I Owe the Tyrant Four Little Heirs novel Chapter 162

“You’re the reason she’s suffered for all these years. If she finds out the man from that night was you, she’ll hate you. She’ll run away and take the children with her.”

Jareth took a deep breath, turned, and walked back inside. After forcing himself to sit on the sofa and calm down for a few moments, he called his driver, Wilbur, and told him to come pick him up.

When Jareth, dressed in a sharp blue suit, appeared at Niamh’s doorstep, she thought she was seeing things.

“Ms. Lynn, are you going to leave me standing in the hallway, or are you going to invite me in?” Jareth asked after a moment, his voice uncharacteristically gentle, a hint of a smile on his face.

Niamh frowned. Was this really Jareth? He was speaking so softly, and was he actually… smiling at her?

“Ms. Lynn?” Jareth prompted when she didn’t move.

Niamh snapped back to reality and quickly stepped aside to let him pass.

At the moment, Cassian was at Lyric’s apartment, so it was just Niamh and the quadruplets at home. The four children were currently facing the wall as punishment, and when they saw Jareth enter, they all shot him a dirty look.

“What are you doing here, you big meanie?” Phaedra was the first to turn around and shout. “You’re not welcome here!”

“Phaedra, be quiet!” Niamh snapped. “And turn around! Stand up straight!”

She smacked the thin bamboo switch she was holding against the table, creating a sharp cracking sound.

The sound startled Jareth.

Niamh’s switch landed squarely on Keir’s bottom.

“And what about the brick you used to put a hole in his head? You’re leaving that part out, are you?” she yelled.

From the side, Jareth watched the scene unfold, an involuntary smile tugging at his lips. “So the little rascals have been at it again,” he thought. “Niamh, you’ve had it rough. Working, raising four kids, being both a mother and a father… it can’t be easy.”

Keir, however, was undeterred. “Hmph! If he calls us fatherless kids again, I won’t just hit him in the head, I’ll break his legs! I’ll make sure he spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair, just like that meanie, Mr. Bragg!”

Jareth’s smile twitched. “This kid really has it out for me, doesn’t he? Good thing I haven’t told him I’m his father yet.”

“How many times have I told you?” Niamh said, her voice filled with exhaustion. “Let people say what they want. Words can’t hurt you. Just because he said you don’t have a dad, does that make it true? Why did you have to resort to violence? Didn’t you promise me you would behave and not cause any trouble? First you blow up my boss’ office, now you’re cracking open a neighbor’s head. How am I supposed to focus on my work when you act like this?”