Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law Chapter 288: One Job

"I don’t want to go."

"You have to go."

"But I don’t want to!"

lanie looked up at the ’little’ kid in front of her-though in reality, he was a grown man with a pout that could rival any toddler’s-and shook her head. "This is an important eting for Stordge. You’ve been preparing for weeks. Co on, don’t be foolish, Adam. You have to go. This is a rare opportunity, and you know it."

"But my wife has jusIt returned from the hospital!" Adam protested, hands flying up in frustration."How can I just pack up and leave her like that? What’s the point of paying all those big dollars and handing out fancy packages to the directors if they can’t even manage this without ?"

"They can’t manage it at the last minute because you’ve been holding onto the deal yourself," lanie countered, arms folded. "As for Max, he could have taken over, but he’s already halfway to Norway. So that leaves you. You need to be there, Adam."

"And your wife," she added with a pointed look, "is absolutely fine now-as you can very well see."

Adam leaned in and stole a quick kiss, then let out a deep sigh. "But..."

"No buts," she said firmly.

"But I like your butt..." he murmured with a grin, casually giving it a light smack.

lanie narrowed her eyes at him, the corners of her mouth twitching despite herself. "Out," she said, practically shoving him and his suitcase toward the door.

Just then, Adir stepped out of his room, rubbing his eyes, still in his dinosaur-print pajamas as he looked at the two people standing at the door. He smiled at them and would have hopped over when Adam imdiately called out, "Look, kiddo! lon here is throwing out of the house. You have to save ." He pointed dramatically at lanie. "Tell her, co on-tell her she’s being unreasonable! I need to be here to take care of her."

Adir blinked at him, then looked at lanie, then back at Adam, clearly trying to process the scene. Then, without a word, he spun around and bolted back into his room.

"Wait—what just happened?""lanie asked, eyebrows raised.

"I think I broke him. He probably went back to sleep," Adam muttered.

But a second later, Adir ca running back, clutching sothing tightly in his hands.

"Here!" he said breathlessly, handing a tiny packet of trail mix. "You better go before she gets really mad or you miss your flight. This is for ergency, in case you need to eat.

lanie let out a laugh, one hand flying to her mouth as she almost snorted, wanting to pat Adir for a job well done.

Adam stared at the offering, deadpan. "Really? Snacks? That’s your idea of saving ?"

Adir just shrugged. "You said lanie wanted you to leave quickly. And you are the one who taught that I should always listen to her and help her. That is what I am doing."

lanie was laughing fully now, leaning against the wall for support as she looked at Adam who simply groaned though she could see, he was actually quite pleased with himself and Adir. And yet, he gave a token protest, "Great. Betrayed by my own team."

"Out," lanie said again between laughs, pushing his suitcase closer to him with her foot. "And take your ergency trail mix with you."

Her laughter was soon stolen, however, when he leaned in and stole a kiss from her, much to the disgust of Adir who let out an "Ewww" and closed his eyes.

Adam broke the kiss slowly, grinning as he pulled back to find lanie breathless, her eyes wide and cheeks flushed. He winked at her, entirely too pleased with himself.

"I’ll see you soon and... next ti I’ll change this ring that you keep pullling on," he said softly, referring to her instinctive reaction to always playing with hislip ring, then reached down to grab his suitcase. But before heading out, he turned toward Adir, who was still wrinkling his nose and wiping at his eyes as if scarred for life by what he had just witnessed.

"Co here, you little traitor," Adam declared, swooping down and catching the little boy around the waist.

Adir squealed, his feet kicking in the air. "No! No! Unhand , villain!"

"You betrayed with snacks!" Adam teased, spinning him once before setting him down, ruffling his hair.

lanie stood with her arms folded, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably as she giggled at their antics.

Outside, Adam crouched slightly and placed a hand gently on Adir’s head. "Hey, buddy," he said more seriously now. "I’m trusting you to take good care of lanie while I’m away, alright?"

Adir nodded solemnly, his tiny fra straightening like a soldier on duty.

"And if anything happens-if she so much as sneezes twice-you call , okay?"

"I will," Adir said quickly.

Adam tapped his smartwatch. "And rember what I told you: make sure this thing’s always charged. No playing gas on it till it’s dead, understood? Only then will it remain charged..."

"I know I know. Understood. Now go!"

Adam gave his head another affectionate pat. "That’s my man."

He stood back up and looked at lanie again and called out. "lon, try not to miss too much."

lanie rolled her eyes but said nothing and waved at him though she felt a bit nostalgic at seeing him off. It felt... odd. "I won’t miss you even a bit." I’ll miss you loads, Adam Collins" She thought to herself, though.

He lingered for one last second, then turned and started walking toward the car, Adir watching him until the gate clicked shut behind him and then he ca over running to lanie, grinning proudly, his arm raised for a high five, like a true co-conspirator and announced, "Mission accomplished. Now, we can go to..."

lanie slapped her hand against his and said,"Uh huh. Now we can go to school."

"No! This is cheating.. You promised to take to..."

"And we will go... after school." lanie cut off the little kid, before he could protest more, causing him to pout," I should have sided with Adam... Next ti,I will side with him."