It'll Come Naturally

"Kevin, how did it go? Is Rain joining us for dinner?" Leena asked her husband. She was walking out of the kitchen, the apron still on her waist while holding a spatula.

"Of course. He immediately said yes as soon as he heard you were cooking. He'll be here soon," Kevin reported. Any invitation which included a meal was always welcome for Rain. He would never turn down Kevin's invitation because honestly, he missed Leena's cooking. Rain lived alone and was not comfortable letting people he didn't know well into his home. That was the reason why he never even hired a housemaid. He enjoyed living alone but seldom had a good home-cooked meal since he didn't know how to cook. "By the way, where is Richard? Why isn't he with you?" Her brows furrowed when she didn't see her son around. She had asked Kevin to look after the boy while she cooked.

"He's being punished. I had him stand at military posture," Kevin said nonchalantly. He said it a if it was no big deal for a small child to take on the stance that broke even adults.

"What? Stand at military posture? Where is he?" Leena raised her tone. She immediately panicked upon hearing her husband's words. The boy was only two years old, for God's sake! Why was he given that kind of punishment? And what did he do to be punished that way? At times, Kevin was really something else.

"He's there by the door going to the garden," Kevin replied. He pointed his chin towards the direction of the garden. Leena immediately turned to look that way. She sighed deeply. "All right. Tell me, what did he do?"

The boy was very precious to Leena, and at that age, she didn't want to see him being harshly punished. But Leena also believed in teaching her son the right values. The last thing she wanted was for the boy to grow up spoiled and then end up a brat. So, if he did something wrong, Richard had to be punished. And it was up to his father to decide how to discipline their child.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

"He destroyed my model tank," Kevin simply said. Kevin spent his free time, amounting to many months, finishing that model tank. He was very fond of it. And his son managed to destroy it in a few minutes. It was all broken and looked beyond repair.

The corners of Leena's mouth twitched. The model tank was serious business. She knew how much time and effort Kevin spent in making it, and how much he treasured it. So she understood why his father punished Richard that way. Still, he was only two years old, and Leena was sure he didn't destroy it on purpose. Wasn't the punishment a little too harsh for him?

"Do you want to turn our family into the military, too?" she asked her husband. She drew a deep calming breath and then glared at Kevin. He could at times be unbelievable. Imagine punishing a two-year-old boy by making him stand at military posture? It was ridiculous! Did he actually want to turn their family into soldiers? He was doing now what his father used to do to him before.

"Don't worry!" Kevin assured her. "It's just for ten minutes. I'm not totally heartless, you know." He wasn't a fool. Kevin was aware of how young the boy was and didn't want to punish him severely that he would be hurt. Now if Richard were bigger and older, the punishment wouldn't just be standing for ten minutes. For sure, Richard would be made to do push-ups, among other things.

"Okay, fine! I won't stop you as long as he doesn't get hurt," Leena stomped back to the kitchen. While she hated to see her son punished, Leena knew he should learn from his mistakes. And out of respect for Kevin, she didn't want to interfere when her husband disciplined their child. She knew that in his heart, Kevin loved Richard more than anyone else in the world. And it was for the boy's sake that he was being punished.

Kevin shrugged and didn't answer. He knew Leena didn't want him to punish their son, and honestly, he didn't want to, either. But it was something he needed to do. Only by being punished would Richard learn from his mistake and never do it again. He wanted his son to learn lessons and be a better person. Kevin didn't want to be the kind of father who constantly spoiled his child.

Meanwhile, Rain was in a liquor store and didn't expect to meet the last woman he wanted to see. As he was choosing the bottle to buy, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Startled, he turned and came face-to-face with Eleanor. What an unpleasant coincidence! He just wasn't in the mood to deal with this woman right now.

"Oh, it really is you!" Eleanor said excitedly. "Mr. Xia, I thought you were someone else and wanted to be sure." There was a genuine look of surprise in Eleanor's beautiful face as if she hadn't approached him in recognition first. Like they had discussed earlier, the woman proved herself to be outgoing and full of enthusiasm, never shy about revealing her feelings and desires. That was why Duke wanted her for the commercial. And just by looking at how she dressed, one could easily tell the kind of girl Eleanor was. She wasn't embarrassed to show off her body, that was very enticing to men, and was never opposed to using this to her advantage.

"Hello, Miss Xiao," Rain greeted her stiffly. If only she knew the truth that Rain was unhappy to see her there.

"What kind of liquor are you looking for, Mr. Xia?" Eleanor asked curiously. Her eager eyes showed her interest in the single, handsome and affluent man in front of her. Eleanor was not afraid to approach him and had a reputation for getting what she wanted. She didn't just like Rain, Eleanor believed he was perfect for her. At the same time, she was aware that there was a lot of competition because of Rain's popularity, so she was taking every chance she had to flirt with him and get the man to like her. She wanted Rain, and was confident she would soon get him.

"Anything is fine. I'm supposed to be somewhere, so goodbye," Rain quickly answered. Randomly, he grabbed a bottle of Tequila and turned to walk to the counter. He wanted to quickly pay for his purchase and leave the store as soon as possible. Rain wanted nothing to do with Eleanor. Women, who didn't know how to read signs when they were not wanted and kept chasing after men, annoyed him. Like Edward, Rain could be cold and cruel in situations like this. He didn't want to be involved in messy relationships. As soon as he knew someone he disliked was interested in him, he would immediately cut her off and block any attempts of approaching him. Rain was not blind. He could see through what Eleanor was trying to do.

"Hold on! Since we happened to meet here while we're both shopping for liquor, are you going to be gentleman enough and pay for my purchases?" Eleanor asked sweetly. She smiled at Rain flirtatiously, while glancing meaningfully at his chest. He'd left some of the buttons of his shirt undone, and a small patch of smooth skin showed. Eleanor was doing her best to seduce Rain and was not being subtle about it. She had no idea that her actions only made Rain dislike her more.