The director was startled by Adonis's words, and even Lily couldn't help but freeze for a moment. Then, under the system's urging, she lowered her eyes and slightly bowed her head. Her eyes turned red—she could burst into tears at any moment.
The comment section instantly descended into chaos.
[Hold on, I knew Adonis had low EQ, but I didn't realize it was this low!]
[Yeah, he made someone's daughter cry—how heartless!]
[Aside from his looks, there's nothing likable about him.]
[Why are some people crying here? Wasn't it Lily who intentionally came up to get cold-shouldered?]
[Exactly, haha, I have never seen such a clumsy attempt to gain favor—disliked by the adults and even affecting the kid. No wonder Lorna is so quiet and introverted now.]
[I honestly think Lorna fears Lily more than anyone else, yet Lily still had the nerve to bring her to the show.]
Some comments criticized Adonis, but even more mocked Lily's awkward attempt at currying favor. Lily's fans were left helpless, unable to argue back. Some even started to feel frustrated by their idol's foolish behavior.
Lily had been monitoring the livestream comments and watching the online sentiment with the help of the system. When she saw the harsh words directed at her, her hand clenched involuntarily—she nearly lost control of her pitiful expression.
In the end, it was Layla who stepped in to ease the atmosphere:
"Alright, everyone must be hungry. Let's have lunch first."
Her voice remained gentle and calm, a reliable senior figure. Lily quickly accepted the lifeline that Layla had offered.
Layla continued to look at Lily gently, though her perception of the girl had shifted.
After years in the entertainment industry and seeing all kinds of people, Layla immediately recognized Lily's obsequious behavior. But now she was dragging a child into it—her niece. Lily was capable of being ruthless.
Meanwhile, although Joshua was eating, he secretly watched the adults' table. Seeing how cold and indifferent his papa was toward Lily, he silently pumped his fist in celebration. Papa was amazing—finally, they were one step further away from a life sentence!
Leo quickly added: [All thanks to the little master's guidance!]
Joshua was overjoyed. He felt like he could walk around with his nose in the air now.
"Why aren't you eating? Is the food not good?"
At that moment, Zarukel's voice suddenly rang out. The plate in front of him was empty. Just a moment ago, he had been devouring his food while staring intently at Joshua as if Joshua was the main course.
But Joshua, who had been too focused on eavesdropping, hadn't even finished half his meal.
He glanced at Zarukel but didn't say a word. Even if Zarukel were familiar, Joshua wouldn't easily forgive him for biting his cheek when they reunited. Joshua considered himself a kid with principles!
Noticing Joshua's clear cold shoulder and indifference, Zarukel's expression instantly darkened—even though they hadn't had much of a connection before.
[Hahaha, is anyone else sensing CEO-level aura from Zarukel? That mood swing was fast!]
[One second he's lovingly staring, next second he's brooding—tell me I'm not reading too many webnovels!]
[Why is no one worried about Zarukel's future? Come on, Zarukel, you can win baby Joshua's forgiveness!]
[Only if he's willing to apologize first. Honestly, he looks like he's about to bite Joshua again...]
Joshua turned his head to the side and quietly resumed eating. He ate neatly and appropriately—even with short arms, he didn't let a single grain of food fall!
The more Zarukel looked, the more he felt this little kid looked pure white—like a snow cream cake. His teeth itched a little… he wanted to take a bite.
But when he remembered how pitifully the kid had cried earlier that morning, Zarukel looked down. He didn't know why, but while he wanted to tease Joshua, he didn't want to make him cry.
So annoying!
Zarukel thought angrily as he ruffled his hair in frustration. This action made the livestream room erupt into laughter. He drew a confused and slightly judgmental look from Alice, followed by an utterly speechless expression from Cale. And yet, he still couldn't get even the tiniest bit of attention from Joshua.
This only made Zarukel even more upset. He stood up abruptly—so forcefully that the chair tipped backward and fell. Not caring at all, he stormed back to his room.
The crew couldn't help but exchange questioning looks with Cale.
Cale immediately waved them off. "Leave him be. Going after him now will make both sides more upset."
He was more than willing to play the role of the irresponsible uncle.
A little while later, the adults finally managed to wait out the kids' mealtime. The crew on the side announced the order in which the kids finished eating—the last one to finish would have to cook dinner for everyone that evening.
Unsurprisingly, the last one to finish was Joshua. The reason is that he was too focused on eavesdropping on his papa's conversation.
Joshua couldn't help but glance at his papa with slight guilt. His lips pressed together, and his small hands fidgeted as if feeling ashamed.
Seeing this, Adonis couldn't help but find it amusing.
He walked over and gently patted Joshua's head. Joshua immediately leaned into his papa's hand.
"Looks like I'll get to cook with Joshua tonight. Papa's looking forward to it," Adonis said softly.
Upon hearing that, Joshua instantly brightened.
Just then, the sound of loud footsteps echoed—thud thud thud—as Zarukel dashed down the stairs, racing straight out the front door at lightning speed. The way he ran made people worry he might fall face-first into the ground at any moment.
He didn't spare anyone a glance. But he did briefly wink at Joshua before bolting out of the castle.
[Hahaha, did Zarukel wink at Joshua? That was kind of… handsome, not gonna lie!]
[I finally get what people mean when they say, "Being handsome is a vibe"! How do I feel swooned over by a 6-year-old?!]
[No one's gonna mention how funny Zarukel is? The kid's already out here flirting!]
[...]
[I noticed that too…]
[Wait, hold on—both Zarukel and Joshua are boys…]
[So what? It's the modern age! They're adorable, just let us ship them already!]
Zarukel soon came running back, holding a clear box. Inside was a slice of white cream cake, beautifully decorated with strawberries and blueberries—it looked delicious.
Clack!
Zarukel boldly placed the cake in front of Joshua. Under everyone's stunned gaze, he opened his mouth like he was about to deliver some dramatic speech. But in the end, he only mumbled two words:
"…I'm sorry."
His voice was so soft it sounded like a secret for Joshua to hear.
[Why ship just a little? I'm shipping a lot!]
[This move from Zarukel outclassed so many full-grown men, haha!]
[He's only 6 years old, right? Right?!]