Chapter 529

Worried that Nadine might get upset, Sean planted another kiss on her cheek and snuggled closer into her arms before responding, "To be honest, I haven't been sleeping very well. Avery's place is her home, not ours. I still feel like this is our real home." He wasn't lying at all. He had genuinely struggled to adjust while staying at Avery's place. The room there was smaller than his own, and it didn't have the toys he could easily reach for whenever he wanted. Even though Sean had brought some toys with him, there were still many more he wanted to play with that wouldn't fit in his bag, so he couldn't bring them all at once. On top of that, he missed his father and couldn't play with his usual friends. But he was aware that his father and mother had fought, possibly to the point where they would never reconcile. If he told his mother that he didn't like staying at Avery's place and preferred his father's place, it would only make her sad. Hence, while staying at Avery's, he pretended to be happy, even though he truly wasn't. Now, as he snuggled in his mother's arms, he finally told the truth. Children often spoke their minds. Their innocence allowed them to share their thoughts freely. Nadine was caught off guard. She hadn't realized he was unhappy at Avery's. She had always assumed Sean was happy. Now, she learned that he had been pretending to be happy to please her. Initially, she wanted to chastise her son, but she couldn't bring herself to when she looked into his clear, innocent eyes. She put herself in her son's shoes and realized he wasn't at fault. He had simply spoken the truth. Suppressing her dissatisfaction, she sat up and pulled her son into a warm embrace before asking softly, "If you could choose, would you rather be at Avery's or with your Daddy?" Nadine was aware that the divorce was an issue between her and Brad, not something that should involve Sean. She had always tried to keep Sean away from their messy relationship, but after hearing her child express his unhappiness about living at Rose Garden, she began to reconsider her approach. Sean pondered for a moment and averted his gaze. He grasped a lock of Nadine's hair and wrapped it around his fingers before responding softly, "I prefer living here. I've gotten used to it after all this time…" His voice trailed off as he spoke. He realized that his words might hurt his mother, so he clamped his mouth shut as soon as his words fell. He cautiously glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, worried she might get upset. Nadine couldn't pretend she wasn't upset, but she also knew her son was telling the truth. The environment at Rose Garden couldn't compare to Phoenix Villa. The differences in both facilities and atmosphere were like night and day. Humans were inherently materialistic, and children were no exception. It was evident that this place was far superior to Rose Garden. Avery had also said that she could only dream of living in a wealthy neighborhood like Phoenix Villa, believing Nadine to be foolish for moving out of that place. After counting to three in her mind, she managed to collect herself and said, "Alright, you've been honest with me, and I'm not mad. But I need you to know that if you really want to stay here, I won't be able to be with you every day. "Your father is very busy and doesn't have time to take care of you, so if you really want to live here, you'll need to take care of yourself." As soon as her words fell, Sean wrapped his little arms around her neck and pressed his face against her shoulder. "I don't want that! I want to be with you, Mommy!" Even though he clung to her, Nadine held her ground and continued, "Sean, baby, you can't just act this way whenever things don't go your way. You have to learn how to tackle things head-on. "I don't love your father, so we can't live together, and we will definitely be going our own separate ways. If you really want to stay here, I can't be with you. You'll have to live with your father."