Chapter 9


    Chapter 9 Gregory Has Gone Missing


    Over at Sawyer Group, Nichs was still in the meeting when he got a call from Andrew. As soon as


    he heard that Gregory had gone missing, he stood up abruptly and walked out of the conference room


    with a steely expression, announcing through gritted teeth, “Dismissed!”


    There was no hiding his anger and hostility. The sheer ipetency! What’s the use of keeping the


    staff if they can’t even keep an eye on a toddler?!


    He looked more mutinous than he had seconds ago as he boarded his car. Just as he was about to


    rush back to the manor, his phone rang with an intrusive trill.


    It was an unknown number, Nichs noted, but he was in such a daze that he mispressed and


    answered the call instead of rejecting it.


    As soon as the call was put through, an awkward female voice filled the other line, stammering, “H-


    Hello, President Sawyer. It’s me, Tessa, the violinist who performed at Young Master Gregory’s birthday


    banquet the other day. Do you still remember?”


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    She heard no response, but what she did hear was her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She wasn’t


    so presumptuous as to think Nichs would still remember her after their brief meeting on the yacht,


    but then again, that wasn’t her priority at the moment.


    Clearing her throat, she exined promptly, “President Sawyer, Gregory hase to the orchestra


    building to look for me all on his own. I was concerned that you might be looking for him, so I figured I’d


    give you a call. If it’s not too much trouble, could you pleasee and bring the little one home?”


    Nichs’ gaze darkened ominously at this as he said icily, “I see. I’ll be over right now. Thank you.”


    Then, he hung up the phone decisively and gave his assistant a call, snapping irritably, “Find every bit


    of information you can on a woman called Tessa Reinhart right now—her childhood, her


    aplishments in school, every single detail there is to know about her!”


    Keeping his phone, he stepped on the elerator and sped over to the Heavenly Chorus Orchestra


    company building.


    …


    At the speed he was driving, Nichs managed to get to the building in record time, having taken a


    mere hour toplete the otherwise two-hour drive there.


    When he stormed through the main entrance of the orchestra building, anyone could see how stormy


    his face was.


    At the sight of him, Tessa straightened up and greeted him stiffly and awkwardly, “P-President Sawyer!”


    Trevor, on the other hand, looked rattled as he kept quiet, not daring to so much as let out a breath.


    In stark contrast to their uneasy demeanors, Gregory was happily seated down, his little legs dangling


    over the edge of the chair as he looked entirely rxed.


    The vein near Nichs’ temple was throbbing dangerously, and his voice sounded somewhat


    disembodied, as if it came from the depths of hell, as he demanded darkly, “Gregory. Sawyer. I don’t


    know where you keep all that audacity, but how dare you run away from home!”


    Tessa and Trevor jumped at the thunderous volume of his voice.


    Gregory, however, seemedpletely at ease as he turned his head away haughtily, sneering, “It’s not


    my fault that you didn’t keep your promises, Daddy. You told me you’d bring me to see the prettydy,


    but you went back on your word, so I have no choice but toe here alone.” He spoke softly, but that


    did little to hamper the hurt and usation in his words.


    Nichs was taken aback by the forward protest, and for a second, he wasn’t sure if he had the right to


    argue. He couldn’t deny that he had been stalling Gregory, hoping that he might eventually forget about


    the promise, though Nichs couldn’t very well admit this.


    As such, he took a deep breath and walked up to Gregory, intending to talk some sense into the boy.


    “You have to cut me some ck here, kid. I’ve been really tied up at work, but I did try to free up my


    schedule to bring you to see Miss Reinhart. You shouldn’t have run away from home. All of us were


    worried sick!”


    “Hmmph!” Gregory scoffed, then added primly, “As if I would believe you. You were cooped up at home


    for the past three days, so don’t tell me you were busy working! Don’t think I don’t know that you see


    me as a dumb kid who will fall for your lies! I’m already four, and I wasn’t born yesterday. You can’t


    keep spinning lies to humor me!”


    Amused by this, Tessa sputtered aloud before she could stop herself.


    Meanwhile, Nichs blinked in surprise, but he, too, was amused. The rage that had welled up in him


    seemed to disappear after the little guy’s grumbling. Having calmed down, Nichs went on to cajole


    the child, saying, “Okay, so now that you’ve seen the prettydy like you wanted to, don’t you think it’s


    time for you to go home with me?”


    Naturally, Gregory refused to entertain the idea of leaving, given the Herculean effort he had put in to


    track down his favorite prettydy. He slithered down from his seat and stumbled over to Tessa on his


    little legs, then scoffed at his father contemptuously once more as he snapped, “You can go home on


    your own if you want to, but I want to stay here with the prettydy. I will not be going back!”


    As soon as he was done with his announcement, he wrapped his little arms around Tessa’s leg like a


    stubborn baby sloth.


    Presently, Nichs’ gaze flickered over to Tessa, his eyes so cold and dark that they evoked a barren


    winternd, but there was an inquisitive gleam in them nheless.


    Tessa nched, and she grew a little flustered. Knowing that Gregory was throwing a childish fit, she


    quickly joined in Nichs’ efforts to change the little fe’s mind. “Sweetheart, I know you really like


    me, and I’m ttered. But this isn’t the right way to go about it. Besides, I still have work to do—right,


    Mr. Oswald?” She shot Trevor a meaningful look.


    Trevor had no idea what was going on at the moment, but he went along with her bluff as he muttered


    hesitantly, “O-Oh, yes, that’s right, Young Master Gregory—our Tessa still has plenty of work lined up


    for her today, and she won’t be able to keep youpany.”


    Disappointed to hear this, Gregory lowered his head sadly as he mumbled, “Oh, okay…” However, he


    had notpletely given up. He bit down on his bottom lip, then stared at Tessa with bright eyes as he


    asked softly, “Then maybe we can have lunch together, prettydy. What do you say?”


    “Well…” Tessa was working up to another rejection, but when she saw how piteous the little guy


    looked, she couldn’t bring herself to say no to him. Then, she caught sight of Nichs’ dangerously


    stormy face and thought, There’s no way he’d agree to this. As such, she sighed and said firmly, “I


    don’t think that’s going to work out, Sweetheart.”


    Upon hearing this, Gregory sniveled, and his eyes turned red as tears glistened in them. His shell-pink


    lips quivered, and it looked like he was about to cry at any given moment.


    Tessa’s heart twisted at this, and she quickly shot Nichs a pleading look, hoping that he could


    intervene and calm Gregory.


    Nichs seemed equally distressed as he pinched the space between his brows, caving into his child’s


    tantrum. “Then do you promise to go home with me right after lunch?”