Marissa gently murmured. âAlright, Ellinor, take the kids to wash up and take a breather. Weâll be having dinner soon.â
Ellinor nodded in agreement.
Baber led his little sister upstairs, with Ellinor trailing behind them. After a few steps, she realized that Adrian hadnât followed. After turning around, she saw that Adrian stood frozen in place. He was looking around in bewilderment, as if he were shocked into paralysis.
Ellinor picked up Adrian and held him close, feeling a pang of guilt. Did her harshness today elicit such a response?
âAdrian.â She tried to coax him. âLetâs go upstairs and freshen up. Then weâll join your great grandma and great grandpa for dinner, okay?â
Adrian didnât reply but instead nestled comfortably into Ellinorâs shoulder. He liked the scent of this beautiful lady. It was comforting.
After watching Ellinor take the three kids upstairs, Veronica whispered to Marissa, âGrandma, Adrian has been asking for his dad today. It might have affected Ellinorâs mood. She must miss Theo.â
Marissaâs eyes dimmed at the news. âEllinor has been waiting patiently for Theoâs return.â
After giving her daughter a bath and changing her into fresh, pink pajamas, Ellinor filled the tub with lukewarm water for Baber and Adrian. Boys loved playing with water, and she usually let them have their fun with toys in the tub before helping them clean up.
While her daughter played with her doll on the bed, Ellinor reclined with her laptop and began browsing some work-related matters.
There was an auction tomorrow. One of the properties being auctioned was a parcel of land that the Blanchet Corporation had been eyeing.
Theo had wanted to purchase the land before his disappearance, but the owner had been hesitant to sell. The location was prime and would make a great commercial district.
Theoâs unfinished business was now hers to complete.
After logging into her long-unused hacker account, Ellinor started digging deep into the auctioned propertyâs internal/information.
Suddenly, she noticed an old friend she hadnât seen in a while was online.
After clicking on the user icon, she typed out, âAAAres, long time no see.â
After a pause, he replied, âDo we know each other?â
Ellinor blinked in surprise. âArenât you AAAres?â
âSorry. I had an accident three years ago and lost a lot of my memories.â
Amnesia? Ellinor found this peculiar. âBut you still remembered your account password?â
âMuscle memory, I guess. It just came naturally.â
âWell, what doesnât kill you makes you stronger, right? Youâre lucky. Forgetting some troubles isnât all that bad.â
AAAres didnât seem to agree. He was keen on rediscovering his past. âWere we friends?â
Ellinor pondered for a moment before replying, âWell, we were more like online buddies. We didnât know each other very well.â
AAAres asked again, âHave we met in person?â
Ellinor answered truthfully. âWe sort of have, but not really. Years ago, we attended the same hacker convention, but we were both wearing masks.â
âWhere was the convention held?â
âIn H City Ellinor replied.