Seeing that Anthony hung up on Thalia, Benjamin asked beside him, “Are you mad?”
Anthony shook his head. “No.”
“You're still denying it when it's written all over you?” Benjamin didn't believe him.
Inhaling deeply, Anthony closed his eyes and admitted, “I'm mad at myself for being too young and weak. Actually, Thalia is right. Her identity is inherently sensitive in regard to Daddy. We can't impose this on her. I understand the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. I was just too reliant on her out of habit.”
Benjamin nodded as he listened. After all that reasoning, he had ascertained that Anthony was indeed not angry.
“But why did you hang up on her?”
“That's because realization suddenly dawned upon me, and I was a tad upset. This isn't her responsibility and she has no obligation in the first place. In fact, we should be grateful that she accompanied us here and went around with us, investigating this and that. We shouldn't have demanded more from her,” Anthony answered.
Hearing that, Benjamin bobbed his head. “Then, you should have talked to her nicely. With you having hung up on her, she'll probably—”
Before he had even finished his sentence, the phone rang again.
Lowering his eyes, Benjamin stared at the caller ID. “Speak of the devil!”
Anthony realized his mistake as well. He took the phone away from Benjamin's hand and answered the call.
“You've now gotten brazen, huh, Anthony Watson?” Thalia lambasted as soon as the call was connected.
“Sorry about earlier!”
“Uh...” Thalia was still venting when she abruptly stopped upon hearing Anthony's sudden apology.
Anthony was exceedingly arrogant and had never apologized. Thus, she was promptly stumped.
“Hey, what other tricks are you up to now?” Thalia only managed to gather her thoughts after a long time had passed.
Unexpectedly, Anthony remained solemn as he admitted, “I failed to consider the matter from your perspective earlier. You're right, and I indeed shouldn't be troubling you. As such, I apologize!”
Thalia was entirely lost.
She still had some tantrums in her if he hadn't apologized. But when he had done so, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was abandoning them and leaving them to their fates.
“What is wrong with you, Anthony?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you saying that you shouldn't be troubling me? I've said that I'd always go all out and never back off when it's something to do with the two of you. That aside, I promised Nat to take good care of you both. What do you mean by saying that now? Are you trying to provoke me deliberately?” Thalia demanded in return.
“No!”
“What a lie!”
“In that case, I'll apologize once more—”
“Anthony Watson!”
“All right, I'm really serious. I don't mean to provoke you at all. Really!” Anthony vowed earnestly.
On the other end of the line, Thalia had nothing else to say to that.
“Okay, I've still got something to do over here, so I'll be hanging up. We'll meet again when everything is over. At that time, I'll leave with you,” Anthony uttered.
At that, Thalia really didn't know what to say on the other end of the phone. “Then...”
“Then, that's it. It's decided! So long!” With that, Anthony hung up the phone once more.
Looking on beside him, Benjamin couldn't help but admit that he harbored some admiration for Anthony at that instant.
He admits it when he makes a mistake, willing to humble himself. On top of that, he can calm down quickly even when he's at the height of fury and is able to comfort those who care about him. That alone had him impressed to the core.
Subsequently, Anthony handed the phone to Benjamin. “Don't answer first if Thalia calls again.”
“Why?”
“I'm worried that she still won't be able to resist coming over in the end.”
“Isn't that exactly what you want?”
Anthony shot him a glare, upon which Benjamin quirked an eyebrow. “What are we going to do if she isn't going?”
“Why worry about going anywhere when we've got money? If there's no other way, we can hire someone and rent a car. Anyway, we don't have any problems making simple conversation now,” Anthony replied.
In response, Benjamin nodded. “Okay!”
“Go and see how are things below,” Anthony urged.
Benjamin walked over to the window and looked down, but there were still people coming and going beneath.
Standing by the window, he shook his head at Anthony.
Anthony frowned, racking his brain for a solution.
“Otherwise, we can only wait until evening to make a move. It's now broad daylight, so we're too conspicuous.”
After mulling it over, Anthony nodded. “That's our only recourse, then.”
“Let's check and see whether Daddy's location has changed,” Benjamin proposed.
Once again, they both fastened their gazes on the computer.
“It isn't moving anymore,” Anthony answered.
“I remember that this watch has a positioning function back when we searched for Denise. Can we send the location to our phones?” Benjamin queried.
“Yup!”
Thus, Anthony performed a series of actions and sent the real-time location to their phones.
“I got it!” Benjamin exclaimed, lifting his hand to look at the location. “With this, we don't need to keep our eyes on the computer anymore. We can watch it in real time!”
Therefore, the two brothers started waiting it out in the room.
Never had they known that a day could actually drag that long.
They lifted their watches and glanced at the location every so often, but there was no longer any change in Kenneth's location.
Right then, something abruptly occurred to Benjamin. “Say, has Mr. Dave left to look for Daddy now?”
“Yeah, probably. When I was tracking the car earlier, I sensed that someone else had done so. There were signs of traces as they have been erased. He knows which car Daddy took, so he was definitely faster than us. There's no one else other than him.”
“If so, he also knows Daddy's location?” Benjamin inquired.
Anthony bobbed his head.
“Then, it's fine since he goes first.” Benjamin felt that they could rest easier when there was at least someone to back Kenneth up.
“Oh yes, you said yesterday that Nat intentionally left a lead for you. What happened next? Was there movement?” Benjamin asked.
Anthony shook his head. “No. I thought about it carefully and concluded that she probably left it for me before she left with that person. There are signal jammers where she is right now, so she can no longer send anything to me.”
Hearing that, Benjamin nodded thoughtfully. “I just hope she can still send something over.”
“It'll happen. As long as she has the opportunity, she'll definitely do so!” Anthony asserted.
Then, they both went silent, saying nothing further.
One sat on the couch and the other on the bed. They waited anxiously and helplessly, glancing at their watches every so often before doing the same with their phones.
Yet, there were zero movements. It was as if everything had come to a standstill.
As night gradually fell, their initial anxiousness turned into impatience.
Benjamin got to his feet and walked over to the window. By then, there was no one outside anymore.
Seeing that, he swung his gaze at Anthony. “Tony, I think it's time!”
Anthony cast a glance at the time, his eyes narrowing a fraction. They're probably having dinner at this hour. At that thought, he rolled over and stood up. “Let's go!”
He shouldered the bag he had long since packed. After attaching the rope and yanking it to ascertain that it functioned fine, he declared, “I'll go first!”
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