Chapter 427
Chapter 427
During the day, Valerio underwent a few more medical tests. Once the doctor confirmed that he was good to go, he was finally discharged from the hospital.
For Valerio, returning to the comforts of home was a relief. But Seraphina was worried, fearing that the sight of their living room would remind him of the incident that had happened just the previous day.
Before she could voice out her concerns, Leandro spoke up. “I had the house rearranged. All the furniture and decorations in the living room have been replaced.”
Valerio didn’t understand the implication of his words, but Seraphina did right away.
By changing the furniture and decorations, Leandro had essentially given the living room a complete makeover. This way, Valerio would be distracted by the novelty of his surroundings and not dwell on the past event that his grandma was trying to hurt him.
True enough, upon returning home, Valerio looked around the refurbished living room with curiosity.
The couch, coffee table, and carpet had all been replaced, and even the arrangement had been altered. The room bore no trace of its previous state.
Valerio settled comfortably into the couch, his eyes leisurely focused on the TV screen in front of him, seemingly unaffected by the unpleasant memories of the previous day.
Seraphina let out a sigh of relief at the sight. She then sat next to Valerio, coaxing him to call her “Mommy” once again.
Conway and the babysitter sat nearby, waiting for Valerio to speak. However, Valerio pouted, appearing rather unwilling.
“What’s the matter?” Conway laughed. “Are you feeling shy in front of grandpa?”
Leandro glanced at Valerio and explained, “Not shy, he just thinks his voice isn’t nice.”
Upon hearing Leandro’s response, Valerio shrank back a little, apparently agreeing with Leandro’s explanation.
“What a silly boy,” Conway said. “The more you speak, the better your voice will sound.”
Valerio merely lowered his eyes in response.
“Never mind,” Seraphina sighed. “No matter how many times I tell him that, it doesn’t help. Let’s just say that I don’t have a son. He won’t even call me ‘Mom’… I’m heartbroken. Just leave me alone, let me wallow in my sorrow…”
As she spoke, she buried her face into the couch.
Seeing her reaction, the innocent and kind-hearted Valerio immediately became anxious. He reached out to hold Seraphina’s hand, urgently calling out, “Mom, Mom…” NôvelDrama.Org owns this.
Hearing his voice, Conway’s face broke into a wide grin.
Seraphina, on the other hand, quickly sat up and pulled Valerio into her arms. She then turned to Conway, “Grandpa, does his voice sound nice?” “Very nice, indeed,” Conway replied. “Now, call me ‘grandpa’.”
Valerio looked at Seraphina, and upon receiving her encouraging nod, he slowly opened his mouth and tried to speak. But the word that came out was nowhere close to ‘grandpa’.
Regardless, Conway laughed happily, “Good job! With practice, you’ll get better.”
“Of course,” Seraphina added. “After all, Valerio is the best kid. There’s nothing he can’t do.”
As they were happily chatting and laughing in the living room, they heard a car pulling up in the driveway. It seemed like more than one car had arrived.
Sure enough, the next moment, the uncles and aunts from the Reynolds family, who had just visited the hospital yesterday, walked into the house. Seeing them, Valerio instinctively shrank back into the couch. Leandro noticed his reaction and his expression darkened.
Seraphina also noticed and quickly picked up Valerio. “Let’s go upstairs and open your presents, okay?”
To make up for the trauma he had experienced the previous day and to reward him for finally starting to speak, Leandro had bought him several gifts on their way home.
Valerio had been excited about the gifts, but now he just nodded listlessly.
Seraphina felt a pang of sadness as she carried Valerio upstairs.
The visitors were not there for Seraphina or Valerio, and showed no reaction to their leave. They all took a seat in the living room.
Leandro sat quietly on the couch, his cool gaze sweeping over everyone.
As expected, they were there to discuss Gloria’s situation.
Leonard got straight to the point, “Leandro, what are your plans regarding your mother?”
“She was in the police station yesterday, and you were all worried,” Leandro replied. “Now she’s home, and you’re still worried?”
“The issue is that you’re making a big deal out of her treatment for emotional disorders,” Billy chimed in. “Isn’t that like announcing to the world that the Reynolds family has a… a mental patient?”
Leandro laughed coldly, “So, you’re saying that my mother’s condition shouldn’t be treated?”
“Not that it shouldn’t be treated, but rather it shouldn’t be treated like this,” Billy clarified. “With so many eyes on the Reynolds family, any upheaval could be blown out of proportion. This could also adversely affect your mother’s condition, right?”
Leandro’s gaze swept over everyone present before he spoke slowly, “Since you all came together, you must have discussed this. What do you think should be done?”
“Send your mother abroad,” Nanette suggested. “The doctors overseas are more professional, the environment is better, and there won’t be any of these messy issues… It would be best for your mother to recover abroad.”
The typically quiet Celeste Reynolds spoke out, “That’s right, Leandro. It’s best for your mom this way. Just look at Seraphina’s attitude yesterday. If your mom continues to stay in the States, do you think Seraphina will let it be? Who knows what kind of chaos she might stir up?”
After hearing everyone’s opinions, Leandro paused for a moment, then smiled.
Then, he spoke slowly, “My mom was born in Sunburst City, raised in Sunburst City. All her family and friends are in Sunburst City. I’m not going to send her abroad.”
“But your mom is heartbroken. If you keep her in Sunburst City, she’ll be constantly reminded of her pain, and her condition won’t improve,” Nanette argued. “Besides, knowing Seraphina’s love for stirring up trouble, do you think she’ll just leave your mom alone? Won’t your mom suffer even more?”
“I’m not blind yet,” Leandro answered without looking up, “I can see clearly who’s the one who loves stirring up trouble.”