whole thing out of proportion and made it sound more dangerous than it was.

‘Pve studied herbal medicine for so long.I will never believe there’s any pandemic that could be so scary"

Dominic threw Austin a casual glimpse and said to Lily, "If you’re too worried, ask him to come back sooner.There are many opportunities to do business and earn money since Alex is still young.He shouldn't be risking his life."

"He’s not there to make money.There’s an accident, and he went over to take care of it."

Lily let out a soft sigh and did not wish to elaborate on what happened at the branch there.

"Do you have the latest information on the virus? I'd like to take a look."

In other words, she wanted to study it to see if the problem was severe and if it was possible to develop a cure soon.

Although that country was already researching the cure, its medical care was backward, and she felt anxious seeing how they dealt with the pandemic.

However, she could do nothing since it happened in another country.

"you want to take a look at it? What for?"

Feeling dismissed by the duo, Austin snorted despite himself.

"Why don’t you let my granduncle and me—"

"Can’t you shut the hell up?"

Dominic suddenly flared up.

"No one will treat you as a fool if you finally learn to keep quiet!"

Austin was flabbergasted.

"you want to take a look at it? What for?"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1416--Austin could no longer hold it in. “Granduncle, I understand if you’ re partial to your secret apprentice, but what does she know? You can’t possibly be so biased, can you? Also, she’s taking so many precious herbs from you. Does she even know how to use them? Whenever I try to get some from you, you only let me take a little yet her bag...”

He grew jealous when he looked at Lily’s bag.

All the plants there were precious medicinal herbs that Dominic had carefully cultivated. Austin wanted to take them several times but got turned down, except for the few times Dominic gave him a little bit. Still, Lily’s bag... Austin was indeed jealous.

“They belong to me, and I can give them to whoever I like! You spend your days hanging around with those rich people, so don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been up to. Instead of focusing on herbal medicine, you keep trying to get famous, even at my expense. You stay the hell away from me, okay?” Dominic rarely got so angry and scolded him in one breath.

Lily was surprised, and Austin did not know what to say.

A dead silence fell, and the vibe was awkward with hostility until...

“Hehehe...” Galen stood by the fence, playing alone, and watched them as they talked. Instead of startling him, Dominic’s outburst made him giggle.

The boy did not mean anything by it.

However, his giggle embarrassed Austin further. He felt he had been made fun of by a young child who hadn't even finished teething. Austin’s face flushed and then paled.

“Granduncle, it’s okay if you say I’m not hardworking or talented enough, but you’re belittling me if you think all I care about is getting famous! I know you’ve always been prejudiced against my whole family and me because of my grandpa, but I’m sincere in wanting to learn herbal medicine from you.

“Even if you're biased against me, shouldn’t you stop being that way after so many years?” Austin emphasized each word, speaking through clenched teeth. After he finished, he threw a conflicted look at Lily and turned to leave.

‘He’s gone.’

It was the first time he voluntarily left without Dominic telling him. The house got so quiet that it had an unnerving quality to it.

Lily looked at Dominic’s face. Although he showed no particular expression, she could tell from the quiver of a corner of his lips that he was not as calm as he looked.

“Old man...” She spoke softly but got interrupted.

Dominic held up his hand and said toughly, “Let him be! He should be gone. If not, I’ll have to kick him out anyway!”

“No, I’m trying to...”

“Stop! I know what you’re going to say. Don’t I know what my relative is like? He’s a bit smart and talented, but he’s unscrupulous. People in our field could be easily led astray if we have no scruples! I chose to teach you not only because of Wilfred but also because you—”

Before he could finish, a crash sounded. Stunned, he stopped talking, then slowly turned his head to the noise source, having a bad feeling.

“Boom!” This softer sound came from the culprit’s mouth. The little boy somehow climbed onto a shelf and waved his tiny hand at them, grinning.

Dominic had his staff remove most of the decorations from the shelf so that only his two prized porcelain teapots were visible. He wanted to keep them away too, but thinking they were safely locked inside the showcase, he reckoned they should be fine and left them alone.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1417--At this moment, the supposedly locked showcase was open, and one of the teapots had fallen and broken into pieces on the floor.

The other one was still...

“My darling!” One could not tell if Dominic was referring to the teapot or the boy as he shouted in a trembling voice. On tiptoe, he sped over.

“Here you go, Grandpa!”

Seemingly knowing what Dominic wanted, Galen reached out his hands to grab the teapot for Dominic and lost his balance. His body swayed and fell backward.

“My darling!” The older man screamed again and quickly lunged forward to catch the boy as he fell.

At the same time, he heard another crash. He shut his eyes as if he could not face reality. His heart and body ached, inside and out!

“Don’t be scared, Grandpa!” Galen patted his chest soothingly. Dominic was speechless. He wanted to cry! Lily came over at this moment and sighed. “I was trying to ask you whether those two teapots were expensive.”

‘But he had to interrupt me and give a heroic speech.’

“What do you think?” Opening his eyes, he threw her a doleful and bitter look. “Then you should have just told me! I thought you were talking about Austin.”

“That’s your family affairs. Who am I to say anything about it?” Lily sighed and opened her arms. “Hand him over.”

However, Dominic held him tight instead. “No! Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. If I hand him over, you’re going to punish him!”

Holding Galen, Dominic walked over to one side and sat down, looking away from the broken pieces on the floor lest they upset him.

Even though he was upset, he could not bear to let the boy get punished.

“I have to. He wreaks havoc every time he comes here. You can’t just side with him,” Lily said seriously.

“If things get broken, so be it! What if you injure him?” The boy’s head nudged softly against his neck, and he felt his heart had melted. He felt conflicted, indeed. He was upset, yet he doted on the boy so much that he could not bear to scold him.

“I won't. I'm his mom, okay?” Lily rubbed her forehead helplessly.

‘This old man is truly one of a kind.’

“Even a mom could make a mistake and kill her child by accident.”

He refused to let go of the boy and wanted her to promise him that she would not punish him.

Lily did not know what to say. She could not make such a promise. She had to punish her son so he would know what he could and could not do.

When she saw what Galen was doing just now, it was already too late, and she decided to buy Dominic two teapots of better quality to compensate him. However, she was curious how her son managed to open the locked showcase.

“Okay, then let him stay at your place.” She withdrew her hands. “ Send him over when you decide to do so.”

Dominic was alarmed as she turned and pretended to leave. “No, no! You can have him!”

As he passed him over, the old man said, despite himself, “If you’d like to beat him, don’t do it here. I can’t take it.”

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1418 --Since he had said so, Lily could not punish Galen in his presence.

Pulling her face back, she gave her son a solemn look.

"Are you sorry?"

The boy was young but knew what was right and wrong.

Holding his head low, he peered nervously at his mother and pursed his lips quietly when she asked.

"We must all feel sorry for our mistakes.As a boy, don’t you even have the courage to admit that you’ve made one?"

Lily continued, "Are you sorry?"

"Yes," he said softly but clearly enough.

Lily asked, "What did you say? I couldn’t hear you."

"I’m sorry."

His voice was louder this time.

Pouting, he looked pitiful, with shimmery tears welling up in his big eyes.

This was enough to make Dominic feel sorry for him and wave.

"Okay, okay, you’ve said it enough.What does a little child know?"

"The fact that he’s young makes it all the more important to teach him what he should and shouldn’t do! Didn’t I tell you many times before not to touch the things in Grandpa's house and not to climb up and down like a daredevil?"

She said angrily, "You're always so naughty, and you’ve even smashed Grandpa's stuff this time.What do you think we should do?"

The boy was too young to know what to do.

Stumped by her question, he peered at his mother, pouted, then burst out crying.

"It’s useless to cry! Can crying solve the problem?"

She put him on the floor and bent over to look at him.

"If you did a bad thing, you must be punished! Since you've broken the teapots, we’ll compensate grandpa with two new ones, okay?"

"Okay..." he answered sobbingly, knowing by now that he had done something terrible.

"Then what should you do since you have no money?" she asked again.

Stumped by the question again, he tried hard to think of ways to solve the problem as his sobbing turned into a snivel.

"There’s no need to do anything!" Dominic hurriedly said.

The teapots were his favorites, but they were nothing compared to the boy.

Seeing the adorable child struggling for an answer, he felt terrible. He was used to being alone and leading a carefree life, but the older he got, the more he felt lonely living as a recluse. He had a huge yard and many servants, but he could hardly find anyone to have a heart-to-heart talk with.

At first, he had started to teach Lily for the sake of his late friend, but he later found her to be highly talented and had learned much more than all of his previous apprentices. He thus grew fond of her and treated her like his own granddaughter.

Although they often bickered, and she never treated him with the utmost respect as an apprentice should, he enjoyed interacting with her like a friend.

Since Lily married and had given birth to such a mischievous yet adorable and doll-like boy, he treated him like his flesh and blood. He always told her not to bring Galen over, but he would keep thinking about the boy if he did not come.

The child was like his own grandson or someone dearer.

However, Lily ignored him and simply looked into her son’s eyes as she said earnestly, "How about this? Since you have no money, mom and dad will compensate Grandpa on your behalf. You’re not allowed to buy new toys for a whole year since your allowance would be deducted as compensation to Grandpa. What do you think?"

"No, no, it’s not necessary..."

The older man felt bad about it.

‘‘How can this little wench think of deducting her son’s allowance to compensate me???’’

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1419 --"His allowance won’t be enough to pay for the teapots.Why don’t you just use it to buy toys for him?"

Dominic could not help but speak on the little boy’s behalf.

Lily nodded.

"You're right.Then I'll deduct his allowance for two years."

Galen pursed his lips and wanted to cry again.

He had accepted that his mother would deduct his allowance for a year, but after Dominic tried to defend him, it became two years instead.

"B-But..."

Dominic was at a loss and dared not help Galen again, so he faked a coughing fit.His gaze wandered toward the open showcase as he tried to devise a random excuse.

"It’s not entirely his fault! I didn’t lock the showcase properly.Even if he didn’t break the teapots, the thieves might have stolen them!"

Then he raised his voice and scolded, "Look what you’ve done! Didn’t I tell you guys to keep the showcases and cabinets locked? Couldn’t you do such a simple thing? Do you still want this month’s salary? Do you still want your jobs?"

The maid tidying up the place answered hurriedly, "Sir, we did lock the showcase.I checked."

The maid felt wronged as Dominic had reprimanded her for something she had done well.

"Nonsense! Why would it be open if you locked it? Are you telling me a toddler can unlock it?" he scolded.

"Well..."

The maids only knew they had locked the showcase.

‘‘Who knows how he opened it?’ Dominic’s question reminded Lily of it.She walked over to the showcase and carefully examined the lock.It was a simple and the most common hasp lock.However, if one had properly locked it, it would be challenging for a child of more than a year old to open it.

Even if Galen had a key, he would not know how to use it.

After studying it carefully, she gave her son a thoughtful look over her shoulder.

After getting scolded, the sad boy was unnerved by his mother’s gaze and subconsciously took two steps back.

"Galen, come here!" Lily called her son and beckoned.

Galen did not know what was in store for him, so he hesitated whether to go forward.

From his reasoning, it was most likely a bad thing.

He pouted and looked over his shoulder toward Dominic with a pleading expression.

Dominic’s heart melted when he saw the little boy’s teary eyes and hurriedly said, "Never mind.Perhaps the maid didn’t do a good job and misremembered it.Don’t put your child on the spot."

The maid was speechless.

"I’m not putting him on the spot.I’m just trying to get to the bottom of what happened."

Lily beckoned again, "Galen, don’t make me repeat myself."

The child was scared but mustered his courage and jogged over.

"Mommy..."

He wrapped his arms around his mother’s legs, hoping she would not scold him again.

"Did you open this???"

Lily pointed at the lock on the showcase.

Galen looked up, narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, and nodded.

"Really? Really???I don’t buy it!"

Lily crossed her arms and looked at him doubtfully.

"This was locked.Even I can't even open it without a key.How did you do it without one?"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1420--Galen thought his mother would severely reprimand him at first.

He happily wanted to show off his skill and realized that not only was Lily not going to scold him again, but she also said she could not open the lock.

Galen put his tiny hands together, twisted them, then said, "Poof!" to indicate how he opened the lock.

Others might not understand his performance, but since he was Lily’s son, she immediately caught on, even though she found it hard to believe.

"That was it?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded vigorously.

Lily thought about it and gestured at the maid standing aside.

"Please lock the showcase."

The maid was puzzled.

Dominic also came over as the maid looked toward her employer for his instruction.

Dominic was also curious how a toddler could open the showcase.

Initially, he thought it was an accident and that the maids did not lock the showcase properly.

Now that Lily questioned her son, he rechecked the lock and felt it did not seem to be the maid’s fault.

‘If Galen did open it, he must be a child prodigy."

Dominic stood by the showcase and saw the maid looking over.

Then he impatiently waved her off.

"Why are you looking at me? Lock it!"

"O-Oh..."

The maid deftly put the lock back on.

To ensure the maid had properly locked it, Lily tugged at it and tried to open the showcase, but she learned that she could not do so without the key the maid was holding.She looked at her son.

"Here you go."

She pointed her lips toward the showcase, wanting him to show her how he did it.

Galen tried to stand on his toes but was a bit too short.

He stepped on a small stool he sat on whenever he played, and his hands could reach the lock.

He was somehow holding a thin stick in his hand.

No, it was softer than a stick, seemingly a cable that he had pulled off some toy.

He cocked his head, inserted the cable slowly, and his hands made several twisting motions as he had demonstrated earlier, rotating it unhurriedly.

It looked like he was trying his luck, but he was meticulous, and one might notice that he was simultaneously listening carefully.

Then like how he showed Lily just now, he said, "Poof!" and the lock sprung open.

Everyone gawked at it except the little boy.

"I opened it!"

Galen happily pointed at the showcase and proudly straightened his back as if waiting for his mother to praise him.

Lily had yet to recover from her shock.

The child was less than two years old, and she had never realized anything unusual about him.

She only told Alexander before that since both of them had high IQs, their children would not be too stupid.

Alexander had told her not to expect too much and that what mattered most was for their son to be healthy, happy, and safe.

As for what Galen would become, they could only wait until he grew up.

Lily did not expect the first talent Galen show would be in this area.

"W_What can I say? Does he have the talent to be a locksmith or a safebreaker???’” She was so shocked that she did not know what to say.

She palmed her forehead as she still had difficulty processing what she had just seen.

Meanwhile, Galen did not receive his due praise and felt puzzled because his mother did not look upset.

The little boy hesitated and looked toward Dominic instead.