?Chapter 1306:

    As the door closed behind her, Locke reached up and tugged on Ernest’s sleeve. “Dad.” His lips were pressed into a pout, clearly displeased.

    Ernest could already guess the reason for his mood and spoke gently. “It’s not that I didn’t want to drive her home. She said she preferred to take the subway.”

    “You could’ve insisted more!” Locke said with a frown.

    “Insisted?”

    Ernest let out a smallugh. “You’ve really learned some big wordstely, haven’t you? But you’ll learn this someday: not every woman responds to persistence. At least not Miss Hond.”

    “Humph!” Locke crossed his arms, still not satisfied with the exnation. Then his eyes lit up mischievously. “Dad, I know who Miss Hond was talking to on the phone.”

    Before Ernest could react, the boy turned and dashed back into the house.

    Ernest’s eyes widened slightly, and he hurried after him. “What do you mean you know? Who was she talking to?”

    “Not telling!” Locke replied smugly, raising his chin. “You didn’t take her home, so you don’t get to know.”

    “That’s on me.” Ernest admitted his fault quickly. “Next time I’ll insist harder, alright?”

    Locke took a moment to consider, then gave a slight nod. “Okay, since you said that… I’ll tell you. Actually, Miss Hond…”

    Ernest held his breath, his thoughts racing. Was she seeing someone new? Or had she reconciled with Robin? Locke grinned. “She was going to visit Joy.”

    Ernest had recently be aware that Hadley had been away for work, and the only reason he knew this was because Eric had mentioned it in passing.

    Although he and Eric were no longer living under the same roof, their connection had never really faded.

    So, was Elissa heading to Milnd Road to spend time with Joy because Hadley was away?

    The thought made Ernest exhale quietly, a subtle breath of relief easing from his chest.

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    “Dad!” Locke tugged at his father’s hand, his small fingers turning palm up with expectation. “Can I borrow your phone for a moment?”

    “What do you need it for?” Ernest asked, raising his eyebrows with a skeptical look.

    “You have Miss Hond’s number on WhatsApp, right?”

    “Yes, I do.”

    “Then we should message her. It’s raining so hard, and you didn’t drive her home. Don’t you think we need to make sure she got there safely?”

    Despite his young age, Locke had a strong sense of consideration and a surprisingly clear grasp of social manners.

    He added quickly, “I don’t have a phone of my own, so I have to use yours.”

    Ernest looked at his son, amused by his reasoning. “You really do think of everything, don’t you?” He paused for a moment, then said, “I’ll get you one when the time is right.”

    “Stingy!”

    Locke huffed and turned away, walking off in frustration. Ernest chuckled, shaking his head at the boy’s dramatics.

    Because Locke was still young, Ernest tried to limit how much time he spent on electronic devices, at least for now.

    Later in the evening, after finishing his dinner and taking a warm bath, Locke came padding down the hall, wearing his favorite frog-patterned pajamas. He marched straight to Ernest with purpose in his step. “Dad, I want the phone now!”

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