Chapter 40: Chapter 40

40 Ch. 40 Secret Code

Richard parked his boat in the boat lot and tied the rope to the pole that was pegged to the baton. Then Richard jumped out and picked up Lori and put her on the ground before holding out his hand to help his wife jump out.

As usual, Anxia resisted the man’s touch, so she jumped on her own without welcoming her husband’s outstretched hand, which was now hanging in mid-air.

Richard took them on foot, following a walking path for pedestrians. It wasn’t long before they entered one of the famous ice cream shops. As Richard lowered Lori from his arms, Lori immediately ran to the ice cream display case and tiptoed to see the various choices of flavors.

Richard glanced briefly at his wife, who now seemed unfocused on family events, but her gaze was circulating in all directions as if looking for something. What else is the girl planning? Was it possible that she was trying to memorize the path to become her escape route?

Richard decided to let his wife memorize the path to her heart’s content and focus more on his little daughter. His wife could take care of herself but not her daughter. Moreover, child abductions happened frequently, and Richard didn’t want to let his guard down for a second.

Anxia let out a sigh of relief when she didn’t find any of Master Yu’s confidants near them. But she wouldn’t really be relieved if she hadn’t taken her daughter away from here. She wanted to keep her daughter out of the sight of master Yu and his men.

After choosing the flavor of ice cream according to the order, the three sat down at the designated place to enjoy their ice cream. Lori devoured her ice cream voraciously and eagerly. Her cheerful laughter never ceased to sound, making Anxia’s restless heart feel calm.

Richard also devoured his ice cream but casually. Every now and then, he would glance at his wife, who seemed reluctant to eat her ice cream. It appeared that Anxia wasn’t in the mood to eat her ice cream.

What is that girl thinking? If only his father could invent a digital program that could read human minds, he would undoubtedly use it to read his wife’s mind.

.....

Without realizing it, Richard and Lori’s ice cream had run out and what was left was Anxia’s ice cream. The woman looked so lost that she didn’t realize the ice cream on top of her cone was about to melt.

Richard’s eyebrow rose, and he thought of another naughty idea to prank the woman. Just as Anxia took a bite of her ice cream, Richard took a bite of Anxia’s ice cream opposite Anxia’s position.

Lori immediately closed her eyes, grinning at her parents, who now seemed to be kissing.

For the umpteenth time, Anxia was startled by her husband’s sudden attack, which seemed to have severed her pubic veins. However, right now, her brain was too full of thinking about the fact that Master Yu had found her location, so she was a bit slow to react and remained silent without rebelling or hitting her husband.

As soon as her brain function returned, Anxia immediately turned her head away from her ice cream cone. Then she handed the cone to her husband without saying anything and got up and headed for the toilet.

Richard was surprised by the change in his wife’s attitude while finishing the ice cream that his wife gave him.

What’s wrong with her? Usually, she would hit him, and for some reason, Richard yearned for some beating from his wife.

“Daddy, I want some too,” exclaimed Lori, who wanted to taste her mother’s ice cream. Richard brought Anxia’s used ice cream closer and let his daughter lick the remaining ice cream. Lori’s brows furrowed, and her nose wrinkled like she had eaten something sour. “Bleh... it’s too yuck....”

Richard laughed, amused at the cute expression of his daughter, who was now drinking water as if she hadn’t drunk for days.

“It’s dark chocolate, so it’s not as sweet as normal ones.”

“Ewww...” Lori shook her body like she was shivering from cold. “How can you and mommy eat that yuck taste?”

“Of course, I can. Maybe when you’re our age, you’ll like it too.”

“Nu-uh. I prefer sweet. I don’t want to eat anything dark.”

Oh, how adorable this daughter is. Especially when Lori raised her finger and moved it left and right when she said ‘nu-uh.’ The little girl shook her head firmly like an adult who firmly said ‘no.’

Richard ruffled his daughter’s hair excitedly, inviting Lori’s laughter, and then lifted her daughter’s tiny body to position her on his lap.

“I know I’ve never said this before, but I want you to know that I will love you and give you everything you want. I love you so much.” Richard kissed his daughter’s face laughing when Lori kissed his face too.

Splash! Splash!

Richard immediately fell silent, hearing a splashing sound like a camera snapping something. Without turning his head, Richard glanced towards the source of the sound and saw someone snapping a camera aimed at them. He didn’t know if the person was just an ordinary photographer or if he had a specific target.

Surprisingly, his instincts told him the person was trying to take a clear photo of Lori.

Luckily Lori was wearing a jacket with a hood on it, so Richard could hide his daughter’s face by putting the hood over her daughter’s head.

“It’s hot, daddy,” pouted Lori, yet she did nothing to take it off.

“Bare with it, okay? You can take it off when we get home.”

Even though Lori felt stifling, having to cover her whole body with a thick jacket, Lori still obeyed and didn’t let go of her hood-fastening buttons. She was also silent when Richard moved her to sit next to him.

Richard’s seat was a circular sofa with a high back. Once Lori sat on the couch, the head of the couch perfectly covered her tiny figure and face. This way, Richard could prevent the suspicious person from taking photos of his daughter.