Chapter 264 - Ch. 264 What If Kaylee Is Alive?

From the start, Britney and Bossley never told Robert about the true identity of 'Kaylee.' They thought that Robert would find out himself after meeting Roxy in person.

Unexpectedly, Robert believed that their daughter was Kaylee.

Kaylee and Roxanne's faces were similar, but one could still tell the difference if they knew them. Unfortunately, Robert couldn't recognize her and thought his surviving cousin was indeed Kaylee.

Bossley and Britney decided to stay quiet and let Robert treat Roxy the way he treated Kaylee.

"Yes, she is Roxy, Robert," announced Britney to answer her nephew's inquiry. "I'm sorry for hiding this fact from you. But you don't seem so surprised. Did you know it from the start?"

"No. I figured it out recently." to be more precise, he only found out after meeting Kaylee in the Netherlands.

Robert looked at his cousin with joy and…

"I know that look. You want to strangle me!" pouted Roxy, eliciting laughter from her cousin.

"I'd love to, but I can't do it. Mr. Black would strangle me to death instead."

"Hmph. It's good if you know." Roxy chirped, ignoring her annoying cousin's amused laugh.

"Looks like you have a lot of things you want to talk about. I'll go in first." Britney kissed Roxy's cheek briefly, making the girl smile happily. "Don't stay out too long. The wind is getting cold."

"We'll be back in seconds, mama."

After letting her mother back into the house, Roxy started talking to Robert.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"Hmm?"

"It looks like you want to tell me something."

Robert looked at his cousin sadly, but soon his mood changed to a more normal one.

"It's nothing. I'm just wondering something."

"What is it?"

"What if… I talk about if, okay."

"Okay." Roxy giggled, seeing her cousin seem hesitant to say something to her. She wondered what made the fearless Robert feel reluctant to discuss something.

"What if Kaylee is alive?"

Roxy's smile disappeared as soon as she heard that. "Why are you wondering about that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps, I'm a little bit missing her."

"I got it. Everyone misses her more than me."

"Roxy, that's not what I meant."

"Rob, if she were still alive, she would have been back home for ages, but she didn't. There is no 'if' in this case. I don't want to hear it anymore even though it was only a joke."

"Don't you miss her?"

"I do. But I was barely out of my darkest place, thinking over my guilt. Her departure created a rift between mama and me. Now we're going back to we used to be; I don't want any mishap to happen. Don't raise a false hope to me… or mama. We've suffered enough."

Robert: If only you know. Kaylee is alive and healthy. She even lived quite well in a foreign country.

But…

"I know. But I can't help but wonder about this. What would you do if it turned out Kaylee is alive and showed up here someday?"

"…" Roxy didn't answer and stayed quiet for a while. "The first thing I would do is kick her out."

"What?"

"If it turns out that she's still alive but didn't return home, doesn't that mean she abandoned us? She no longer cared about her family and cut ties with us. So why should we accept her again?"

"…" That makes sense.

"Instead of wondering about this ridiculous probability, I'm surprised you didn't directly follow Wendy and head south."

"..." Robert was eager to head straight south no matter if Hades IV would arrest him or lock him up.

But his current priorities had changed since he met Kaylee.

"I'm not that stupid. It needs a neat plan to arrive at the Falkland safely."

"That's true. Feel free to let me know if you need some help. I know an acquaintance to help you sneak into the south undetected."

Robert raised an eyebrow hearing this. "You mean Declan Black? He won't help me."

"Of course, not him. Who do you think helped me to sneak out of the country at that time? Even papa couldn't trace me right away."

"Who?"

"Just an old acquaintance. I can't tell the name, but I can tell you this person is trustworthy."

"So is it a she or he?"

"It's a secret." Roxy suppressed an amused smile as she watched the corners of her cousin's lips twitch. "Let's go back. I need to get the present first."

Robert followed suit, and the two of them walked inside. As soon as Roxy saw Declan, she smiled widely and asked Declan to accompany her to collect her gifts for her parents in the car.

The gift that Roxy prepared was art that poured out of her heart. She hadn't drawn in a long time, and her hands felt a little stiff, but she did well.

"Do you think they like it?"

"You said they would love it."

"I did, didn't I? But now I'm not pretty sure."

Declan chuckled in amusement at the tone of doubt on his beloved girl. On one second Roxy was filled with extremely high self-confidence, but the next second, the girl was filled with unsignificant doubt.

"Declan, Robert asked me a weird question."

"What questions?"

"He asked me what I would do if Kaylee survived the crash plane and showed up here someday. What a ridiculous question, really."

Declan didn't comment and let the girl continue her words.

"But, I said I would be angry and would kick her out. But after I saw this drawing… I'm thinking… how wonderful it would be if she did survive."

Declan stroked the back of Roxy's head gently to comfort the girl.

"But it's only wishful thinking, isn't it?"

"People are allowed to have a wish. Who knows, a miracle did happen."

Roxy felt better and took out the giant frame-block that covered most of her body.

"Do you need help with that?"

"No. I want to bring it myself," replied Roxy while carrying the frame and walking back into the house.

She couldn't wait to see her parents' reaction when they saw her masterpiece.