Chapter 69
"Papa?"
"Yes, darling?"
"You once told me grandpa had passed away."
Alexander moved his attention from his tablet to her. "Yes, do you want to visit his resting place?"
"I would love that."
"Alright, we will go there when we visit the family estate. For now, you need to finish your breakfast so you won't be late for school."
"Okay." Viola looked down at her cereal. She was sitting at her small table having breakfast while her father sat at the main dining table with his coffee. She picked up her spoon and began to toy with her food.
"What's wrong, darling? You don't like the cereal?" Alexander asked, noticing her hesitation.
"I like it."
"Then why aren't you eating?"
"Because I wanted to ask you something."
Alexander put down his tablet and gave her his full attention. "What do you want to ask, sweetheart?"
"What about grandma, your mother?" She blinked up at him with wide eyes.
Alexander paused, pondering the best way to answer. "She's far away."
"Far away?"
"Yes, Viola."
"Where? Is she dead?"
"No." As much as he wanted to say she was dead to him, he couldn't say that to his daughter, knowing she would then ask to visit a grave that didn’t exist.
"Where is she, Papa? I want to meet her."
Alexander's expression darkened.
Seeing the frown on her father's face, little Viola wondered if she had done something wrong.
"You can't meet her because she is far away in a place she can't return from."
"Why can't she come back? Doesn't she want to meet me, her granddaughter? Doesn't she want to come back to her family, to you, just like Mommy's father did?" she asked, full of curiosity.
Her persistent questioning irritated Alexander. Since the party, Viola had been asking many family-related questions. He had anticipated her asking about her grandmother but hadn’t expected her to be so relentless.
"Viola," he called sternly.
Viola pouted, tears welling up in her eyes. Her father had used her full name harshly, indicating she was about to be reprimanded.
"Eat your food. You'll be late for school."
Now he understood why she had wanted her mother to leave for work without her and why she wanted to have breakfast with him and have him take her to school. She had planned to ask these questions. How clever.
"But, Papa..."
"Quiet," he cautioned.
Unable to hold back any longer, she started crying, tears streaming down her face.
Alexander sighed, feeling a pang of guilt for making his daughter cry. He stood up, walked over to her, and lifted her from her chair, allowing her to rest her head on his chest. He gently rubbed her back.
"Stop crying, Papa is sorry for raising his voice."
She sniffled, blinking away her tears.
Alexander wiped her tears with his hand. "How old are you again?"
Viola was surprised by the question but answered anyway. "I will be three soon," she said with a smile, remembering her upcoming birthday.
"Mmm," Alexander murmured.
Sometimes she acted so mature, and other times she was the little child she really was. Reflecting on the gift she had given her great-grandfather, Alexander and others had been astonished that she had chosen a special ink pen crafted by a renowned pen master. He had initially thought Lilly had suggested it, but his daughter had selected it on her own.
Now she was crying like the child she was, reminding him of her age.
"Papa?"
"Mmm?"
"Did you forget how old I am?" She wondered why her father would ask her age.
"I didn't."
"Then why ask?"
"Because sometimes you act like an adult, and other times you behave like the child you are, like now."
Viola smiled. "Because my IQ is high."
Alexander chuckled. "Your IQ?"
She nodded.
Clara smiled as she watched the father and daughter bonding.
Meanwhile, at the Blake Group headquarters, Lilly was in her office on the 11th floor. At home, she was a wife and mother, but at work, she was a strict boss. Sitting in her executive chair with arms crossed, she looked at her assistant, Karina, and the team leader of the project planning department.
"What did you say the name of the company was again?" she asked Aden, the team leader.
"The name is BSC Company. It's an international firm, and they want to partner with us."
Lilly had arrived at the office that morning to find out about a company her grandfather had approved for a partnership without her consent. The project file, meticulously prepared, had only required her signature. She wondered why her grandfather had approved working with the company without consulting her, the president. She had immediately asked her assistant to investigate the company and its owner.
"Did you find out who owns the company, Karina?" Lilly turned to her assistant, who was staring at her tablet in shock.
"What is it?" Lilly asked, noting the astonished look on Karina's face.
"Ma'am, it's..."
"Who? Is it someone I know?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Hand me the tablet, let me see."
Karina walked over and handed her the tablet.
Lilly took it and saw her father's image on the screen. "What's this? Why is my father's photo here?"
"He is the CEO of BSC."
Her father was the CEO of BSC? She was stunned.
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