Chapter 422 Extra 1 Skipping School to Find Elizabeth
"Brandon, you're already twenty years old, not a kid anymore. Get your ass back here right now!"
In the Seraphina Enterprises office, Seraphina, with her sharp short haircut, frowned deeply.
Her face stern, she glared at Brandon through the video call.
"Seraphina, I'm going to find Mom. Until I find her, I'm not coming back," Brandon said while driving. He tossed his phone to his nephew Valentin Kramer in the passenger seat. "Valentin, you talk to your mom."
Fourteen-year-old Valentin, expressionless, prepared to clean up Brandon's mess. "Mom, I'm with him. No one's going to kidnap and sell Brandon."
Brandon couldn't help but interject defensively, "I'm the adult here. If anyone's getting kidnapped, it'd be you."
Valentin glanced coldly at the delicate-featured Brandon, as if looking at an irresponsible child. "Just shut your mouth."
Valentin had been perfectly fine attending school when Brandon threatened him into skipping class to accompany him to Zephyria to find their grandmother Elizabeth.
On the other end of the video call, Seraphina turned her attention to her son Valentin. "Valentin, Brandon's being immature, but are you being immature too? Why did you go with him? When your father gets to Border Ridge City, you're dead. Tell Brandon to turn the car around and come back now."
Seraphina was about to lose her mind.
How could both of them be so disobedient?
Valentin remained calm. "Mom, don't get angry. Stay composed. Getting angry causes wrinkles. Brandon wants to find Grandma, so just let him go. He's already twenty years old, not a kid."
Seraphina fell silent for a moment, then said hoarsely, "I'm going to cancel all your cards."
She hung up the video call, her eyes slightly red.
Once they ran out of money, they'd come crawling back.
Valentin looked at the disconnected call and turned to Brandon. "Brandon, I don't have any cash on me. Do you?"
Brandon answered straightforwardly, "I don't either. Worst case, we'll sell the watch."
Valentin first checked their current location—they were on the highway. To sell the watch, they'd need to get to a city center first, which was quite far.
Seraphina sent Elizabeth a text message: [Mom, Brandon is coming to find you]
Elizabeth's phone signal was sometimes weak depending on where she was, and texts often didn't go through.
Seraphina didn't know if Elizabeth would receive this message. She put away her phone, grabbed her laptop, and headed to a meeting.
When Seraphina finished her meeting and returned to her office, she called Gavin.
"Mr. Dixon, tell Mr. Kramer his son skipped school."
After saying this, she hung up.
Gavin turned to look at Demetrius, who was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee. Gavin wondered to himself.
Seraphina and Demetrius had been married for over ten years, their son Valentin was already fourteen, yet they still treated each other with such formal politeness.
How strange.
The second year after Elizabeth and Timothy left to travel, Seraphina married Demetrius.
Seraphina and Demetrius hadn't chosen to marry because of love—it was more a matter of circumstance.
Seraphina herself hadn't expected she would marry Demetrius.
Demetrius glanced coldly at Gavin. "If you have something to say, say it."
"Mrs. Seraphina Kramer says Mr. Valentin Kramer skipped school."
"Reason?"
Valentin had always been like Demetrius since childhood—very methodical and wouldn't do something like skip school.
Gavin relayed what he'd heard from the bodyguards to Demetrius. "Mr. Brandon Robinson took Mr. Kramer out of school. They're going to find Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson."
Demetrius acknowledged with a sound and said nothing more.
Seeing this reaction, Gavin figured Demetrius wasn't planning to send anyone to drag Brandon and Valentin back.
On the highway.
Brandon, who'd been driving for half the day, wanted to quit. He couldn't help but sigh. "Valentin, let's just take a plane instead."
If he'd known, he wouldn't have chosen to drive. Driving for so long made his body ache.
He just couldn't take this suffering.
Brandon had some self-awareness about himself.
Valentin wasn't surprised at all. He'd already looked up the nearest airport.
Holding a math competition book, without lifting his eyes from the page, he replied flatly, "Okay. I thought you liked driving. There's about an hour until the next rest stop. If you want to get to the nearest airport, we'd have to drive for at least two more days."
Brandon's eyes widened.
Two days? That long?
"Brandon, drive carefully." After this reminder, Valentin continued reading.
Brandon felt like crying.
When they reached the rest stop, they used the restroom, washed their faces, then went to the convenience store to buy water and food.
Brandon had just placed his hand on a cup of instant noodles when he heard Valentin's ghostly voice. "Brandon, our cards have been canceled."
Brandon froze, then turned to look at Valentin, his face full of disbelief. "What? My sister is that ruthless? She canceled them that fast?"
Brandon had thought Seraphina would give them some time, but she'd been so quick.
Brandon looked at the instant noodles his fingers had touched and reluctantly put them down.
There was no way to sell the watch at this kind of rest stop either.
"Wait, let me borrow some money first." Brandon messaged his friends to borrow money.
[Brandon, can't do it. Your sister already called us. We can't provide you any financial support]
Brandon fell silent. These friends seemed pretty useless.
Brandon didn't give up and continued scrolling through his contact list. He opened his non-friend list.
Brandon randomly clicked on a profile picture.
[Friend, can you lend me five hundred dollars? I'll pay you back ten times later]
A short-haired woman eating in the cafeteria heard her phone vibrate. Her handsome eyebrows raised slightly.
She actually saw a message from someone she'd never contacted before, asking to borrow money. Who was this person again?
Matilda was about to block them when she saw the other person send a selfie.
[Friend, even a hundred dollars would work. I have my photo as guarantee, I'll definitely pay you back]
In the photo, Brandon was delicate and beautiful—a guy who could be called beautiful, truly blurring gender lines.
Matilda moved her fingers. For the sake of the good-looking photo, she sent over a hundred dollars.
She tried to recall when she'd added this unfamiliar number. She had no memory of it.
After sending the hundred dollars, she blocked them.
Brandon received the hundred dollars and wanted to send some words of thanks, only to discover the other person had already blocked him.
7 PM.
Jacob knocked and entered the office, reminding her, "Seraphina, it's late. Time to go home."
Seraphina looked up and realized it was already 7 PM. She nodded. "Okay."
She packed up her things and left the company with Jacob.
Jacob watched her get in her car and leave before going to his own car.
Sitting in the car, Seraphina closed her eyes to rest, but her mind had already flown to Brandon and Valentin.
She wondered where Brandon and Valentin had gotten to by now.
She sent Valentin a message: [Where are you two now?]
Valentin: [Car's pulled over on the side of the road. Brandon is catching up on sleep]
Seeing this text, Seraphina's heart ached. Brandon, whom she'd carefully raised all these years, was now sleeping uncomfortably in a car.
[It's cold at night. Cover Brandon with a blanket]
[Mom, I know]
Seraphina's car stopped at the entrance of The Kramer Mansion.
This was the house Seraphina and Demetrius had bought when they got married.
Demetrius spent most of his time not living in Border Ridge City.
After all, his company headquarters was in Solstice.
The fact that Demetrius could spare time to come back here for a day or two each month to see Valentin was already pretty good.
Whether it was Seraphina or Demetrius, both were very busy with work.
Seraphina had long grown accustomed to this kind of distant marriage.
They didn't interfere with each other, each living their own lives.
She had just walked into the living room when she heard laughter.
"The bet we made back then is still posted in the group chat. So many years have passed, and Demetrius and his wife still haven't divorced. Instead, I'm the one who got divorced."
With such a loose tongue, Seraphina immediately knew who it was.
Leo Schmidt, one of Demetrius's friends.
Walter Wood was the first to see Seraphina enter the living room. He cleared his throat, stopping his friend Leo from continuing to talk about the bet.
"Seraphina, you're back." Walter greeted Seraphina.
Seraphina smiled and nodded.
Leo felt awkward. "Seraphina, hello."
Demetrius sat on the sofa, documents in hand, dressed in a full suit.
Seraphina was a bit surprised he'd come to Border Ridge City today. "Mr. Kramer, weren't you supposed to come back in a couple of days? Valentin's not home. You won't see him this time."
Demetrius looked up, their eyes meeting briefly, his face showing little expression.
"Something came up here. Came back early."
"Okay." Seraphina nodded, exchanged a few polite words with Walter and the others, then went upstairs.
After Seraphina went upstairs, Demetrius turned to look at Leo, his eyes carrying a warning. "Don't let it happen again. You can leave now."
Leo raised his hand in oath. "I got it. It was my big mouth."
Leo made a gesture of slapping his own mouth.
Walter also thought Leo's mouth deserved a beating. He stood up. "It's late. We're leaving."
Demetrius finished reading the documents before going upstairs.
Although Demetrius and Seraphina treated each other politely after marriage, they weren't so formal as to sleep in separate rooms.
After all, they weren't fighting or having conflicts.
Demetrius came out of the shower and went to handle some business. When he returned to the bedroom, Seraphina was also getting ready for bed.
The two lay in bed, very properly lying flat.
At times like this, Demetrius's voice wasn't as cold as during the day, but carried a hint of laziness. "The nonsense news from a few days ago—I've already had the legal team handle it."
Seraphina turned to look at him, puzzled. "What news?"
Demetrius: "Boring news."
Seraphina rolled her eyes. She took her phone from the nightstand and searched herself.
When searching for news, she directly searched for Seraphina Enterprises. Recent news was all about the company's development.
She then searched for the Kramer Group and finally found an entertainment news article.
A photo of a female celebrity standing with Demetrius.
Entertainment news was entertainment news—the article reported that a certain female celebrity and the Kramer Group's CEO Demetrius had "enjoyed a pleasant conversation."
Seeing the phrase "enjoyed a pleasant conversation," Seraphina couldn't help but laugh.
With Demetrius being such a cold and sharp-tongued man, how could he possibly enjoy a pleasant conversation with a woman?
Demetrius's face darkened, speechless. "Funny?"
Seraphina put down her phone. "Not funny."
He continued, "Tomorrow I'll accompany you to the banquet hosted by the Collins family."
"Okay, thank you."
The couple exchanged pleasantries and prepared to sleep.