Chương 3: Living Together

Instead of discussing Adam and his wife's death, both Neil and his friend chatted about other matters.

Regarding the anonymous information that he had received about his brother's death, Neil had decided to keep it a secret from his parents.

His father was still recuperating from his last surgery. Neil did not want this information to reach his father's ears and cause the old man to be distressed. If something were to happen to his father right now, Neil Mo did not know if he can forgive himself.

Henry stayed at the residence for almost half an hour before he excused himself. Before he left, he made a promise to come over to visit Neil at his office to discuss the incident.

Seeing that their guest had left, Sophie sat down at the living room just across from her son and granddaughter.

"Your father and I will only stay for a few weeks before we return to the countryside," Sophie spoke after a while.

"You should return sooner. Living in the countryside is good for dad. I can see that his health had improved since you two moved to live there," Neil said.

"He is getting much better," Sophie smiled slightly at the thought of her husband's health.

"Mom, you don't need to worry about me," Neil said. "I'm an adult. I can look after myself and the company."

Sophie nodded. Her expression softened as her gaze moved towards her granddaughter who was sleeping on the sofa. "This poor child." her voice lowered as she was afraid that the little girl would wake up. "She lost both her parents in a day." She heaved a sigh and turned to her son.

"Neil," Sophie glanced at the little girl and hesitated. "I've talked to Claire's parents earlier today. Hazel's maternal grandparents might still be around, but they have migrated to Country F. After discussing with them… we agreed that it would be hard for Hazel to adjust herself if she moved over there."

Neil sat up straight, knowing that his mother was about to discuss the matter regarding his niece. "Then, what are you planning to do?"

"Your father and I are planning to take Hazel along with us and raise her in the countryside."

Neil opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, his niece who was pretending to be sleeping from earlier moved to sit up.

Seeing her sudden movement, both Neil and his mother were surprised.

Hazel Mo stared at her grandmother with firm eyes and spoke, "Grandma, I don't want to go." The little girl's voice sounded a bit hoarse because she has not spoken a word after her parents passed away.

Sophie looked at her granddaughter with surprise. She didn't expect that the little girl would be awake to hear their conversation, and would speak after a few days has passed.

"Grandma, I don't want to live away from my daddy and mommy," Hazel spoke again.

"This child…" Sophie exchanged a look with her son as she lost the words she wanted to say. "Hazel." She stood up and sat down next to her granddaughter as she tried to coax her. "Your parents—"

"I know that I won't get to see them again," Hazel lowered her eyes. She wiped her eyes with sleeves when she felt her eyes grew misty and gritted her teeth hard to stop her tears from falling.

Neil had been watching the little girl for a few days and knew that she was trying hard to control her tears from falling. Seeing how hard the little girl suppressed her emotion like this, he felt something tugged on his heart.

"Grandma, you live so far away. What if I miss them?" her words were a bit incoherent as she forced back her sobs.

"Hazel. We can always return here. I'll bring you to see them whenever you want to." Sophie pulled her granddaughter into her embrace and caressed her softly on her back.

"No."

"Didn't you like staying with grandma and grandpa the last time?" Sophie spoke softly. "I remember you love going to the beach? If you live with grandma and grandpa, we can go to the beach and play every day, how's that? Don't you like it?"

Neil frowned when he heard the girl started to sob in his mother's embrace. He let out a helpless sigh and said, "Mom, maybe we shouldn't decide anything soon."

Sophie shot a look at her son. She raised her hand to wipe the tears that started to form in her eyes. Seeing how her granddaughter was crying in her arms, Sophie could not help but to shed her tears. "Then what else should we do? Hazel doesn't have any other family besides us."

His gaze stopped at the little girl. Neil felt something tugging at his heart as he watched his mother and niece crying together in each other's embrace.

For a few minutes, the living room was filled with nothing but the sound of Hazel's sobs.

"Hazel," Neil spoke after a while. "If you don't want to live in the countryside with grandma, then would you like to live with me?"

Hazel looked up at her uncle with her tears stained face. She tried to speak, but she could not stop her sobs.

"Neil! What are you saying?" Sophie was enraged at her son's impulse idea. "How can Hazel live with you?"

"Why not?"

"What do you know about looking after a child? Raising a child is not like playing house!"

Neil thought about it for a while and said, "I can learn."

Sophie stared at her son incredulously. "You have never been close to Hazel. Do you know how difficult it is to look after a child?"

"If I can secure a billion-dollar deal, how hard will it be to look after a child? Besides, Adam had a nanny who looked after Hazel, didn't he? I can continue to hire his nanny to help me to look after Hazel."

Sophie opened her mouth to say something but stopped when she felt Hazel tugging on her cloth. She tilted her head down to look at the girl. When her eyes met the girl's expectant gaze her anger towards her son dissipated.

"Grandmother… Can I live with my uncle in the city?"