After a month of searching, Lennox still had nothing to show for it. Everyone around her advised she should give up. Even the long-retired Whitmore patriarch also advised her not to keep searching, because I'd been determined to leave, so naturally I wouldn't leave any trace for her to find. The company currently stood on the brink of collapse. She should have returned to handle company matters.
But Lennox refused to give up. She believed firmly she would find me.
The Whitmore patriarch looked at his stubborn granddaughter, both furious and helpless. If she'd known she'd suffer like this someday, why did she do those things that wronged me?
The patriarch couldn't stand by and watch the company collapse, so he had to personally step in and take over operations. From then on, all of Lennox's energy went into searching for me. Even Summer went with her mother daily to look for Daddy. Whenever they heard of any trace of me, mother and daughter would immediately rush there. Yet throughout that entire month it was only disappointment after disappointment.
Lennox had never believed in gods or Buddha. But now she'd taken Summer to every famous temple, prostrating step by step, just hoping to see me one more time.
And finally, that day, in both mother and daughter's minds a mechanical voice simultaneously rang out.
That robotic voice told them I'd never belonged to this world. Now I'd returned to my own world, so naturally they could never find me. From the system's words they learned I was a mission executor, but the mission had been completed seven years ago. It was for Lennox that I'd chosen to stay. Their betrayal had made me completely despair and decide to return to my original world.
Learning all this made Lennox's heartache even more. Aaron had given up everything to stay for her. Yet she'd failed me. Summer also understood she herself was one of the reasons I had to leave. Now all she wanted was to stand before Daddy, to apologize and beg for forgiveness. But we were no longer in the same world. How could they possibly find me?
The system continued speaking. It could give mother and daughter one chance to come to my world for twenty-four hours. If within those twenty-four hours they could convince me to return with them, then our family of three would be reunited. But if I refused to go back, they'd have to pay with their health for the rest of their lives. They had the right to choose whether to accept this opportunity.
Both mother and daughter didn't hesitate to accept. Even if it cost them their health, they still wanted to gamble once.
But Lennox and Summer never expected that after two months of finally seeing me again, it would be in a scene like this.
Before seeing me, Lennox had always believed we'd loved each other for ten years, and Summer was the child I'd poured all my love into raising. Though I might still be angry now, as long as they sincerely admitted their mistakes I would definitely forgive them. Our family of three would surely return to how we were.
But what Lennox never expected was that only two months had passed, and beside her Aaron stood another woman, holding a child they'd never met, looking no different from a happy family of three.
Her mind immediately went blank.
Summer felt utterly wronged. The daddy she loved had only been gone two months. She and her mother had struggled so hard to find him. Yet now another child was calling me Daddy.
Summer, like a little firecracker, rushed straight toward me, wanting to throw herself into my arms. "Daddy, I missed you so much."
And I, having just escaped that initial shock, immediately shifted to avoid the little girl's embrace. "How did you two find me here?"
Right at that moment, the system that had been silent for two and a half years once again spoke. Host, the mission world is showing signs of collapse.
After the system's explanation, I learned that after I left, Lennox had once again fallen into a closed-off state, even more severe than when her parents died. Aside from receiving news and going out to search for traces of me, she only locked herself in that secret room, ignoring everything at the company. The Whitmore patriarch himself had to step in to stabilize the situation. As for Summer, unable to bear the shock of her father disappearing, she cried daily, demanding to find Daddy, even going on hunger strikes to get attention.
The world faced the danger of collapse. The system was forced to intervene, giving Lennox and Summer, mother and daughter, one chance to see me again, but only for twenty-four hours. The system told me I just needed, within those twenty-four hours, to make mother and daughter completely lose hope. To let them know I no longer loved them and I wouldn't be coming back.
After hearing the system's explanation, my heart only felt bitter. Their actions were clearly what caused me to leave. Yet after I left, they desperately searched for me.
"Come back here. Your daughter and I have been searching for you constantly." Lennox couldn't help but step forward, staring at me unblinking, as if afraid I'd vanish the very next second. Summer also looked at me with tears streaming down.
At this moment, Grace immediately realized the relationship between us wasn't simple at all. Anna also woke up just then, hearing the older girl before her also calling me Daddy. Her heart suddenly felt uneasy. "Daddy."
Hearing that call once more, Summer couldn't contain her inner rage, shouting at Anna, "He's my daddy. Daddy can only be mine."
I rubbed my temples helplessly, gently pinching Anna's cheek. "Be good, Anna. Go home and sleep with Mommy first, okay? Daddy has some things to handle."
I gave Grace a reassuring look. "Take Anna home to sleep for now. I'll handle things here."
Though her heart was full of questions, Grace understood now wasn't the time to ask, so she nodded in agreement. She gently kissed Anna's cheek, saying softly, "Sleep well. See you tomorrow, sweetheart."