Even at this hour, Rufus was sitting on the couch. Obviously, he didn’t go back to sleep after learning of the matter.
To see the screen clearly, he even put on his reading glasses.
Beatrice was almost fifty years old, but she took great care of herself. When the call connected, she flashed a pleasant and polite smile at Rufus, giving off a sweet and elegant air.
“Dad, I’ve met the kids. They are all here, and they didn’t get into a fight. Oh, your granddaughter-in-law, Winnie, is here too. We’re all together now. Kids, greet him!”
Beatrice moved the tablet so everyone’s faces would appear on the screen one after another.
Xavier, Winnie, and Nate had no choice but to greet Rufus.
Rufus noticed the palpable tension at the other end of the screen, but he remained calm.
After all, he needed to put on a stern front to talk about the trouble Nate caused and Xavier’s mental situation. They were serious matters.
He couldn’t be as cheerful as his daughter by pretending this was a normal family gathering.
“I have two matters to talk about. First, about Nate. Where is Nate?” Rufus asked.
Beatrice had turned the camera to Winnie, so Rufus could only see Xavier and Winnie on the screen. Only half of Nate’s body was visible.
Despite realizing the matter, Beatrice was too lazy to move the tablet as she had already fixed it on the coffee table.
It was easier for her to order her son around. “Hurry, Nate. Scoot over to Xavier and Winnie. Your granddad can’t see you.”
Nate wasn’t about to do that. “Mom!” he protested.
“Why are you yelling at me? Your granddad is no longer young. Are you going to make him upset?” Beatrice chided.
“I… I wasn’t yelling!” Nate didn’t want to be labeled as an unfilial grandson, so he scooted over unwillingly.
That wasn’t enough for Beatrice. Assuming her son was too shy, she moved closer and nudged him.
“Move. Your granddad can’t see me on the screen,” she urged.
Frowning, Nate shifted as told. He came to a stop mere inches beside Winnie.
That’s too close. Winnie’s brows knitted, but she said nothing about it.
The current matter was more important, so she shouldn’t be bothered about such a trivial episode.
Nevertheless, Xavier, who would even get jealous of Josiah, didn’t share her sentiments.
Winnie was sitting between him and Nate. Staring at Nate intently, Xavier picked Winnie up and placed her in his lap as though he was staking his claim on her.
Xavier wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt his Winnie.
Beatrice knew Xavier’s mental state was currently unstable. She knew that he wouldn’t break her son’s hand if this were to happen previously.
However, no one knew what Xavier could do now, so she hurried over and tried to calm him down. “Enough, Xavier. It was a misunderstanding. Calm down. It isn’t too late to ask your grandpa to stand up for you later after we get to the bottom of things.”
Right after Beatrice said that, Rufus announced, “Everyone, sit down. What are you doing? Do you want me to hold your funerals? Nate, listen carefully. Yulissa brought this upon herself. Xavier and Winnie were merely defending themselves. Don’t you know what that cruel woman did to Xavier?”
“What could she do to him? She couldn’t even come close to Xavier because of this b*tch! Granddad, under such circumstances, what could she do to Xavier?”
“Oh, Nate. You’re still too young, after all. Do you think the woman was that kind? You said she couldn’t come close to Xavier because of Winnie, right? Who told you that?”
Nate’s brows snapped together. “She told me that.”
“And you believed that?” Rufus probed.
Nate declared, “Why not? She contacted me before coming back to the country. After she came back, I kept an eye on her all the time. You claim that she deceived me, but there was no way she could’ve lied to me that long!”
Rufus told him, “Nate, you’re lying to yourself. Yulissa was scheming enough to prepare years in advance if she wanted to deceive you. You claim to have kept an eye on her all the time. Do you know that she had an affair with Zyon, who is Xavier’s cousin and also my grandson? Do you have any inkling of that?”
Affair? Nate’s frown deepened. “I don’t know about that. It’s impossible. She never mentioned Zyon to me. Granddad, I know Zyon recently got into trouble, and he’s currently on the wanted list. However, you can’t link Yulissa with Zyon just because you want to defame her!”
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