Chapter 1426: Chapter 1426: Little Ancestor
Charlotte was worried that Jake might start questioning her as well, but he simply reached out and lightly pressed down on the top of her head.
"The stuff online is such a mess right now. You scared me half to death."
Jake looked at Charlotte with a worried expression, but she pulled his hand away and lifted her face slightly, a faint dimple blooming on her cheek.
"Fourth Brother, saying all this to me now feels a little late, doesn’t it?"
Hearing her words, Jake quickly pulled Charlotte into his arms and affectionately ruffled her hair.
"You little troublemaker, always blaming us! You were the one who insisted the family shouldn’t intervene, right? Do you know how worried we all were yesterday when the news blew up?"
Charlotte hadn’t returned to the Thompson Family home yesterday, completely unaware of how furious everyone had been after discovering the news online.
She had even given them prior instructions not to act rashly. So at first, despite their anger, they could only pace back and forth in the living room.
Eventually, the online rumors grew overwhelming, and Mr. Thompson could no longer tolerate it. He stepped in and suppressed the information directly.
"Fourth Brother..."
Charlotte, now stuck in Jake’s embrace, felt her hair had been turned into a total bird’s nest.
"Back already?"
Thankfully, a pair of hands rescued Charlotte from Jake’s grasp.
When Charlotte turned her head, she saw James standing beside her. He reached out and carefully smoothed her long hair, as if handling a prized doll, before speaking leisurely:
"Come on, Grandpa’s been waiting for you to come back."
James took Charlotte’s hand and led her into the villa.
At home, aside from Jake and Felix, everyone else had gone out. James had just returned as well.
Mr. Thompson was reclining on a chair in the backyard garden, eyes closed in repose, with the butler standing quietly nearby.
When the butler spotted Charlotte approaching, he cast her a smile. But in the next second, Charlotte gestured for him to stay quiet.
The butler moved aside, allowing Charlotte to walk up to Mr. Thompson.
Slowly, Mr. Thompson raised his hand, prompting Charlotte to quickly place the prepared teacup by his side.
He took a sip and spoke in a low voice:
"So it’s my ungrateful little troublemaker after all. You finally came back. I thought once you had Justin over there, you’d completely forgotten about your grandfather."
"Grandpa, how do you even know it’s me?"
Charlotte was curious how Mr. Thompson could recognize her with his eyes still shut. Kneeling halfway beside him, she grinned as she asked.
"Just by the sneaky way you walk, I can tell right away."
Mr. Thompson snorted softly, then took another sip of tea.
"I only wanted to give you a surprise, Grandpa."
Charlotte clung to the wicker chair, laughing beside Mr. Thompson.
At that point, Mr. Thompson opened his eyes slightly and glanced at Charlotte. Then he curled his fingers, aiming them at her forehead. Seeing this, Charlotte instinctively closed her eyes and shrank her neck in anticipation.
But in the end, Mr. Thompson couldn’t bring himself to knock her hard. He simply used his fingertip to gently poke her forehead.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you yesterday with all the trouble you stirred up? Do you know how bad those online entertainment news stories are for you? Yet you forbade us from intervening?"