Avrissa did not know what he was thinking about, but the beam
on Darius' face caused the corners of her lips to lift as well.
Old Mr. Graham seems fun to be around. Why can't Benjamin
be like this instead of acting cold all the time?
“Um, Issa? They're not here!”
As they talked, the pair arrived at the lake. Darius quickly
scanned the surroundings for the children, but to no avail.
Puzzled, Arissa looked around as well. “Could they be further
in front?”
| could have sworn they came back to the house...
Avrissa brought Darius deeper into the garden in search of the
children. The pair looked around for ten minutes, but there was
no sign of them.
Darius’ expression was gloomy as he huffed. “Is Benjamin
hiding them from me on purpose after finding out I'm here?”
Avrissa glanced over at Darius, doubting his take on the
situation.
“I don't think so. Perhaps Mr. Watts brought them out to play?”
Avrissa suggested.
“Kingsley's here?” Darius peered at Arissa as he asked, almost
in accusation.
Arissa nodded in response. “Yep! He always has his meals
here, along with Dr. Bailey!”
Tossing Darius an encouraging smile, Arissa reassured, “Don't
worry, Mr. Graham! I'll just give the kids a call!”
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As she reached for her pocket, Arissa quickly realized that she
had forgotten her phone with her. “Sorry, Mr. Graham,” she
apologized sheepishly. “My phone is not with me right now.
Can | use your phone instead?”
Darius patteais. pocket before exclaiming in panic, “My
phone's not here either!”
“In that case, let's go inside first. It's alright, Old Mr. Graham.
‘You will get to meet them!”
With that being said, Arissa accompanied Darius back into the
house.
While they were walking, Darius grumbled, “This has to be
Benjamin's doing. Before this, it was only Gavin. And even
back then, he never liked to bring Gavin to see me. Now that
there are five more, he still wouldn't let me see them!”
With a huff, he pouted. “He's the one that's bad with kids, yet
I'm the one who never gets to see them!”
Hearing Benjamin being scolded by Darius, Arissa instinctively
jumped to his defense.
“Say, Old Mr. Graham. Does Benjamin know that you're
coming over?”
Ever since she came out of the restroom, Arissa had not seen
even a glimpse of Benjamin. She did not know if he was still in
the house or if he had gone out as well.
“Probably not.” Darius hesitated.
His answer managed to piqued Arissa's curiosity. “Oh? If you
don't mind me asking, how do you know we're back home?”
Darius broke into an impish grin at the question before
lowering his voice to answer. “I hired someone at the company
to inform me when Ethen returns. | then proceeded to go see
Ethen myself, and Ethen told me that you guys are back!”
Realization dawned on Arissa.
When they returned to the house, William had already carried
all the presents into the house and arranged them nicely with
the help of others.
Darius slumped onto a couch. Disappointment was written all
over his face for not being able to see his grandchildren.
Amused by Darius’ actions, Arissa smiled and poured him a
glass of water.
“Have some water, Old Mr. Graham. I'll call them now!”
Picking up her phone, she immediately
dialed Gavin's number.
Sipping the glass of water, Darius stared at her in anticipation.
“Has anyone picked up?” he asked, impatient.
Arissa shook her head. “Not yet.”
It's been ringing for a while now. Why hasn't he picked up?
In the end, the call went to voicemail.
Seeing that Darius had gotten increasingly restless, Arissa
comforted the old man. “Maybe he didn't hear the ringtone. Let
me try calling Zachary!”
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Upon hearing the suggestion, Darius nodded.
Avrissa quickly dialed another number. To her dismay, the
phone's ringtone could be heard from upstairs. From the looks
of it, Zachary had left his phone at home.
Without another choice, Arissa called Kingsley instead. That
time around, it only took a few seconds for the call to be
connected.
“Arissal”
Kingsley sounded surprised to be hearing from Arissa. “Why
are you calling me? Aren't you having some time of intimacy
with Benjamin?”
The corners of Arissa's lips twitched slightly. Glancing at
Darius, she could only pray that she was not blushing.
“Mr. Watts, are the kids with you? Did you bring them out to
play?”
“Yeah! Don't worry, I'll take good care of them. | promise I'll
send them back later,” Kingsley quickly reassured.
Upon hearing his answer, Arissa breathed a sigh of relief.
“Grandaunt and Edwin aren't here either. Are they with you
too?”
“Yeah! This is the first time Mdm. Mary has been to Dellmoor,
we're taking them around to sightsee and familiarize
themselves!”
Just as Kingsley was speaking, Darius gestured at Arissa,
asking her to pass him the phone.
“Pass me the phone, Issa! Let me speak to him!”
.