Chapter 444

Then, a playing card was flicked out with a flourish.

Seeing what was about to unfold, Simon calmly stood up, took his coffee, and moved to the lounge chair on the balcony.

Within seconds, playing cards were flying all over the living room, mixed with Sienna's frustrated shouts and Chris's occasional uncontrollable laughter.

"It's actually not that hard."

"Shut up."

"You need to use the right amount of force."

"I'm not listening."

"The cards can be specially made."

"What? What did you say?"

"I'll give you some."

"Great, right now."

"Come with me."

"Let's go, let's go."

Simon had been seeing scenes like this a lot lately. Whenever they got into it, he would retreat to the side.

After they finished tearing up the place, he would sigh and call out, "Everyone back to your positions, clean it up, now, immediately."

The two would look at their handiwork, glance at each other, then push and shove their way to cleaning up the mess.

Simon felt that even if he lived this kind of life on repeat for the rest of his days, he would still find it interesting.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, Sienna was woken up bright and early by Chris knocking at her door.

Half-asleep, Sienna called Simon in the living room, "Can you please control Chris? I really want to sleep for another three hundred years."

Simon put down his cup, "Time to get up. We need to go clean the new house. Benjamin and the others will come over at noon, Thea and her group are almost here, and Kelvin arrived two hours ago."

Sienna crawled out of bed, "Oh right, we need to get ready today."

Simon hung up and asked Kelvin, "Did you know she could sleep this much?"

"I did." Kelvin smiled, "When there's a case, she's up earlier than anyone. On vacation, she can sleep all day."

Seeing the expression on his face when he talked about Sienna, Simon asked, "When are you two planning to get married?"

At this, Kelvin looked a bit embarrassed, "In a couple of years."

Simon frowned, "Why?"

Chris, who had just retreated from Sienna's door, walked over and stood in front of Kelvin with righteous indignation, "Why?"

Now he was demanding answers.

Kelvin laughed and quickly explained, "Sienna said she wants to stay home for a couple more years, to spend time living as a family. My parents are fine with it, so I'm even more fine with it."

This touched Chris. During the time Simon had been recovering, they'd been living together as a family—no scheming, no disgusting and painful tests, just playing around every day, three meals a day. These were the best days he'd ever had.

If possible, he hoped these days could last a bit longer.

He knew Simon must feel the same way.

"Honestly, I'm happy to keep her for two more years too," Simon said. "But only if you two don't feel any pressure about it."

"What pressure could there be?"

Kelvin was as comfortable here as in his own home, "If you're happy, she's happy. If she's happy, I'm happy. If I'm happy, my parents are happy. Nothing else matters that much. But one thing—I'll be coming over to your place every day from now on, so don't get sick of me."

Simon just smiled, "We have plenty of space."

Chris said with a straight face, "An extra set of dishes, an extra bed—we really do have plenty of space."

Sienna walked out, patting toner on her face, "Plenty of what?"

"Plenty of lazy people." Simon urged her, "Hurry up, Rhett and the others are about to leave."

Sienna laughed, looked around, "Where's Mom?"

"Out with Mr. White," Chris said. "She'll come back with Mr. White this afternoon."

Sienna smiled mysteriously, then ran back to her room. She quickly got ready and came out, "Let's go to our big villa!"

"It's not a villa." Chris corrected her very seriously, "It's an estate, a very large estate, a private estate."

Sienna teased him, "Lord of the manor, getting proud already?"

Chris raised an eyebrow, still somewhat proud—after all, he and Simon had earned it.

When they went out, Sienna realized that while she'd been sleeping, Kelvin and the others had already decorated the house.

They hadn't been at the estate long when Rhett and the others arrived in full force. Like them, Sienna was visiting for the first time and was very curious.

Chris showed them around. Kelvin, seeing that Simon wanted to talk to Sienna, went to help Benjamin and the others organize the food.

Simon walked with Sienna toward the back garden, pointing things out as they went, "Flowers are planted on both sides of the path. In summer, these will be flower-lined paths, leading all the way to the garden in back."

"This gazebo is my favorite. From here, you can see April Mountain. In spring, April Mountain will be covered with wild peach blossoms. Drinking coffee and reading here will be very comfortable."

"And here, Chris set up a barbecue area. See those two stoves? He wants to cook here in the summer. Food cooked on those stoves tastes better, so we'll be eating well."

"That's your and Kelvin's territory."

Simon pointed to a spot, "Gym equipment, training grounds—all set up for you. Of course, Chris and I will use them too, and Henry will come play when he gets the chance."

"Over there is the leisure area. Although people in Emerald City don't really like playing cards, considering that Thea and the others come to visit every year, especially during New Year's, we set up a card room. You and Chris like watching movies, so there's a home theater next door. Your mom and the others will have their own spaces too."

"Sloane has helped me many times before. She'll be doing business with me going forward. Until she decides to leave this big family, she's one of us, so she'll have a share of everything here. You don't mind, do you?"

As Simon said all this, Sienna could hear the longing in his words and see the joy in his expression. She hadn't interrupted, just listened quietly. Only now did she speak, "Of course, I don't mind. She can stay as long as she wants. In such a big home, we can certainly fit one more person."

Simon smiled at how open-minded she'd become, and continued, "I've talked with your Ruben. The placement of victims rescued from those bases is still very tricky. That's where I'll focus my efforts next. Russell will help too, and Rhett and Henry will join in. Wherever there's even a glimmer of hope, we'll get them home. If they're orphans, we'll make sure everyone has security in their future lives."

Sienna turned her head to stare at him. Simon tapped her forehead, "Say something. What are you thinking?"

Sienna smiled, "I'm thinking, how can you be so good?"