Day Thirty-Four...
~~*****~~
"W-Who is this child?" Mr. Hiroshi asked, slowly approaching Little Ethan. A hint of longing could be seen in his eyes the moment he touched the young boy's shoulders.
Little Ethan glanced at Abigail, asking for reassurance. He had no idea who was the old man in front of him. Why was he looking at him like this?
Sensing that Little Ethan felt a little bit awkward and clueless, Abigail introduced them to each other.
"Uncle, this is Ethan, Nathan's son. Ethan this is Mr. Hiroshi, a good friend of your father and mine."
Ethan's expression eased up when he learned that the old man before him was a close friend of Abigail and his dad.
"Nice meeting you, Mr. Hiroshi. I'm Ethan. I'm Miss Abi's favorite friend... and the cutest one." he declared to them.
Abigail let out a soft giggle while Mr. Hiroshi continued watching Ethan, his eyes scanning his face over and over again. Abigail stopped laughing when she noticed the odd expression on Mr. Hiroshi's face.
"Mr. Hiroshi, are you okay?"
Mr. Hiroshi's eyes became misty. He couldn't help it. Ethan reminded him of his five-year-old daughter, Jane Rielle.
"This child looks like my daughter when she was five years old." Mr. Hiroshi looked away and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't get emotional. It's just that... I missed my daughter a lot."
Little Ethan and Abigail exchanged glances with one another. They felt sorry for Mr. Hiroshi. To comfort him, Little Ethan grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.
"Don't worry, Sir. I believe you will find your lost daughter. If you need any help, I will ask father to search for her." Little Ethan gave the old man a reassuring smile. This was a kind of smile that could comfort someone.
"Such a cute boy." Mr. Hiroshi pinched his cheeks and stroked his hair. "Your father is already helping me with this. Ahuh! I didn't know that Nathan has a very charming son... Who is your a�"" Mr. Hiroshi didn't complete his words as a sign of respect to Abigail.
He was supposed to ask Ethan about his mother. But he decided not to. Now he could understand why Abigail felt insecure about Nathan's love. Nathan had a son with his first love. Since he was considerate of Abigail's feelings, Mr. Hiroshi didn't mention Ethan's real mother.
But Ethan quickly caught up. He understood that Mr. Hiroshi was about to ask him about his mother.
"My birth mother is gone... But I have a future mom here. It's Miss Abi!" Ethan turned to Abigail and hugged her legs.
Abigail's cheeks reddened at his last remarks. Deep inside, she felt glad that Ethan wanted her to be his mother. This gesture from the young boy was truly heartwarming.
'How I wish... Ethan is my biological son. In my next life... if there is one... I want Ethan to be my son.' Abigail had this wishful thinking.
On the other hand, Mr. Hiroshi finally recovered. He gathered his emotion and he was back to his normal self.
"Why don't you bring Ethan with you once you visit me at Country J, Abi..." Mr. Hiroshi suggested.
"Sir... you are from Country J? Is it a beautiful country? Do you mean it? Is it okay that I will visit you there with Miss Abi?" Ethan asked Mr. Hiroshi with an innocent look in his eyes.
"Yes, you can." Mr. Hiroshi pinched Ethan's chin.
"Yay! I hope by the time we go there, my father already finds your missing daughter."
Mr. Hiroshi smiled faintly and nodded his head. "I'm looking forward to that, Ethan."
After staying for half an hour, Mr. Hiroshi finally said goodbye to Abigail and Ethan. He was glad to meet Ethan and see Abigail before returning to Country J. He would certainly keep in touch with them.
Upon entering the car, Kazuki already gave Mr. Hiroshi his flight schedule along with the appointments and meetings he would have in Country J.
"Master, this is your schedule for the whole week."
Mr. Hiroshi didn't take a look at the memo. He just took the tablet and put it down on his side. He turned to the car window, watching the Sparks Mansion. He couldn't forget Ethan's charming face which resembled his young daughter a lot.
"Kazuki... you have to stay here in Country M. I want you to investigate something for me."
Kazuki: "..."
Kazuki didn't expect that Mr. Hiroshi would command him to stay at Country M. He was his right-hand man... his assistant. What would Mr. Hiroshi do without him? Thinking about this, Kazuki could tell that his master was giving him a very important task to accomplish.
"What do you want me to look into, Master?" Kazuki asked their leader.
"Can you gather more information about Ethan Sparks' biological mother? I want to find out something," Mr. Hiroshi replied, conflicting thoughts flashing in his mind.
"Ethan Sparks? Who is that, Master?"
"Nathan's five-year-old son... who resembles my missing daughter when she was young."
Kazuki was rendered speechless again. He could tell that Mr. Hiroshi was truly desperate to find his daughter. Now, he took an interest in Nathan's son just because of the child's similarities to his missing daughter.
"Okay, Master. I got it! I know what to do."
"But make sure to stay hidden from Nathan's radar. I don't want him to know that we are investigating his deceased lover."
"I understand, Master."
******
Meanwhile, on the SYP Twilight Corp, Nathan's team was already on the move. From the old picture of Mr. Hiroshi's daughter, the team started to generate an old version using their AI technology.
While the team was doing the operation, one team member enhanced the photo. Just like Mr. Hiroshi, he noticed something.
"Guys, look at this photo!" The guy called the other team members. They gathered around his table and looked at his desktop computer screen.
"What's wrong with the photo?"
"Can't you recognize it? She looks like a girl version of our CEO's son... our young master, Ethan."
"Ehhh?"
The members focused their eyes on the screen, assessing the photo. After some time, they finally realized it. "Yeah! Yeah! She resembles our young master, Ethan."
"Whoa! What a coincidence!"
"They have the same facial features..."
"The color of their eyes .... the only difference I can see."
"Should we notify our CEO about this?" he consulted them.
"We might get scolded..."
"Of course not."
They were still arguing when Nathan entered the room.
"What's going on here?" Nathan asked them with his authoritative voice.
Everyone fell silent when their CEO arrived. They stopped talking and just stood straight and frozen in their spots. Nathan was giving them a sharp gaze. He thought they were just gossiping around and not doing their work because they gathered at one table, looking at something.
No one dared to speak up as they were nervous and afraid of Nathan. Nathan had no choice but to find it by himself.
One member pointed his forefinger at the monitor screen. Nathan followed their line of sight and glanced at the monitor.
Nathan's mind processed what he was seeing on the screen and it finally registered to him.
'She looks like my son... Ethan.'
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