Annie asked a little resentfully, and Georgia simply hugged her to her chest.
"There's just been too many bad people. So you have to listen to your Daddy and Mommy from now on, Annie, and stay by our side so we can protect you. You and Wesley have to grow up healthy and strong so no bad people can hurt our family again."
Georgia comforted her word by word and soothed Annie for a long while before she somewhat relaxed, finally even falling asleep in Georgia's arms, exhausted.
She carried Annie back into the bedroom to sleep, then turned to Wesley, who'd been worried all this while.
"Go sleep with Annie. If you aren't sleepy, you can go to the toy room and play instead. You see how busy Mommy and Daddy and Auntie Elsie and everyone are. Annie's in a bad mood these few days, so stay with her and play with her. If she's sad about anything, tell me and Daddy, okay?"
Georgia was especially gentle when she said that, and Wesley clapped his chest as he gave a guarantee.
"Don't worry, Mommy, I'll look after Annie and make her happy and stay with her."
After settling the children, Georgia made her way back to the living room. Elsie's voice was guilty.
"It's my fault. If I'd been a better actor and didn't react, Annie wouldn't have noticed anything was off. How could I be so stupid?"
Elsie complained to herself. Wilson grabbed her hand, as if to comfort her.
Georgia showed her a gentle smile as well.
"It's not your fault, Annie's just too clever. I've been lying to her face all this time and she'd suspected me from early on. Since she couldn't get any answers from me, she's trying to probe you for the truth. Kid's just too smart. It was wrong of me to lie, and now that she knows the truth and she's cried about it, she'll get better so long as we get our Vanessa back."
With that, Georgia turned to Wilson.
"I'd wanted to talk to you about something but forgot in the commotion. The king of Svero's gotten in contact. He wants to meet me in person. But I've got Travis to worry about and the lab and I can't leave. I might have to trouble you to go to Svero, Wilson. Please negotiate fully on my behalf with them. I'll also have to continue to leave Vanessa in your hands.
"I've already discussed things with the king of Svero. He fully believes that you can represent me in my entirety and has agreed to receive you in Svero. He's the king over there and there could be political enemies and danger if he left his borders, which is precisely why he's not doing so. We have to go over to him. He'll have people pick you up. See when you're free then get on a flight. You can land in his territory airport straight away."
"Can I go any time?"
Wilson asked, and Georgia nodded.
"I've already gotten in direct contact with the king of Svero. The second prince must have told his father about it. I suspect the king's always known about the second prince seeing you, and he should have a clear picture of the infighting between his children. To him, though, he'll only ever choose the side that benefits him the most. The second prince never provided any tangible support, so he'd gone with Princess Anna in the beginning, because she brings money and military connections.
"It's different now, though. We give the same things with benefits, so of course he's going to consider sidling over to us. Bring a good lawyer over. I don't care about the cost, but we can't let them dig us a pit. We can supply them with technology the best we can, but don't grovel or let him realize that we're desperate about Vanessa. Try not to show it at all, unless there's clear and present danger. This is our weak spot, after all, and if they find it, as businessmen they're just going to raise their demands, maybe even threaten Vanessa's safety."
Wilson nodded straight away.
"Don't worry, I've got it. I'll pack up and leave this afternoon. There's nothing left in the country I need to arrange, and as for Travis, your side can directly contact subordinates and move them around. I'll take a few of my men to Svero. Any other demands from the king?"
"Just regular ones. No weapons, since you'll be landing in his palace. I guess that the news will be kept hush-hush if he meets with you, and he'll put you through strict security checks. He's afraid of assassination attempts, after all, and worried about traps our side could set for him. You have to try and have him believe in our goals but not have them believe that they can walk all over us."
Elsie spoke up.
"I'll come with you. I keep feeling like we could save Vanessa this time."
At that, before Wilson could even speak, Georgia tried to dissuade her.
"I feel like it's going to be dangerous this time. Wilson can resolve that danger, but how about you take a pass on this one, Elsie. That side is more dangerous than ours, and they've got regular shootings and bombings over there. I'm not trying to put you down, but I just think it'll be better if it was just Wilson with his professionals."
"It's fine. I'll protect her."
Wilson suddenly cut Georgia off.
"If Elsie wants to come with me, she's just worried about Vanessa. Maybe I really have a shot at finding her. If the talks go well with the king of Svero and we manage to put pressure on the Chow family, they'd naturally keep Vanessa safe. We might be able to force the Chows to the negotiating table."
Since Wilson had said all that, Georgia couldn't say any more.
"Fine, you can both go, but remember to keep yourselves safe. If you really have some reason to not stay by Elsie's side, you have to have the others keep her safe as well. You know how unsafe Svero is right now. If my guess is right, the king's body won't last much longer, and he's working hard for his heir's position and his country's future.
"I can see from our talks that he doesn't care who inherits the nation. He clearly feels like his children are all capable. What he can't accept is the country he built up from nothing splitting apart after his death and becoming just another course at the banquet table. So he's trying to compromise and continue the nation's existence.
"He could possibly get some benefit out of negotiating with both our side and the Chow family when it comes down to it. He could be using both parties. We have to stay alert and not step too much over the line while trying not to press the Chow family too much to threaten Vanessa's life. You have to strike a good balance on this. No matter what, Vanessa's life is the number one priority. With Elsie by your side, I trust you'll have a shot at bringing Vanessa home safely. For some reason, I just have a feeling that Vanessa could be in Svero. Sometimes the place we least expect is the most probable place there is, and our opponents might be thinking the same thing."
Elsie didn't quite get that, but Wilson nodded.
"That's entirely possible."
By the afternoon, Georgia put Wilson and Elsie on a plane and watched them fly out of the airspace. Robert stood by her side all this time.
"You look worried. Anything wrong with the plan?"
"I don't know why, but last time after Vanessa disappeared, my heart beat especially quickly. After we confirmed that Vanessa was being held captive by the Chow family, that slowed a bit, but seeing Elsie and Wilson fly out of here, it started beating quickly again. I don't know if that's some kind of divine warning. Do you think it could be a mistake sending the two of them off to Svero?"
Georgia looked up worriedly at Robert. It wasn't that she didn't want to go to Svero, but she was no good in a fight. If Wilson had to look after both Elsie and her, it was obviously going to make things harder.
And she was busy with a lot of other things. Because of Travis' situation, the lab had been set back for a couple days, and she couldn't delay any further.
Antonio only had a few assistants and Adolf as a more capable assistant. He had experience researching this sort of thing. She couldn't abandon her job, because Robert's body was important as well.
So the following day, Georgia returned to the lab and her work.
She didn't need to personally investigate which of the two people could be Eric, since her subordinates were responsible for that. Besides, Robert and Sarah were moving their own forces around to investigate, and she couldn't do anything to help.
After busying the day away in the lab, Georgia was preparing to go home when Antonio spoke up.
"You look beat. If your body has issues, you don't have to force yourself to come to work."
"It's nothing, just not getting good sleep and having nightmares. I can still hold on."
With that, she bade farewell to Antonio.
Before she left, she saw Aston, who'd been living out of the lab all this while, working tirelessly.
Of course, he was eating full meals now and sleeping properly at night. He just spent all of the rest of his time at the lab doing research. He walked in front of Georgia.
"Did something happen? You've got a lot you're busy with. Need my help?"
Georgia smiled and shook her head.
"It's fine. You can't help with this sort of thing so far anyway. You know how it is. There's a lot of people helping me deal with things. Keep working on your own end. Kayden's the one who needs your help the most."
Aston escorted Georgia away helplessly. By the time Georgia got back, Robert spoke to her.
"I'd wanted to tell you on the way, but I figured you were at work and didn't want to interrupt or affect your tasks.
"I've already gotten in contact with Nash. That man's gotten a fake name as 'Mack." I promised Boss Nash a good deal and he in return has agreed to lure Mack out. Tomorrow morning, I'll have a shot at grabbing Mack. Then we can see exactly who he is. If he really is Eric, that's easy to check, since his body has issues. We can just check at the hospital."
Georgia was overjoyed at that and she began to look forward to tomorrow.