?


    Faced with my daughter''s inquiries, I could only try to reassure her. "Mommy will be back as soon as possible."


    "You always say that, but you keeping backter andter!" Ava''s emotions instantly surfaced as she pouted. Her gaze lowered and she looked extremely upset.


    "I''d never lie to you. It''s just that some things don''t go as smoothly as we imagined, which dys my return home," I patiently exined.


    She suddenly looked up, and I noticed that her eyes were glistening with tears. "But I don''t want you to keep going on business trips, Mommy. I''ll be lonely."


    "How could you be lonely?" I was sympathetic, but amused by her statement. "Don''t you have Jenny, Grandma, and Grandpa to keep youpany? How could you be lonely?"


    "But they''re not you, Mommy. I want you, Mommy." Ava''s tears finally fell, rolling down her cheeks.


    I quickly reached out to embrace her, feeling a pang of guilt. I understood her loneliness.


    "Alright, I understand. We''ll try not to go on so many business trips from now on. But I''ll definitely bring back lots of gifts for you. And after we deal with this, I''ll take you all with me next time." I tried to give her some hope to cheer her up.


    "You always say that! You said you would take me to see Grandpa Archie in Sris, but you didn''t," Ava retorted.


    Her words left me speechless. I suddenly realized that my credibility in Ava''s eyes had taken a hit.


    Just then, As''s voice came from the doorway. "We won''t let you down, Ava. Mommy and Daddy are going to Nocturnia to reim our home."


    "Really?" Ava''s eyes lit up as she heard As''s voice. She sat up with excitement and looked at him as he entered the room. "Daddy, is what you''re saying true?"


    Her expression was priceless.


    "It''s true. I''ve never lied to you, have I?" As sat down behind me, wrapping his arms around me and addressing Ava. "The thing is, our home has been taken by someone else. So we need to go and reason with them, and then we''lle back. That''s why it''ll take some time. Can you ept that?"


    As had a way of turning a serious, tricky situation into a story, exining it clearly and persuasively to Ava.


    He really was a good father.


    Ava sat there, thinking about As''s words.


    Then she asked, "Are they bad people? Why did they take our home?"


    It was clear she had been drawn into this issue.


    "Yes. They''re very bad people," As replied firmly. "At that time, Mommy and Daddy were just children like you, so they took advantage of us."


    "Will you get our home back, Daddy?" Ava looked at As


    al


    seriously. "My teacher says we can use thew to fight bad people."


    Both As and I couldn''t help butugh.


    "Yes. We''ll use thew. I''ll definitely reim our home for us. Then we''ll take you back to see the home where Mommy and Daddy spent our childhood. Your grandparents lived there too." Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    "Okay. Daddy, you have to work hard. You need to get it back."


    "It might take a while. Can you ept that?" As asked.


    "Yes. We can''t let bad people live in our house!" She said determinedly.


    I sighed with relief when I saw her expression. As and I exchanged a grateful nce.


    Just then, my mom pushed the door open and saw us there. She looked stunned.


    I quickly said, "Mom, I''m flying to Nocturnia with As today."


    My mom''s eyes narrowed for a moment, then she realized what was going on. "You''re going today? Why the rush?" "Yeah." As stood up and held my hand. "My grandfather is seriously ill, so we need to go back and see him."


    "Your grandfather is sick?" my mom said. "Then you should go."


    She waved to Ava and Jenny, "You two,e down and wash up. You have to go to school."


    Ava and Jenny climbed out of bed, and my mom took them to the bathroom while saying to us, "You two, go eat breakfast quickly."


    As nodded and reached for my hand, "Let''s go have breakfast and leave."