He didn’t forget to give Anthony a smug glare.
Anthony’s face clouded over and he looked terrifyingly cold.
The dining table was split into two different atmospheres with me in the middle.
On the left, John was acting lovey-dovey with Audrey. On my right, Anthony and Gregory were eating without a word as though the dishes tasted bland.
It was so amusing that my lips curved up in a grin. I didn’t manage to defeat Anthony back in the bedroom with my trick, but Audrey did it on my behalf.
As a result, I gobbled down my dinner happily.
When I was wiping my mouth, I spotted Anthony’s plate was still full. I looked up and saw him still scowling at John and Audrey. The little girl was sitting in John’s lap and eating dinner, which was prepared by Anthony. It was as if John and Audrey were father and daughter.
Immediately, I cleared my throat and proceeded to increase Anthony’s torture. “You did the right thing by adopting Audrey. Look, she adores you. I have a suggestion. She can call you ‘Daddy.’ What do you think, John?”
John snickered under his breath before replying resolutely, “That sounds like a great idea.”
He promptly turned Audrey around and joked, “Audrey, call me ‘Daddy!’“
Engrossed in her food, Audrey uttered without hesitation, “Dad—”
Thud! The sound of a fork being slammed onto the table reverberated in the dining room.
It was Anthony. He rose to his feet in a huff and strode away. He had only taken two steps when he stopped abruptly and turned at his shoulder. “Gregory Hall, you did a good job today. I shall reward you with an extra half an hour of screen time. Follow me to my study.”
Gregory’s favorite was his laptop. Anthony didn’t want him to wear glasses, so he was only allowed to play for an hour every day. Upon hearing he had an extra half an hour of screen time today, Gregory’s eyes lit up. He jumped down from his seat without even bothering to swallow his food and dashed to his father.
Seeing Gregory leaving, Audrey could no longer sit still. She struggled to leave John’s lap and wailed, “Greg! I wanna go to him!”
Afraid she would trip, Gregory slowed down and waited for her. They held hands and went upstairs together.
Anthony was ahead of them, stomping up the stairs arrogantly as though he was trying to taunt John.
Once they had left, the living room fell silent.
“Ha!” John spread his hands jealously. “Anthony’s still a sly fox though he had lost his memory. He knows to get the leader’s attention first.”
I burst out laughing. “You know how he climbed his way up to what he is today. You’re no match for him.”
“You’re right.” John nodded and lamented, “Perhaps he’s having the best time of his life after forgetting everything.”
Indeed, living a muddled life might be a good thing.
Still, we couldn’t pretend that nothing had ever happened.
I changed the topic. “I remember Nicolas injected a toxin into my body six years ago. Why did nothing happen even after six years?”
That was also one of the reason I kept pretending to suffer from amnesia.
I wasn’t sure how long I would survive, so I dared not return to the Stanhope family and reunite with my children. Reuniting with my family would be a joyous occasion, but it would be hard to lose everything again.
Compared to the short period of happiness after reuniting with my family, I was afraid of bringing irreversible regret to them. Hence, I decided to be alone and update myself about the events of the past six years.
Immediately, John straightened as his expression turned serious. “I’ve been investigating this for the past six years. Initially, I found nothing, but now that you’re alive and well, it all makes sense. We couldn’t figure out why Nicolas didn’t inject you with a fatal poison. Instead, he chose a toxin that everyone was researching. I suspect he didn’t want you to disappear and…”
“Try to control me, right?” I suspected the same.
After seeing how capable Anthony was, Nicolas tried to control me to threaten Anthony into submission.
However, Nicolas had successfully hypnotized Anthony and made the latter his puppet. He could’ve eliminated me for I was an unstable variable. Why didn’t he kill me?
“Mm,” John replied and inclined his head. “When Emery told me you were with Marcus, I was curious and investigated his whereabouts six years ago. He wasn’t the one who rescued you from the sea. There was another person who saved you, but proceeded to inform Marcus. To avoid being found by the Stanhopes, Moores, and Halls, Marcus brought you back the very night we arrived in M Country. It seemed like a well-planned scheme.”
Indeed, Marcus wasn’t capable enough of finding me ahead of the Halls unless he had struck a deal with one of them.
Who was the person who went against Nicolas and spared my life?
Could it be Tiffany Hall? No, she wanted Sienna Stanhope to disappear from this world so no one would take Anthony away from her.
Could it be Simone? After abandoning her son for over twenty years, she suddenly developed a conscience and went against Nicolas’ wishes for her son’s happiness? That didn’t seem right. If she did have a conscience, she would’ve stopped the Hall family from taking Gregory away. Yet, she didn’t do so.
Only the last possibility remained.
John glanced at me and immediately understood what I meant. His gaze narrowed as he whispered, “Nathaniel Hall?”
I nodded sternly.
Yes, Nathaniel Hall. The man who I couldn’t fathom on first sight as he made my skin creep.
The Hall family never taught their younger generation about love. If Anthony hadn’t found them back then, Nathaniel would be the only successor. Now, Anthony had reunited with the Hall family and even became the leader, taking over Nathaniel’s position.
Under the circumstances, he should be clouded by jealousy.
However, Nathaniel did nothing and disappeared into thin air. He hid in the darkness and waited to reap the benefits from their fight.
“If it’s Nathaniel, what is his purpose?” asked John.
It seemed like Nathaniel had concealed himself well. He hadn’t given himself away. I didn’t really lose my memories, so I managed to relate everything to him.
I shook my head solemnly as I had no idea. “Compared to the other Halls, he’s too low profile.”
Suddenly, my eyes lit up as something occurred to me. “Actually, there’s a way. If we want to know why he doesn’t want fame and fortune, the best way is to force him to accept everything.”
As the saying goes, “One should not impose on others what he himself does not desire.” Still, since it was Nathaniel who broke the rule first, we could give him a taste of his own medicine.
John fell silent for a moment before flashing a mysterious smile. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re not only targeting Nathaniel, right?”
He glanced at the second floor as if something interesting was about to transpire.
I lowered my gaze and grinned.
Right then, Joseph arrived at our house. He greeted us and was about to go upstairs to look for Anthony when I stopped him. “Mr. Campbell, has something urgent happened?”
Joseph stopped at the stairs and replied politely, “It’s about work. Mr. Featherstone hadn’t been to work for a few days, so there are a few important documents which he has to sign today.”
He showed us his briefcase while saying that.
I nodded and stood up. “Right. I have something to discuss with Anthony, too. Let’s head up together,” I told him.
Joseph seemed puzzled, but he said nothing and followed behind me.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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