Chapter 327
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"You-"
Obviously, Alex had something to say about what he just heard.
But before he could fully articulate his sentence, he felt a jerk all around him, which was followed by a sudden change in the scenery.
"!!!"
To Alex's surprise, he found himself back at the steak restaurant, seating at the exact chair that he was sitting in before.
As for the mother, she was also sitting back on her place, giving Alex a small smile.
The whole restaurant seemed to be in order, as if Alex and the mother's exploits in the sky were unnoticed anyone in the restaurant.
"What the hell…" As Alex found himself back in this restaurant, he immediately looked at Alina, intending to see how she reacted to what just happened to him.
"Alex, what's the problem?" Alina asked as Alex looked at her. "Did something happen?"
Alina's face did not hold any hint of worry or panic as she asked her question, which just made Alex more confused.
"…"
From the looks of it, even Alina seemed to also not notice Alex's confrontation with the mother.
"Alina… how many minutes has passed by when Annie's mother pointed her finger upward?" Alex asked boldly, not even caring that the mother and her daughter could hear him. "Was it two minutes? Or was it 5 minutes?"
"What are you talking about? She did not point her finger up!" Alina hissed as she leaned forward. "Why are you saying that?"
"!!!"
After Alex heard this answer, he was barely able to keep calm as he realized what happened.
From the looks of it, what happened between Alex and the mother were not seen by anyone in the restaurant! Even Alina, who was always focused on Alex, had also failed to noticed this!
"F**k this, this woman really is hax!" Alex complained to himself inwardly as he gritted his teeth. "How the hell was she able to pull this off?"
Once he discovered this abnormality, Alex slightly shivered as he felt more and more mystified by the woman's intentions.
"She did all of these things… just to hire me as a babysitter? That does not make any sense." Alex thought to himself as he noticed Alina starting to get suspicious. "But what if the crux of the matter lies on the girl that I am supposed to babysit? Does that mean that there is something special about Annie?"
As Alex thought of this, he gave the little girl a glance.
"Hm?" Annie, who was happily gorging on her second chicken, felt Alex's gaze on her, prompting her to look at him. "Big brother, is there a problem?"
"Oh, there's no problem at all." Alex replied smoothly. "It's just that your mother has offered me a job to be your babysitter. Of course I am not that enthused on babysitting people. But still, I am curious on why she wanted me to babysit you. That was why I am looking at you now."
"What!"
The person who shouted this word was Alina, who suddenly stood up.
She then stared at Alex with a burning look as she asked him,
"Alex, this woman offered you a babysitting job? When did you get that offer?"
It was obvious from the way that Alina looked right now that she was starting to suspect some kind of foul play.
Alex of course was not a dumb person who will let his partner be tormented by suspicion anymore.
Thus the answer that he gave her was,
"Alina, after Annie started eating her chicken, her mother, who was sitting beside me, suddenly gave me the offer to be Annie's babysitter." Alex replied as he crossed his arms.
"She gave you the offer now? But I did not see anythi-"
"Alina, something like that did happen." Alex replied urgently as he narrowed his eyes. "You can see that I am telling the truth, right?"
"Yes, I can see that you are telling the truth…" Alina's words trailed as he gave Alex a bewildered look. "But still-"
"Alina, we can talk about what happened here for another time." Alex said as he raised his hand. "For now, we must talk about the mother's offer to babysit Annie."
Since Alina was unable to see the interview between Alex and the mother, Alex has just decided to talk about it later at their room.
For now, Alex and Alina must focus on the more important topic, which in this situation, was the job offer to babysit Annie.
"Talk about babysitting? Alex, you should reject it." Alina quickly said before Alex could state his point. "You can clearly see that something is going on here. Do you really want to get yourself entwined closely with these two?"
"…" Alex found no reply to that, as he found himself struggling to answer.
Even if Alex was interested on getting closer to Annie and her mother, he also realized how dangerous this could be.
"Should I really… make myself close with these two?" Alex thought to himself as he chewed his lip. "No matter which way I look at this, there is something that the mother wanted from me, and it involves me getting acquainted with her daughter. Should I allow her plan to gain fruition?"
But on the other hand, getting close to Annie might provide Alex some advantages too.
"If I become Annie's babysitter, I can use that status to gain benefits for myself!" Alex thought as he gave Annie a shrewd look. "I can use my words to manipulate her, or I can even use my power to take her hostage… Any of that is possible, as long as I become Annie's babysitter! But is doing that worth the risk?"
These two opposing views continued to resonate inside Alex's mind, forcing him to be stumped for an answer.
"Alina, let me ask some more questions from Annie's mother. First." Alex replied as his eyes narrowed. "I want to clarify some things from her."
"Fine, do it already."
"Here I go." After he made this decision, Alex tugged his clothes slightly as he turned to look at the mother.
"Hey, why are you so interested on hiring me as a babysitt-"
Whatever question Alex wanted to ask got cut-off as words failed to get out of his throat.
"What the hell?" Alex then started to let out a complaint as he glared at the empty seat beside him. "Did she just ditch us?"
To Alex's surprise and fury, the mother, who was just sitting beside them earlier, was now gone!
Not even her presence could be detected inside the restaurant, which meant that the mother had left Alex and Alina!
And what's worse was that she left these two with Annie, who was still busy eating her chicken!
"Oh? So mommy already left? You must be a good babysitter then." Annie said as she looked up from her meal. She seemed to be not surprised with what happened.
Instead, she seemed to be even used to it, given by the lack of panic in her face.
"You…" Alex could barely suppress his irritation as he realized that the mother had tricked him again.
The mother must have realized that Alex was still conflicted on accepting the job offer as a babysitter.
Since that was the case, the mother must have thought that leaving Annie alone with Alex will force Alex to be her babysitter.
Well, that would be the case if Alex has no choice left.
But right now, Ale still had some way to resolve the situation.
"Hey Annie, you might not know it, but I am actually a busy person." Alex said as he stared at the fashionably dressed girl. "So I do not have that much time to babysit you today... Maybe I can just bring you home after you eat? Won't that be the best thing to do here?"
"Home?" Annie, whose lips were stained with grease and gravy, tilted her head as if she had heard a foreign word. "You will take me home?"
"Yes, I will do that." Alex replied as he started to feel more confident talking with the little girl. "Just tell me the address, and we will bring you there!"
"But my home is with mommy." Annie replied, which doused cold water on Alex's confidence. "Now that mommy left, I have no home to go back to."
"W-what?"
"Mommy always brings our home with her." Annie continued talking as she finished up her chicken. "She said that she was doing that to keep me safe…"
"So you have no home to go back now?" Alex replied as he felt a headache forming inside him.
"Yes!" Annie replied calmly, as if she was not worried about her situation. "That was why mother hired you as my babysitter. Your job is not to only to take care of me. You also have to give me a shelter to live while my mother is away."
"…"
At this point, Alex knew that his hands were already tied.
No matter how callous he is, he cannot just abandon this little kid, while her mother was off on her 'private trip'
"Alina, I'm sorry, but I cannot leave this kid alone…" Alex said to Alina with a pained expression on his face. "I just…"
"I get it Alex. That woman has played with us, and we have no choice but to accept the consequences right now." Alina replied with a sigh.
"So do we bring her back with us right now?"
"Alex, that's the only thing that we can do."
"…Right."
And with that, Alex is now the official babysitter of Annie.
Alex was not sure on what to feel about this, although he was greatly incensed by the shamelessness of Annie's mother.
"I hate to admit this, but I think we just found someone more shameless than Asteria!"
These words perfectly sums up Alex's evaluation of Annie's mother.
"Hmph, that damned woman. Once I see you again, power or no powers, I will make you feel the anger of a forced laborer!"
*****************
What happened after this forced hiring was quite calm.
Annie, who was still unperturbed with what just happened, fixed her mess on the table before proceeding to wash her hands and face.
She even stacked Alina's messy plates, creating an orderly pile on the table.
"Big Sis, why are you this messy?" Annie, the lavishly-dressed girl said as she placed her hand on her hips.
There was no 'rich girl aura' coming out of Annie right now, as only a 'homely' presence can be felt from her.
"Big Sis, you should know that we should always keep our things clean!" Annie said as her small body bristled. "If we always leave our things messy and dirty, it will be rude to others who don' have what we have! Think about all the homeless people who can't eat the foods that you eat. What would they think when they see you this messy? They will be not happy about this!"
"…"
Sufficed to say, both Alex and Alina found themselves speechless, as they struggled to even make sense of what they just saw.
"Big Sis, is your home like this too?" Annie said as her body started to tremble. "Please Big Sis, please tell me that your home is clean! If I see it dirty, I will have no choice but to clean it!"
"Oi oi oi! How did you even end up thinking that way!" Alex exclaimed as he gave Annie a confused look. "Aren't you a rich kid? Why are you even worried about stuff like this?"
"Rich kid? Mommy did not raise me that way!" Annie as she glared at Alex.
"But how about that dress that you are wearing now? Isn't that for rich kids?" Alex argued back, even though he knew that he was not supposed to argue with a kid.
After hearing this, Annie's face contorted in displeasure as she started rubbing her arms.
"Big brother, I don't even like wearing these clothes. I only like wearing t-shrit and pajamas." Annie said as she lightly tugged her skirt. "Mommy just told me to wear this today because she said that she wanted to 'fool' someone with this get-up…."
"That woman tricked me again!" Alex shouted out as he face-palmed. "Why is she even doing this?"
"Hey Big Brother, stop talking about mommy, that's not even our topic here!" Annie said as she let out a pout. "Big Brother, I'm asking on whether your house is clean. Big brother, is your house clean?"
"Well… you can say that it's okay." Alex replied as he averted his gaze.
"Just okay? Ugh… That means that you have some mess there…" Annie replied as he sat back with a disappointed expression on her face. "Sigh, why do you have to be my babysitter? Now I even have to clean your house!"
"Hey!"
"Oh big brother, do you have pajamas at your house?" Annie said to the now red-faced Alex. "Mommy also did not leave clothes for me… so I have to borrow some from you."
"@*OU%)(@*)(@!!"
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
"You-"
Obviously, Alex had something to say about what he just heard.
But before he could fully articulate his sentence, he felt a jerk all around him, which was followed by a sudden change in the scenery.
"!!!"
To Alex's surprise, he found himself back at the steak restaurant, seating at the exact chair that he was sitting in before.
As for the mother, she was also sitting back on her place, giving Alex a small smile.
The whole restaurant seemed to be in order, as if Alex and the mother's exploits in the sky were unnoticed anyone in the restaurant.
"What the hell…" As Alex found himself back in this restaurant, he immediately looked at Alina, intending to see how she reacted to what just happened to him.
"Alex, what's the problem?" Alina asked as Alex looked at her. "Did something happen?"
Alina's face did not hold any hint of worry or panic as she asked her question, which just made Alex more confused.
"…"
From the looks of it, even Alina seemed to also not notice Alex's confrontation with the mother.
"Alina… how many minutes has passed by when Annie's mother pointed her finger upward?" Alex asked boldly, not even caring that the mother and her daughter could hear him. "Was it two minutes? Or was it 5 minutes?"
"What are you talking about? She did not point her finger up!" Alina hissed as she leaned forward. "Why are you saying that?"
"!!!"
After Alex heard this answer, he was barely able to keep calm as he realized what happened.
From the looks of it, what happened between Alex and the mother were not seen by anyone in the restaurant! Even Alina, who was always focused on Alex, had also failed to noticed this!
"F**k this, this woman really is hax!" Alex complained to himself inwardly as he gritted his teeth. "How the hell was she able to pull this off?"
Once he discovered this abnormality, Alex slightly shivered as he felt more and more mystified by the woman's intentions.
"She did all of these things… just to hire me as a babysitter? That does not make any sense." Alex thought to himself as he noticed Alina starting to get suspicious. "But what if the crux of the matter lies on the girl that I am supposed to babysit? Does that mean that there is something special about Annie?"
As Alex thought of this, he gave the little girl a glance.
"Hm?" Annie, who was happily gorging on her second chicken, felt Alex's gaze on her, prompting her to look at him. "Big brother, is there a problem?"
"Oh, there's no problem at all." Alex replied smoothly. "It's just that your mother has offered me a job to be your babysitter. Of course I am not that enthused on babysitting people. But still, I am curious on why she wanted me to babysit you. That was why I am looking at you now."
"What!"
The person who shouted this word was Alina, who suddenly stood up.
She then stared at Alex with a burning look as she asked him,
"Alex, this woman offered you a babysitting job? When did you get that offer?"
It was obvious from the way that Alina looked right now that she was starting to suspect some kind of foul play.
Alex of course was not a dumb person who will let his partner be tormented by suspicion anymore.
Thus the answer that he gave her was,
"Alina, after Annie started eating her chicken, her mother, who was sitting beside me, suddenly gave me the offer to be Annie's babysitter." Alex replied as he crossed his arms.
"She gave you the offer now? But I did not see anythi-"
"Alina, something like that did happen." Alex replied urgently as he narrowed his eyes. "You can see that I am telling the truth, right?"
"Yes, I can see that you are telling the truth…" Alina's words trailed as he gave Alex a bewildered look. "But still-"
"Alina, we can talk about what happened here for another time." Alex said as he raised his hand. "For now, we must talk about the mother's offer to babysit Annie."
Since Alina was unable to see the interview between Alex and the mother, Alex has just decided to talk about it later at their room.
For now, Alex and Alina must focus on the more important topic, which in this situation, was the job offer to babysit Annie.
"Talk about babysitting? Alex, you should reject it." Alina quickly said before Alex could state his point. "You can clearly see that something is going on here. Do you really want to get yourself entwined closely with these two?"
"…" Alex found no reply to that, as he found himself struggling to answer.
Even if Alex was interested on getting closer to Annie and her mother, he also realized how dangerous this could be.
"Should I really… make myself close with these two?" Alex thought to himself as he chewed his lip. "No matter which way I look at this, there is something that the mother wanted from me, and it involves me getting acquainted with her daughter. Should I allow her plan to gain fruition?"
But on the other hand, getting close to Annie might provide Alex some advantages too.
"If I become Annie's babysitter, I can use that status to gain benefits for myself!" Alex thought as he gave Annie a shrewd look. "I can use my words to manipulate her, or I can even use my power to take her hostage… Any of that is possible, as long as I become Annie's babysitter! But is doing that worth the risk?"
These two opposing views continued to resonate inside Alex's mind, forcing him to be stumped for an answer.
"Alina, let me ask some more questions from Annie's mother. First." Alex replied as his eyes narrowed. "I want to clarify some things from her."
"Fine, do it already."
"Here I go." After he made this decision, Alex tugged his clothes slightly as he turned to look at the mother.
"Hey, why are you so interested on hiring me as a babysitt-"
Whatever question Alex wanted to ask got cut-off as words failed to get out of his throat.
"What the hell?" Alex then started to let out a complaint as he glared at the empty seat beside him. "Did she just ditch us?"
To Alex's surprise and fury, the mother, who was just sitting beside them earlier, was now gone!
Not even her presence could be detected inside the restaurant, which meant that the mother had left Alex and Alina!
And what's worse was that she left these two with Annie, who was still busy eating her chicken!
"Oh? So mommy already left? You must be a good babysitter then." Annie said as she looked up from her meal. She seemed to be not surprised with what happened.
Instead, she seemed to be even used to it, given by the lack of panic in her face.
"You…" Alex could barely suppress his irritation as he realized that the mother had tricked him again.
The mother must have realized that Alex was still conflicted on accepting the job offer as a babysitter.
Since that was the case, the mother must have thought that leaving Annie alone with Alex will force Alex to be her babysitter.
Well, that would be the case if Alex has no choice left.
But right now, Ale still had some way to resolve the situation.
"Hey Annie, you might not know it, but I am actually a busy person." Alex said as he stared at the fashionably dressed girl. "So I do not have that much time to babysit you today... Maybe I can just bring you home after you eat? Won't that be the best thing to do here?"
"Home?" Annie, whose lips were stained with grease and gravy, tilted her head as if she had heard a foreign word. "You will take me home?"
"Yes, I will do that." Alex replied as he started to feel more confident talking with the little girl. "Just tell me the address, and we will bring you there!"
"But my home is with mommy." Annie replied, which doused cold water on Alex's confidence. "Now that mommy left, I have no home to go back to."
"W-what?"
"Mommy always brings our home with her." Annie continued talking as she finished up her chicken. "She said that she was doing that to keep me safe…"
"So you have no home to go back now?" Alex replied as he felt a headache forming inside him.
"Yes!" Annie replied calmly, as if she was not worried about her situation. "That was why mother hired you as my babysitter. Your job is not to only to take care of me. You also have to give me a shelter to live while my mother is away."
"…"
At this point, Alex knew that his hands were already tied.
No matter how callous he is, he cannot just abandon this little kid, while her mother was off on her 'private trip'
"Alina, I'm sorry, but I cannot leave this kid alone…" Alex said to Alina with a pained expression on his face. "I just…"
"I get it Alex. That woman has played with us, and we have no choice but to accept the consequences right now." Alina replied with a sigh.
"So do we bring her back with us right now?"
"Alex, that's the only thing that we can do."
"…Right."
And with that, Alex is now the official babysitter of Annie.
Alex was not sure on what to feel about this, although he was greatly incensed by the shamelessness of Annie's mother.
"I hate to admit this, but I think we just found someone more shameless than Asteria!"
These words perfectly sums up Alex's evaluation of Annie's mother.
"Hmph, that damned woman. Once I see you again, power or no powers, I will make you feel the anger of a forced laborer!"
*****************
What happened after this forced hiring was quite calm.
Annie, who was still unperturbed with what just happened, fixed her mess on the table before proceeding to wash her hands and face.
She even stacked Alina's messy plates, creating an orderly pile on the table.
"Big Sis, why are you this messy?" Annie, the lavishly-dressed girl said as she placed her hand on her hips.
There was no 'rich girl aura' coming out of Annie right now, as only a 'homely' presence can be felt from her.
"Big Sis, you should know that we should always keep our things clean!" Annie said as her small body bristled. "If we always leave our things messy and dirty, it will be rude to others who don' have what we have! Think about all the homeless people who can't eat the foods that you eat. What would they think when they see you this messy? They will be not happy about this!"
"…"
Sufficed to say, both Alex and Alina found themselves speechless, as they struggled to even make sense of what they just saw.
"Big Sis, is your home like this too?" Annie said as her body started to tremble. "Please Big Sis, please tell me that your home is clean! If I see it dirty, I will have no choice but to clean it!"
"Oi oi oi! How did you even end up thinking that way!" Alex exclaimed as he gave Annie a confused look. "Aren't you a rich kid? Why are you even worried about stuff like this?"
"Rich kid? Mommy did not raise me that way!" Annie as she glared at Alex.
"But how about that dress that you are wearing now? Isn't that for rich kids?" Alex argued back, even though he knew that he was not supposed to argue with a kid.
After hearing this, Annie's face contorted in displeasure as she started rubbing her arms.
"Big brother, I don't even like wearing these clothes. I only like wearing t-shrit and pajamas." Annie said as she lightly tugged her skirt. "Mommy just told me to wear this today because she said that she wanted to 'fool' someone with this get-up…."
"That woman tricked me again!" Alex shouted out as he face-palmed. "Why is she even doing this?"
"Hey Big Brother, stop talking about mommy, that's not even our topic here!" Annie said as she let out a pout. "Big Brother, I'm asking on whether your house is clean. Big brother, is your house clean?"
"Well… you can say that it's okay." Alex replied as he averted his gaze.
"Just okay? Ugh… That means that you have some mess there…" Annie replied as he sat back with a disappointed expression on her face. "Sigh, why do you have to be my babysitter? Now I even have to clean your house!"
"Hey!"
"Oh big brother, do you have pajamas at your house?" Annie said to the now red-faced Alex. "Mommy also did not leave clothes for me… so I have to borrow some from you."
"@*OU%)(@*)(@!!"
"You-"Obviously, Alex had something to say about what he just heard.But before he could fully articulate his sentence, he felt a jerk all around him, which was followed by a sudden change in the scenery."!!!"To Alex's surprise, he found himself back at the steak restaurant, seating at the exact chair that he was sitting in before.As for the mother, she was also sitting back on her place, giving Alex a small smile.The whole restaurant seemed to be in order, as if Alex and the mother's exploits in the sky were unnoticed anyone in the restaurant."What the hell" As Alex found himself back in this restaurant, he immediately looked at Alina, intending to see how she reacted to what just happened to him."Alex, what's the problem?" Alina asked as Alex looked at her. "Did something happen?"Alina's face did not hold any hint of worry or panic as she asked her question, which just made Alex more confused.""From the looks of it, even Alina seemed to also not notice Alex's confrontation with the mother."Alina how many minutes has passed by when Annie's mother pointed her finger upward?" Alex asked boldly, not even caring that the mother and her daughter could hear him. "Was it two minutes? Or was it 5 minutes?""What are you talking about? She did not point her finger up!" Alina hissed as she leaned forward. "Why are you saying that?""!!!"After Alex heard this answer, he was barely able to keep calm as he realized what happened.From the looks of it, what happened between Alex and the mother were not seen by anyone in the restaurant! Even Alina, who was always focused on Alex, had also failed to noticed this!"F**k this, this woman really is hax!" Alex complained to himself inwardly as he gritted his teeth. "How the hell was she able to pull this off?"Once he discovered this abnormality, Alex slightly shivered as he felt more and more mystified by the woman's intentions."She did all of these things just to hire me as a babysitter? That does not make any sense." Alex thought to himself as he noticed Alina starting to get suspicious. "But what if the crux of the matter lies on the girl that I am supposed to babysit? Does that mean that there is something special about Annie?"As Alex thought of this, he gave the little girl a glance."Hm?" Annie, who was happily gorging on her second chicken, felt Alex's gaze on her, prompting her to look at him. "Big brother, is there a problem?""Oh, there's no problem at all." Alex replied smoothly. "It's just that your mother has offered me a job to be your babysitter. Of course I am not that enthused on babysitting people. But still, I am curious on why she wanted me to babysit you. That was why I am looking at you now.""What!"The person who shouted this word was Alina, who suddenly stood up.She then stared at Alex with a burning look as she asked him, "Alex, this woman offered you a babysitting job? When did you get that offer?"It was obvious from the way that Alina looked right now that she was starting to suspect some kind of foul play.Alex of course was not a dumb person who will let his partner be tormented by suspicion anymore.Thus the answer that he gave her was, "Alina, after Annie started eating her chicken, her mother, who was sitting beside me, suddenly gave me the offer to be Annie's babysitter." Alex replied as he crossed his arms. "She gave you the offer now? But I did not see anythi-""Alina, something like that did happen." Alex replied urgently as he narrowed his eyes. "You can see that I am telling the truth, right?""Yes, I can see that you are telling the truth" Alina's words trailed as he gave Alex a bewildered look. "But still-""Alina, we can talk about what happened here for another time." Alex said as he raised his hand. "For now, we must talk about the mother's offer to babysit Annie." Since Alina was unable to see the interview between Alex and the mother, Alex has just decided to talk about it later at their room. For now, Alex and Alina must focus on the more important topic, which in this situation, was the job offer to babysit Annie."Talk about babysitting? Alex, you should reject it." Alina quickly said before Alex could state his point. "You can clearly see that something is going on here. Do you really want to get yourself entwined closely with these two?""" Alex found no reply to that, as he found himself struggling to answer.Even if Alex was interested on getting closer to Annie and her mother, he also realized how dangerous this could be."Should I really make myself close with these two?" Alex thought to himself as he chewed his lip. "No matter which way I look at this, there is something that the mother wanted from me, and it involves me getting acquainted with her daughter. Should I allow her plan to gain fruition?"But on the other hand, getting close to Annie might provide Alex some advantages too."If I become Annie's babysitter, I can use that status to gain benefits for myself!" Alex thought as he gave Annie a shrewd look. "I can use my words to manipulate her, or I can even use my power to take her hostage Any of that is possible, as long as I become Annie's babysitter! But is doing that worth the risk?"These two opposing views continued to resonate inside Alex's mind, forcing him to be stumped for an answer."Alina, let me ask some more questions from Annie's mother. First." Alex replied as his eyes narrowed. "I want to clarify some things from her.""Fine, do it already.""Here I go." After he made this decision, Alex tugged his clothes slightly as he turned to look at the mother."Hey, why are you so interested on hiring me as a babysitt-"Whatever question Alex wanted to ask got cut-off as words failed to get out of his throat."What the hell?" Alex then started to let out a complaint as he glared at the empty seat beside him. "Did she just ditch us?"To Alex's surprise and fury, the mother, who was just sitting beside them earlier, was now gone!Not even her presence could be detected inside the restaurant, which meant that the mother had left Alex and Alina!And what's worse was that she left these two with Annie, who was still busy eating her chicken!"Oh? So mommy already left? You must be a good babysitter then." Annie said as she looked up from her meal. She seemed to be not surprised with what happened.Instead, she seemed to be even used to it, given by the lack of panic in her face."You" Alex could barely suppress his irritation as he realized that the mother had tricked him again.The mother must have realized that Alex was still conflicted on accepting the job offer as a babysitter.Since that was the case, the mother must have thought that leaving Annie alone with Alex will force Alex to be her babysitter.Well, that would be the case if Alex has no choice left.But right now, Ale still had some way to resolve the situation."Hey Annie, you might not know it, but I am actually a busy person." Alex said as he stared at the fashionably dressed girl. "So I do not have that much time to babysit you today... Maybe I can just bring you home after you eat? Won't that be the best thing to do here?""Home?" Annie, whose lips were stained with grease and gravy, tilted her head as if she had heard a foreign word. "You will take me home?""Yes, I will do that." Alex replied as he started to feel more confident talking with the little girl. "Just tell me the address, and we will bring you there!""But my home is with mommy." Annie replied, which doused cold water on Alex's confidence. "Now that mommy left, I have no home to go back to.""W-what?""Mommy always brings our home with her." Annie continued talking as she finished up her chicken. "She said that she was doing that to keep me safe""So you have no home to go back now?" Alex replied as he felt a headache forming inside him."Yes!" Annie replied calmly, as if she was not worried about her situation. "That was why mother hired you as my babysitter. Your job is not to only to take care of me. You also have to give me a shelter to live while my mother is away.""" At this point, Alex knew that his hands were already tied.No matter how callous he is, he cannot just abandon this little kid, while her mother was off on her 'private trip'"Alina, I'm sorry, but I cannot leave this kid alone" Alex said to Alina with a pained expression on his face. "I just""I get it Alex. That woman has played with us, and we have no choice but to accept the consequences right now." Alina replied with a sigh. "So do we bring her back with us right now?""Alex, that's the only thing that we can do.""Right."And with that, Alex is now the official babysitter of Annie.Alex was not sure on what to feel about this, although he was greatly incensed by the shamelessness of Annie's mother."I hate to admit this, but I think we just found someone more shameless than Asteria!" These words perfectly sums up Alex's evaluation of Annie's mother."Hmph, that damned woman. Once I see you again, power or no powers, I will make you feel the anger of a forced laborer!"*****************What happened after this forced hiring was quite calm.Annie, who was still unperturbed with what just happened, fixed her mess on the table before proceeding to wash her hands and face.She even stacked Alina's messy plates, creating an orderly pile on the table."Big Sis, why are you this messy?" Annie, the lavishly-dressed girl said as she placed her hand on her hips.There was no 'rich girl aura' coming out of Annie right now, as only a 'homely' presence can be felt from her."Big Sis, you should know that we should always keep our things clean!" Annie said as her small body bristled. "If we always leave our things messy and dirty, it will be rude to others who don' have what we have! Think about all the homeless people who can't eat the foods that you eat. What would they think when they see you this messy? They will be not happy about this!"""Sufficed to say, both Alex and Alina found themselves speechless, as they struggled to even make sense of what they just saw."Big Sis, is your home like this too?" Annie said as her body started to tremble. "Please Big Sis, please tell me that your home is clean! If I see it dirty, I will have no choice but to clean it!""Oi oi oi! How did you even end up thinking that way!" Alex exclaimed as he gave Annie a confused look. "Aren't you a rich kid? Why are you even worried about stuff like this?""Rich kid? Mommy did not raise me that way!" Annie as she glared at Alex."But how about that dress that you are wearing now? Isn't that for rich kids?" Alex argued back, even though he knew that he was not supposed to argue with a kid.After hearing this, Annie's face contorted in displeasure as she started rubbing her arms. "Big brother, I don't even like wearing these clothes. I only like wearing t-shrit and pajamas." Annie said as she lightly tugged her skirt. "Mommy just told me to wear this today because she said that she wanted to 'fool' someone with this get-up.""That woman tricked me again!" Alex shouted out as he face-palmed. "Why is she even doing this?""Hey Big Brother, stop talking about mommy, that's not even our topic here!" Annie said as she let out a pout. "Big Brother, I'm asking on whether your house is clean. Big brother, is your house clean?""Well you can say that it's okay." Alex replied as he averted his gaze."Just okay? Ugh That means that you have some mess there" Annie replied as he sat back with a disappointed expression on her face. "Sigh, why do you have to be my babysitter? Now I even have to clean your house!""Hey!""Oh big brother, do you have pajamas at your house?" Annie said to the now red-faced Alex. "Mommy also did not leave clothes for me so I have to borrow some from you.""@*OU%@*@!!"
