Alistair was extremely unhappy and almost jumped up in anger. "Who needs your toy anyway?"
Paloma cleared her throat and reminded him, "Alistair, be polite to our guest."
Bryleigh's face stiffened as she understood the hidden meaning behind Paloma's words. She was being told to be mindful of her status as an outsider in the Callahan family.
Paloma continued, "Bryleigh, Anthony is usually not at the office during lunchtime and has been so busy lately that he hasn't even come home for dinner. If you need to see him about something important, just go directly to the Callahan Group building."
This was clearly a hint for Bryleigh to leave.
But Bryleigh didn't feel embarrassed at all and responded smoothly, "I do want to see Anthony all the time but we've spent quite a bit of time together these past few days so I'm not in a rush today. I came here specifically to visit you."
What?! Alistair felt like exploding.
Had hid Dad been spending all his time with Bryleigh these past few days? How could he...?
He stood frozen on the stairs as panic washed over him.
In the living room, Paloma continued chatting with Bryleigh.
"I'm an old lady who's halfway into her grave; there's nothing interesting about me," she said.
"Nonsense! Grandma, you're healthy and will live long," replied Bryleigh with a smile.
Paloma laughed and said jokingly, "I'll take your word for it."
A few minutes later when Paloma went upstairs to rest, Saul, the butler personally escorted Bryliegh out. When they reached outside the Callahan Family mansion, Alistair caught up with them quickly.
"You said earlier that my dad has been spending lots of time with you these past few days. Is it true?" asked Alistair anxiously.
Bryliegh stopped walking, squatted down slowly in front of Alistair, and smiled kindly. She spoke softly while Saul watched from nearby.
"Of course it is true. Alistair, you can ask you dad's assistant if you don't believe me."
Alistair who was tearful whispered, "Why did my dad break his promise..."
Bryliegh covered her mouth trying not laugh too loud. She whispered back gently, "Alistair, your dad isn't just yours alone. And besides, I trained alongside him at Security Agency. He still has feelings for me, and he needs my help around him. Can you understand that?"
She reached out to touch the little boy's head. "I was wrong last time. I spoke too harshly, and I apologize. Don't hold it against me. If Anthony and I get back together in the future, I will treat you as my own son. Please don't be hostile towards me, okay?"
"Don't touch me!"
Alistair slapped her hand away and kept backing away like a startled bird.
"I have Mommy! I don't want you! And my Daddy, I don't want him either!"
He held back his tears and ran out of Callahan Residence.
"Mr. Alistair! It's lunchtime already! Where are you going?"
Saul called out anxiously but Alistair ignored him completely and quickly ran away on his short legs. Saul had no choice but to ask the Callahan family bodyguards to follow him.
Bryleigh looked innocent as ever, "Saul, did I say something wrong?"
Saul was speechless.
...
Alistair ran out of Callahan Residence with footsteps following closely behind him like a tail he couldn't shake off.
He turned around angrily, "Stop following me! I want to be alone for a while!"
The bodyguards were also worried, "Mr. Alistair, you're still too young. There are many bad people outside who could harm you. If anything happens, Mr. Callahan will skin us alive."
"He won't care about me anymore. Just leave me alone."
The bodyguards exchanged glances with each other; they were really worried about Alistair getting into trouble so they said, "If you don't come back with us now, then we'll have no choice but to call Mr. Callahan again. Do you remember what he told you after your last runaway incident?"
Alistair didn't say anything.
Last time when he ran away with Molly from home, his dad found them both eventually but let them go free only after warning them not to do it again or else there would be consequences…
But now where was his dad? He wasn't even paying attention to him anymore …
Feeling aggrieved and sniffling slightly, he looked up at the bodyguard uncles in front of him. With these people around, how could he go anywhere or find Mommy? Sobbing quietly in frustration, all he could think about was leaving this sad place caused by daddy's actions along with Bryleigh's influence. He wanted nothing more than being reunited with his sweet-smelling Mommy soon enough. Finally making up his mind, he wiped his runny nose before saying softly,
"I'll go back with you guys."
...
Alistair waited eagerly for Monday noon - usually during naptime at kindergarten Mommy would come find him.
With a determined heart, Alistair was waiting for Mavis during his lunch break. The little boy cried as he ran into her arms, leaving Mavis confused and worried. She quickly rubbed his head and asked, "What happened? Did something upset you today?"
"Daddy doesn't want me anymore. Can you take me away with you?" Alistair sobbed.
Mavis was shocked. "Why would he say that?"
"Aunt Bryleigh is Daddy's old girlfriend. They've been spending a lot of time together lately, and Daddy doesn't care about me anymore," Alistair explained through tears.
"Aunt Bryleigh knows martial arts and is very fierce. If she becomes my stepmother, she will definitely abuse me. Daddy won't care about me anymore. By then, I will be a poor child that no one wants. Can you bear that?"
Bryleigh?
Mavis couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had never heard Anthony mention this woman before.
After a moment of silence, Alistair looked up at Mavis with teary eyes and asked, "Do you not want me either?"
Mavis's heart softened at the sight of him crying like that. She replied gently, "Of course I want to be with you always."
"Then can we leave now? Go somewhere where Daddy can't find us," Alistair pleaded.
Mavis knew she couldn't refuse him when he wanted to be with her so badly. But she needed to plan carefully to avoid surveillance cameras and the Callahan family's guards if they were going to escape from Anthony's grasp.
Later in the afternoon after finishing a meeting at work, Anthony returned to his office looking angry and frustrated because things weren't going well in his business dealings lately. Due to some dirty work done by one of his subordinates, they got caught by Sheldon on the other side.
Just as he sat down at his desk trying hard not to lose it completely again over all these issues piling up on him today, his phone rang.
It was one of the guards assigned specifically for protecting little Alistair calling about another disappearance incident.
Anthony answered impatiently, "What is it now?"
"Mr. Callahan... Mr. Alistair has gone missing again! We're sorry but we only just realized it since we thought he was napping inside during lunchtime but then found out there were outdoor activities scheduled this afternoon..." The guard explained nervously over the phone line.
Anthony in front of the phone frowned and held his forehead, feeling a little nervous, "Did he get kidnapped again or run away from home again? Have you checked?"
"We have checked the surveillance. Mr. Alistair walked in a dead corner of the surveillance, and he quietly climbed over the wall to leave, so he shouldn't be kidnapping."
Anthony stopped talking, and the whole office was filled with his anger.
"... Because, we asked the principal and learned that at noon, a woman who claimed to be Mr. Alistair's aunt came. Mr. Alistair didn't go back for lunch break after that. We suspected that the woman took him away."
Anthony gritted his teeth sullenly, "Where did Mavis's sister come from? Why did such a woman of unknown origin be allowed to enter?"
"The teachers in the kindergarten said that Mr. Alistair took the initiative to get close to that woman, and that woman often came to visit Mr. Alistair during lunch breaks, so they didn't suspect her. I'm sorry, it was our negligence."
Headache, every nerve tensed.
As if something was out of control, out of his predictable control.
Anthony ordered in a deep voice, "A thorough investigation."
"Clear."
When the phone hung up, Anthony took out the cigarette case in a state of distraught, and was about to light one. When he suddenly remembered that his son couldn't get used to the smell of cigarettes, he had to give up.
Knock Knock Knock--
There was a knock on the office door, and there was another assistant's voice outside the door.
"Mr. Callahan, that... Miss Bryleigh Padilla is here again."
"I won't see her."
"She said she knew the truth you wanted, and she came here to get paid for it. She only talked about business affairs, not personal feelings."
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