Linford insisted on staying with Cristelle and Candace in their room even though he still had work to do.
Cristelle lay in bed with her daughter, and her phone suddenly started ringing.
Cristelle cast a look at her phone and noticed it was a call from Jasper. Why did he have to call at a moment like this?
Cristelle didn’t mean to blame him. But she failed to take care of Candace each time Jasper tried to call her. It started to get annoying…
Cristelle shifted in bed and ignored the call.
Linford noticed what she was doing, but he didn’t say anything.
And soon, the phone just started to buzz again.
Cristelle ignored it.
The silence in the room lasted for five minutes.
And then, Linford’s phone suddenly started to buzz.
Cristelle’s eyes snapped open. Linford frowned and took a look at the caller’s name before accepting the call.
“Where’s Mom?” Cody’s voice rang at the other end.
Cristelle jumped up instantly. She got up too quickly, accidentally waking up Candace. The girl rubbed her eyes with a chubby hand and heard her brother’s voice, going excited immediately, “Co-Cody!” Candace struggled to call her brother’s name.
A big smile showed up on Cristelle’s face, “Cody? Did you hear that? Candace’s calling your name again!”
They talked to Cody for a while. It turned out the boy was on a boat with his uncle. Candace seemed a bit lost after hanging up the phone. Cristelle left a kiss on the girl’s forehead, “It’s okay, honey. Cody will come back very soon.”
Candace nodded obediently.
And then, Linford’s phone started to buzz again. Cristelle looked around, but Linford was nowhere to find. He had clearly left the room.
It was a call from Drew. Cristelle didn’t want Linford to miss out on anything important. So she got off the bed and went out of the room to find Linford.
“Linford… Drew’s calling you. Where are you?” Cristelle looked around the huge house, but she was welcomed by darkness.
Where was he?
Cristelle didn’t dare to wander around as terrifying thoughts crept into her head, causing her to feel a bit scared. She had been accidentally trapped in that secret chamber earlier. She didn’t want it to happen again.
So she could only call Linford’s name repeatedly in the dark, avoiding straying away from the bedroom too far.
Linford was in the study room. After hearing Cristelle’s voice, he went to hold the door open, “Come in.”
Cristelle turned around and saw Linford’s silhouette against the light. She ran toward him directly, giving him the buzzing phone, “Here.”
After giving Linford the phone, Cristelle was about to leave. However, Linford suddenly pulled her in.
Cristelle stumbled into the room.
“What the…”
Linford locked the door behind her.
“Wha-what are you doing?” Cristelle went a bit panicked.
Linford picked up the phone and turned on the speaker, “Yes?”
Drew sounded unhappy as he said, “What took you so long to pick up the phone?”
“Nothing,” Linford was as cold as always, “What happened?”
Drew could only suppress his dissatisfaction, “Well… It’s the Barnett family. They want to see you. I think they’ve gone to the White House to seek help. You probably should let Pop hide from them a bit. Those people will nag at him.”
“Okay…” Linford hung up the phone.
The White family? Why did they even bother to be a part of this? And why did they want to help the Barnett?
“The White House? Didn’t those people bully Cody and Candace last time?” Cristelle asked.
She still remembered?
“Yes. Those people are the ones who bullied Candace and Cody.”
“What are you gonna do with them?” Cristelle asked.
Linford stared into her eyes, “What do you want me to do?”
Cristelle looked away, feeling a bit uncomfortable when he looked at her so intently, “I don’t know. I just heard that Pop is Mrs. White’s friend. What if he got persuaded?”
She didn’t expect the Barnett to get the White House as their lobbyist.
Linford could tell what she was worried about. So he explained, “The two houses used to be quite close. But we don’t even contact each other as much as before. Do you think they would just come here because of Pamela?”
“You think they have another reason for coming here?” Cristelle asked.
Linford nodded silently.
Cristelle suddenly had a bad feeling, “I think we should talk about this in Candace’s room. I mean… We’ve left her alone for too long. I’m worried.”
“Okay… Don’t be worried,” Linford went forward and circled one arm around her shoulders.
Cristelle didn’t pull away this time. She noticed those maps on Linford’s desk, “Were you checking out those maps in your study just now?”
Linford nodded.
“Why?” Cristelle was curious.
“I just tried to locate Cody’s spot on it. So I can calculate how long it will take him to come back,” Linford smiled, not entirely telling the truth.
Cristelle didn’t get too suspicious. She shrugged and walked out of the room.
When they went back to the room, they heard talking and laughing from the outside. Linford’s face fell.
Cristelle thought it was Pop who came upstairs to play with Candace. But when she pushed open the door, she went alert in a second, dashing toward Candace’s bed in an attempt to protect the girl. Her voice was cold as she asked, “What are you people doing here?”
Candace’s hands shot out to grab Cristelle’s.
Pop, Mrs. White, Diego, and Mrs. Barnett were all in this room right now.
“Your wife has some hot temper,” Mrs. White’s sharp gaze lingered on Cristelle for a while, and she smiled.
Before Cristelle could say anything, Linford’s big hand was on Cristelle’s back, pulling her a bit closer, “She’s always straightforward. I like the way she is.”
Cristelle finally felt safe when he was around.
Mrs. Barnett’s eyes were also on Cristelle. She seemed less deflated than tomorrow.
Diego’s face went pale after hearing what Linford said.
Pop laughed, “Young people these days. However, the most important thing is that they actually like each other.”
Cristelle knew Pop was indirectly validating her position in the Bradley House right now.
“You’re so sure all the time, Franco,” Mrs. White took a sip from her coffee before looking up at Linford again, “Linford, do you want to change the place so we can talk?”