Chapter 249 Good Friends
After the beep, Dorothy held the phone to her ear.
A minute went by with nothing but silence from the other end. Dorothy pouted, looking bummed out. "Mommy's probably still on the plane or busy."
Nathaniel gave her a gentle pat on the head. "Do you know where you live? I drove here, so I can take you home."
Dorothy flashed a sweet smile. "I live in Emerald Lake Villa. You know the way?"
Nathaniel's eyebrow shot up. In the few days he'd been in Coral Bay house-hunting, he'd picked up on the ritzy spots. Emerald Lake Villa was top-tier, developed by the Semona family, who lived there too. It was the crème de la crème of Coral Bay's fancy digs.
From Dorothy's speech and outfit, Nathaniel could tell she wasn't just any kid. But he hadn't pegged her from the Semona Family.
"Hey, Dorothy, do you know Joe?" he asked.
Dorothy's smile widened. "Of course I do. He's my..."
She stopped herself, remembering her teacher's advice about not spilling too much to strangers. She quickly switched gears and fibbed, "He's my deadbeat dad. Sir, can you take me to Emerald Lake Villa? I need to ask him for money for my Mommy."
Nathaniel felt a pang of sympathy. Joe's rep in Coral Bay was pretty nasty—ruthless and cutthroat. He hadn't expected Joe to be a jerk in his personal life too, ditching his wife and kid.
'How could he be so heartless to such a smart and beautiful daughter?' he thought.
"Joe's not a good guy. Can you really get money from him? If not, I can help your mom find a lawyer," Nathaniel offered.
Dorothy's eyes sparkled with confidence. "I can get it. If he doesn't give me money, my brother will hack his company's network and make him go bankrupt. He'll be picking up trash for a living. By then, my mommy wouldn't even give him an empty water bottle!"
Nathaniel chuckled at her grown-up talk. "Isn't that a bit harsh on your dad?"
Dorothy laughed. "That's nothing. He doesn't want us. We don't want him either."
Nathaniel rubbed his forehead. "Alright. Are you hungry? Want to grab a bite first?"
Dorothy shook her head. "I want to go home. I need to be back before lunch, or Joe will spank me and not give me money."
Nathaniel frowned. His opinion of Joe hit rock bottom. 'Not only is Joe a scumbag, but he also abuses kids? How could he lay a hand on such an adorable child?' he fumed.
"Alright then, let's get you home."
They left the venue and hopped into the car. Nathaniel put Dorothy in the back seat and buckled her up. Before starting the car, he found a piece of paper and scribbled his phone number on it.
"Dorothy, this is my number. If Joe hits you, call me, and I'll bring the cops to arrest him!"
Dorothy took the paper and nodded seriously. She folded it and tucked it into her pocket, then asked innocently, "Sir, are we good friends now?"
Nathaniel smiled. "Of course."
Then Dorothy pleaded, "Can you keep it a secret that I came to the exhibition by myself today? Don't tell my family later. Just drive to the door, and I'll sneak in."
Nathaniel thought, 'This kid's got a lot on her plate and even plans to sneak in. Interesting.'
The child had been gone all morning; there was no way her family hadn't noticed. By now, they were probably frantic with worry. He played along, "No problem, I'll keep it a secret for you."
The car rolled to a stop at Emerald Lake Villa. Nathaniel got out, opened the door for Dorothy, and reminded her, "Don't lose the number I gave you. If Joe hits you, remember to call me, okay?"
Dorothy patted her pocket. "Got it!"
Nathaniel still felt uneasy, worried her deadbeat dad might hit her again.
"How about you give me your number too? Go back and charge your phone watch, and we can contact each other if anything happens," he suggested.
"Okay." Dorothy grinned. She had a blast this morning and found this stranger super kind.
Nathaniel saved Dorothy's number before letting her out of the car.
Dorothy peeked into the villa. A few servants were working in the yard, but she didn't see Dahlia, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good bue." She waved at Nathaniel and swaggered into the yard.
Nathaniel leaned against the car for a long time, occasionally checking his watch. It was only after Dorothy called him half an hour later that he finally felt at ease and left.
Back in Imperick, Aurelia brought Cathy and Joe back to Brenda's house.
Before she passed away, Brenda had arranged for servants to take care of it regularly, paying half a year's wages in advance. After hearing about her death, they probably stopped coming.
The villa was pretty dusty. Joe had originally booked a hotel, but when Cathy heard that Brenda had left a house, she insisted on seeing where her daughter had lived.
Cathy looked around the villa, which couldn't compare to the Semona family's in terms of size, layout, or decor, and wiped her tears in sorrow.
Brenda was born into a wealthy family and never cared about money. To her, love was everything. Sadly, she had misjudged; Norman was not a good match.
Cathy regretted not tying up her disobedient daughter back then or spending some money to get rid of Norman, who had married Brenda for wealth and power.
Marrying any man from the elite circle of Coral Bay would have been better for Brenda than marrying Norman. At least her life wouldn't have been so miserable. She gave her money and herself to Norman, only to be neglected by that heartless man.
Joe and Aurelia supported Cathy on either side, fearing she couldn't handle the sorrow.
The living room sofa was covered with a dust cover, still relatively clean, providing a place to sit.
Aurelia led Cathy to the sofa and brought out a box of Brenda's old belongings.
She comforted, "Grandma, don't be sad. If my mom knew you would be living here for a few days, she would be so happy."
Cathy composed herself and carefully examined each item in the box.
The box contains lucky charm that Cathy collected for Brenda because Brenda was not well as a young child and was always sick for a while. There were Brenda's favorite books from her youth, her collection of various perfume bottles.
Brenda had left many things behind. The valuable ones had been taken or sold by Norman and Maria when the company was struggling, leaving only these worthless items.
But to Cathy, these worthless trinkets were incredibly precious.
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