Chapter 397 Danielle's eyes and brows looked very much like mine at that time.
The black Bentley rolled up to the Harriman family estate.
Fred was chilling by Michael's bedroom window, saw Gabriel's car pull in, and turned to whisper to Michael, who was lounging in his recliner, "Yo, Mr. Harriman's back."
"Huh?" Michael was sprawled out on the recliner, a thin blanket over his legs, an old photo album resting on top. He squinted at Fred, "Who’s back?"
Fred grinned, "Mr. Harriman."
This time, Michael caught it, closed his eyes, and didn't say a word.
Fred let him be.
At over eighty, Michael was still pretty spry for his age, except his legs had been giving him trouble the past couple of years.
But lately, ever since hearing that Seraphina was back from Peak City, Michael, the old stubborn mule, had been zoning out or sighing a lot, not sure if he missed his grandson or his ex-wife.
Years ago, his old-school stubbornness and macho attitude had pissed Seraphina off so much she moved to Peak City to retire. From their sixties till now, they'd been divorced for over a decade, almost twenty years without seeing each other. Both were alive and kicking, but they acted like the other was dead.
In recent years, Michael had mellowed out a lot. Unlike back in the day, he didn't push for arranged marriages for Gabrieland Mr. Nicholas anymore. He couldn't force his grandsons, so he just let it go.
Especially after the whole Jessica thing two years ago, Michael didn't think he was being particularly harsh, just sticking to the Harriman family’s principles.
But the house had gotten lonelier.
The Harriman family was huge, but his two sons had gone off to Washington and the UK, and later Seraphina went abroad and cut off contact. If it weren't for Gabriel and Nicholas still being in Xyleria, even if they didn't come back often, at least they were around. Michael really felt like a lonely old man.
Now, whether someone came back or not, he was numb to it, spending his days listening to dramas and soaking up the sun, not caring about much.
But ever since hearing that Seraphina was back from Peak City, supposedly because of her parents' graves being moved, otherwise, she wouldn't have bothered to come back at her age. But this time, she didn't rush back to Peak City.
When he heard this, Michael coldly remarked that Seraphina was still alive, pretending it didn't matter to him.
But he couldn't help but have the housekeeper dig out old photo albums from decades ago, occasionally looking at the old photos, curling up in his recliner, and listening to especially sad dramas on the radio.
Gabriel walked into the house and immediately heard the sad tune from Michael's room. Fred quickly reached out to turn off Michael's beloved radio.
"Mr. Harriman," Fred greeted with a respectful smile, "Mr. Nicholas didn't come back with you?"
"No," Gabriel glanced at Michael, who was clearly awake but too lazy to open his eyes. He didn't walk over, just noticed the old photo album on his lap.
"Mr. Nicholas has been coming back less and less these past couple of years, probably got used to doing his own thing," Fred said. "Mr. Harriman, you sticking around for dinner? I can get Sarah to whip something up."
"Nah, no need. I heard Michael's been a bit out of it lately, so I swung by to check on him. Got a meeting at the company this afternoon, gotta be back by three."
"You’re the one who's out of it!" Michael suddenly opened his eyes, grumbling, then clicked his tongue, "Nicholas feeding you that crap again? How am I out of it? I've lived this long without a stroke, my memory's sharp. I even remember you falling into the backyard grass pit when you were two!"
Michael shot a look at the person standing at the door, "You barely come back. Worried I'll croak alone at home with no one to look after me? Don't bother coming back until you find your conscience!"
"Michael," Fred's mouth twitched, trying to calm Michael's stubborn temper, "Please, take it easy."
Michael, full of energy, looked like he could jump up and whack someone with his cane any second, definitely still kicking.
As Michael spoke, he kicked his leg, and the photo album on the blanket tumbled to the floor.
The only photo of Gabriel as a kid was on top, his cute childhood features clear under the bedroom light.
Fred quickly moved to pick up the album, but it was near Gabriel's feet, so he bent down to grab it.
Seeing it was a photo of Gabriel as a kid, Fred also glanced at it and smiled, "Mr. Harriman, you were a tough cookie as a kid. No one could make you do anything you didn't want to, not even take photos. There are only a few photos of you from childhood, probably all kept at South Hill Villa. Sarah found this album recently, and it was surprising to see your photo in it. You must have been around four or five, still innocent, with a fair and round little face, very cute."
"Not cute at all. Let me see. How come I haven't seen his childhood photos?" Michael, with a grumpy look, glanced at the album.
Fred glanced at Michael, "That's because you always look at the first few pages with photos of you and Seraphina, never flipping to the back."
Michael immediately put on a stern face, "I fall asleep after a few pages, what kind of photos have I looked at? Almost dead, nothing fresh to see?"
Gabriel silently looked at his childhood photo.
He never really looked at these things. If he had any memory of his childhood photos, he wouldn't have taken so long to realize how much Danielle's features resembled his at that age.
Fred, unaware of Gabriel's thoughts, had already taken the album and handed it back to Michael.
Michael squinted at it carefully, then suddenly put on his reading glasses from the small table by the recliner and looked again. After glancing at Gabriel a couple of times, he snorted, "You looked better as a kid, always frowning now."
Fred laughed, "Mr. Harriman didn't smile much as a kid either, always frowning. Mr. Nicholas loved to mess with him, and every time, Mr. Harriman, super annoyed, would just toss him to you."
