Chapter 446

Close to midnight, several elders couldn't hold out any longer and went to bed.

The younger crowd all moved to the entertainment room—some playing cards, some watching horror movies, some singing.

Amid all this noise, Simon and Kelvin were playing chess.

When the snow outside had piled up thick, Russell wanted everyone to go out for a snowball fight with him.

"I've never had a proper snowball fight in my entire life. Please, come hit me with snowballs!"

Since they were going to set off fireworks at midnight anyway, and seeing how earnest Russell was, everyone had to satisfy him.

Watching their figures running around in the snow, Simon stood inside, looking at them through the window.

Sienna was jumping and waving her arms at him, and he waved back in response.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Rhett and Russell hit her with two snowballs. Kelvin immediately made an even bigger one, swearing to avenge her.

Simon smiled at the scene.

Chris played a round of snowball fighting, shook the snow off himself, and withdrew from the battle. Seeing Simon's figure, he came back inside and stood beside him.

Every plant and tree here was designed by them personally. Although it looked desolate now, they both knew that come spring, flowers would bloom all over this home.

The clock struck midnight, and fireworks bloomed across the entire country.

Simon asked, "Chris, do you like how things are now?"

Chris stood beside him, "I do. There couldn't be a better life than this."

Simon pulled his clothes tighter, "Me too."

They walked outside. Through the sky full of fireworks, he looked toward April Mountain in the distance, "Chris, come with me to church tomorrow morning. Let's pray."

"Just the two of us?" Chris asked. "Is Sienna coming?"

"No." Simon smiled. "She's a firm materialist."

But Simon wasn't. In those past years, he often begged the divine, hoping they would hear his wishes.

He prayed that they would let him carve out a stable path through the chaos, that the people he cared about would remain safe and well for a long time, and if he could be a bit more greedy, he also prayed for a home.

The divine heard his wishes.

The divine had given him an answer.

Before the New Year, Chris had already bought tickets to Rosewood City and booked accommodations, telling no one.

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Simon was already in meetings at the company. Chris skipped work and went to the estate, where Sienna and Kelvin were already waiting.

Sienna sat cross-legged on the carpet peeling an orange, while Kelvin picked up the bits she accidentally dropped.

Seeing Chris, Sienna glared at him first, "You know how hard it was for us to clear a whole week off, right? Unless you're telling us you're getting married, we need to have a serious talk about this."

Chris grinned and pulled up two plane tickets on his tablet.

Sienna and Kelvin exchanged confused looks and asked in unison, "What do you mean, bribing police officers with plane tickets?"

Chris made a dismissive sound and flipped through a few pages—more ticket information, all departing tomorrow.

Rhett, Henry, Veda, Sloane, Isadora, Emma...

Sienna and Kelvin saw everyone's names. Looking closely at the tickets, they were all from Emerald City to Rosewood City.

They asked again, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Chris's eyes seemed to shine, "Go to Rosewood City to see the traditional festival parade. If we're lucky, we might also catch the Buddha Sunning Festival at Kumbum Monastery."

As Sienna was still frowning, Chris added, "I've arranged for the Seaside City group too. They'll leave directly from Seaside City tomorrow and meet us in Rosewood City. We'll stay at the same guesthouse—I've got everything ready."

Kelvin spoke up, "Travis's grandfather once said that Novaria's New Year parade is really spectacular. He saw it once."

Somehow, Chris's expression suddenly changed. Sienna keenly noticed the shift, "Tell the truth."

Chris looked at her, "My hometown is near Rosewood City."

Sienna's brow furrowed, "You found out? Where in Rosewood City?"

But Chris shook his head and smiled, "I didn't dig any deeper. There's no point. It's enough to know where my roots are. I went there before the New Year. Someone said you haven't really celebrated the New Year until you've seen the parade. It's very lively there. I want you all to come see it with me."

His words made Sienna inexplicably sad. She immediately nudged Kelvin's arm, "Kelvin, I'll contact the elders, you contact Rhett and the others. Whatever they're doing, put it aside. Let's go to Rosewood City first."

Kelvin said okay and had just stood up when Chris added, "If they don't want to come, tell them about my difficult past and guilt-trip them."

Kelvin paused, then asked sincerely, "When I first met you, you were really aloof. You weren't like this. What changed you?"

Chris thought seriously about the question, then seriously pointed at Sienna, "Spending too much time with her."

Sienna was shocked.

Kelvin looked at Sienna, suddenly smiled, and nodded in complete agreement, "That makes sense."

Sienna was furious.

Wasn't this a personal attack?

---

By the time Sienna and Kelvin had contacted everyone, Simon had also come home from work.

Chris had run off somewhere. As Simon was changing his shoes, Sienna had already run up to tattle on him.

"Simon, you don't know this, but Chris skipped work today. You need to dock his pay. What kind of example is he setting at his age? I work so hard every day, showing up on time, sometimes even working overtime, pulling all-nighters, and he can leave work early and doesn't even start until ten in the morning. I'm really jealous."

Simon walked forward, his laughter trembling, "How jealous?"

Sienna clenched her fists and said through gritted teeth, "Insanely jealous!"

Simon greeted Kelvin and gestured for them to sit down. After scanning around and not seeing Chris, he said, "I've known about his plan to go to Rosewood City for a while. Otherwise, do you think I'd give him the chance to skip work? That's his hometown—just let him be happy."

Sienna sighed and rolled her eyes, "No fun. Why can't you play along? Am I the kind of person who doesn't love him? Would I really be jealous of him? Of course not!"

Kelvin said quietly from the side, "Last week, I think I heard you tell Travis that there's someone at home who's really idle, sleeping until ten every day and not working properly. You told him if he needs help with anything, just ask this person, don't be polite, use your name, make it sound pitiful so the person can't refuse."

Simon's laughter spilled out as he watched the couple bicker, clearly enjoying the show.

After the entertainment ended, he finally spoke, "Brad might go too."