“Waiting for you!” Yun Shishi coolly replied. His petulant tactic failed to work this time as she continued angrily, “Where did you go?”

“I went for a walk in the garden.” He tugged fretfully at his sleeve, and just like a boy caught red-handed, he looked alarmed and helpless!

He did do something wrong.

His mother chillingly countered, “I went looking for you in the garden, but I couldn’t find you there. Youyou, why are you lying to mommy?”

“Mommy…” He got a shock from her reply. He did not expect her to discover his act of sneaking out and to sit waiting here in the dark for who knew how long!

Before he left the house, he confirmed that his mother was fast asleep first. Even then, he was careful not to make a sound.

Why…

When did she find out?

She stared unblinkingly at him; her face was a mask of fury and sadness. For reasons unknown, she had been startled awake not too long after his departure. She went to his bedroom to check on him, but when she flicked on the lights, he was not there.

She was lost and listless when she could not find him but did not want to alert her father. In the end, she went looking for him alone and even had to seek the guard on duty for help. From the video surveillance, he was seen leaving inside a car.

Based on his actions, he got into the car willingly. He was not dragged into it, nor was he struggling at that time, so that eliminated the possibility of a kidnapping.

She noted down the car’s plate number. According to what she knew of her son, he would return home before dawn if he had truly left the house willingly this midnight.

That was why she could bear to wait for his return in the living room.

He looked at her guiltily. Seeing her looking haggard and uneasy, he nervously explained, “Mommy, don’t you worry; Youyou didn’t do anything wrong! Youyou just…”

He was unable to come up with a plausible reason even after some thought.

This was not the right time to tell her the truth!

He did not even dare to reveal his identity to her, so how could he confess the truth about tonight?

“Youyou, do you know how worried mommy was for you?” She knew that he was not ready to tell her the truth when he trailed off.

She stooped down and hugged him by his shoulders.

She was still distraught after the assault at the amusement park. What if something happened to Youyou again?

“Mommy, Youyou made you worry, but I can promise that what I did won’t be harmful to you! Mommy, can you trust Youyou, please?”

Give me some more time; I’ll explain everything to you at the right moment!

Just not today!

She looked at him and asked, “Promise?”

“Eh! I promise! This will be the last time; there won’t be a next time!” He hugged and kissed her as he comforted, “Mommy, Youyou can’t tell you what he did today, but I will definitely do so when the time is ripe! Can mommy give Youyou some time, please?”

She was tickled by the serious look on his face.

What is this thing about ‘the ripe time’?

“All right. Mommy is glad to see you safe and sound, but you should know that today is the last; don’t let it happen again!” she disgruntledly warned.

Although she wanted to know where he had gone off to and what he had done this time, she knew she could not force the truth out of him since he was not ready to talk.