96. Hi

About half an hour later, two reporters arrived almost simultaneously with Ashley’s mother, who appeared shortly thereafter. At the opening of the event, Josh’s mother and Jason appeared and took part in the event.

Ashley and Josh exchanged glances silently because they thought this was a special event attended only by her mother.

In reality, their presence wasn't something to be concerned about, but a sense of surprise still crept into Ashley and Josh's minds. After all, facing Ashley’s mother alone was already challenging for them. Especially if they have to face Josh’s mother and brother at the same time. They truly had to be mindful of their behavior and the words that came out of their mouths to avoid saying or doing the wrong thing.

“Be careful when you speak. Especially with my mother,“ Josh quickly whispered to Ashley when they were a little away from the others.

”You are the one who needs to be careful. You're more careless than me,” Ashley glared at Josh.

She already knew and understood exactly what she had to do. And Josh's warning—even though he probably didn't mean anything bad by it and was just trying to remind her—sounded like an insult to her. Because she remembered that all the incidents that had happened so far were always made worse by Josh's impulsive and reckless attitude, not because of her.

Ashley really wanted to scream that fact into Josh's ear so that he would fully realize that it was his own attitude that needed to be worried about, not Ashley's.

The event was fairly closed, with only a few reporters covering it. This is an annual personal donation from Songgong Holding. It is carried out privately and filled with activities focused solely on the enjoyment of children. So that's why the adults that were involved were only the orphanage staff who lived there. There were no other important figures besides Jason. 

Initially, they all gathered in the main hall to officially hand over the donation to the orphanage. Some of the older orphans were present as representatives. 

Afterward, they all moved to the orphanage's backyard, which was large enough to accommodate several hundred people. There, all the orphanage children had gathered and were playing games with the volunteers who usually helped out. At least that was what Ashley could gather from Mrs. Yoon's explanation during her interview with the reporter.

It was a casual event. They all truly played, ate, and had fun mingling with the children.

Ashley seemed to be really enjoying the event and joined a group of children who were drawing with various tools—crayons, coloring powder, paint, and other creative materials.

Meanwhile, Josh chose to join the children who were cooking. Not because he was good at it or wanted to cook, but simply because they were across from where Ashley was. So Josh thought he would be able to keep an eye on her.

A young volunteer in charge of the cooking group gave Josh the easiest task there—as the girl put it—which was peeling and cutting carrots. But Josh did it awkwardly and half-heartedly. So it ended up being sloppy, leaving the carrots in a complete mess. 

When a child scolded him while laughing mockingly, Josh responded with what he considered a logical explanation. First, this was his first time peeling carrots, and it turned out to be difficult. And second—a reason he didn't voice aloud—he couldn't bother to concentrate fully on the carrots because he had to keep an eye on Ashley.

As some of the other children laughed at Josh's work and the volunteer—who felt worry—tried to calm the children down, Jason suddenly appeared behind them and joined in the laughter.

Josh turned around when he heard his older brother's voice. He protested with a sharp glare from his eyes, without saying a word. Then he snorted and looked down at his messy carrots.

“Why are you here?” Jason pulled a metal chair next to Josh and sat down beside him.

Josh spoke without looking at his brother at all. “Why am I here? I—should be asking why you are here. I thought this was my mother-in-law's private event.” He picked up his knife again and started peeling the carrots.

Jason, who heard him, laughed. “I've always been invited by Mrs. Song to all this orphanage event—since a few years ago.”

Josh looked up and frowned at his brother. He didn't understand what the man was saying. How could he be involved with the Song family's events when, as far as he knew, only his father had been involved with them because of New Hana Town. His mother might have become close to Ashley’s mother because of that too. 

But his brother? What business did he have with the Song family's charity events?

“Don't you remember? I used to work in this area at the start of my career,“ Jason smirked, “And, the point of my question earlier, why are you here instead of there?” Jason's hand reached out and pointed to Ashley.

”Why? They've already got help. But there's no one here, so I'm helping out here.” Josh tried to come up with any excuse that came to mind.

“But uncle isn't helping. You’re messing up our food!” shouted one of the children sitting near Josh, who was peeling carrots like him.

Laughter erupted among the children again, creating noise and commotion that only occurred within their group among the other groups.

“He's really stupid, right? He can't even do this,“ Jason added fuel to the fire that was already started by the chatty kid.

Josh clicked his tongue.

”I see you staring at your wife all the time. That's why your work is so bad,” Jason teased, nudging carrots that have been peeled too thickly. “Just go over there if you're afraid she'll disappear from your sight.“

Jason truly had only intended to tease his younger brother. But Josh reacted rather excessively. He felt annoyed that Jason had misunderstood his intentions.

”I don't think that way! Why would I be afraid she'd disappear?!”

Meanwhile, Jason was still smiling teasingly and shrugging his shoulders.

At the same time, Josh's cell phone rang. Dia merogoh sakunya dan melihat nama kontak di layarnya. Begitu tampak nama Sharon, dia buru-buru membalikkannya, menyembunyikannya dari Jason. 

Jason himself didn't actually know who was calling Josh because his younger brother had already put his phone away and stood up before Jason had a chance to glance at it.

“I'll take the call first,” Josh tried to remain as calm as possible, “You can peel the carrots for me instead of doing nothing.” He nodded his head and hurried away as quickly as possible.

Jason, who had been instructed to take over Josh's work, didn't do it. A few moments after he saw Josh move to a spot far enough away from everyone and start talking on the phone, Jason finally stood up and walked toward where Ashley was.

“Hi,” he greeted Ashley politely. His smile was perfect.