You More Than Anything In The World

Ethen's distress was written all over his face, and he had downed a few cups of coffee.

Jack's gaze was wandering all over Ethen's body, and his amusement of Ethen's troubled state was palpable. “So there really are things in life that will stump you.”

Ethen rolled his eyes in response and hissed, “Stop gloating. You're involved in this too. If Mr. Graham dumps me on an abandoned island, you're coming with me!”

Jack narrowed his eyes.

Are you insane?

He then dropped his smile and took his time enjoying the snacks and coffee in the air-conditioned room instead.

Checking his watch, Ethen noticed that it was almost time for the children's classes to end, so he called Gavin.

“Hey there, Gavin.” Ethen's over-friendly tone made goosebumps rise on Jack's arms.

“What's the matter, Mr. Frank? Anything I can help you with?” came Gavin's youthful yet mature voice.

Ethen let out a wry chuckle before explaining, “So, here's the thing. Your daddy's urging me to get results in the investigation, so if I don't tell him soon, I'll be banished to an abandoned island. Your daddy even lost his temper at me earlier.”

Ethen was truly stumped, for he could not offend either party.

Gavin blinked a few times before noting certain important points about Ethen's speech. “Why did my daddy lose his temper at you?”

Ethen sighed. Alas, he had no idea why Benjamin flew into a rage too.

“Maybe he was upset about something when he was with your mommy.”

“No way!” Gavin responded in certainty, for Arissa had also subtly asked them about this matter.

Therefore, evidently, their father was upset about something else. Yet, no one knew what he was upset about.

In the end, Gavin guessed that Julian and the others had something to do with this.

“Daddy must be mad with those bad people!”

“Who?” Ethen promptly asked, still unable to come to the same conclusion as Gavin.

“Who else? I can't believe you can't think of who it is despite working for Daddy for so long. No wonder Daddy's angry with you.”

Ethen scratched his nose sheepishly upon hearing that before hesitantly muttering, “Julian and the others?”

“Something like that.” Gavin scoffed.

Julian means nothing and is no threat to Daddy. Daddy doesn't care about them. They probably just disgusted him.

“Could it be that old lady?” Ethen asked.

He wondered how he could have forgotten about her. Julian was getting treated in the hospital, and that old lady from the Graham family would surely visit him. Therefore, she had to have argued with Benjamin.

“I'm glad you're not that stupid,” Gavin roasted.

Ethen's lips twitched when he realized the boy was verbally attacking him again.

He then headed straight to the topic by saying, “Gavin, I'm going to tell your daddy the truth, okay? Think of this as a favor. It's hard on me too. I can't let your daddy find out that I've been helping you hide this from him. We'll all have a hard time if he finds out about this, you know?”