Lily extended her palm toward Benedict and continued asking, “Where‘s my wood?”
Benedict was speechless at her stubbornness. “I don‘t have it anymore. I‘ve used all of them,” he said
simply.
Lily could tell that he was lying from his reaction, “I don‘t care! You‘ve made a promise, and since you
finished using them, you can start from scratch and plant them. Everyone should honor their promises,
even if you‘re a kid!”
Lily was so serious about her wood that Benedict could not convince her to let it go, so he looked at
Alexander for help,” Why aren‘t you even trying to stop her?”
Alexander just shrugged nonchalantly.
Realizing he was on his own, Benedict said helplessly, “Why are you so obsessed with that piece of
wood? You wanted me to make a birthday gift for you, so I did. Why are you still so determined to get
that piece of wood back?”
Lily would not mind explaining to him why she was so fixated on it, but Benedict‘s attitude was awful, so
Lily just said, “It‘s none of your business! You were the one who had made that promise.”
Seeing that Benedict was being forced into a corner and his face red from the argument, Alexander
decided to step in, “If it‘s difficult for you, we could go over to your place to get it. If it‘s about the price,
don‘t worry. Name your price, and we‘ll pay it,” He paused before continuing, “Lastly, if...if it‘s because
you have some problems that you could not tell us outright, maybe we could help you in some way or
another?”
Lily remained silent on his side, but she nodded in agreement.
“It‘s not that I have any problems, but I don‘t carry that piece of wood around with me all the time,”
Benedict smacked his lips and looked at Lily, “If you want it that badly, then please wait until next week.
I‘ll bring it to you personally.”
Lily was relieved that he finally agreed, “Really?”
“Yes!” Benedict felt humiliated by her suspicions of him, so he added, “Why would I lie to you?”
“Fine then. I‘ll wait till next week,” Lily nodded and lowered her hand in satisfaction. Then, she recalled
something and quickly questioned him, “Did you change your phone number? What if you disappear
again and refuse to pick up my calls?”
This time, before Benedict could speak, Alexander interrupted, “Don‘t worry, even if he disappears, the
Tanner family is still there. We‘ll have to go to them. Besides, I believe that young Mr. Tanner here is a
lad that wouldn‘t break his promise twice, right?”
Benedict clutched his fists tightly on his sides and drew his lips into a thin line before replying in
determination, “I–I‘ll keep my promise this time!” Then, he turned around and left. His footsteps were
hurried, but he kept his head high and back straight in determination.
“If you continue to stare at him, I‘ll get jealous!” Alexander started childishly as he took off his coat and
placed it over her shoulders, worried that she would catch a cold from standing outside for so long.
Lily looked at Benedict‘s retreating back, then shifted her gaze to Alex and commented, “I never
expected this.”
“Expected what?” Alexander asked.
“That he was a Tanner,” she lamented. “I know that Mr. Tanner had a son. He had high hopes for his
son as this was his successor, so his son grew up in a rigorous environment. I never expected him to
be Benedict.”
It was also somewhat expected as she had not returned to the Lodge family for a long time. It also
made sense that she had never seen Benedict before, but Alexander had no recollection of seeing this
boy at their social events.
“At the end of the day, we live in such a small world,” Alexander sighed while looking up at the sky, “It‘s
snowing again. Shall we head back?”
Lily looked around her and noticed snowflakes were falling on the ground. She nodded and walked with
him back to the building behind them.
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