The Day I Kissed An Older Man novel Chapter 1863

Calling Anya his mother made Joey extremely uncomfortable.

However, Anya was delighted that Joey finally came to his senses and was not that scared of her anymore. She showed a more sincere smile and said, "Of course, my boy. But, before Mommy lets you out of the cage, you have to answer some questions. If you answer them well, Mommy will let you out immediately. Deal?"

"Deal," replied Joey with a nod.

Anya grinned and asked, "First, sweetie: How was your life with the Holdens?"

Joey thought for a while and answered, "Umm… Not bad…"

Anya did not like what she heard. "What do you mean, not bad? Be more specific!"

Joey observed Anya's reaction and grasped an idea of what answer would please her, so he answered, "Not bad… As in so-so… I was given food and clothes, but they still favored Daddy's biological children more. I'm different from them, so I never get what they have."

Joey knew those were all lies. He had a great life with the Holdens, and Corinne treated him and his siblings equally.

Luckily, Anya bought his lies. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. She looked at him sympathetically and said, "My poor boy. You must've endured so much hardship just because you're an adopted son! But you don't have to go through that anymore now that Mommy's back! You're going to stay with Mommy. We'll be together forever, okay?"

"Okay," answered Joey uneasily. It took a lot out of him to go against his conscience.

'Mommy said that we must learn to endure, so I'll obey this scary lady as much as possible until I can see Mommy again. Yes, I'll do just that!' thought Joey to himself.