Esther suddenly raised her head and met a pair of dark eyes which were filled with deep sadness. There was some sense of surprise, playfulness, and happiness of rebirth in the darkness. It was complicated, astonished, and surprised. He didn’t expect that they would meet each other again in such a scene.
Esther’s heart was beating so fast. She also didn’t expect that they would meet each other like this. So, she turned around and tried to run away.
Suddenly, a low and struggling male voice came from behind her, “Babe, stop!”
Esther stood still and took a deep breath.
Then, she turned around all of a sudden. Without raising her head, she lowered her head and looked at her daughter while walking towards her. Iris trembled instantly as she felt a cold breeze was coming towards her. The small body subconsciously leaned on Elijah and said faintly, “Mommy, we can talk about it later if you want. So, don’t be angry. I, I, I have found daddy!”
She knew that usually at this moment, mommy was angry. This was because her mother’s lips were pursed and she looked angry. She was usually in this look when she complained about her cooking. Her face looked fierce. Iris was the only person in this world who could make her angry. She had to be guilty.
Sometimes she would also ask, why mommy was mad at her and didn’t care about anything. Sometimes she would just look at her crying. What made mommy cry? It was okay that she couldn’t cook well. The old man said he wanted to eat better. But how come she didn’t see him lately? Did he really go to heaven? Was it possible that last time old man said he would be going to heaven, and did he really go there?
“Iris, you go with him. I’m very annoyed now, do you know it? Remember, don’t disturb me for three days! Mommy will look for you after three days!” Esther didn’t look at Elijah. She just said coldly to her daughter.
She didn’t want to see the father-daughter reunion scene. She didn’t want to see that heartbreaking scene. She didn’t want to cry as she had cried too much already!
“Mommy-” Iris wanted to say something else.
“Shut up!” Esther said impatiently.
Iris immediately silenced. It seemed that she had been living in fear since small.
“Babe-” Elijah called fondly.
Esther ignored him. She still didn’t look at him not even a glance as she was angry. She was mad at him for taking so long to come back. Also, she was angry that he came and left whenever he wanted. Besides, he as the chief of LN Group could have used all his connections to find her, but he did not do so. He had come back to G City for a month already and only looked for her now. What made him think that she should be hugging him and calling him husband happily?
What gave him the right to ask for that? By what?
“Babe-”
“Mommy-”
“Don’t call me!” Esther left quickly.
‘I don’t want the child anymore. I don’t want the man either. I just want to be cool!’ She snorted.
The father and daughter looked at the woman who left. They were both stunned.
After a while, Iris let go of Elijah’s pants and stood aside. She raised her little face to look at Elijah with a smile. “Daddy, it turns out that mommy is also angry with you! I thought she is only angry with me!”
He looked at her back while she was leaving. He sighed but he didn’t go after her. He lowered his head and his eyes were immediately filled with tenderness. This was his daughter, a daughter who belonged to him and Esther.
Iris looked at him, spread her hands, and shrugged her shoulders, showing an expression that nothing she could do too.
Just such an expression had suddenly made Elijah feel slightly sour in his heart. He squatted down, took his daughter in his arms, and carried her. “Baby, what’s your name?”
“Iris! Iris Perry!” Iris immediately flattered. She wrapped her arms around Elijah’s neck, and she didn’t feel strange and scare at all. Instead, she asked intimately and pitifully, “Daddy, how about I live with you?”
Elijah was stunned and felt slightly sour in his heart. Of course, that would be nice. However, when he looked at Esther’s back who left in anger, he replied, “What to do if mommy is still angry?”
“It’s okay. She’ll be fine in a couple of days. Daddy, let’s go to your house. Do you have any delicious food at your house? I’m hungry!” She said and began to pull her clothes, “My stomach is deflated!”
“Are you hungry?” Elijah’s attention was drawn back to his daughter again. He looked at the small face, the smart eyes looked like Esther, whereas the nose and mouth looked like his. Iris had inherited both Esther’s and his good-looking facial features, which made Iris a little beauty.
He didn’t expect that he saw his daughter asking for food in the street in their first meeting. She was willing to go with that person who gave her some food. How did Esther take care of her? His daughter starved to such an extent.
“Hungry, so hungry. Daddy, hurry up. Let’s go to your house to have some food!” Iris was even more excited.
“It’s our home! Daddy, mommy, and Iris’ home!” He felt slightly sour in his heart when he heard she said, “Daddy let’s go to your house to eat”. His poor child!
Elijah immediately took out the phone and called the number of the old house. The person who answered the phone was of course Tim.
“Grandpa, let someone prepare some food. The more the better. Yes, I’ll give you a surprise later! You better take a tranquilizer first, don’t faint!” Elijah said gently on the phone.
The moment Iris heard that there was food, she was about to drool. She was very hungry. Esther only knew how to bake cakes, nothing else. In the past few years, the food both the mother and daughter had eaten the most was cake. Now Iris wanted to escape once she saw the cake and also Esther. It was because her mommy was too stupid, she couldn’t cook. This had made her imagine every day being taken away so that she could follow others to enjoy delicious food!
Elijah put the phone in his pocket and looked at the place where Esther disappeared. He would get his daughter settled down first and then looked for her. Anyway, this time, she could never escape from him anymore. So, he wasn’t very anxious.
He was carrying his daughter and was about to leave. Iris suddenly struggled to want to get down.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bowl. Daddy, my bowl!” Iris pointed at the bowl behind her. The bowl was broken by her and the old man and specifically used for begging for food, which she would have to use later.
“Don’t want it anymore!” Elijah looked at the broken bowl and he felt slightly sad, “Daddy will buy you a new one, a good one!”
“No! Daddy, I want that one. The old man got it for me!”
“Old man?” Elijah frowned. He couldn’t understand who the old man was.
“Yes!” She nodded gravely. “Old man said that I can take this bowl to beg for food in the street when I’m hungry, and I’ll meet daddy. The old man wasn’t lying. I’ve really found daddy!”
Elijah frowned slightly. His eyes flickered as if he had something in his mind. He had to squat down and pick up the bowl. He frowned as he looked at the broken bowl. It was really broken seriously. However, instantly he realized that it wasn’t an ordinary bowl. This bowl was quite ancient.
Iris smiled contentedly when she got the bowl, revealing her little white teeth. She spoke to Elijah, “Okay, let’s go!”
The house of the Perry family.
“Tim, did Elijah say he’s coming back?” Five-year-old Hugo Bates who was standing beside a white-haired old man asked excitedly.
“He’ll back in a while!” Tim lowered his head. He liked this kid who was brought back by Elijah from the bottom of his heart. The kid was said to be the son of Elijah’s best friend. He was smart, clever, and knew how to play chess. It was fortunate that Elijah was back. He just didn’t know where Esther was.
In his life, he would be very happy if he could see his great-grandchildren before he died!
As he was thinking, a car drove into the mansion.
Elijah got off the caravan with his daughter in his arms. Then, he whispered something in Iris’s ear.
“Elijah!” Hugo Bates had already come out and greeted him. Suddenly, he saw the little girl who was in Elijah’s arms. He was stunned and stopped walking. What a cute little girl, she was like a princess.
Tim also walked out of the house and he was suddenly stunned.
“This, this is?”
Iris slid down from Elijah’s body. She walked with her small legs and stopped in front of Tim without forgetting to take her bowl. She didn’t say anything. She showed a charming smile before she introduced herself. “Hello, great-grandpa! I’m Iris Perry, my mommy is Esther, my daddy is Elijah. You’re my great-grandpa and Winnie Ball is my auntie. Philip, Hudson Ball, and Ethel Kirby are my uncles. Nice to meet you. Great grandpa, do you have something to eat in your house? I’m starving!”
“…” Tim was stunned. It was a big surprise. He was a bit unable to accept such a surprise for a moment, and his body swayed slightly.
Hugo Bates immediately went forward to hold on to him, “Tim, are you all right?”
“Grandpa!” Elijah also stepped forward to hold him in an instant.
Tim smiled and that pair of eyes which had gone through hardships welled with tears of joy, “It’s my great-granddaughter! This surprise is very good! Good! Good!”
Tim stood still and even bent down to hug Iris. Iris immediately stepped back and shook her head. “Great-grandpa is old. I can walk by myself, or I hold great-grandpa’s hand and go in!”
“Good! Good! Good!” Tim repeated. She was such a sweet child, their family’s greatest treasure!
However, a moment later, he looked outside again. “Where’s Esther?”
“Great-grandpa, mommy is shy. Mommy’s cooking is so bad, she’s ashamed to come. And she’s angry now. She’ll come when she’s not angry! Great-grandpa, I’m hungry!”
“Quickly go inside, don’t let my Iris starve!”
Tim held Iris… No, it was Iris who held Tim’s hand and barged into the living room. “Serve the food, I’m hungry! Hungry! So hungry!”
“Elijah, is she your daughter?” Hugo raised his head to look at Elijah and asked.
“She is my daughter!” Elijah said proudly. It was just when he said the word daughter, Esther’s pretty face came to his mind. No one knew how much he missed her.
“Hugo, do you miss your daddy and mommy?” Elijah asked with his eyebrows raised.
“I don’t have a father!” Hugo lowered his head. There was a trace of loneliness crossing his big bright eyes.
“Uh!” Wasn’t he Gabriel’s child? Elijah took another look at Hugo and frowned. No way? He had the same eyes as Gabriel? When he brought Hugo back from the airport, he saw Gabriel was hobnobbing with a girl, and she entrusted the child to him. Maybe they need to deal with the complicated relationship. For him? He should go deal with it too!
Iris was taught well by Esther and she wasn’t shy. Although she was three years old, she could speak clearly. Except that she kept on saying that she was hungry, everything else was fine. It distressed him.
“Let’s go inside!”
In front of the dining table, Iris knelt on a chair and beside her was Tim, “Faster, daddy. Uhm, how come there’s a boy?”
She only now noticed Hugo.
Hugo looked at her blankly. It turned out that Iris didn’t notice him at all. There was a little lost in his heart, but he didn’t say anything.
“Hugo, come and have some food. Iris, he’s a guest in our house, called Hugo Bates!”
“Okay! I got it!” Iris was eating the tender beef tenderloin and spoke while swallowing the food. “I’ll talk to you after I’ve finished my food. It’s impolite to talk to people while eating!”