Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
“W-worms?” Halston gulped. He felt goosebumps all over his scalp.
Despite being fearless in general, he was terrified of soft, furry creatures, especially caterpillars. A single glance was enough to give him nightmares!
“That’s right. Daddy, do you like caterpillars? Would you like to catch some with us next time?” Abby eagerly extended an offer to Halston with her eyes opened wide.
“Haha! That’s fine!” Halston laughed awkwardly while he declined Abby’s invitation.
Adie sneered and gave him the side-eye. “Hmph! You’re a scaredy cat. Why is a grown man afraid of caterpillars?”
Halston felt offended. He tried to defend his ego. “Who says I’m afraid of those things? I’m just too busy for that.”
As their father, he had to maintain his heroic image in front of them. There was no way he could let them find out he was actually afraid of tiny insects. Otherwise, it’d be downright embarrassing!
“I don’t believe you. You’re a scaredy cat who’s afraid of insects. You can’t protect Mommy or Abby. Mommy’s decision to leave you was the smartest one she’s ever made!” Adie crossed his arms while he criticized Halston. He wasn’t holding back.
Halston had never felt this humiliated. To make matters worse, the person humiliating him was his own son.
“Listen up, kid. I’m more than capable of protecting the three of you. I used to train in the wild. You weren’t even born when I wrestled a tiger with my bare hands!”
“Wrestling a tiger with your bare hands? Don’t you think that’s too big a bluff?” Adie continued insulting him without fearing the consequences. “You wrestled a tiger with your bare hands, but you can’t even catch insects. Indirectly, that means you’re inferior to insects. How can you even say you’re able to protect the three of us? This is the biggest joke I’ve ever heard!”
“I already told you. I’m not afraid of insects…” He just found those soft, furry creatures to be very disgusting.
“If you’re not afraid of them, why don’t you pick them up with forceps like Mommy and feed them to the fledglings? If you do it, I’ll believe you!”
Adie made it impossible for Halston to refuse.
Halston secretly thought to himself, ‘Like father, like son! You’re just as evil as I am!’
“Hahaha!” Flossie burst into laughter when she saw Halston being forced into a corner by Adie.
“Halston, Adie’s right. If you have what it takes, come and feed these fledglings. If you can’t do it, you’ll have to admit that you’re a coward!” Flossie exclaimed in an attempt to further provoke him.
Halston felt deeply embarrassed. “Flossie, you’re going to be in trouble!”
“Am I going to be in trouble?” Flossie laughed hysterically before wagging her finger at Halston in a playful manner. “No, no. Halston, you’re the one who’s going to be in trouble.”
After saying that, she picked up a black caterpillar and ‘accidentally’ dropped it. It happened to land on Halston’s collar.
“Ahh! It’s disgusting. Quick, get it off!” Halston instantly broke down. As if he was paralyzed, he stood still and didn’t move an inch. He kept shouting.
“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry, Mr. Guajardo. I accidentally dropped the insect…” Flossie tried to hold her laughter. She climbed down the ladder and began ‘consoling’ the man who was about to go crazy.
“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt you. It’s just wiggling around on your collar. It’s exercising!” She added.
“Flossie, remove this thing immediately, or you’re dead!” Halston warned with a gloomy expression on his face.
Flossie crossed her arms while she seemingly admired the state of ‘helpless rage’ he was in. “Mr. Guajardo, you’re still being so fierce. Didn’t you say you’re not afraid of insects? Why don’t you just remove it yourself?”
“Damn it!”
Halston stood frozen in place. Never mind removing the insect. He couldn’t even bring himself to look in its direction. His entire body was beginning to itch. He was terrified that the insect would crawl under his shirt.
Feeling helpless, he had no choice but to sacrifice his ego for now. He lowered his voice. “That’s right. I’m afraid of insects. Just tell me what I have to do for you to get rid of this disgusting thing. Hurry up!”
“You should’ve said so earlier. We wouldn’t have had to go through all the hassle!” Flossie nodded. She was very pleased with his flexibility.
If she’d known she could deal with him using a single caterpillar, she wouldn’t have had to suffer silently for so many years.
Her children observed the playful scuffle from afar.
Abby added salt to the injury. “Daddy, insects are tiny. I’m not afraid of them. I can’t believe you’re afraid. You really are a scaredy cat!”
Adie chipped in. “Hmph! I told you so. All he has are his good looks. In reality, he’s a scaredy cat!”
Halston couldn’t care less about his ego. He impatiently called out to Flossie. “Hurry up!!!”
“Don’t rush. I’m trying to help you!” Flossie looked around and calmly searched for a branch.
She then slowly walked over to Halston.
“What are you doing?” Halston had a bad feeling after seeing the look on Flossie’s face.
“What else am I doing? I’m helping you by removing the insect!”
“Are you even kind enough to do that?” Halston seemed skeptical.
Based on how well he knew her, he didn’t think she’d help him without expecting something in return. She definitely was going to torture him in the worst way possible!
“Well, there is one condition…” Flossie chuckled. She then turned to look at her kids. “Didn’t you say you wanted to watch break-dancing? I think Halston has the perfect body for it. I suggest he dance for us!”
Abby clapped with a hopeful expression on her face.
“Break-dancing is a great idea. Let’s see how well he does.” Adie looked forward to it as well.
Halston, on the other hand, didn’t seem particularly pleased. His voice was cold. “Flossie, how dare you insult me like this? You must have a death wish!”
Flossie wagged the branch in her hand from side to side. “Mr. Guajardo, why do you say so? I asked you to dance because I think you’d be good at it. How do you consider that an insult? If that’s an insult, then all the dancers in the world would feel insulted…”
“If I were you, I’d wiggle a little bit even if I didn’t know how to dance. If you manage to entertain us, we’ll naturally help you by removing the insect!” Flossie exclaimed.
“That’s lame!” Halston knew Flossie was intentionally pulling a prank on him.
Everyone knew that only guys at nightclubs would break dance. How could she ask someone like him to do it?
‘Forget it. There’s no way I’m doing this!’
Halston closed his eyes. He decided to suppress the feelings of fear and disgust. He was going to remove the caterpillar on his collar by himself.
Flossie immediately stopped him. “Hey, don’t touch it. It’s poisonous. It’ll hurt if it stings you!”
That was why she snapped a branch off the tree. She was going to remove the caterpillar with the branch.
“You’re lying to me again!” Halston no longer believed in what Flossie said. After taking a deep breath, he tried reaching for the caterpillar.
“Damn. This thing really does sting. It hurts!” As soon as he touched the caterpillar, he began screaming in pain. He didn’t even care about his image anymore.
The most terrifying part was that the caterpillar curled up in fright, and it fell inward through the gap in his collar.
“Oh my god! This is horrible!” Flossie covered her forehead. She couldn’t bear to watch.
“Ahh! Help! Help! Help!” Halston began to ‘break-dance’ right away. Although he was not a professional dancer, he danced like one.
“Stop screaming. Hurry up and take off your shirt!” Flossie rushed forward and frantically removed Halston’s shirt. She then used the branch to remove the caterpillar before tossing it aside.
