Chapter 41
She didn't think that young man could guess correctly, and yes, it was true, she only made up an excuse because his mother needed to talk to the Lord.
“Which room do you want?” Anna asked, trying to ignore Theo's question. "Hurry up, Theo, choose. I need to unpack your suitcase because I have to go to the kitchen to help the chef prepare lunch." She gave another excuse.
Theo shook his head slowly, knowing that Anna had lied to him, but he let it go, as it must have been his mother's orders.
He pointed to the room at the end of the hallway and walked there, entering without waiting for Anna. Sitting casually on the sofa with his legs crossed, Theo's eyes still watched Anna, who was busy putting her clothes away in the closet.
When he saw her finish, Theo called Anna to sit with him, and Anna knew that he was smart and couldn't lie to him, so she sat quietly on the sofa in front of him and gave a weak smile.
“Grandma, since I was little, you always taught me not to lie. Have you forgotten?”
Anna silently scolded herself for coming up with such an unreasonable excuse.
“Y-Yes. So what?”
“Your mom sent me, right?” Theo asked casually.
“Theo, you're so smart, how did you guess?”
“I can tell by the look on your face!” he said.
“All right, I won't lie to you. It was your mother who asked me to bring you up here.”
“Why?”
“I don't know, you can ask her later. All right, your things have been unpacked. If you need anything, just call me!” Anna stood up and smiled at him before heading for the door.
“Thanks, Grandma.” Although curious about his mother's motive, he decided not to ask Anna any more questions.
“Anna, can you stop calling me that?” Suddenly, Anna stopped before she opened the door, turned around, and saw Theo.
“Why? I've always called you that!”
“Theo, you also call Mr. Carlos Arbex ‘grandpa,’ how can I be like him?”
While they were still in Sweden, she didn't mind Theo calling her that because no one knew them there, but here, it was completely different.
“The same? Why do you feel that way, Grandma? You and Grandpa are the same to me!” asked Théo, his thick eyebrows knitting together.
He didn't seem to like hearing Anna's words reducing his status to that of a babysitter or maid, and Anna looked at Théo, confused.
“It's okay, Grandma... Grandpa will understand if I call you that, don't worry!” said Théo, getting up from his chair and walking over to his desk to check his iPad.
Suddenly, Anna smiled as she realized something.
“Théo, what I mean is...” she began to say.
“What?” Theo turned to look at the door, only to find Anna still there, smiling.
“What I mean is that Carlos is older than me, he's almost twice my age, and I'd feel old if you called me grandma!” Anna smiled. “Now, I'm going to the kitchen, okay?”
Theo could only shake his head as he grabbed his iPad and sat down on the sofa. However, a few minutes passed and a soft knock could be heard at the door.
“Theo, can I come in?” He frowned when he heard his mother's voice.
“Did she finish talking to Grandpa?” He wondered as he looked at the door. “Yes, Mom, please come in.”
“Hi, Theo. What are you doing? Are you playing a game?” Lilian asked when she saw him on the couch with an iPad in his hand.
“Yes!” he said calmly and showed her the iPad screen. “I'm playing chess online.”
“Oh, are you learning to play chess so you can play with Grandpa?” Lilian asked as she sat down on the sofa.
“No, not really, I'm just bored waiting here.”
"Really? Why? Don't you like this room? Do you want to move to another room?“
”No reason, really. And Mom, the room is great, by the way. I thought you were sending me to my room because you wanted to talk to Grandpa alone. Why are you already here?" Theo sighed deeply before saying.
Lilian was speechless when she heard his words.
“So you know? Did Anna tell you?”
“No, I can just tell by looking at you, Mom.”
“I'm sorry, Theo, I really needed some time to talk to your great-grandfather alone, and that's why I asked Anna to bring you here.” Lilian wouldn't be able to hide anything from him if he started demanding answers.
That was why Lilian was grateful that Théo had never asked about his father, because she would have told him about Ethan if he had asked a long time ago.
“Mom...” Théo's face became serious when he saw Lilian. “You could have asked me nicely, because if you told me you wanted some time alone with Grandpa, I would have left without any problem.” He smiled.
“Thank you, son, but do you like this place?” She changed the subject, not wanting to discuss what she had been discussing with his grandfather.
“Yeah. This place is like our house in France, and I like the view from here, and Grandpa is here too...” His eyes lit up.
“I'm glad you like it here. Did you know you can go fishing with your great-grandfather after lunch? The lake has lots of fish, and I think you'll love it...” Lilian remembered her son always going fishing with Anna in the lake behind the house.
“Yes, I know. Grandpa already told me.” He nodded slightly and smiled.
“All right, I'm going to my room. You can keep playing. And remember, lunch will be ready in an hour!” Lilian said and left.
After a delicious lunch, Theo and Carlos went fishing in the lake behind the mansion, and Lilian stayed in her room, absorbed in reading documents about commercial maps that Antony had sent her.
Lilian began to read about the state of business in the country because she had not worked in the field for several years, being a housewife, so there were many changes happening, and she needed to inform herself about them before starting work.
“Wow... a lot has happened in the last nine years, huh?” Lilian muttered, reading the list of the five largest corporations in the country, which had now changed.
The first place is still occupied by the Real Group, which replaced the Spector Corporation from the top position. In fact, it only fell to second place because it was now more focused on politics and the military. In other words, two families rule this country, with the Legrand family running the business and Spector taking care of political and military affairs.
Lilian shuddered as she realized she had become involved with these two powerful families. Ethan Legrand was her ex-husband, and Daniel Spector was her future.