628: 14.24

14.24

"Hello, Gaius, why do you call?"2

"Reed… I need you to replace Clarke…." 

"Replacing Clarke? What do you mean?!" Reed sounded surprised, and Gaius also felt guilty for asking this.

But the kids' happiness was his priority over anything else, including his own guilt to Clarke. 

"I've set up a movie day with the kids tomorrow morning. It was intended to be only four of us, the family. But it seems that Clarke is uncontactable. He must've been very busy in the office, so…" Gaius gulped as if he was about to say something terrible. "I'd want you to replace him for the movie day. Don't worry, you don't need to do anything, just… sit there and watch a movie with us."

"Oh no, what happened with Clarke? Is the company really in that big trouble?" Reed asked, full of concern.

"That… I don't know. He's just uncontactable…." 

"Well, I'm sure that Clarke must've been busy with the office work. Don't worry about it," Reed said. "Well, if you want me to join, then I'd be happy to. I have no plan tomorrow after all."

"Ah, thank you so much, please come tomorrow morning around nine. It's just a small movie session until lunch, then we'll have lunch together with the kids," Gaius added. 

"Sure, I'll come, don't worry," Reed confirmed his plan and then hung up the call. 

…

"AHAHAHAHAH!" He stared at Gaius' number while laughing hysterically as if he had just heard something so unbearably funny. He was holding his laugh this whole time. Because he completely expected this to happen.

Of course, he had already set everything in motion. He just couldn't wait for that beautiful scene to unfold in front of him. 

Reed was so entertained with all these dramas inside his brother's family, he couldn't wait to see more!

Thus, he called his subordinate and ordered, "Make sure that the problem is my brother's company will be cleared before lunch tomorrow. So he should arrive at home when I was there with his kids and wife."

"Certainly, Master," the subordinate bowed his head and vanished out of thin air once more. 

Reed leaned on the chair, sipped his wine as he watched the sharks swimming around in the aquarium dome. A projector showed their latest picture together, Gaius, Hermes, Artemis, and him as Clarke's replacement.

They actually looked like a real family in this photo. 

"Hm~ It's quite interesting. They're definitely a happy family," Reed said. "Too bad it won't last long for Clarke, HAHAHAHAHA!"

**

Clarke was busy inside his office, typing a new formal message to the investors about the problem the company stumbled upon. He checked the clock, and it was already 5 in the morning. He hadn't slept at all while the rest of his staff were already lying on their desk, exhausted over this work. 

As Superbman, Clarke didn't tire physically, but that didn't mean that he was also immune to mental exhaustion. He was mentally exhausted and upset, especially after Gaius didn't seem to even give him a sincere encouragement just because he failed to join one vacation with the kids. 

He glanced at the destroyed phone on the ground. He had already picked up the SIM card to save the contacts, but he wasn't in the mood to buy a new phone and call Gaius right now.

He knew he would get even more upset if he called his wife, so he just focused on his job instead. 

"I'll finish this quickly and went home as fast as I could," Clarke said. 

**

"Mommy, what are we going to watch today?" Artemis asked. She hugged her Mom's leg as Gaius was cooking their breakfast.

"Hm? We're going to watch Finding Dory! Don't you like Dory, the blue fish?" Gaius replied.

"Un, Arte loves Dory…."

Hermes was sitting on the chair, ready for breakfast with his family, and he glanced at the empty spot in front of him, "Mom… Dad is not coming home again today?"

"Oh, he's still busy with the work in the office," Gaius replied.

In an instant, Hermes' mood died down, "So he won't be here even for our movie day?"

"Oh, don't be too sad about it, Hermes, you know your Dad is busy."

"Seems he likes to be Superbman and a CEO than spending time with us," Hermes mumbled. 

"Don't say that. Your Dad is working hard for us," Gaius reminded Hermes, but it seemed the young boy didn't like it.

"What's the point of working hard if he can't spend time with us?" Hermes challenged his Mom. "What's the last time he has an actual talk with us, Mom…."

"HERMES!"

Hermes shut his mouth immediately, as he feared his Mom's wrath. But he was still grumbling inside his heart about Dad's absence. 

"Don't say mean things about your Dad. He's working hard for us," Gaius said as he put pancake as breakfast. "At least there's Uncle Reed who'll accompany us for the movie day."

Hermes, who was upset, finally eased a bit once he heard that Uncle Reed would come, "Oh, so Uncle Reed will join us? That's great! Uncle Reed is fun!"

"Fun! Uncle Red is fun!" Artemis affirmed her brother's opinion. 

Gaius sighed, he wanted to deny that, but he knew that the kids had full right to voice their opinions, especially when Clarke had been absent for so long. 

At 9 in the morning, the small movie set had been prepared. Gaius made popcorn for the kids, and few soft drinks for him, and beer for Reed later. They were waiting for Uncle Reed to come, and when the doorbell rang, Gaius jogged to the front door and opened it.

"Am I late?" Reed asked with a fresh smile on his face. He brought another bouquet of flowers. Today he brought a bouquet of pansies. 

Gaius frowned when Reed kept on giving him a bouquet of flowers, and whenever he smelled it, there was a funny smell that made him intoxicated. 

But then again, it was rude to reject such a kind gift, so he accepted it and put it in the vase near the door, replacing the previous one Reed brought, "You're not late. The kids are waiting for you."

"The kids, huh…." Reed smiled and walked in to join them. 

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