The Substitute Bride Is Reborn and Loves Her Husband No more - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Baby criminal…

“Come on, Tobi, why aren’t you jumping? Are you a scaredy cat?” one of the boys said, nudging Tobi forward.

Tobi staggered on his short legs and almost fell, but he quickly stabilized himself.

Darius Inde was furious seeing this, but he kept quiet because his brother just wanted to get some apples.

He wouldn’t come out and cause trouble for the little kid.

Tobi looked up at the tall, dense fence, several meters taller than him, then glanced back at the group of boys urging him forward.

Tobi smiled inside. He knew exactly what these boys were doing.

They were bullying him—he could tell from the way they looked at him and the tone they used to speak to him.

But he didn’t care about all that. He wanted his apple. He needed to see if what those boys said was true… He wouldn’t gain anything if he didn’t work for it.

His mommy had always preached that in life, you can’t easily get what you want if you don’t work hard for it.

Climbing the fence was an easy task for him. He was a werewolf, and somehow, he could balance himself without falling.

“Bye-bye! I’m going, guys!” Tobi flashed his white teeth at the boys before climbing the fence, leaving them standing there in shock.

“How can that short, quiet kid do that?” one of them muttered.

“Maybe he’s a werewolf,” another shrugged, his eyes still glued to the spot where Tobi had climbed.

“Tsk, why aren’t our parents werewolves?” one of the kids started crying.

Tobi had already reached the top of the fence. From above, he peeked down, but there was no apple tree. His brows furrowed, and he turned to the kids below.

“Hey! You said there was an apple tree here. Did you lie to me?”

The kids rushed closer, seeing Tobi staring at them with an angry face.

Oops. They had been caught. They needed to run!

“Tobi, there’s no apple! Now you’ll have to eat the veggies you didn’t want!” Darius laughed, sensing his brother’s soul shake like he was about to burst into tears.

Tobi sniffled. “I’ll get down. Mommy’s food is the best anyway… Why did I even want an apple?”

Saying that, his short legs prepared to climb back down the fence and return to school—

But an arm caught his leg.

Tobi flinched and turned, looking down at the person holding him.

The man wore glasses and had a handsome yet stern face. He was dressed in an all-black uniform, with a bright star shining in the middle of his pocket.

“Little kid, get down here. Come with me.”

The man’s voice thundered, making Tobi shiver. He tried to pull his leg free but quickly gave up—he couldn’t break free.

“Brother, run! The man is a cop! We are criminals, brother!” Tobi heard Darius’s voice in his mind, and his tiny heart started racing.

A criminal?

That word was used for bad people, but he wasn’t a bad person. He did nothing wrong. And yet, the word was being used on him right now.

“My mommy said I shouldn’t go with strangers,” he said, shaking his head.

“Kid, if you’ve got a mom, then what are you doing over a fence? You must be a rogue cub,” the officer said seriously, looking at Tobi with suspicion.

Tobi stared at the officer in panic.

His lips trembled as he suddenly found himself being lifted up by the man.

He was brought down from the fence.

The officer held Tobi firmly in his arms, refusing to let him go.

“Hey, officer… Can you let me go?” Tobi asked in a small voice—anyone listening would have felt pity for him.

But the officer only chuckled, as if he didn’t trust him.

“You’re coming with me to the station. I wouldn’t drop you down and let you run away. Wolf cubs are really fast when they want to be.”

The officer’s car parked in front of a tall building with a huge banner that read POLICE FORCE in bold letters.

A tall, burly officer stepped out, holding a small wolf cub in his arms.

A female officer, one of his colleagues passing by, saw this and couldn’t help but stop. She raised an eyebrow and commented, “Officer Isaac, is he your son?”

Officer Isaac turned to his female colleague with a cold expression.

“Natalia, don’t you know me very well? If I were the father of this kid, then you must be the mother!”

His thunderous voice echoed as he walked away, leaving Natalia standing there with a flushed face.

“If only that fantasy of carrying a child for the hot officer would come true…” she muttered to herself.

—

Tobi sat inside the prison cell—yes, the officer had actually put him there!

He gripped the cold bars with his small hands, looking like a helpless sinner.

Inside Tobi’s mind, Darius’s voice rang out, no longer joking around this time.

“Brother, do you see now? We really are criminals! We’re inside a prison cell! I told you, brother—don’t go after apples! And now, we’re criminals!”

Tobi sniffled. “I don’t want to be a criminal… Where is Mommy? I want Mommy!”

He dropped to his knees and started crying.

At his desk, Officer Isaac sat staring at the toy prison cell where he had placed the child.

Yes. Toy prison cell.

The thing was pink, made entirely of plastic. He had only put the kid in there because he was a wolf cub, and wolf cubs were notorious for running around.

He couldn’t have a wolf cub causing chaos in the station, especially one that was considered a rogue. The child needed to be kept under close watch until he was taken to the Wolf Cub Orphanage.

“Wuuuuh! Mummy! I want my mummy!” Tobi wailed, his head buried between his knees.

Officer Isaac sighed, rubbing his temples. He couldn’t understand it.

This kid is supposed to be a rogue, yet he keeps crying for his mother.

Finally, he had enough of the wailing. Getting up from his seat, he walked toward the toy cell.

“Hey, kid. You said you have a mommy? Give me her number. What were you even doing up there?”

Tobi raised his head and looked at the officer—the bad guy who had taken him away.

He sniffled and mumbled, “Yes, I have a mummy. But… number? What’s that?”

Officer Isaac groaned and slapped his forehead.

Stupid! What kind of three-year-old remembers a phone number? He had expected too much from a werewolf cub.

He exhaled sharply. “Kid, I’m afraid you’ll be going to the orphanage. There’s nothing else I can do for you.”

Tobi’s eyes widened in horror, and he wailed even louder.

—

Since it was closing hours in the afternoon, Rose arrived to pick up Tobi.

She stood at the gates, expecting her son to come running to her.

But… there was no one.

Rose frowned, a sense of unease creeping over her. Her heart began to race.

Inside her mind, her wolf, Yuna, stirred and growled.

“Don’t waste time getting emotional. Get inside and find out what happened to our son.”

Rose quickly nodded and pushed through the crowd of teachers, students, and parents walking past.

Her steps became quicker as she headed inside.

Because after school hours… no one cared about any child left behind.