Snow took the two brothers to the amusent park that ti and bumped into Christopher and his daughter—she knew about that, but she hadn’t realized this scene had happened as well.
"Done laughing yet?" Christopher was so angry that it made his head spin.
The woman covered her mouth, trying hard to calm down.
"You... Who told you to always be such a sharp-tongued guy? This is karma." She walked back to the bed, continuing to gloat gleefully.
"Isn’t this your fault? If you had told earlier that Hope had two older brothers, I wouldn’t have talked to them like that."
Christopher clearly rembered how, back when he didn’t know those two boys were his biological sons, he had never been friendly whenever they t and had even sowhat rejected them, often saying harsh things.
As a result, the eldest son still bore a grudge against him and occasionally retaliated coldly.
Alia, full of righteous indignation, retorted, "You’re a grown adult, holding onto a narrow mind-set and quarreling with kids? Instead of reflecting on yourself, you’re blaming others?"
"Forget it, I don’t want to talk to you."
Christopher wanted to explain that, as a father raising a precious daughter, whenever he saw boys around his little girl, no matter how outstanding or likable they were, he instinctively rejected them!
This innate sense of vigilance wouldn’t lessen as his daughter grew older—instead, it would only intensify.
Especially when he thought about the day his precious baby, whom he held close to his heart, would be sweet-talked away by so young punk. He couldn’t see her every day anymore, nor could he always be relied upon by her—that very thought crushed him entirely!
————
Taking advantage of a rare vacation and good weather, Alia decided to treat the kids by taking them to an amusent park.
Seeing everyone busy packing up, Christopher asked with visible displeasure, "You’re not planning to bring along?"
Alia turned to glance at him. "You want to co too?"
"..." Christopher was so irritated he couldn’t even speak.
On such a rare family relaxation day, why was she so naturally excluding him—the kids’ father?
"Oh well, co along then... I thought you wouldn’t want to trouble yourself since your mobility isn’t great and it’s cold outside." Noticing the man’s stormy expression, Alia quickly changed her tune.
And so, the entire family set out in grandeur. Along with the bodyguards, they needed two cars to fit everyone.
The amusent park was packed during the holiday, with crowds so dense that moving was difficult.
The three little ones jumped out of the car like wild animals returning to the forest, running around energetically.
Even Noah, who was usually calm and mature for his age, got overly excited from not having gone out to play for a long ti and squeezed through people eagerly.
Alia had originally planned to stay with soone, but seeing how thrilled the kids were, she didn’t even have ti to explain to the man and rushed after Hope.
The two brothers were entrusted to Fuller and Aunt Harper respectively.
Christopher sat in his wheelchair, unsure of which direction to look. Within a blink of an eye, his woman and the children had been swallowed by the sea of people, leaving him as the solitary one left behind.
The bodyguards felt awkward as well, pushing the wheelchair while hesitating about which of the little masters to chase after. They cautiously looked at their grim-faced boss for guidance. "Mr. Hart, where... would you like to go?"
Christopher, head aching, leaned on the wheelchair’s backrest, rubbing his temples, then masked his frustration with feigned ease. "Let them run wild. Take over there to the shade."
Though it was the middle of winter, the sun was unusually bright today, making it hard to keep one’s eyes open.
"Understood." Following his instructions, a bodyguard moved him beneath a large tree.
Despite it being winter, the tree was bare, offering little shade.
Still, the brilliant sunlight beca sowhat obscured, casting speckled shadows on the man’s overly handso and distinct features, adding to his allure.
Christopher took out a pair of sunglasses and slid them onto his towering nose bridge, whether to shield himself from the sun or avoid being recognized.
His presence alone was already attention-grabbing. Adding the sunglasses only made him look cooler and more aloof, unintentionally drawing even more eyes instead of concealing him.
"Whoa... Did you see that man in the wheelchair? He’s so handso!"
"Totally! The vibe is amazing! With those sunglasses, he looks so cool and suave!"
"What a pity, though—he’s in a wheelchair..."
"Absolutely. I bet he has really long legs under that blanket, but sadly, he can’t stand up."
"Did you notice him? He’s more stunning than any celebrity—just srizing!"
"Ah, srizing doesn’t an you can have him. Obviously, he’s here with his kids, so he’s married."
"Tsk! So what if I can’t have him? Can’t I fantasize? It’s my first ti seeing soone this stunning in real life! He’s got a cold deanor and such an incredible presence!"
"Whoa... Look over there! What a massive hottie!"
"..."
At first, Christopher remained calm, acting as though the sunglasses were an effective disguise and ignoring how others might perceive him.
But within minutes, he was sitting there uneasily.
With every passerby who turned back to look at him, then showed expressions of admiration, infatuation, or fascination—sotis even loud enough for him to hear their fantasies—it felt like he had beco a zoo monkey.
If not for the bodyguard standing nearby and his excessively cold expression, those people might have approached and tried to interact with him.
Finally, after being secretly photographed by the Nth person’s phone, Christopher lost his patience and said irritably, "Take back to the car."
The bodyguard obediently responded, imdiately pushing him away from the "accident site."
Elsewhere, Alia was standing in line with Hope to ride the little train.
She rarely took her children to such places and wasn’t used to the dense crowd around her.
Recently, thanks to Michael Garcia, she’d gained so notoriety online, so she was also afraid of being recognized and having overzealous netizens rush up to make a scene, scaring her daughter.
Thus, she pulled her cap’s brim down lower, tightly holding Hope’s hand, not daring to play on her phone.
Naturally, she missed all the WhatsApp ssages soone was sending her.
After finally boarding the train, Hope was ecstatic. Alia finally had a free mont to pull out her phone and check.
At that exact mont, soone called her.
Startled, she realized she’d completely forgotten about Christopher, unsure of where he was waiting.
"Hello."
"What are you doing? I’ve sent you so many ssages, but you didn’t reply." Christopher’s tone was displeased.
"I... I was standing in line with Hope for the little train. There are so many people, so I was afraid she might get lost. I didn’t have ti to check my phone." The woman explained carefully, but there was silence on the other end.
She could guess what might have happened, so she proactively asked, "And you? Where are you? Do you want to co over?"
"The car." Christopher spat out two cold words.
She hesitated. "Are you heading back already?"
"No."
"Then why stay in the car? It’s so boring."
"Mind your own business." Staying in the car was at least peaceful and comfortable—certainly better than being ogled like a monkey at the amusent park.
Of course, he wasn’t going to admit that.
If he did, the kid’s mom would surely have sothing to say: Who told you to insist on coming? Isn’t staying ho in comfort a better choice?
But even without him saying it, Alia already guessed what had happened, and kindly suggested, "Why don’t you head ho first? Aunt Harper and Fuller and I can watch over the kids. It’s fine."
She wanted to add that, with how he was now, staying here wasn’t useful either.
But considering his mood, she swallowed those words.
"I have my own plans. Just focus on taking care of the kids. If anything cos up, call ." The man spoke flatly, finished his instructions, and hung up.
Looking at her phone, Alia silently griped a few words.
Hope turned back with a radiant smile and asked, "Mommy, where’s Daddy? Is he upset because no one’s with him?"
You see, even a five-year-old could guess his temper.
"It’s fine. Ignore him. Let’s enjoy ourselves." Alia shalessly played the role of the white-eyed wolf, focusing entirely on her daughter.
Eventually, the two brothers joined her. Hope had just finished the little train ride, so the three adults and three children queued up for the water world sightseeing boat.
It had been so, so long since they’d gone out to play, and the children were overjoyed.
Watching their happiness, Alia started to relax, enjoying herself imnsely.
Unexpectedly, the eldest son, who usually had quarrels with his dad, murmured, "It would’ve been nice if Dad could join us."
anwhile, the dad he was thinking of was sitting in the car, bored out of his mind, and had taken to handling work on his phone.
End-of-year affairs were hectic, his recovery therapy needed prioritizing, and he had to guard against the scheming veteran elders who occasionally troubled him—it was easy to imagine that the post-holiday period would be tough.
What puzzled him now was why those uncles had been so vehently at odds with Benny Palr, but once Christopher returned to take charge, they suddenly went quiet.
Instinct told him that these people hadn’t given up their "rebellious intentions"; they were simply waiting for an opportunity.
But what were they waiting for?
He pondered deeply, suddenly recalling yesterday’s news about Wendy’s serious illness from the visit to the old family ho.
Could it be that they were waiting for Wendy to pass away and for the family to be consud by grief to make their move?
As he noticed WhatsApp ssages scrolling on his phone screen, he snapped out of his thoughts and clicked one open.
"Is this you? The mighty CEO of Seal-Cloud Corporation, sitting at the entrance of a kids’ amusent park being stared at like a zoo animal?"
The ssage was from Benny Palr, who had sohow seen a photo—one that indeed captured him!!
Christopher glared at the photo, feeling utterly ridiculous.
"You’re the monkey! Your whole family are monkeys!"
"Calm down, dude. Just because they ditched you doesn’t an you can take it out on !"
Christopher couldn’t be bothered to deal with him and suddenly rembered the urgent matter, so he decided to call Benny directly.
Benny answered, teasing, "What’s this? Calling just to argue?"
"Who’s as childish as you? I’ve just realized their plan—those people following Dunn Hart."
Dunn was Old Master Hart’s brother’s son, Christopher’s uncle, and one of the current board mbers and vice presidents of the company.
Benny grew serious. "Really? Spill."
————
Alia received a picture from Snow that startled her.
"Your whole family mobilized today? But why did you leave President Hart sitting alone at the park entrance like a guard? Look how pitiful he looks."
Alia was shocked to her core. "Where did you get that photo?"
"From a local lifestyle forum. River City residents probably all have this public account in their WhatsApp, don’t they? I bet so tourist was srized by your Seal-Cloud president’s divine looks and secretly snapped the photo, then uploaded it. Loads of people are fangirling in the comnts below."
God...
Alia cried internally, praying that Christopher hadn’t caught wind of this yet, or he might lash out and shut down the account in anger.
Sure enough, after finishing his business chat with Benny, Christopher indeed commanded, right before hanging up, "Where did you see that photo? Deal with it imdiately."
Benny scoffed, "I don’t work for you anymore, so why should I clean up your sses?"
"Do you have a better alternative?"
"Fine, fine! You’re clearly the weaker party, so I’ll graciously help you wipe your ass!"
Not long after, Snow ssaged again, exclaiming, "Your president definitely found out! The public account has been shut down for rectification!"
Alia: "..."
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