Chapter 67

67 67. Run Away

“Impossible!” William muttered, staring at Sofia blankly.

“Why? Mom didn’t allow Samuel to go. But when he said he was going to Tokyo to persuade a woman to marry him, she allowed it,” Sofia explained with an enthusiastic expression. She opened the box and plucked an apple pie and complimented how sweet and delicious it was. She was a sucker for sweet pies. She was a sucker for Japanese sweets. A cute and less sugar one.

Sofia must not know that the cause of William’s daze wasn’t that he didn’t believe that Samuel was allowed to go to Tokyo. He just didn’t want to believe that he was being preceded by Samuel again. If this time he got ahead of Samuel again, maybe, his dream of spending the rest of his life with Paula would be gone. For good.

Of course, William suddenly forgot his main purpose of visiting his aunt’s house. Without saying goodbye, he immediately ran back to his car and drove away from his cousin’s house.

“William! Hey!”

The flustered Sofia could only stare while gawking. When her mother approached and asked who was coming, the cute girl could only answer, “It was William who was here. He brought us apple pie and cheese pie as well.” Sofia then brought the boxes to the dining table and set them for dinner later.

“Then where is William now?” asked Larissa confusedly while looking around for her nephew. “Did he come with Lisa and Vanessa?”

“He went straight home, Mom!” Sofia answered nonchalantly.

“Why?” Larissa asked again. “It’s strange! Thomas said he will have dinner with us.”

.....

“I don’t know. When I said Samuel was leaving for Tokyo this morning, William immediately left. What can I do, maybe he was looking for Samuel while Samuel wasn’t here,” Sofia explained innocently. She had no idea what was happening.

“Isn’t he on an appointment with Thomas?” mumbled Larissa questioningly. “How strange.”

Not long after, Thomas’ car pulled into the mansion’s parking lot. He got out of the car, not alone, but with his younger brother, Alex.

“Oh, Alex, are you coming too?” asked Larissa in amazement.

“Of course. I was in a meeting with Alex. Since we’re going to have dinner together, I think it won’t be a problem if I invite Alex at the same time. Soon, Lisa and Vanessa will also come here,” answered Thomas happily. “Ah, although it’s not the weekend, Let’s have some fun tonight! The more, the merrier!”

“Will William come?” Alex asked hopefully. He was happy that William seemed more serious and tried to make amends by trying to contact Thomas for a consultation on the matter. “Danica said she was out of the office.”

Larissa and Sofia could only stare at the two middle-aged men with bitter smiles. Sofia scratched her non-itchy head. Meanwhile, the noisy sounds of other children fighting over games and toys contrasted with the silence of Larissa and Sofia.

“What are you two doing?” Alex asked suspiciously.

“William was here,” Larissa answered.

“But he left again after I said Samuel wasn’t here,” Sofia added.

“What?” Alex’s face began to tense again. How could it be that easy for William to leave the appointment he made for no apparent reason? “That spoiled rotten brat! How dare he do it?”

***

Meanwhile, William no longer cared about anything. What he wanted was to quickly leave New York and go to see Paula. Danica had prepared everything for him. It wasn’t a big deal because he had planned to go to Tokyo from the start.

“You’ll be leaving in an hour,” Danica announced over the phone. “Everything is ready. How about your suitcase?”

“You don’t have to worry, Dani! I can take care of myself,” William answered expressionlessly. He only focused on preparing travel documents and a little change of clothes.

“Are you sure that Alex will forgive you after you run away without permission like this?” asked Danica, still worried that William would receive a severe punishment when he returned from Tokyo later.

“I don’t care. I am his only son. There’s no way my dad would threaten me to pass the company on to Vanessa,” William replied. He always felt benefited from his position as the only biological legal son of his parents.

“Okay if you’re sure about it. I just don’t want you to get into big trouble after this,” Danica replied, sighing softly. “I ordered an Uber for you. It’ll be arriving in five minutes.”

“Thanks, Dani. I owe you a big time.”

William locked the suitcase after putting in his thick jacket. He had no idea how cold or how warm Tokyo was right now. He did not have time to make thorough preparations for the trip. If he had allowed Danica to touch his personal belongings, she would have prepared a suitcase for him well in advance. For sure he was going well today.

The doorbell rang. William immediately dragged the suitcase and turned off the light. He immediately opened the door for the Uber driver. However, what a surprise he was because the one who came was indeed an Uber driver. Not his father.

The driver in the hat greeted William in a friendly manner. He even offered to help William to help him carry the luggage.

The driver opened the door for William. Just as he was about to get into the car, that’s when his name was called.

“William!” exclaimed Alex who was getting out of his brother’s car. Thomas didn’t want to get involved in the father-and-son business. However, because he didn’t want Alex to drive in anger, he was forced to be kind enough to drive. After all, he just found out that his eldest son had done something shameful, trying to snatch his cousin-in-law.

“Where are you going?” Alex asked him again, sternly.

“Dad, you said I shouldn’t waste the opportunity,” answered William. “If I’m late, my wife can be taken by another man.”

“Okay! If it’s more important than work, you don’t have to worry about coming home,” Alex stated firmly. “You are fired!”