Beside them, Holander glanced at Starlight’s shy expression, then at his father’s calm face, and instantly figured it out.
He did not mind. After all, who did not like a young, pretty female coworker with big tits and long legs? As long as Dad was happy.
Holander also thought of Maeve, though things between them had not been going smoothly lately...
Starlight, of course, knew the upcoming "three-generation family dinner" was not really a place for an outsider like her to tag along.
She bit her lip and smiled softly. "Then I’ll wait for you."
With that, Starlight tactfully turned and left.
...
...
"Grandpa!"
Only after Starlight had walked away did Ryan finally poke his head out of Holander’s arms and call out to Benjamin in a clear, bright voice.
After seeing the outside world from the sky, he now felt close to the dad who had taken him flying and the cool grandpa beside him.
Strangers were different, though. Aside from his parents and Grandpa, he barely knew how to interact with anyone. Without his dad and grandpa, he would have gone his whole life seeing almost no one except his mom.
Benjamin stepped forward, casually ruffled the kid’s blond hair a couple of tis, and said, "You brought the kid out. Aren’t you afraid Becca’s gonna lose her mind?"
"Who cares about her?"
At the ntion of Becca, disgust and irritation flashed through Holander’s eyes.
"She’s a lying bitch. Ryan can’t let her ruin him."
Ryan grew a little unhappy again when he heard Holander talk about his mom that way.
He had been furious earlier, but his anger had already faded. Kids were like that. They got mad fast and got over it just as fast.
"So after dinner, are you planning to take Ryan back?" Benjamin asked casually.
Ryan imdiately pricked up his ears.
Holander hesitated.
Honestly, he wanted nothing more than to take Ryan straight back to Vought Tower and never deal with that annoying woman again.
But when he looked at Ryan in his arms, excited yet still a little uneasy, he sighed. "Let’s see what Ryan wants. He’s already had enough scares for one day..."
Only then did Ryan relax.
It seed that even though Dad and Mom did not get along, Dad still respected him and his mom.
Soon, the three generations, father, son, and grandson, arrived once again at that familiar Asian barbecue joint.
Maybe soone had been promoting the place, or maybe the Asian owner really was that good at cooking.
Either way, compared with how empty it had been last ti, the barbecue place was packed tonight.
When two n in superhero uniforms and a little boy walked inside, the noisy barbecue joint suddenly went quiet for a mont.
Every eye in the place locked onto them like spotlights.
"Holy shit... is that Holander? And the guy in dark green beside him... is that Soldier Boy?!"
"Oh my God! Actual superheroes eating at a street stall?!"
"Wait... look at the kid Holander’s holding! Blond hair, blue eyes. He looks exactly like him!"
"Oh my God, is this three generations out for a late-night snack together? This is insane!"
Whispers spread through the crowd as excitent quickly filled the air.
...
The three of them picked a random corner table and sat down. They had just ordered two big platters of grilled beef, grilled shrimp, other skewers, and several dozen beers.
As they ate, the hardcore fans started losing control.
Plenty of young people stood up with their phones in hand, faces flushed with excitent as they kept staring over at them.
A few bold hot girls even pushed through the crowd and swayed their way over to Holander’s table.
"M-Mr. Holander! Can we... can we take a picture with you? I love you so much!"
Faced with such enthusiastic fans, Holander, who had always cared deeply about his public image and craved everyone’s worship, naturally would not refuse.
He imdiately put on that perfect fake PR smile, nodded, and even cooperated by giving a thumbs-up.
But once there was a first, there was a second.
It was not just Holander. Even Benjamin, who was smoking beside him, was soon surrounded by people shoving papers, pens, and phones at him.
"Mr. Soldier Boy! Please sign this! I grew up hearing your stories!"
Benjamin’s brow furrowed, and his face visibly darkened.
Unlike Holander, he found this kind of no-personal-space socializing irritating.
A pretty decent hidden gem of a restaurant had sohow turned into a massive fan et-and-greet.
If the barbecue place had not gotten popular, they could have sat there quietly and had a drink. Now it was like a damn marketplace.
Before long, more and more people crowded over, forming layer after layer around them until their table was completely boxed in.
Cara flashes kept going off.
Ryan had been sitting there happily chewing on a piece of grilled beef.
But then, faced with dozens of strangers pushing in, screaming, and flashing blinding lights in his face, Ryan, who had grown up in an isolated community and had never experienced anything like this, quickly panicked.
The beef slipped from his hand and fell onto the table. He covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Bang!"
Benjamin slamd his palm down on the table.
His tall, muscular body shot to its feet as he roared, "Can you fucking idiots back the hell off?!"
"If you’re here for barbecue, then sit your asses down and eat your damn barbecue! If you want photos or autographs, can’t you line up like normal people? Why the hell are you all crowding us?"
Benjamin pointed at the trembling Ryan.
"Fuck, can’t you see my grandson can’t handle this shit?"
Benjamin’s furious scolding startled many of the fans, and they quickly backed away, forcibly clearing out a large open space.
Of course, plenty of fans also thought Soldier Boy defending his family like that was unbelievably cool.
Holander quickly realized sothing was wrong with Ryan too.
Guilt hit him, and he hurriedly picked Ryan up, gently patting him on the back.
"It’s okay, Ryan. It’s okay. Daddy’s here."
Under Holander’s comfort, Ryan’s heavy breathing gradually cald down.
Holander stood up, his expression turning cold as he raised a hand to stop the fans trying to approach again.
"Sorry, everyone. That’s it for tonight. Please move aside."
Holding Ryan, he strode out of the barbecue place under the crowd’s disappointed gazes.
Benjamin did not feel like staying either. He tossed down a bill and followed him out.
Because of his earlier outburst, the crowd automatically parted for him the whole way, and no one dared stop them.
They reached a quiet street corner.
"Ugh... what a fucking buzzkill."
Holander held Ryan and sighed in frustration.
His old man finally had free ti, and his son was by his side. He had wanted to enjoy spending ti with his family, but it had turned into this ss.
Still, deep down, Holander felt conflicted.
On one hand, he felt bad that his son had been frightened. On the other, facing those fanatical fans had felt incredible, giving him a huge sense of satisfaction.
Maybe that was why he had accidentally overlooked Ryan just now.
"Daddy..."
Ryan, who had kept his face buried against Holander’s chest, finally spoke in a small voice, with a trace of pleading in it.
"I... I want to go ho. The people here are scary."
Holander froze.
Looking at his son’s frightened little face, he felt torn.
He really wanted to refuse and take him back to Vought Tower... but in the end, he still looked up at Benjamin and said helplessly, "Dad, then I... I’ll take Ryan back first?"
"Go. The kid got scared pretty bad today. Take him back early."
Benjamin waved him off.
Ryan imdiately brightened.
Watching Holander carry Ryan as they slowly rose into the air and flew away, Benjamin’s eyes shifted slightly.
Honestly, if this had been the Holander from the original series, after bringing Ryan out to see the wider world, there was absolutely no way he would have sent Ryan back to that "prison." He sure as hell would not have cared that his son wanted to go back.
"Buzz, buzz."
Just then, the phone in Benjamin’s pocket vibrated twice.
He took it out and glanced at it.
Several unread ssages from "Stormfront" had popped up on the screen one after another.
When he opened them, they were all selfies of Stormfront wearing extrely skimpy, revealing Supersuits, or posing seductively in front of a mirror.
Underneath was a suggestive ssage.
[Old man, my injuries are almost healed. Coming over tonight to punish hard?]
Of course, aside from that, there was also Starlight’s hotel address.
Benjamin ignored Stormfront’s hint, did not reply, and strode toward the hotel where Starlight was staying...
User Comments
0 comments from readers