Araceli POV
Seeing Melany standing still, Maddox coldly called over two bodyguards.
The bodyguards pressed Melany's shoulders and dragged her out.
If it were normal, Melany would have struggled violently, but at this moment she was still in a daze.
Melany was dumped in front of the Royal Pack's villa.
I held Essel in my arms and asked her, "Essel, are you okay? Does it hurt?"
Essel's eyes instantly turned red. She sniffled and said, "It really hurts. Ms. chancey..."
She leaned against my chest, and tears kept falling down.
Valeria wrapped her arms around my neck, too.
I froze and held Valeria in my arms, whispering, "Valeria, are you okay?"
Valeria wrapped her arms around my neck and didn't say anything.
Raphael came over and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry. It was all my fault."
I sighed slightly, "No. Mr. Lancaster, it should be my negligence..."
Essel said angrily, "Dad, it was Melany who pushed Vallie away and made Vallie fall down! Melany also tried to slap Vallie. Fortunately, I reacted quickly and blocked it. Otherwise Vallie's face would have been swollen for sure!"
Essel puffed up her chest a little proudly. "I said I would take good care of Vallie. Ms. Chancey, I did it!"
I stroked Essel's head.
"Essel, thank you."
I smiled.
I had thought about letting Valeria and Raphael have more contact before. But Melany...
Melany dared to slap my daughter. She was really as vicious and dreadful as before.
"I promise it will never happen again." Raphael pursed his lips. "Let's go eat."
I lowered my eyes.
Today would be the last time our family would cross paths with Raphael's family.
In the future, I wouldn't bring Krish and Valeria to see him again.
I couldn't put my children in danger from Melany again.
At that moment, Krish finally came back from outside.
He had just said he had something to do and had to go out to make a phone call. When he came back, he saw Essel's swollen face and the mess on the floor and rushed over to make sure Valeria was okay. I told him what had happened. He was relieved, taking Valeria's hand and going to the table to eat.
Krish asked, "Where's Essel's brother? Won't he be dining with us?"
"I called Mr. Micah about an hour ago, and Mr. Micah said he'd be home later. I'll give him another call and ask him."
Maddox turned around and went to the phone.
After a while, Maddox came back and told us that Micah said he had something to take care of and wouldn't be back for dinner.
Raphael had a gloomy look in his eyes.
I nodded and gave the kids each one of the sandwiches I had made. The good thing was, Essel's appetite was still good.
Essel fell asleep in Maddox's arms after eating.
Raphael calmly said, "Ms. Chancey, I'll drive you guys back."
I didn't drive over, and this place was really a bit of a distance from my house, so I didn't refuse and took Krish and Valeria to Raphael's car.
Krish sat in the back seat and asked, "Mr. Lancaster, is Essel's brother usually always busy?"
Raphael nodded his head. "I gave him a company to run. All the company's affairs need to be handled by him personally, so he will be rather busy."
Krish was silent.
I glanced at him. I guessed that he thought Micah was about his age and actually started handling the company's affairs already.
This was the third time I'd heard Krish ask about Essel's brother.
Curious, I asked, "Krish, do you want to meet Essel's brother?"
Krish calmly returned, "Essel always says she has a really good brother, so I wanted to see how good he is."
I couldn't help but laugh.
Krish usually knew too much and always made me think he had grown up.
It was only in things like this that Krish showed the desire to win that a child would have.
"Krish, I can arrange for you two to meet later if there is a chance," Raphael said as he drove, "Micah was a genius growing up. Of course, you are too. If you two talk, you might be able to inspire each other a lot."
Krish pursed his lips and didn't say anything else.
But I became more and more curious about Micah.
The car pulled up in front of my family's villa.
I led Krish and Valeria out of the car and bent down and whispered to Raphael, who was driving, "Mr. Lancaster, thank you for driving us back."
Raphael looked at me and said, "Ms. Chancey, do you have other plans for this afternoon?"
Seeing me shake my head, Raphael unbuckled his seat belt. "I want to discuss the details of that AI project with you."
I nodded and led Raphael into the house.
This wasn't the first time Raphael had been to this villa. He walked in and sat casually on the couch.
Krish and Valeria went back to their rooms. I walked to Raphael and said, "Mr. Lancaster, all the information for this project is on the computer in the study. I can give you a demonstration..."
Raphael nodded his head and followed me upstairs.
The study on the second floor was simply decorated, clean and bright. There was a computer on the desk and a few books on artificial intelligence.
I dragged out the chair, sat down in front of the desk, turned the computer on, and clicked on the program.
This was the simulation system I made earlier. At the moment, I only had the framework ready, and I hadn't taken it to the project team for review.
There was only one chair in this study. I sat down, and Raphael stood next to me.
He leaned slightly, looking at the program on the screen.
"This is a simulation framework I built using the latest programming techniques. It's one of the latest models of cell phones on the market. After inlaying the intelligent system, this phone is able to..."
I patiently explained the operation. Suddenly, the computer lagged and the screen kept flickering.
I frowned. "What's going on? Sorry, Mr. Lancaster. I don't know..."
I pressed the keyboard skillfully.
The computer screen flickered for a moment. Before I could react, a picture popped up.
On the screen, a man and a woman were naked in a big bed, holding each other...
I was completely frozen.
What was going on here?