That afternoon, Manley spent hours glued to his phone, his expression shifting constantly as evening crept in.
He seemed to be waiting for someone's message. For once, he was uncharacteristically quiet, not flying into his usual temper. Even that ever-present cloud of tension that usually hung around him seemed to have lifted, if only a little.
The housekeeper, glancing at Manley as she prepared dinner, couldn't help but remark, "Sir, you seem to be in quite a good mood today."
Manley glanced at the verification message still pending on his screen. The corners of his mouth twitched upward in a faint smile as he replied, "Yes, I suppose I am."
He'd asked a friend at Primus Academy to help him get Citrine's phone number. Really, he only wanted to see if he could find her on social media by searching her number. By pure luck, Citrine's account was linked to her number.
Manley wasn't much of a conversationalist and had no idea what to chat about with his niece.
Then he recalled the look in Citrine's eyes that day, when she'd bet her allowance against Regina—pure longing for money. Without thinking, he decided to send her a generous gift. He moved to wire her a hundred, maybe even two hundred thousand dollars, as a show of goodwill.
But the messaging app had a transfer limit; he could only send twenty thousand. Reluctantly, Manley settled for the smaller amount.
When Citrine didn't accept the money right away, he grew anxious.
He typed another message: "Go ahead and accept it. Just a little something from your uncle."
Sure enough, after that, Citrine finally accepted the transfer.
Manley's smile deepened.
The housekeeper paused in the kitchen, surprised to see Manley smiling—something she hadn't witnessed in ages.
Ever since his injury, his temper had only gotten worse, and the whole house seemed to exist under a perpetual storm cloud.
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