In a teahouse in Capital City, facing two equally dignified men, Titus Zane appeared uneasy.
Jon said Abigail Zimmerman wanted to see her... and then she came, not expecting that along with Abigail there would be two men, who had been staring at her ever since she sat down... Get full chapters from novｅlfire.net
"Nicole, don’t be afraid," seeing Titus’s unease, Abigail smiled and introduced, "This is your grandfather, this is your uncle, and I am your auntie."
Titus lowered her head slightly, looking up at the two men, her plump lips pressed tightly together. Under the table, her hands were clasped tightly together. If she had known there would be strangers, she would have asked Nathan Moore to come with her.
After more than thirty years, suddenly having a grandfather and an uncle, she found it very hard to cope, let alone speak to them.
"You’re called Nicole?"
Samuel Zane spoke up, staring at Titus Zane’s face, his eyes conveying emotions that Titus could not understand.
"Yes... Grandfather," after hesitating for a moment, Titus still addressed him as "Grandfather", looking at the imposing yet kind-hearted elderly man in front of her, her nervousness increased.
Because this elderly man was Nicole Zane’s father, and her grandfather. However... Titus always wondered, if they knew about her existence, why didn’t they ever contact her over the years.
"Child, how old are you this year?" Samuel Zane asked again, the austere elder suddenly appearing much more weathered.
"By the traditional count, thirty-one."
Samuel Zane nodded, his gaze drifting aside, his eyes reddening, "Indeed, Nicole passed away almost thirty years ago..."
After a pause, Titus tentatively asked, "Grandfather, what illness did my mother have that wasn’t treated in time?"
Samuel Zane turned his gaze back, heaving a sigh upon meeting his granddaughter’s earnest eyes, "Sigh, it’s all grandfather’s fault, your grandmother died early... and she was spoiled to be completely unbridled..."
Obviously, Samuel Zane was reluctant to talk more about the past, seemingly like everyone else.
"Nicole, where are you staying now?" the hitherto silent Evander Lancaster began, albeit unfamiliar, the very least courtesy was still warranted, Titus turned to look at Evander Lancaster and honestly informed, "Uncle, I’m staying at a hotel."
"I meant in T City." Evander Lancaster corrected; given that Julian Zane had severed the father-daughter relationship, it was unlikely that she would be allowed to move back home.
After hesitating for a moment, Titus said, "Temporarily staying at a friend’s place."
Although legally married to Nathan Moore, for fear of being thoroughly questioned by the elders, Titus’s statement was vague.
Evander Lancaster and his father exchanged glances, not asking further questions.
Even though they had left the bureaucratic world, their foundation remained, and acquiring some information would be effortless.
"Child, what profession have you been in these years?"
To this belatedly met granddaughter, it previously seemed insignificant, but once they met, it became an attachment hard to let go, perhaps this is the magical aspect of familial affection.
"I have been studying abroad, studying fine arts..."
"Hmm, in this regard, you take after your mother." Before Titus could finish, Samuel Zane interrupted, nodding at her with satisfaction.
"My mother... was she also a painter?" Knowing she had a birth mother, Titus couldn’t help but be curious about everything regarding her mother.
"A painter, not exactly, just loved painting, sitting all day in front of the easel, painting and then discarding, discarding and then painting, turning herself into a little flower cat..." Mentioning Nicole Zane, a smile appeared on Samuel Zane’s face, and his distant gaze seemed to reminisce, clearly showing his immense doting on his daughter.