Although Noah tried to assure Martin, he was still not convinced by his words. Martin stared at him skeptically, his brows furrowing as he continued speaking. "Noah, you told me that her sister is your girlfriend, right?"
Noah nodded at him wondering where he was going with this.
"Then, what if they both approached you and Joshua with a purpose in mind? What if the sisters have malicious intentions in mind and they planned to trap you two?" His words made not only Noah, even Jonathan to smile which Martin gave a blind eye to. "I may be wrong in my assumptions and I hope I am wrong too. But as a father who had once seen his son go into a severe state of depression due to a girl, I hope you will understand my concerns."
"I understand, Uncle. I completely understand." Noah held the old man's hands and looked him in the eye. "You are right to doubt them in your place and I am not blaming you to think this way. Also, I know that any words of mine will not be enough for you to curb your curiosity and concern. How about you meet her in person and decide as to whether she is suitable for Joshua or not?"
"That seems fair." Martin acknowledged his suggestion after thinking for some time. "I can meet her and find out more about her."
"Before that, there are certain things you must about her and her family," Noah added, capturing the two older men's attention once again. Seeing his serious gaze, Jonathan wondered why he was behaving strangely.
"Noah, is anything the matter? Is there something wrong with Aria?"
"No, grandpa." Noah shook his head at once, stopping him from proceeding any further. "I am not sure if you know about her background or not."
"Background? Are you talking about her family?" Martin asked, his frown deepening.
"Yes. Do you remember Oliver West?" He questioned them, carefully observing their expressions, and waited for their response.
"Who?" Not only Martin, even Jonathan could not recollect who he was talking about and he leaned closer, trying to comprehend what his grandson was talking about.
"Journalist Oliver West. He was the one we found at the said location when we were searching for Theo."
This time, it struck the two men and they nodded slowly, remembering the journalist who Ian was trying to cure so that they could find Theo as soon as possible. "Yes, I remember him now. What about him? How is he even related to the two girls we are talking about?"
"Grandpa, he is Aria and Ivy's father."
"What?" This was the second time for the two men to go into shock and seeing their expressions, Noah rolled his eyes again.
'I am certain they will take more time to come out of the shock. Let me text Aria by then.' He pulled out his phone with a smile on his face. 'I wonder what reply Aria has sent me.'
'I will not comment about it.'
'No, please do. I want to know what you are thinking about.' Noah's smile widened as he sent the reply. "Will I get a reply from her? It has been more than fifteen minutes since she sent me her last response. Has she gone back to work?" Just as he was wondering about her, Aria sent him a message, surprising him once again.
'You are evil. You are pulling my leg.'
'Sweetheart, tell me what you wanted to tell. Be a good girl and tell me.' Noah tried to coax her into revealing what her thoughts were.
'I forgot. I forgot. I completely forgot.'
'My liar baby. Are you trying to escape from answering me?'
'I am not a liar. I am very honest.'
'Then, be a good girl and tell me what you were talking about. Please elaborate as I have no idea about it.'
There was a small delay in her response again and Noah took this time to look at the two men, who still seemed to be in shock. 'Why are the two men behaving this strange today? It is not that big a matter for them to go into shock, isn't it?' He wondered, completely forgetting that he too had behaved the same way when he had learned the truth.
His phone dinged and he grinned seeing Aria's message. 'My brain refuses to send an answer.'
'Hahahaha. You are so cute, sweetheart. But not a problem. Once you return home from work, I will make your brain answer me.'
'In your dreams.'
'Dreams come true, darling. And wait for me today. You will be answering me and this time, I will make sure your brain will cooperate and answer me. Otherwise....'
'Otherwise?' Noah had stopped right before elaborating about his intentions, waiting for Aria to take the bait and she did just what he wanted her to do.
'Otherwise, I will bully you until you will be crying for mercy. Be ready.'
This time, Aria did not reply and Noah knew that she would not be replying to him any time soon. So, he gave up on messaging her and focused on the two men.
"Grandpa, Uncle, do you still need time to digest the information or shall we talk about it?" He tried to break their thoughts. His patience was wearing thin and he did not know how long he could bear with the two men's weirdness. "We can talk about the issue some other day if you two still need time to comprehend this."
Noah stood up and buttoned his suit, not waiting for any response from the two men. "I will be leaving now. Please take your time."
Noah had just taken a step away from them when Jonathan held his hand. "Are you telling the truth? Is Aria Oliver's daughter?"
"Yes, grandpa." Noah nodded.
"Then, does she.. does she..." Jonathan did not have to continue, Noah understood him at once.
"She knows. And I have shocking good news for you."
Jonathan raised his eyebrows. He was already hit with the thunderbolt twice. He wondered what more could be leftover for him to deal with.
"Oliver has gained consciousness."