Chapter 54 Looking for a Needle in a Haystack
"Stop thinking about it. You've packed things, so let's go." Seeing Arthur still knitting his eyebrows, Sophie changed the topic to distract him.
Right on cue, Jan walked in, leaving little time for Arthur to be worried. The three of them went to the airport together. After more than ten hours of flight, they finally arrived.
The headquarters of Davonnis Corp was in the busiest part of Wall Street, adjacent to other top financial companies, thriving modestly.
The Davies Manor, however, was low-key. A manor, which used to belong to a declining aristocrat, was renovated into the Davies Manor.
On his way home, he heard that his other three brothers had arrived home.
The one that came to pick them up at the airport was Arthur's eldest brother, Otis.
Though the Davies family had plenty of servants, Otis was the most appropriate one to pick up Master Arthur and Lady Sophie.
Though both of them developed businesses in the same country, they had their own thing to do. The chances for them to meet each other were rather scarce, so when they eventually met, they could not help embracing each other.
The warm atmosphere of family meeting together was Sophie's favorite. She looked at both her sons with a contented smile.
"Come, dad, Bailey, and Douglas are all waiting for you," Otis said and was about to lead them home, but Arthur said he needed to call someone first.
Otis was confused. Who was Arthur calling?
Sophie could not help rolling her eyes, "Did you forget Arthur now has a girlfriend and a son? Of course, he needs to call them first."
"Right. Mom, didn't you tell us you were going to come back together? Where are they?" Otis smiled.
Sophie told Otis that they went to Chicago first, and Arthur was contacting Lucia.
Otis nodded. He and his mother looked at Arthur who was making a call in the corner.
But gradually, they found something was not right.
The look on Arthur's face was getting sullener. Sophie and Otis approached him to ask what was going on. "It's still off."
Arthur frowned.
Sophie had no idea what she could say to comfort him, "Let's just go home first, alright?"
Arthur nodded. On the way back to the Davies manor, he repeatedly called Lucia without saying a word.
Neither Otis nor Sophie knew how to talk him out of that. After three hours' drive, they arrived at the outskirts of New York. The Davies manor came into their eyes. While the car was driving in, Arthur was lost in his thoughts the whole time.
On the main staircase, Edwin was waiting for his wife and sons. Bailey and Douglas, too, were waiting for their mother and brothers. The minute the car was parked, Douglas rushed down to open the car door for his mother. Sophie got off and was surrounded by her two sons.
"Mom, you are back," said Douglas.
"Mom, welcome back," said Bailey.
Sophie smiled and hugged them. She meant to visit Otis, Bailey, and Arthur, but the visit was delayed, for she met Theodore in Athegate first, and then she knew the existence of Lucia. Anyway, it was good to finally see them, but...
Sophie looked back into the car, where Arthur was still making the phone call. Her worry grew.
"Arthur, get off," Douglas said to him while noticing he was still in the car, but the latter seemed ignorant of his calling. Douglas then wanted to move closer but was stopped by Sophie. "Just leave him alone. Let's get inside." Sophie said while stopping Douglas. When she saw her husband walking towards her, she opened her arms and gently hugged him, "Edwin, I'm back." Edwin hugged her. Though he always seemed severe and stern, there was a soft look on his face. When he noticed that Arthur was still in the car, he asked, "What's Arthur doing in there?" Sophie did not answer immediately, instead, she signaled to Bailey, Douglas, and Otis to get into the house and sit on the couch in the living room, then she started talking about how they lost contact with Lucia.
"So, he's doing all these things just for a woman? He didn't even say hello to us," Edwin said harshly, but his care for Arthur was secretly flowing in his eyes.
"It's not his fault." Sophie added, "He loved Lucia. She's his first love. Of course, he cared about her."This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.
"Mom," Bailey frowned after hearing his mother's words, "Is it possible that Arthur is fooled?"
Among his brothers, Bailey was the one that attracted women the most. He was more than annoyed by their courtship. Since he had seen a lot of money-chasing women, he was able to tell their little tricks. Therefore, he had such guesses.
The minute he finished his words, a resolute voice came from the entry of the living room, "No, it's not."
They turned around, only to find that Arthur, with a strange look on his face, had been standing there since they didn't know when.
"It was just a joke." Being stared at by Arthur and other family members, Bailey tried to make up an excuse, so that he could be less blamed. He didn't mean it...
Sophie glanced at him and stood up to pull Arthur closer. Then, Arthur greeted Edwin, Bailey, whom he had not seen for a long time, and Douglas, his youngest brother. With Lucia's disappearance hanging over him like a sword of Damocles, he was not in the mood for chit-chat.
Otis and Edwin exchanged a look, and asked, "Look, Arthur. Didn't you tell us that Miss Webb went to Chicago to visit her family? Do you know whom she was going to visit? Any name or other information? I can ask some friends to help you find out where they are."
Otis' suggestions were the most practical ones. Once he proposed, both Bailey and Douglas proposed that they would do the same. And they could still count on the connections that the Davies family already had. Though searching for a local Athegate in the USA was like looking for a needle in the haystack, it would be better to have more people involved in it.
Sophie, however, slightly frowned. She looked at Arthur, who was also looking at her, frowning. Then he answered in a lowered voice, "I don't know."